"Genealogy is Like a Very Big Puzzle"

I have always liked to solve mysteries and to put together puzzles.  I was making a comment on one of MyFamily.com groups of many of my West family and other related families.  We have pooled our resources and what we already have learned to attempt to fill in the gaps of our family history.  I suddenly wrote that it was like we were all working on one very big puzzle.

We are finding the puzzle pieces, but we need to be able to put them all together. As with puzzles, many of us start by finding the flat edged pieces to put together the outer edges (frame) and then concentrate on areas of similar characteristics putting the pieces in one by one until they all connect and the puzzle is complete. This is what we are trying to do, except it is hard to make that frame and there are so many pieces that seem to be the same! :) Also because we can not find some documented records, the pieces are not complete or some of the image of the piece was damaged (lost). No matter what, it is very hard to put together a puzzle if you do not have all of the pieces.

When we first start researching our families, there are just a few that we know who may be of help to us.  As time goes on we build a network of researchers and resources.  We use libraries, DNA, courthouses, friends & family, genealogical societies, the Internet.  Many now are using resources like Ancestry.com, Heritage Quest, bulletin boards, USGenWeb, MyFamily.com and so many others.  What we are doing are looking for the pieces of the puzzle and trying to connect the pieces.

The group I mentioned is a good sized group of cousins that are trying to find these puzzle pieces and then try to put them together as a large diverse group of people.  When I work on a picture puzzle, it seems to get put together so much faster when there are several working together.

Genealogical societies provide resources to help us put together our family puzzles.  Working with others who are researching the same family can increase your chances of finding missing pieces and then connecting them.

My point is that our family puzzles have been scattered about and some pieces are lost or damaged beyond recognition.  We can not rely on just one resource or one person to gather most of these pieces.  We need to work together as much as we can and we can put together that family puzzle.  Of course, once we get that puzzle done, we start expanding the frame!  Hopefully, putting together the puzzle will be fun and enlightening as you go.

- Written by JGWest

"New Archive of Georgia Newspaper: 1826-1908"

Joseph Frick

The Columbus Public Library Blog of Columbus, GA, recently announced the availability of a new archive of digitized newspapers - the Georgia Historic Newspapers site which has the issues of the Macon Telegraph from 1826-1908. You can read the announcement at http://tinyurl.com/ohbu9t. As one who loves newspaper research, I usually explore archives in-depth for items pertaining to my genealogical interests. In methods very similar to today's newspapers, stories would get picked up nationally, so events in one place, were often reported on in far away places.


In doing some searching on items pertinent to Evansville, I discovered the following item published in the March 16, 1886 issue: "Joseph Frick fell dead at his home in Evansville, Ind., his death having been hastened by his failure to secure a promised government appointment."


I began to search to see if I could find out more about this Joseph Frick. The first place I checked was Ancestry's database of Indiana Deaths from 1882-1920 (available with a subscription at http://tinyurl.com/od77kh0) - nope, not there!. I located a Joseph K. Frick born abt. 1826 in the 1880 census in Vanderburgh County, but at this point, couldn't say for certain that this is the same gentleman. This Joseph K. Frick was an architect and emigrated to the United States from Switzerland and lived with brother Peter and Peter's family. In 1900, I find Peter again, but of the Frick's I locate in Vanderburgh County, none are named Joseph. A nationwide census search for any Joseph Frick's born abt 1826 in Switzerland yields no results either. A nationwide FindAGrave search did not find him either, though FindAGrave is far from exhaustive. As I continued to search for information about the family, I found an online biography of Peter's son Omar T. Frick that states Peter was born in Rhea, Switzerland and came to the United States in 1868. The 1900 census indicates Peter emigrated in 1856 however, so there is some discrepancy there. I also found an online newsletter that has a profile of another of Peter & Susan's sons, Walter P. Frick at http://tinyurl.com/o5azla, and it even mentions that Walter P. lived with his uncle Joseph at one point.


With another search, I located some information about Joseph K. Frick the architect at a blog post at http://tinyurl.com/qhecqp and it turns out he designed the county courthouse in Hopkinsville, Christian County, Kentucky! I've had personal dealings with this courthouse - one day while traveling to Evansville, my husband got a speeding ticket in Christian County and we had to send the fines to their courthouse. What a small world! That blog post led me to his biography in the online text book, Evansville & It's Men of Mark (available online). At the time the biography was written in 1873, Joseph K. Frick was still alive.


Then, as I was preparing for bed, I realized that I needed to search the online databases of Locust Hill & Oak Hill Cemeteries that the city makes available online and lo and behold -- Joseph K. Frick, born in Switzerland, is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Section 31, Lot 14, Grave 4 and the database confirms he died March of 1886. He was buried March 4, 1886. He died of heart disease. It looks like he is buried there with Peter and Peter's wife Susan, as well as several other family members. I went ahead and created a FindAGrave memorial for Joseph Frick; perhaps next time I'm in town, I'll go take a picture of the Frick family burial location as well. I may also go to Willard Library to see if the Evansville papers have a more extensive obituary.


So, when you see an announcement for a new resource - check it out - you never know what you'll find!

- Submitted by Taneya Koonce