Initial Results

     Yesterday I sat down with my dad's sisters, my Aunts June and Charlotte, for a genealogy interview. Before meeting them, I made research notebooks full of family group sheets and copies of original documents for each of them. I also prepared a small list of questions that I wanted to ask about our family history, as well as memories of their childhood. In the end, I recorded over four hours of conversation. Over the next few weeks, I'll edit the audio together into more streamline information and turn it into little videos. For now, here are a few facts I learned:

• My paternal grandmother had a family bible, but it was destroyed in house fire in the 1960s along with all other family possessions.
• My Great-Aunt Ollie was married three times, not two times. 
• My Aunt Charlotte has the obituary of Ollie's only child that died as a baby and we don't know any details about.
• My aunts recounted what they knew of the tornado the family survived when they were toddlers.
• My grandparents house sat on the county line. The front door was in Elbert County, but the bedroom was in Hart County, so my Aunts birth certificates state "Hart County."
• Viewing Google Maps, we saw my Great-Grandparents house and a small country store that my aunts visited as children.
• My Great-Grandfather Nathan Britt could pick cotton faster than anyone else alive.
• Also, he was married a second time that I didn't know about 
• My grandfather farmed cotton, raised chickens and had a cow and a goat for milk.
• My Aunt June was married in February of 1961 and graduated high school two months later.

     These are some of the things I can remember off the top of my head right now. I'll be going through my notes and the audio to organize everything I learned.

My Genealogy Day

     My boss told me that I could take a day off today and use some sick time, which I never get to use and an about to hit my cap on. So, I thought I'd spend the day doing some genealogy. And I did kinda do that, but not the way I'd planned.


     So, my original plan was to visit the local Family History Center. I've never done this before, even though they are only about five minutes from my house. I spent yesterday evening browsing the online catalogue and finding resources that might be valuable to me. I was specifically looking at researching the Albea family of Lincoln County, GA and Iredell County, NC before that. I printed out some sources and a bit of family tree info and planned to go by the next morning.


     However, in the morning I checked my email and saw that my associate degree diploma was ready to be picked up. Yay! This pretty much trumped any other plans for the day. By the time I drove halfway around Atlanta and back, got home and ate lunch, the FHC was closed. However, they open for a few hours in the evening, so I thought I'd go then.


     But then, I got a call from my Aunt June (my dad's sister, as opposed to my mom's sister, also named June). She had previously mentioned that her sister, my Aunt Charlotte, would be in town sometime soon and they wanted to get together and talk genealogy. Now she knew that my Aunt would be in town starting tomorrow, so we set up a time to meet this Friday. This was a bit earlier than I'd expected, so I wasn't prepared.  I have since spent the rest of the night creating reference notebooks for each Aunt.


     As I was printing out my records about their Dad (my grandfather), I started thinking about some comments that my dad had made earlier in the day. From my grandfather's WWII army separation notice, we know that he received a WWII victory medal and an Occupation Ribbon for Germany. My dad had asked my aunt about these, but she didn't have them and, logically, she's the only person that would have them.  Since she doesn't, it's assumed that they were destroyed in the house fire in the 1960s.  So I thought I'd look into possibly ordering replacements for these. After about 10 minutes on the National Archives website, I had finished doing so. I'm not 100% that we'll receive the medals - the form just seemed too easy! But, we'll see what happens.


     I'm now sidetracked with putting together genealogy information for my aunt's visit, so the FHC visit has been put on pause. Hopefully I'll get to it next week, when I legitimately have Tuesday off.  :) Does anyone have any advise for me or tips on what to expect?

Thomas Craft in the CCC - Amanuensis Monday

     My Grandfather was in the Civilian Conservation Corps as a young man. We're lucky to know this because no one ever mentioned it or spoke of it. However, there's a photo of him dressed as a chef with at note about the CCC and North Carolina written on the back. With this information, I was able to send off for his records (see the photo and the from here). If you have an ancestor who participated in this program I recomed you send off for their records ASAP - they are full of info. Here's a transcription of the first two pages.

Certification in lieu of lost or destroyed Certificate of Discharge from Civilian Conservation Corps --.-- To all whom it may concern: Know ye that Thomas S. Craft serial no. CC4-236405 a member of company 1499, Civilian Conservation Corps, at Albemarle, South Carolina [North Carolina] who was enrolled on the Twenty-Sixth day of October One Thousand Nine Hundred and Thirty-Seven at Athens, Georgia was Honorably discharged therefrom on the Tenth  day of September One Thousand Nine Hundred and Thirty-Nine by reason of Expiration of Term of Enrollment. Given under my hand at St. Louis, Missouri this Twenty-Third day of October Two Thousand Eight William D. Bassman [signature] William D. Bassman Chief, Reference Service branch National Archives and Records Administration National Personnel Records Center (CPR), St Louis, Missouri

Individual Record Civilian Conservation Corps ---------------- I. General Information Serial No. CC4-236405 Junior White Georgia (Class) (State) 1. Name: Craft, Thomas Spurgeon 2. Address: Rt. 3, Elberton, Georgia 3. Date of birth: December 26, 1919 4. Birthplace: Elbert Co. Georgia 5. Nearest relative: Bennie Craft, Rt. 3, Elberton, Georgia 6. Citizenship: (Native born); naturalized 7. Color: White 8. Military or naval service: [blank] 9. Height: 70 Weight: 125 Complexion: [illegible] Color of hair: Red      color of eyes: Blue Scars or identifying marks: [illegible] 10. Education (circle highest grade completed: Grammar school 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8; high school, 1 (2) 3 4 11. Occupational qualifications: Occupation: Farm Length of Experience: 8 Years 12. Were you previously a member of the Civilian Conservation Corps? No II. Oath of Enrollment I, Bennie [Thomas] Craft, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that the information given above as to my status is correct. I agree to remain in the Civilian Conservation Corps for the period terminating at the discretion of the United States between Oct 2? 1937 Apr 25 19?? unless [?] released by proper authority, and that I will obey those in authority and observe all the rules and regulations thereof to the best of my ability and will accept such allowances as may be provided pursuant to law and regulations promulgated pursuant therefore. I understand and agree that any injury received or disease contracted by me while a member of the Civilian Conservation Corps cannot be made the basis of any claim against the Government, except such as I may be entitled to under the act of September 7 1916 (39 Stat. 742 [illegible] provide compensation for employees of the United States suffering injuries while in the performance of their duties and for other purposes), and that I shall not be entitled to any allowance upon release from camp, except transportation in kind to the place at which I was accepted for enrollment. I understand further that any articles issued to me by the United States Government for use while a member of the Civilian Conservation Corps are, and remain, property of the United States Government and that willful destruction, loss, sale or disposal of such property renders me financially responsible for the cost thereof and liable to trial in the civil courts. I understand further that any infraction of the rules or regulations of the Civilian Conservation Corps renders me liable to expulsion therefrom. So help me God. Place: Athens, Georgia Signature: [too faint to see] [Illegible] 26th day of October, nineteen hundred and thirty seven Charles A. Hope, 1st L.T. Cavalry-Reserve Enrolling Officer

My Family on My Kindle

     There are a number of different things my Kindle (ebook reader) is good for besides just reading books. Among those, just about all are useful for genealogists.

     The simplest, and most obvious, feature is the Kindle's ability to read PDF documents. Just about every genealogy software program should be able to create charts and reports that can be saved as PDF documents. These documents can be loaded onto the Kindle via email or a USB cable. Once on the Kindle, I can view these just like I would a book, flipping through the different pages. Also, because these documents are PDFs, I can zoom in for a closer look.  This is a great feature that will allow you to cary around your family tree without carrying around stacks of papers or a computer.

     Here are a few shots of my cascading pedigree chart on my Kindle.


  

     Here are a few other ways to use your kindle for genealogy:

• Collect sets of photos and save them into a PDF document
• Use a hack to set family photos as screen savers
• Save podcasts and other audio files, which can be played using the mp3 player
• Browse websites, blogs and email using the web browser
• Publish your own family history book and publish it on Amazon or send it as PDF for free to family and friends to read on their Kindles
• And of course, read Genealogy books you buy from Amazon or other ebook retailers

     These are just the different things that I can think of right now. Anyone else have any suggestions?