Marker/Plaque/Monument Monday

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Evansville Fire Department
Hose House #14...

one of 2 fire stations scheduled to be closed this year - near St. Benedict's School, Memorial High School & University of Evansville (not far from The Little Sisters of the Poor Nursing Home).
It is the primary responder to my home, too. Was to be closed on Jan. 1st. - but, is still in operation after all of the protests... but one day they will quietly close it.

- Phot taken & submitted by JGWest

NAVIGATING ALONG the RIVER - Research Tips

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Family Traditions

First we need to define "family tradition" in regard to genealogy. Here, we are not discussing customs or lifestyles. We are talking about family stories that have been passed from one generation to the next. And like the game "telephone" where a player whispers a short message to the person next to them and that person passes the message to the next down the line to the last person who tells the group what the message is... which is usually way different than the original! Family traditions like most undocumented information if originally based on some sort of facts which can be helpful in our research. It can give us a theory to verify the story. Occasionally, we get something from another researcher that states "family tradition says," when in actuality, the information is a non-documented statement that the origin is totally unknown and did not get passed down from family members. Thus, it is of even lesser value than family tradition might be.

How many of us have a family tradition that there is Native American blood in our ancestry? My mother's mother's family often spoke about our family having Indian ancestors. No one could tell me on which branch or who was Native American or any other clues that could help me research the facts. After years of researching all of these lines back as far as I could go... I did not find anything that suggested any connection to Native Americans. However, one day I did discover a connection in a story in an early history book that stated some of my ancestors being massacred by a renegade tribe of Indians. A woman and her children were kidnapped with some being brutally murdered including a young baby. The woman and one daughter were my direct ancestors. Could it be that my family passed down a story of this horrible tragedy that over the generations turned around to embrace Native Americans as family? Several years later, I learned of a branch of this same family had applied for a claim for Native American's benefits with some facts in the application that made it seem very probable that there was Native American ancestors. So it seems that the family tradition had some merit after all and now I know where it comes from.

Family traditions generally contain partial truths that are vague and often mixed-up with missing facts and the source of how the tradition began. Often these stories are passed along because of vanity to connect with someone famous. I suspect every WEST in the United States has a story of how they are related to Lord De La Warr (Thomas West)... a Colonial Governor. There is a state & river named for him - Delaware! The Delaware Indians were named indirectly for him. They called themselves "Lenape;" the British called them Delaware for the river where they resided. My West family has many stories of our descent from this very famous early American Colonial family. However, the "proof" is very circumstantial and weak in regards to genealogical standards. And, according to Family Tree DNA where the results of my family were taken... there is a y-DNA group who have shown their descent from Lord Delaware's family that does not match our y-DNA West group. It seems that this family tradition has no merit.

- Compiled by JGWest

From My Email Box - "Links & Other News!"

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Ohio Valley SAR Chapter member John Van Zandt sent me this info: "This email came to me from the Mississippi Society President on 7-13-2010." Hopefully by this time next year, you will be able to view SAR applications on Ancestry.com. The SAR has signed a contract with Ancestry which provides that Ancestry will digitize and index ALL SAR applications, and will post on their website those applications that were approved through 1970. - Joseph W. Dooley, NSSAR Genealogist General

This is a neat photo gallery that Don Counts forwarded to me: Captured: America in Color from 1939-1943 – Plog Photo Blog... These images (70), by photographers of the Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information, are some of the only color photographs taken of the effects of the Depression on America’s rural and small town populations. The photographs are the property of the Library of Congress and were included in a 2006 exhibit Bound for Glory: America in Color. This is on the DenverPost.com site.

Virginia L. Aldridge sent this via the invander@rootsweb.com email list: Subject: Re: [INVANDER] Browning Funeral Home Records [Her message was in response to people posting that they could not get the Browning Online Genealogical Database to upload.] "I had a similar experience recently. I believe they might have changed the name for the web page, as when I did a Google search I had no trouble locating it. Here is the link I put on my Resources Online page: http://browning.evpl.org/ "

This from TSGS Program Chair Becky West: "Remind everyone that starting at our 14 Sep 2010 meeting, we will begin the meetings at 7:00 PM this is one half hour earlier than it used to be... this is the new time as voted into practice by the TSGS members."

Deborah Hull sent this via the MyFamily.com site - Our Breckinridge, Hancock and Ohio County Cousins: "Found this at Access Genealogy." http://www.accessgenealogy.com/worldwar/kentucky/breckinridge.htm

Access Genealogy claims to be the largest free genealogy web site not owned by Ancestry.com! And it has some great data... check it out.

Tombstone Thursday - Gaultney

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Locust Hill Cemetery

Evansville, Indiana

Civil War Section

Fleety Gaultney

Died 12 July 1930

Accoring to the Browning Online Genealogy Database, he died on 19 Jul 1930 and he was only 49 years old... died at the Marine Hosptal. He was survived by wife Hattie and 3 sisters: Mrs. Emma Parker, Mrs. Joe Haas, & Mrs. Edgar Schmitt.

- Photo taken & submitted by JGWest

[Tombstone Thursday is dedicated in memory of Donald G. West 1952-2000]

From the FIRST MATE's PHOTO ALBUM...

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The Indiana State Fair...
...always an exciting time for 4-H families!

This past Saturday (July 31), Becky & I journeyed up to Indianapolis using my new GPS for me to judge some of the State Fair entries for the 4-H Genealogy Project. This is my 3rd. year and I feel like it is such an honor to get to judge these county champion exhibits on the state level. They make a notebook for the exhibit with family group sheets & generation charts... all of which is documented. Most are superb genealogical compilations!

Something new this year is the huge American Gothic farmer & wife at about 25 feet tall. See Becky at lower right hand of the man's foot!!! More info on this traveling exhibit & a video: http://www.in.gov/statefair/fair/sights_sounds.html
This is the Exposition Hall where many of the non-agriculture 4-H exhibits will be on display

it is where we judged the genealogy notebooks with 12 judges for the champions of 92 counties in 5 divisions, plus an advanced division that can be repeated for 4 years. The judging is an all-day affair! Below is a photo of Phillip Cline one of the judges... I likes his T-Shirt!

The State Fair begins August 6th. thru the 22nd.

- Photos taken & submitted by JGWest

RACING DOWN the RIVER -Brief Genealogical Notes

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From my nephew, Scott West: Southern Campaign Revolutionary War Pension Applications & Rosters http://southerncampaign.org/pen/ The web site below was passed along by Compatriot Baron Fain [Sons of the American Revolution]. There are almost 9000 applications from Revolutionary War solders involved primarily in the Southern Campaigns presently on this site. Most of these applications were filed in the early 1830s by the soldiers, or their widows, pursuant to a Congressional act of 1832 allowing pensions for the soldiers or widows. It's a great site for historical research on the battles and to perhaps find the applications from your patriot ancestor.

Please make a note to remember that our TSGS meeting times has changed to begin one half hour earlier... the September 14 meeting will start at 7:00PM at Willard Library!

Marker/Plaque/Monument Monday

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Evansville Fire Department
Hose House #2
Dedicated in 1988
This is Evansville, Indiana's newest Hose House built in 1988. Located on Maxx Road off of Lynch Road near T. J. Maxx and the industrial strip on Lynch.

- Photos taken & submitted by JGWest