Keep Looking

This past weekend, my Aunt from Alabama traveled to Colorado for a visit. My parents, my sister and her family, myself and my family, and our Aunt, all gathered in Leadville, Colorado to create some fall memories. While there, I wanted to get back to the Evergreen Cemetery to correct a mistake I made a few years ago: insufficient headstone photos. 

Thomas Perkins was born in England, and I first discovered his headstone about five years ago. The story is a bit long, so bear with me. 

Thomas Perkins was the first husband of Mary Isabelle Daniel. Mary was born in 1868 in Cornwall, England, and is the mother of three children. She arrived in America and appears to have traveled almost directly to Colorado. Although still unclear where the marriage between them took place, they ended up in Leadville, which is the highest incorporated town in the United States, sitting just above 12,000 feet in elevation. In the late 1800s, it was a booming city, and was even considered for the Colorado state capitol at one point. The town was the epicenter of the various mineral rushes in Colorado through the late 1800s and through the 1900s. 

After Thomas died in 1900, Mary continued on in Leadville for a few years. She ran a boarding house on East 5th Street, just three blocks from where my sister lives today. For whatever reason, in 1910, she and her children traveled to Springview, Keya Paha County, Nebraska, where she married my great grand uncle, Dick Heerten. Technically, she responded to his ad in "Lonely Hearts" magazine, or so the family story goes, and they were married within minutes of her stepping off the train. They then headed out to his farm, where they raised her three children, and life appears to have progressed fairly smoothly for the couple. 

What does all this have to do with Evergreen Cemetery? 

The thing is, our family never knew about Mary and her first husband until just a couple of years ago when I managed to dig it up from the black hole of history where family stories go to die. I put the pieces together and when I finally realized the truth of the story, my family was a little more than surprised. Not only has this particular line (the Heerten's) never before had any connection with Colorado, it was absolutely crazy to us that Mary and Thomas lived in Leadville. The town where my sister and her family had moved to about twelve years ago. A town that none of us had ever heard of before that point, and a town that has since captivated us a bit with its history. 

As this story started to unravel, I went to Evergreen Cemetery in Leadville and found the headstone of Thomas Perkins. I was unsure of his birth date, and his actual death date, and was really hoping there would be more information there. With no images available online that I could identify (at the time, at least; after I found the memorial, I created a place for him on FindAGrave.com), I really felt I needed to see the headstone. And I'm glad I did. 

Headstone of Thomas Perkins, Evergreen Cemetery.
Leadville, Lake County, Colorado
Copyright Jen Baldwin, 2014.

I was excited to find his marker, and several other's with the surname Perkins. I took the time to document all of the stones in the plot, and got the close up of course of the iinscriptionon Thomas' stone. 

Headstone of Thomas Perkins, Evergreen Cemetery.
Leadville, Lake County, Colorado
Copyright Jen Baldwin, 2014.

My mistake came when I walked away without a clear image of the two symbols on his marker. Although relatively common, they are significant enough that I knew I needed to confirm them, leaving no doubt as to their meaning. If you are familiar, you may immediately recognize them. This is what I was determined to correct this past weekend, and I did just that when I visited the site again, accompanied by my husband and my Dad. (Great experience, to walk a cemetery with the two men in this world I love the most.)

Copyright Jen Baldwin, 2014

Copyright Jen Baldwin, 2014

You may know them, you may not. The top one is a bit harder to see, but it is the anchor and shield of the Association of United Workmen. The initials, A.O.U.W. are often inscribed across the symbol, as seen here.  The lower symbol is an Elk inside a shield, representing the Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks. Both were prominent organizations in Leadville history. 

The Elks is a great one for me, as I already know the lodge is still active, and my sister has friends who are members. I have an "in" for any future research I may want to do. The A.O.U.W. may be a little more challenging, however, as the Leadville lodge has since gone defunct, and in fact, the organization as a whole has evolved into a life insurance company. The great part for me was as we walked over to the next plot, and I found this: 

A.O.U.W. Headstone, Evergreen Cemetery
Leadville, Lake County, Colorado
Copyright Jen Baldwin, 2014

I do not know if this person is affiliated in my research of Thomas Perkins in any way, but I'm grateful for them, nonetheless. Why? Because the Lodge for the A.O.U.W. is identified on their marker! "Excelsior Lodge No. 5" is inscribed along the top edge, with the A.O.U.W. symbol on the front angle. Although more ornate than the version on the Perkins stone, there is no doubt that this is the same organization. YES, there could have been more than one lodge in Leadville. NO, there is no guarantee that this was also Thomas Perkins' lodge, but it is a place to start. I almost missed it; I almost just walked on by. But for whatever reason, I didn't. I looked down and paused. I took a second look. 

And that is why I say, keep looking.  You never know what is going to be right under your feet. 

First Images from the 1940 US Census!

Here's what I managed to acquire before the servers at the National Archives slowed down to the point of not moving (about 30 minutes in!). I am confident they will have all issues resolved soon and we will all be happily searching and indexing away! 

Four images from Orting, Pierce County, Washington and 1 from Keya Paha County, Nebraska. 

UPDATED: Added images from Lake County, Oregon and Lake County, Colorado. 

Best of luck to you!

Youth In Cemetery

Leadville Girl Scouts

 Are kids, our next generation, interested in genealogy?

Well, maybe not. But I think we can do something about that. For the past year, I have been working with a local Girl Scout Troop in Leadville, Colorado. I have three nieces in the group, and my sister is one of the leaders, so it was a pretty easy and natural thing for me to be involved, and to be excited about the chance to pass my passion on to someone else. Someone young.

Author and family with the
Cose family marker.

We started last summer by taking the girls to the Evergreen Cemetery in Leadville. We had a local history buff tour us through the headstones, and she was wonderful and full of information. She showed them different kinds of graves, different areas of the cemetery (i.e. The Elks, I.O.O.F.), and told a lot of entertaining stories. About half way through though, she lost her audience. The girls just stopped listening. They wanted to either be entertained or entertain themselves.

After the "official" tour, I stepped in. I talked to the group about headstone rubbings, and we practiced on a few newer graves. They had over sized paper and a crayon. They were pretty happy for about ten minutes. Most of the kids started to filter home at this point, and that was okay. They were done.

I had something else completely in mind for my nieces however. There was a headstone I needed to find. At the time, they were 7 and 9 years, so I told them we were going on a scavenger hunt. That perked them right up! I gave them a general area of the cemetery, which we found using the map I brought along, and set them loose. They were excited because they were in charge, and they had a goal. We'd been at the cemetery for over two hours at this point, and no other goal had been established for the group. I think that was mistake #1.

We did find who I was looking for, even though I ended up actually finding her, and not the girls. Catherine J. (Daniels) Cose, 1858-1941. She was the sister of my 2nd great aunt, and I had just recently made the connection to the Leadville area.  I could not believe how excited they were to find her and her family! To them, it was real. It wasn't just names on paper with dates and random stories about a person they'll never meet, it was there, in front of them. For the first time, we had evidence that someone else in our family had lived in Leadville; we had always thought that my sister's family were the first to be in the area. And here was someone that was in their town. 


The question is, "is the next generation interested in genealogy"? Yes, I think they are. You just have to make it real. Leading the group through the genealogy project this year, I started bringing a picture of the same guy every time; Oscar F. Brown, my 2nd great grandfather. Every time I met with them, we would start with holding him up, and saying "hello" to Oscar. We would repeat what we knew about him...  he lived in Nebraska, he fought in the Civil War... they were engaged. That brings them to being interested about the topic of the day, whether its different kinds of records, geography, or family crests.

Jennifer Holik, genealogist and author, will be releasing Branching Out: Genealogy for 1st-3rd Grade Students very soon. I'm excited. Very excited. You can see her other publications and blog at http://www.generationsbiz.com/. You should also check out her blog post on Archives.com, "Connecting Children With Their Past" for great tips on getting started: http://www.archives.com/experts/holik-urban-jennifer/kids-genealogy.html.

D.A.R.

When I hear that, DAR, my mind goes crazy. I think of all the things I could do, if only I could prove a connection to the original military struggle of our country. It would be amazing.

Tonight, I get to tell two nine year olds - and their parents - that they could indeed join the DAR with a little extra research and a few dollars. The benefits to these kids could be unimaginable... volunteer opportunities, networking with their future counterparts in education and business, scholarships, grants... the list goes on. Just having the prestigious organization on your college application is a huge boost. For children in rural areas like Lake County, Colorado, it could mean a significant difference in financial aid and grants for college. This is a BIG DEAL.

Founded in 1890, they currently have 170,000 members and 3,000 chapters, including all fifty states and some international chapters as well. (Source: http://www.dar.org/natsociety/whoweare.cfm).

A truly incredible opportunity for these girls. I hope they jump on it.

Month 1: Puzzles of Your Past

This past week I had the first of many meetings with the Leadville Girl Scout Troop, in our series entitled "Puzzles of Your Past".  Leading up to this project, I have been very excited to get going, but when the day finally came, I found myself somewhat anxious and yes, even a little nervous. What right do I have to teach genealogy concepts? And at that, what right do I have to teach them to a group of 7-10 year old's; the next generation of ancestry research?  My own three nieces, sitting front and center, looking up at me to guide them into what will surely be an exciting adventure into their past. What if I am boring?  Sin of sins! That was the worst thing for me at that age - a boring instructor. What if I'm that person? What if I talk down to them? What if I talk completely over their heads and they are totally lost? The whole project depends on them understanding the vocabulary and concepts being introduced in tonight's meeting!

I was nearly in a panic.

I arrived. Things were hectic. The Daisy troop were making tye-dyed t-shirts and most of the bigger kids were on the playground showing anybody who would look their endless energy.  Oh, boy.

Armed with a glass of water, some very familiar pedigree charts, and a laptop, I started to set up. The leaders had been through my material; they assured me it was great. I had reviewed the "must" list several times over the past hour. I had pictures, cartoons, even Darth Vader in my presentation! How can it possibly go wrong? Darth Vader!?!?!? He's too cool.

We started in. I was introduced, or rather, re-introduced to most of the girls. They all sat there, mostly attentive, and you could see those that were genuinely excited about this endeavor. We'd been talking to them about this for a couple of months, getting them ready. Making sure they knew this was going to require extra work. Trying to dig out of their brains where to focus, what would motivate them, which stories to tell, which questions to answer. There were a couple parent volunteers there, not many, and some afterwards that asked questions. For the most part, though, it was just me and the girls. Probably around 15 kids in my audience that night, and after a minute or two, I settled into my knowledge base and hoped for the best.

There were questions, sure, but not as many as I expected. They had a harder time making notes than they did understanding the difference between an ancestor, a descendant, and a direct or indirect descendant. They laughed at my jokes (whew!), they were quiet when asked to be quiet, and they asked - and answered - good questions.

We ended up having a great time.  What a relief.

Nearly all of them brought their "homework"; their pedigree charts given to them at the last meeting (without me).  Most of them seemed ok with the idea of being assigned more homework... but then, they have a month to do it in.

Here is what we covered, week 1:

• What is genealogy, and why should I care?
• The difference between "family history" and genealogy.
• How did my ancestors make an impact on me?
• Where to start.
• Historical Timelines, and they created a historical timeline on themselves.
• Pedigree charts
• Vocabulary: genealogy, family tree, ancestor, descendant

Next time, we will start researching... talking about where to research, what kind of documents or sources can be helpful and how to properly document that source. We'll look up a couple people from the SSDI and show them how a phone book can help in your genealogy project. 

I am not nervous.