"It Can't Be This Easy!"

.

As a kid of about 12...

I started asking relatives about our family. Who were they, where did they live, where did they come from, what did they do in their lives? Dad knew his great grandfather William Ellis West and Cincinnati, his wife - plus several of William's brothers. This would prove very helpful many years later. It was well known that the courthouse in Christian County, Kentucky was burnt down during the Civil War. He assumed all of the records were lost forever. A few years after Dad died his Aunt Eva died intestate (without a will) in Christian Co., KY. A legal problem surfaced concerning the estate that led me to an attorney in Hopkinsville for advice. As I left his office across the street was the courthouse with a large Historical Plaque. I decided to read it. The courthouse was burnt down during the Civil War, but the townspeople knew in advance... all records were saved back to the forming of the county in 1797 and still intact today! I checked records for William Ellis West using the index. In the first book he was listed with all of his siblings (several I knew from Dad) as heirs of their deceased father's interest in his father's share of the estate of his father! So, this one document stated that William Ellis West (with wife Cincinnati & his siblings and spouses) were the children of Jesse West, their father, who was the son of Charles H. West (Jesse's father) whose share of his father's (Thomas West) estate was the subject of this document. I thought this can not be this easy! I told the clerk of my discovery. A lady overheard me and told me about Shirley West Cain - a Christian County WEST expert! I called Shirley and gave my descent from William Ellis West to my grandfather Warner West. She asked that since Warner only had one son, Gaither, which of his kids was I... Glen, John or Don? She confirmed my whole line back to Thomas West and that I was qualified for Sons of the American Revolution (SAR)!

-Submitted by JGWest

"MARRYIN’ POLLY"

Transcribed from the Evansville Courier, Friday, 16 July 1909



Boonville, Ind., July 15 – Polly Weed Baker Shippert, married ten times, may have a chance to marry the eleventh time. Today acting through her attorney, A.J. Ruttledge of Newburg, she filed a suit for divorce against her husband Simon Shippert, to whom she was married in Evansville on March 29 last by Magistrate Eben C. Poole. They separated on July 3.



Mrs. Shippert is 70 years old and says in her complaint that Simon treated her in a cruel and inhuman manner making her do all the drudgery while he sat around smoking and chewing and making her home unpleasant. She also says she is afraid he will do her some bodily harm and asks for the full possession of her property which was hers before her marriage to Shippert.



Mrs. Shippert has probably been married more times and had more husbands than any other woman in America. A majority of her former husbands were divorced. A few days after her recent marriage, one of her friends asked her if she thought it would be her last marriage and to this question she is said to have replied: “I do not know. If I should lose Mr. Shippert I might try again. I live married life.”



The divorce case will be tried before Judge Roscoe Kiper of the Warrick County circuit court some time next term. If Mrs. Shippert is given her divorce, she will retired to Newburg where she has a home and is comfortably fixed.



The fact that the last matrimonial venture of Mrs. Shippert was a failure was a surprise to many of her friends at Newburg. On Decoration Day in May she and her husband went arm and arm together to the cemetery at Newburg, where she decorated the graves of her former husbands who are buried there. Mr. Shippert carried the large basket that contained the flowers while the aged woman did the work of decorating the graves. She is said to have remarked at the time while she loved all her former husbands at one time, she believed she thought a little more of Mr. Shippert than any of the rest.



Shippert’s former home was in Burlington, Iowa, where he was engaged in the insurance business. It is probable he will return to the Iowa town where he will try to forget his marital troubles



While Mrs. Shippert has been married ten times she has had but nine husbands as she married one husband the second time, having obtained a divorce from him and afterwards consenting to be his wife again.

- Submitted by Brenda Joyce Jerome, CG

Research Tip & Genealogy Story!

Interviews of Former Slaves

The Library of Congress hosts a collection of more than 2,000 interviews & 500 images of former slaves. These interviews were collected from the 20s - 40s and help preserve the memories of what life was like for many in slavery. The interviews are available online at http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/snhome.html.

From time to time, I like to search the collections for relevant information, in hopes of locating information on what life may have been like for my own ancestors. To date, I've found one story, that of a slave named Will of the Battle family of Edgecombe County, NC that particularly resonated with me since I had ancestors that were also owned by the same family. (see my blog post at http://is.gd/R2iF).

When searching the collection for Evansville-related stories, there are several that come up. Among those interviewed from Evansville include:

James Childress
Katie Sutton
Joseph William Carter
Elizabeth Jones
George Fortman
John Rudd
Samuel Watson
Adah Isabelle Suggs
George Taylor Burns
Dr. George Washington Buckner
Amy Elizabeth Patterson
George W. Arnold
Prof. W.S. Best (of Lincoln High School)
Samuel Bell

Now, I was all prepared to highlight one or two of these interviews and provide additional data as I could gather from additional research, but when I saw the name George Fortman on the list I was floored. Why? Because I think this is the ancestor of my mother-in-law's sister! This particular sister has a different father than she (we'll call the sister, J) and J has a grandfather named George Washington Fortman Jr. On my family tree site, I have a profile of him that is linked to some data sources, such as census records. (at http://is.gd/Reax).

So, I go back to GW Fortman Jr. and take another look at his father. I have his father listed as George Fortman Sr., which came from the Browning Database entry for him. When I looked again at Jr. in the 1930 census though, I noticed that his father is enumerated as George Ford.

So, when I go to read George Fortman's interview, the details of his life as he provides them are amazing. He is describing his ancestors and this Native American heritage. He is white plus Native American; the son of a white slave owner and his Native American slave. Even more astonishing to me is that he tells that he was named Ford George after his white father (James Ford George). The interviewer asked him if that is the case, why does he go by Fortsman? To this George replied that when the census taker came, the wife of his father told the census taker the true nature of George's birth and that she was raising George, but the census taker
convinced them to put down George Fordsman and switch it around.


To add to this: the interview provides George Fortman's address and this address is VERY near where J's George Ford was living in 1930. I found a George Ford in the 1920 census that is of similar age to J's George Ford, and he is listed as having the occupation of janitor at a business college. Guess what the interviewee George Fortsman did for 11 years? "Janitored" at Lockyear Business College! J's George Ford in 1930 is enumerated as a janitor at a church. J's George Ford was born around 1850-1855 in Kentucky. The interviewee George was born around this time in Kentucky as in the interview it is noted that he was too young to participate in the Civil War. J's grandfather, George Fortman Jr., lived in Illinois and many of his children, including J's father, were born there. George Fordsman the interviewee was employed by the Illinois Central Railroad Company. The interview states that George Fortsman was a 35 year resident of Evansville. The 1922 Evansville City directory does not contain any Fortsmans. But, there are two George Fords (that are noted as colored) and one is a janitor. There are some spelling issues in George Fortsman's interview, but I have located his white family based on information in the interview. The "Patent Ford" he speaks of was actually William Patton George (1768-1837). He said Patent's wife was Hester Lam, but her maiden name was actually Lamb. George states that their son, Ford George, was his father and that his father had married a woman named Lorraine. In the 1850 census, I found William P George & Hester George in Caldwell County, Kentucky (location consistent with George's interview) and in their household are 25 year old James F. George and 26 year old wife Luraine. I even found a picture on Ancestry that is labelled as possibly being William Patton George and son James Ford George (http://is.gd/RgU9).

So, I'm trying to figure this all out! Is this all coincidence or is J's George Ford the same as the interviewee George Fortsman? From what I've found so far, I'm starting to think it is, but I definitely need to gather more information.

This is why it pays to revisit sites regularly!

- Submitted by Taneya Koonce

“So, It Is Really True!”

IT WAS THE SPRING OF 1958...
...when I was in the fifth grade and was made aware for the first time that many, many generations of ancestors came before I was even born. I realized, that year, that the stories of long ago were based upon real times and real people, in spite of the fact that the actual story was fiction. It was truly a difficult thing for me to just accept – although Mom and Dad, my teacher and others were trying to convince me that things actually happened before my time or even my parents' time. So, my parents took me to several areas in Kentucky to visit the graves of some of my more recent ancestors (my great grandparents). They must have existed because they no longer existed. Now, that was hard for Dad to explain, but he said he knew these people and they were his grandparents. I saw no reason for Dad to lie about this. My West great grandparents were John William West & Hettie (Hester) Martin. Whoa! On their tombstone was a picture of them!!! They must have lived because there was their photo and Dad made a positive ID of them... he claimed that was exactly how they looked. Also, I was named after my great grandfather. This was proof that they existed and my father verified that it was true! [Us genealogists call that "documentation," something I needed to have then and still insist upon today!] Dad said boldly and with pride, “These are my grandparents!” I thought that if I had grandparents and Dad had grandparents, did my grandparents have grandparents and did these people (my great grandparents) also have grandparents. Dad said that, indeed, that was true. Well, who were these people; and, sadly Dad said “I do not know!” Well, I have been searching ever since for who these people are. That was over 50 years ago!

By the way, we went to see my great grandfather's grave in Owensboro, Kentucky. It was a Civil War Marker for James Tobias Long. I looked at Mom and Dad and stated with my newfound wisdom and experience - “So, the Civil War really happened!”

- Written & submitted by John G. West

"What is a Genealogist?"

We sold our Camp at Yellow Banks, Selvin, IN on Sat. So, we have been busy trying to pack up everything that was in the mobile home and two sheds and some of the more "precious" outdoor ornaments (especially the gnomes). So, I took a vacation day yesterday and another today. We are exhausted. Murphy's Law has come into play, as usual, in the last two days I have gotten some extremely intriguing emails concerning three of my direct lines, but I do not have time to really examine the details. I do not have much time to put together a blog article today, so I will send you to a great blog by Brenda Jerome (TSGS Board Member) that wrote a great article "For Genealogists Only" on her Rambling Thoughts blog. Click on the title and read her witty story of just what is a genealogist.

Tidbit of genealogical trivia: if you begin with you as generation one and go back to generation ten (7th. Great Grandparents), you have a little over 1,000 ancestors. If you go back just 10 more generations to the 20th. generation (your 17th. Great Grandparents), you pick up way over ONE MILLION more ancestors!

"Poeny Flatt"

The cry of warning for the last several years has been to beware of the Internet because so much of the data does not have any documentation. To many who are worried about beginners losing there way, this is the biggest genealogical crisis of our day. It is important to have the source of your information listed with your data. This allows others to check your findings and to be able to determine the weight of the source as to its probable reliability. What about other media that publish genealogical data like books and newspapers? Much of it is also undocumented and sometimes not accurate. Often there are errors in books that are published transcriptions of original records. There are the obvious “human errors” of typo errors, skipped data, transposing letters or the ever tempting error of correcting the spelling or errors in the records. And, of course, there are errors in original documents – some are falsified records for whatever reasons. I think the biggest error is interpreting handwriting over the ages in addition to the faded or stained condition of the records.

I have an example of a reliable transcriber who has published many genealogical research books. This one is about “Poeny” Flatt. The Flatt families were heavily concentrated in New Jersey in the 1700's. They began migrating together with the oldest seeming to be three brothers: John, Henry and the oldest Benjamin. Location and record after another these three and others could be found as they migrated from place to place. One time though it appeared that Old Benjamin must have died as he was not listed with the others. There were several “new” Flatt men that must have come of age during this time and one had an odd name that the transcriber just mentioned decided that the name was clearly spelled “Poeny” Flatt. Later in another location Old Benjamin shows up again, he did not die afterall. I suspected that he was just missed in the transcribing from the original record. So, I got the microfilm of it and went through it... I did not find a Benjamin either. I took a close look at the name “Poeny” and became suspicious of the beginning of his name and I found another man with the first name that almost looked like “Poeny” except the first letters looked kind of like it could be one letter a “B.” Then I found a family “Butler” that had a similar “B” that could pass for “Po” if you were not careful. I went back to the Poeny Flatt and noticed that the “y” looked more like a “j” to me. I thought about this for a few seconds and realized that the letters were actually “B-e-n-j” WOW it was the abbreviation of Benj. Mystery solved. I sent this around to everyone that I could find that had “Poeny” Flatt. Amazing that now we see Benjamin as having a nickname of “Poeny” which many has insisted is a spelling error for the nickname of “Poney” or “Pony” with at least two insisting that he was named after the flower “Peony.”

- Submitted by JGWest

NOTE: The Benjamin "Poeny" Flatt that has been transformed into "Poney" is a transcription error for the name "Benj." I have seen the microfilmed copy of the records that list old Benjamin as "Poeny" - the "P" & "o" combine to form the capital letter "B" and the "y" is the letter "j" which all put together is "B+en+j" = "Benj." the common abbreviation for the name "Benjamin". This is my favorite example I use in my "Old Handwriting" sessions I present at our genealogical library and for members of my genealogical society and to the 4-H kids I help in their genealogy projects. JGW

"Laval Block Building - Evansville, Indiana"

Dr. John Laval was born in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany, on the 24th of May, 1826, and had therefore passed the seventy-third milestone on life's journey when he was called to his final rest on the 2nd of September, 1899. His father, who was forest master, died in the year 1841, after which the family removed to the city of Mainz. There he learned the druggist's trade and had gained an expert knowledge of the business when he sought the opportunities of the new world, coming to Evansville in 1849. The following year he opened a drug store on Main street and later removed to the location where the business is still conducted by his sons. For almost forty years he continued successfully in the trade in Evansville, remaining as proprietor of the establishment until 1889, when he retired. He also engaged in the practice of medicine for twenty years and had comprehensive knowledge concerning the use of medicinal properties as well as expert skill in compounding them. In 1870 he was elected treasurer of the People's Savings Bank, which position he filled for seven years. At different times he invested in real estate until he was the owner of considerable property, including two large business blocks which he erected — the well known Laval Block building and another on West Franklin street. He served as county commissioner in the '80s and for four years before his death filled the position of trustee in the Willard library. Mr. Laval was united in marriage to Miss Mary Krou, of Evansville, and they became the parents of eleven children, eight of whom are now living, namely : Mrs. George Brose ; Henry, who is engaged in the drug business ; William, a member of the medical profession ; Mrs. Tom Brose ; Mrs. Fred Geiger, Jr.; Mrs. Ed Nesbit; Otto, who is engaged in the real-estate business; and Ed. One son, Charles F. H., who reached mature years, is now deceased, and George and Emma have also passed away. { HISTORY OF THE CITY OF EVANSVILLE AND VANDERBURG COUNTY, INDIANA By FRANK M. GILBERT, Volume II [ILLUSTRATED] CHICAGO:THE PIONEER PUBUSHING COMPANY 1910 BIOGRAPHICAL, Page 116 - JOHN LAVAL [as edited by JGWest].}

Happy Valentine Day!

My Mother Selma Inez Rough (pronounced as in cow) Counts was born 1 November 1920 upstairs in the Laval Building. The building was named after Dr. Laval. My Mother's Father Eugene Clifton Rough had a business on the main floor called Home Art. This was a picture copying service. - Submitted by Don Counts (Photos provided by Don Counts... Laval Block Building photo taken by Don Counts.)

“Local History in Far Away Cemeteries”

[Reminder: TSGS will meet tonight at Willard Library. HELP Session at 6:30 PM “Ohio Research” conducted by Rena Goss. Regular TSGS Monthly Meeting at 7:30 PM Grandma's Photo Album” will be the program as presented by Larry Goss.]

While it is important to keep up with local cemeteries, there are unexpected finds out of state that can really help local genealogy searches. Pastor George Bachmann [1837-1906?] was pastor at Emanuel Lutheran Church in Evansville from 1875-1895. He had served a church in Cincinnati Ohio before he came here, and returned to Ohio, where he served a church in Cleveland. I came across a site for a cemetery in Cincinnati [http://www.springgrove.org/] which showed me an area that contained information about his first wife, her parents and grandparents, his first two children who died in infancy, his two daughters by his first wife who grew up in Evansville, their children and grandchildren who lived in many places but chose to be buried in Cincinnati. The most recent burial listed for this family was 1997. The cemetery was opened in 1845, and some of the burials for this family were actually transfers from other cemeteries or holding areas. These transfers could take place many years later. Graves sold for the burial of infants were quite small.

By checking the number assigned to each individual I could find the information that the cemetery had on file. This included the relationship of the deceased to the owner of the plot - i.e. "great grandson in law to owner". But even this wonderful site makes mistakes in transcription. I checked into a Rev. Dutch, buried in 1892. His information sheet listed him as Pastor Fred Dulitz, whom I recognized as the pastor who had worked in Posey County in 1848, and in Vanderburgh County in the 1860s. Now I have to find out what his connection was to this family. [Names listed include these with Evansville connection: Bachmann, Duebel, Zaring, Monninger, Saupert, Scheufler, Burkhardt, Dulitz, and Erkenbrecher.]
- Submitted by Karin Marie Kirsch, a former TSGS President & Current TSGS Board Director

"Children Reunited in Family Tree"

Grandma Ivy [Floro] Rough with Santa

John Wakelin (Wakeland) and Maria Grimwood of Warrickshire England had a son Joseph Waklin (Wakeland) 1831-1877 and a daughter Maria R. W. Wakeland 1845-1863. Their tree was reunited when Eugene Clifton Rough and Ivy May Floro were married on 12 December 1916. Ivy's Mom Sarah Francis Webb, her Mom Maria Wakelin, her Dad John Wakelin. Eugene's Mom Sarah Anetta Wakelin, her Dad Joseph Wakelin and his Dad John Wakelin. Maria and Joseph Wakelin were brother and sister born to their Father John Wakelin in Warrickshire England, making Ivy & Eugene second cousins. Eugene Rough and Ivy May [Floro] Rough are my grandparents. - Submitted by Don Counts

“A Heavy 4-H Project”

Yesterday, I wrote about judging different levels of the 4-H Genealogy Project. It reminded me of a little story that I would like to share. One of the 4-H young ladies was in her ninth year of 4-H Club work (they can only be in for 10 years or when they reach the age limit for members). One of the more outstanding 4-H'ers had been taking the Genealogy Project from her first year when it was called the “Family Tree Project.” Her name was Kendra Maasberg, her mother Cynthia was an active TSGS member and once served as TSGS Recording Secretary. Kendra did a thorough job of gathering all of the documents photocopied for her exhibit notebooks. She had birth, marriage applications, military records, death and obituaries. She had a photo of when someone was young, about the time of marriage and sometimes an later in life photo and a picture of their tombstone. She had deeds, census records, wills, education and church records for each person going back 8 generations. There were Generation Charts, Family Group Sheets, Additional Information Sheets, an essay for each year. Everything was placed in plastic protector sheets. As you can imagine this filled up several 4 inch loose-leaf notebooks – she had four that ninth year. When it was time to enter the exhibits, I was at the fair grounds to sign in the exhibits as the Genealogy Project Superintendent. Here comes Kendra using a cart to haul her notebooks in. After nine years, we knew each other fairly well and seeing that cart, I decided to kid her about it. I told her that there was a rule on weight limits for the project – no more than 50 pounds per 4-H'er. She laughed assuring me it did not weigh that much at all.

In Kendra's tenth year (her last), she comes in with five of those big notebooks and quickly asks what that weight limit was for the projects. She stated she looked through everything and could not find that rule. At first, I did not know what she was talking about (I had forgotten about my little joke). She said didn't you say that the total weight had to be under 50 pounds? I remembered and said yes that is correct. She smiled really big and proudly stated the total weight of her five notebooks was 49.7 pounds! The joke was on me that year. - Submitted by John G. West

From My Email Box - "Spin Humor"

We all get far too many of the forwarded items in our email that purport to be true and generally relays information we just absolutely need to know. Often it warns us of the “sinful” actions of certain businesses, groups or persons. Usually with a political overtone or aimed at certain elements of society that some people deem unacceptable. We should be careful not to forward false messages of this manner or any other, as far as that goes. Just like we should avoid “unproven” genealogical data. What genealogy we send out needs to be verified, documented. I suspect that we are all guilty of forwarding messages & information before we fully check out its validity. Here are two very good sites to verify before forwarding messages:

Snopes.com Rumors has it
http://www.snopes.com/
About.com – Urban Legends by David Emery
Internet hoaxes, email rumors and urban legends http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/internet/a/current_netlore.htm
Another one is:
Hoax-Slayer
http://www.hoax-slayer.com/

In some cases the message is humorous, despite its intent to deceive or mislead. I got one of these yesterday from a friend. This one can be found on Snopes & About.com by typing in “horse thief” in their search engines. Snopes is best on this one: http://www.snopes.com/politics/humor/horsethief.asp

I have used fictitious names to protect the innocent!

Ibee A. Rumor, a professional genealogy researcher here in Heilman, IN, was doing some personal work on her own family tree. She discovered that John West's [See photo below] great-great uncle, Sigmund West, was hanged for horse stealing and train robbery in Montana in 1889. Both Ibee and John West share this common ancestor. The only known photograph of Sigmund shows him standing on the gallows in Montana territory. On the back of the picture Ibee obtained during her research is this inscription: ''Sigmund West, horse thief, sent to Montana Territorial Prison 1885, escaped 1887, robbed the 'Montana Flyer' six times. Caught by Pinkerton detectives, convicted and hanged in 1889.” [See photo below] So Ibee recently e-mailed Blogger John G. West for information about their great-great uncle.

Believe it or not, John West's staff sent back the following biographical sketch for her genealogy research: “Sigmund West was a famous cowboy in the Montana Territory. His business empire grew to include acquisition of valuable equestrian assets and intimate dealings with the Montana railroad. Beginning in 1883, he devoted several years of his life to government service, finally taking leave to resume his dealings with the railroad. In 1887, he was a key player in a vital investigation run by the renowned Pinkerton Detective Agency. In 1889, Sigmund passed away during an important civic function held in his honor when the platform upon which he was standing collapsed.”

NOW THAT is how it's done folks! That's real SPIN.

- Compiled & edited by JGWest

John G. West [above], who is related [alleged, no documentation offered] to the hanged horse thief, Sigmund West [below].

"The Daniel Hicks Mystery"

This blog was not created for queries; however, I will review any interesting story or intriguing mystery that anyone wishes to submit. But, be advised that unless I have nothing else to say (which is very rare!), I generally will not publish such material. This one caught my fancy and I thought many of the TSGS "research detectives" might give all of us some ideas to solve this mystery... just click on "COMMENTS" at end of this article (after the time stamp) to make your ideas known. JGW

Mr. West, I am not sure whether the following story would be properly posted to this blog, so I hope you review it before being "officially posted." - CW

I am trying to locate more information on DANIEL HICKS who was the father of my great-grandmother, Nancy Caroline Hicks. All I know about him is the following: Pope County, Illinois Marriage Book A, page 504 -- Daniel Hicks to Martha Ann McCurdy on 9 Feb 1849; shortly after the birth of their daughter Nancy in May of 1850 Daniel disappeared and was never seen again; Martha and Nancy, but not Daniel, were listed in the Pope Co., IL, 1850 U.S. Census in the home of Martha's sister and brother-in-law, James and Nancy King; Martha got a divorce between May 1850 and Sept 1851 in Pope Co., IL. My grandmother (Nancy's daughter, Mary Adella Smith Knauff) told me: "My grandfather Hicks was a mystery, one of those things never solved. He and grandmother was at her father's visiting shortly after the birth of Nancy and decided to move to their neighborhood (William McCurdy lived in Pope County, IL, probably near Wool) and he told her she could stay and he would go back and move their things (where these things were located is not known, probably in Pope Co., IL or in Kentucky where Daniel was from - also unknown). He kissed her goodbye and drove away in the wagon expecting to be back with their furniture and he was never heard of again. They never knew if he met with foul play or what. They knew of no relatives of Daniel." Nancy Caroline Hicks (who married Joseph Smith) gave Kentucky as the birthplace of her father on the 1880 U.S. Census: Franklin Co, IL, Eastern twp, E.D. 15, p. 79, Household #265, Joseph and Nancy C. Smith.

I would be so happy if someone knows of Daniel Hicks' life before or after 1850 and could tell me what happened to him. Carolynn Waldon -- Waldonhaus at aol dot com

The challenge is on, what genealogical sleuth will be first to resolve Carolynn's mysterious disappearance of her great-great-grandfather Daniel Hicks? Send your comments to me or just click "comments" after the time stamp: "Posted by Tri-State Genealogical Society at 6:15 AM 0 comments."

“A Tribute to a Friend”

J. Jeff Hays

1929 - 2008

I want to remember a friend who's funeral is today (27 Dec 2008). In order to make this more genealogically related, I need to first tell you a story about names in my WEST family line (which is connected with my friend).

John William West had 3 daughters and six sons, all of them but one made it to full adulthood. Gaither was only 15 when he died of appendicitis. My grandfather Warner West named my father after his younger brother, Gaither, with the full name of Gaither Glennis West. Dad named my older brother Gaither Glennis West, II who named his first born son, my nephew, Gaither Glennis West, III. I was given the name of John from my great grandfather John William West. I got my middle name from the actor, Gregory Peck. When we had our first son, I did not want him to be tagged as “Junior” - so, I gave him the name Phillip Gregory West. Then came son #2 (I gave him my first name of John) and later son #3 was not named after me... so, we named him after everyone else in the family with 3 given names – James William Warner West. Warner was my grandfather's name (Dad's father).

Now, I can tell you about my friend. J. Jeff Hays passed away on Monday 22 Dec 2008 and will be laid to rest today. Jeff was 78, he had lived a good life serving for about 24 years as an Indiana State Representative. In 1975 Jeff ran for Mayor of Evansville and asked me to serve on his campaign committee along with some very impressive people... I was deeply honored and thought that if he were elected that he would have been a very good mayor. It seemed like everything we saw or wrote around our house was “Hays for Mayor.” My oldest son, Phillip was Autistic and could not, at age 4, speak and did not write, but he ended up using toy blocks to spell out “Hays for Mayor!” That, of course, pleased Jeff and his wife, Mary Lou, to no end! When Jeff ran for office he always used the name “J. Jeff Hays” - most of us wondered what could the initial “J” stand for: Jacob, Jeremiah, Jedidiah, Junior or other unpopular names. None of us had the nerve to ask. But 1975 was the year for us to learn his first name. My #2 son was born that year shortly before the fall election. I had given Phillip my middle name, so I would have to give #2 my first name “John,” but what name shall we give him for a middle name? I really liked the name of John Gaither West, except for two reasons. 1) my brother seemed to be “stuck” with the name as he often said and had named his son, my nephew, the same name. Maybe using the name in my line might be like trying to take it away from his line. 2) Jeff's opponent was the current Evansville Mayor and his City Controller just happened to be named John Gaither (Gaither was his last name instead of a given name). I felt as if using the name Gaither would cast a question of loyalty in my dedication to Jeff's campaign, as was also advised by several on Jeff's committee. I did not want “John” to be a “Junior” so we thought about using his initials like the "Good Times" TV show that had a “JJ” character that often said “Dynamite!” If we had used the Gaither name, he would have been “JG” to avoid the “Junior” designation. We thought a lot about his name... I finally decided to name him after one of my favorite Presidents, Thomas Jefferson. I really liked the sound of “John Thomas West” or “John Jefferson West.” We could call him “JT” or “JJ”... we liked “JJ” the best. Therefore, #2 became John Jefferson West. But, guess what – the “J” in Jeff's name stood for John and Jeff was short for Jefferson. I had accidentally named him for Jeff... who was very, very pleased. My associates thought I was trying to win a high position in the Mayor's appointments if he were elected. Jeff did not win election, but I finally found the courage to tell Jeff the truth about how we named JJ. I wished I had not told him, because he was so sad with the true account of his “namesake!” Jeff continued as a State Representative and was very well regarded in the state, as well as, in the Evansville area. I was always pleased that my #2 son had the name of such a great public servant as John Jefferson Hays.

See Jeff's obituary here:
http://obits.courierpress.com/CourierPress/Obituaries.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=121811007

“Like Father, Like Son”

When I was growing up, Dad would say that what belonged to him and Mom belonged to all of us... the whole family. However, I was somewhat different than Dad, as I felt like what was mine was mine and what belonged to the family was mine, too! As a kid I was basically selfish and ambitious (so, what's new, right?). I remember Dad and I walking through the woods behind our home in rural Warrick Co., IN. I was about 10 years old and full of questions. “Dad, is this YOUR woods?” He said that it was OUR woods. So, Wow! This was MY woods!!! Later that year, for Christmas, we went to Florida to visit Grandma Gilkey, who lived near Miami. It was a little too cool to swim – we went to an island to collect shells instead. From the island we had a great view of the Miami skyline with the beautiful tall buildings. Dad said, “Look kids, there is Miami.” It was really impressive. I asked Dad, “Is it MY Ami, too?”

I was not like my father, but my middle son was a lot like his father... selfish and ambitious. If you asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up, the answer was “Rich!” When the 3 boys were young, my wife stayed home to raise them. So, money was, generally, kind of tight. Sometimes when one needed something, we had to wait, at least until payday. This middle son (age 5 to 7) would ask for things he needed, as well as, things we really did not want him to have. When we could afford to get him what he asked for, we just got it for him. When I didn't have the money right then or I did not want him to have something, I would simply say, “When I get rich, I will get it for you.” He was happy & content with that and went along to play. It was amazing how well this worked! This went along fine for about 2 years and solved a lot of problems. One day when he was about 7 years old, he came up to me while I was going over some genealogy notes, “Dad... Dad... DAD!” I said, “WHAT?” He asked me, “you are never going to get rich, are you?” - by John G. West

“Twins & Genealogy”

Have you ever thought about twins and genealogy? They have the exact same family history. So, is it easier? I suspect it could only be easier, if the two team up to research together. And, when you think about it, all siblings with the same mother & father would have the same family with twins just starting at the same time. I brought this up because I thought about one of TSGS former Presidents, Ken Franks. Ken has joined his ancestors now, but around 20-25 years ago, I talked him into being a 4-H Family History Project judge at the county 4-H fair. Carol Lantaff and I were in charge of the project. The project was somewhat involved with 5 generation charts, family group sheets and individual “additional information” sheets. All of this required listing documentation/sources. In addition the 4-H'er was asked to include photos, some birth, marriage applications or death certificates and other actual (photocopied) records. Since some 4-H members might have someone that had done extensive family research and the scope of the project was limited to completing a five generation history, the project called for an annual 2-page written activity or story. This was to ensure that each year there was something that had to be done and help balance out the kids that were starting from nothing and the ones with 5 generations already done by Aunt Lucinda. The project required so much to be completed in 3 divisions set-up by age – all was cumulative.

Some of you have probably already figured out what I will be telling you. The year Ken judged these projects, we had a set of twins. We had 3 judges one for each division – Ken had the twins in his senior division. Since they were born on the same day and had all the same ancestors, the only things that were different was the given names for the charts and on their birth certificates. Since they were twins all of the photos that included one of them, included both of them. These twin boys had older sisters and a mom that helped them type, proof read and check sources, etc. The girls had been in the project several years and this was the boys seventh year or so. Everything was nearly perfect. They were required to write about the same subject; and, although, they approached the subject differently, they were equally well done. These two notebook exhibits were clearly the best two, the judge needed to select a champion and a reserve champion. Ken asked me if it was permissible to give two champions for that senior division. I said that he would have to pick one as champion and the other as reserve. He said, “but, they are almost exactly alike!” I told him the twins competed in a lot of projects in a lot of years and generally was chosen as the top two – they were used to one beating out the other. Ken needed to flip a coin or look for typo errors. I am not totally sure how he picked the champion, but Ken refused to judge again! - by John G. West

“A Story About a Newspaper Story”

I recently reviewed a newspaper clipping of a story of one of TSGS former Presidents, Donald Counts. I remember when he got elected President the subject of this story. I first met Don at Central Library in Downtown Evansville. We were waiting at the locked area assigned to the DAR Genealogy Collection. It was only open one day a week for a few hours. One of the DAR ladies would come to unlock the room soon; and, we could do some research. I was really new to doing genealogical research; however, I had been collecting family data since I was about 10 or 11. Don introduced himself and we talked. He told me about this other library called Willard that had a much bigger collection than this DAR collection. He also mentioned this society that he belonged to, suggesting that I should join it. Whoa! What in the world would I want to be a member with a whole lot of old “high society” ladies? I did not have a positive image of societies. Don was a likable regular guy... not what I would call someone that normally would “hobnob” with some society. I finally went to Willard and was very much impressed with the size of the collection. I did not think about this society business again until one day I saw this article about Don in the Evansville Press. I was reading the paper at home and called for Becky to see the “library guy” I had told her about. Wow, he was elected President of the Tri-State Genealogical Society. The article told all about his journey finding his family roots. I decided that if he could get elected President of this group, they must not be too bad. I visited the very next meeting and everyone was so nice. I even knew several people there, so I joined. I soon learned that my notion of societies was biased and not based on any facts.
Don is a unique individual that is active in a lot of very important organizations. He is in Indianapolis today participating in the Governor's Planning Council for People With Disabilities Conference. He has been active with Marine and other veterans groups. Don later proved his ancestry back to Revolutionary War time and was able to join the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR). He talked me into joining this organization, too. Don marches in parades and attends events as part of the SAR Color Guard. Don just completed two one-year terms as the President of the Ohio Valley SAR Chapter. He holds the office of State Chaplain of the Indiana Society SAR. In TSGS he currently serves on the Long Range Planning Committee.

See Don's news story in the Browning People Study online database:
http://local.evpl.org/views/viewimage.asp?ID=801239
- by John G. West

Photo taken at the SAR Informational table at this fall's TSGS Seminar. L-R: Becky West, Ken Gilkey, Peggy Gilkey, Don Counts, John G. West.

Taken in the church basement where the TSGS fall Seminar was held for 2008. The Ohio Valley SAR Chapter displayed a total of 12 flags (10 were Colonial flags). These three are (L-R): John G. West, Don Counts, Ken Gilkey.

"Big Doggie"

I began serious genealogical research in 1978. The same year the youngest of my three sons was born. When I first traveled to various courthouses in Kentucky, to keep me company, I would bring Becky and the kids with me. I did some courthouse & library research added visits to lots of cemeteries and sometimes living relatives. We would have a nice picnic lunch and for the most part Becky and the boys liked the generally all-day outings. They loved running through the cemeteries with all of the neat statues and tombstones. I took a lot of the kids pictures while they stood behind ancestors' stones. Over a few years, we had visited over forty cemeteries. My youngest must have thought visiting cemeteries was a normal way of life and that it was important to go into the cemetery and check for family markers (bear in mind this was before we had nice cemetery transcribed, indexed books). Where ever we traveled, he would see a cemetery and shout, “Dad, there is a cemetery, don't you want to stop and check for our family?” He was only 3 or 4 years old and cemetery searching was his most exciting family activity!

One evening before sundown, we learned of a cemetery in Grayson Co., Kentucky where my great, great grandmother Rhoda [Kimble] Wood was buried. The cemetery had narrow roads around it with little space to park. I pulled over close to a pasture fence and began my search. I had noticed the cows were making their way to the barn to be fed and milked for the night. The sun was beginning to set and I was lucky to find the grave before it got dark. It was a humbling feeling to see her grave. Mom had talked about her ever since I could remember... it was almost like meeting her – what a great feeling!

Becky and the kids stayed in the car since it had been a long day and everyone was tired. I shut off the car engine and all the windows were rolled down to enjoy the cool evening breeze. As I headed back to the car, I noticed that it was rocking back and forth – what in the world was happening? Becky started yelling for me to come quick. I ran to the car and a cow had its head in the back window. About that time the poor cow got its head out and turned to go to the barn. The cow did not hurt itself or the car. Becky told me that our youngest son thought the cow was a big “doggie” and called it over to pet it. The cow came over and evidently wanted to be petted – which was done with delight by our son. I avoid using his name as he does not like us telling the “Big Doggie” story. - by John G. West

"Never Give Up"

Well, I am new to Blogging but here goes. I have done a lot of research for clients over the years and am still learning. Some years ago, my client's main interest was to learn where his ancestor came from in Germany. He could supply most of the family history after he arrived in Evansville, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, but his German origins were a mystery.

I did everything the good genealogist should do. Examined the Intentions and Naturalizations. Although I located both documents, unfortunately, before 1890 in Vanderburgh County intentions and naturalizations merely state the county from which one immigrates. Both documents stated Germany, which agreed with censuses but most censuses do not give any more data than a country. Death records, first recorded 1882 in Indiana, also stated Germany. Next searched were the microfilmed funeral home and church records. At least they were all consistent. He was born in (guess where?) Germany. An obituary in the German newspaper listed his birthplace as Germany and the Evansville city cemetery in which he was interred.

On to the cemetery. By now I was getting a little discouraged. The cemetery office verified the location of the gravesite and since I had failed so miserably to establish any data other than Germany, I decided maybe a photo of the grave would be a small consolation.

It was August around noon and 102 degrees in the shade. The grave was in the sun on top of a hill. After all my research I expected no stone. However, there it was except it had fallen face down. It was one of those old narrow tall ones about thirty six inches high. The longer I stood and looked in frustration at it, the more determined I grew to make a photo. So I grasped the edge and heaved with all my strength and flipped it over. Mercy me!

The inscription gave his name, birth date, the name of the little village and the German state in which it was located as his birthplace. Further, it stated his parent's names and his death date. The moral of this story is never give up! - by Bettie Cummings Cook, CG

"The Great Pitchfork Incident"

If you do research in Vanderburgh County, IN, then you must have looked at the two volumes of the county's smaller cemeteries compiled by Carol Lantaff and Glenda Trapp. When you worked with Glenda in the cemeteries transcribing tombstone records you were either crazy with a boring life or you came along to do some important work and have a good time doing it. Glenda was extremely meticulous in getting the stones read accurately and would often return to a cemetery numerous times to ensure its accuracy. She was perhaps the best there was in being able to cipher out the impossible to read markers. She would amaze us all when she would tell us what a blank stone had cleverly hidden from us at first glance. She would outline the letters and suddenly, like magic the names and dates would seem to jump out at us. She had fun doing this work, but she took it seriously. She would have us probe the top soil with rods looking for covered fallen stones, and when we found one the work began to dig it up and usually lift it up to be read.

I remember one time in particular when we were working in Union Township in an old cemetery that was flooded often each year by the Ohio River. We were probing for the covered markers. I was busy digging up a found marker and Bonnie Fehd, Glenda's sister-in-law, and Glenda was working behind me. Bonnie was working hard using a pitchfork to probe the topsoil. She was finding tombstones faster than we could dig them up, the pitchfork really worked well. Suddenly I heard this scream!!! I turned around and Bonnie was white with shock. She had accidently plunged the pitchfork into Glenda's sneakers (shoe). One of the tines went through the top of her canvass shoe and through the sole of the shoe and several inches into the ground. Glenda did not know what had happened until she tried to move her foot. It seems the tine went right between her toes without even a scratch. After we realized that Glenda was alright we laughed until tears came to our eyes. I mentioned that something had happened with a pitchfork in a cemetery in one of my President's columns of the Packet years ago, but never told what happened, so TSGS members now you know the rest of the story!