Tombstone Tuesday--The Averill Mystery

Well, okay. It probably is only a mystery to me. But it does drive me crazy. And obviously I need to take the time to dig into the county records.
Bennett Cemetery, in Chester township of Ottawa County, Michigan is where my Great-great-great grandparents are apparently buried, along with many other Averills.
The above stone for Samuel Averill and two wives (consecutive, not simultaneous as far as I know,) is located in the background of this stone. According to the transcript given at the Bennett Cemetery link, they list this as Oscar V. Averill.
It seems to me though, while not completely clear here, that it says "Wife Of Oscar Averill", especially when I visited the site in person. They website also does not list the dates, which is also quite frustrating. The stone above for wife of Oscar, as well as on the Averill stone in the background both lists dates, as do others that I have picture of. Apparently whoever made the transcript decided not to fill in the information on that column.
I remember these stone was quite close to the deep ditch in front of the cemetery. It also is clear that it was broken. (duh!) I dearly wanted to dig a bit to see if a death date was also given. After all, if the top was broken off, so could the bottom have been broken. But I restrained myself.
Clearly, a call to the Chester township offices, or county clerk is in order.

Tombstone Tuesday--Blank Stones

One of the things I find frustrating, not to mention puzzling about some of my family stones is when the obviously places for recording information is left blank. Take for instance this family stone for my maternal great-great-grandparents.
A lovely large stone. The back view, which I can't find a picture of, is stacked logs which make it easy to locate in the cemetery. But.....look at all that space to record names and dates! The only information is the family name Samis on the bottom of the stone. It is clear to read, but look at that scroll hanging along the front of the stone.
Luckily there are also some individual stones for the family members. Here is the stone for GGGrandfather James Henry, who I blogged about here.
And his wife Sarah is located next to him, along with a couple children.
While not the best pictures, these two hold a special place in my heart. I found out a few years ago that some of my friends live on farm that was owned by James and Sarah. Located in the far northeastern corner of the county, it is quite drive, but is still great to visit, knowing that my ancestors walked the same ground.

A Peek Inside

I mentioned last week that our new History Center had opened. The changes that came together in this location were many.
What we have now is quite a change from the first view of our new digs. Before the remodeling the tin ceiling was pealing, the floors dusty, and while the original marble counters were there, so was an old piano. The wainscoting was plain paneling and there was dust everywhere.
I now have desk and computer and even my picture of my dad and 2 uncles, just after World War II on the wall behind me.
We have an antique display cabinet showing some artifacts from Gerber Products history. We have a family member who is actively supporting us and is helping to keep that rotating.
We need more books and more are being donated and processed, but this is a start of the collection. And notice the painted wainscoting? Looks much better. And the book cases were painted to match.
In addition to two wing-back chairs chairs near my desk, we have another seating area near one window for small groups to work at.
We are lucky in the presence of the local DAR chapter. They have a desk to work at while updating their cemetery records. They will be available for visitors to assist in researching their family history. Belva is also on the board and has been very supportive of our little endeavor.
While my desk was shown empty, (after all, I was taking the pictures), Sandy is once again my supervisor. Here she is hard at work at her desk. As our new director of the Terry Wantz Historical Research Center, she keeps more than busy.
Sometimes she can even keep me in line.
Hopefully we will soon be able to get back to our regular posting, with cemetery pictures and obituaries. It is so great to be back in the saddle again.

We Really Are Back

Yesterday, we came back.
The rather low-key opening of The Terry Wantz Historical Research Center--the new place of employment for Sandy and me. While we do not yet have as large a collection as we had access to at the library, we are growing one. All day yesterday and already today we had had bags and boxes of books donated to our collection. Our grand opening will be coming up. I'll be sure to blog it.
The story of why we had to leave our position at the library is in the past. Now we can go forward. If you are in the Fremont Michigan area we are located at 10 West Main Street, just down Main Street from our old location. While we are closed on Sunday and Monday, we are open 10 to 7 Tuesday and Wednesday, 10 to 5 Thursday and Friday, and on the first two Saturdays of the month from 10 to 2. Pictures will be coming.
Please feel free to come and see us.

Coming Soon To This Space

Before long, we hope to end the long drought. About a year or so ago, this blog was forced to be suspended. It has started as a departmental blog for our local history room where both Sandy and I were employed. The purpose was to share our love for history and cemeteries, as well as help publicize our department.

However, the director who had originally approved the blog decided he didn't approve the time spent on it. And after funding cuts, both of us were let go at the end of 2011.

We are in the process of setting up a new historical research center. We hope to be able to resume full time blogging soon. As well as providing a place for local historians and genealogists to continue their research with knowledgeable assistance from Sandy and I.

Since the local history room at the library is now open only 3 mornings and 1 afternoon a week, and is staffed by someone who is a rookie at local history (and knows nothing of genealogy), we hope the new center is up and running soon.

So please watch this space. We hope to be back at it soon.

I better find some more cemetery pictures.

Why we are taking a break from the blog

It is sad times for libraries all over and we have been hit with some major budget cuts.

Unfortunately as of 1st of June 2011 Linda and I will be cut back in hours and will not have time to do updates as regular on the blog as we have. After that date we may take on the blog again as private citizens and continue.

Linda does such a great job with her blogging and does most of it on her own time anyway so stay tuned, someday soon we will be back. Genealogy is in our blood we can't go all these years and just walk away from it.

Meanwhile we are enjoying some new adventures and trying to keep working as many hours as we can.

Thank you to everyone who followed us we love hearing from you. We will be back hopefully soon.

Spring is finally here

Spring finally has arrived and it is time for genealogist and history buffs to start visiting their favorite cemeteries and discovering new ones.
A lot of people ask why should you visit the cemetery if you already have the dates of the birth and death of your ancestor. It is because you never know what you might find.
You may uncover the grave of a child that passed on as an infant that left no records behind. You may find other family members buried in the area that you may not known of or have forgotten.
By looking at the stones in the area you may discover a symbol showing membership to a fraternal organization or religious membership. You may also find that your family member was in the military.
Once you visit the cemetery you often will find it a peaceful, relaxing place to visit in today's hectic world.
If you decide to do a rubbing it is best to practice at home first. If you do a rubbing or photograph of the stone please remember only wet the stone with clean water. By using anything else you are introducing a foreign element that will hasten the decay of the stone. Because of this not always being done, many cemeteries are now asking you not to do rubbings. Always check with the cemetery for their rules and regulations and abide by them.