Family History Fun

Are you a FamilySearch fan? Have you ever tried any of the activities and games available? Here are three of my favorites:

1. Picture My Heritage:

In this one, you can put your face in an old photograph. There are options for men, women, or groups. We prefer the groups and Sadie especially has had fun with this one. Sometimes she'll replace her face for everyone in the photo like this (yes, those are all Sadie's face):

Or sometimes she'll just replace one face like this (this one is my personal favorite - Sadie put her face in for the child grasping the ostrich's neck. So funny!):

Anyway, click here to go to the website. Then select whether you want males, females, or groups. From there you just select the photo you want to put your face in and it will guide you through the process. Fun stuff!

2. Geneopardy

This game isn't through FamilySearch, but it will ask you to sign into your FamilySearch account because it uses your family history to ask you questions. So you get to know more about your history and what might have been going on in the lives of your ancestors. 

Make it a contest. Play with your siblings or kids and see who can get the most right. You can also choose how many generations you want the game to draw from. I've realized how little I know about the 5th generation and beyond.

3. Ancestor Challenge

If you click here, you'll go to a page full of various activities. Scroll down and click on Ancestor Challenge. This activity shows you ten photographs of ancestors, one at a time. For each photo, it will give you four names from your family history and you have to select the name of the person in the photo. Keep playing until you get 10 out of 10.

(Feel free to try out the other games and activites!)

Bonus: Relative Finder

I'm including this last one just for fun. It's not really a game, but when you sign in with your FamilySearch account, it will show you how you are related to all sorts of prominent people. Whether it's sports figures, presidents of the US, famous authors, or any number of other well-knowns, it's fun to see your connections. 

Have fun. :) And if you make any cool discoveries, I'd love to hear about it!

A Can of Worms

I've never been bitten by the genealogy bug... until now.

I just finished a four-day community course on the basics of genealogy. A lot of the material was review. I don't know a lot, but know just enough to be dangerous. I was given some good tips on narrowing down searches and various websites for getting information. On the last day of class, we had some time left at the end so I just started going through my family tree on FamilySearch.org. Oh boy. I had no idea when I identified my great grandma's youngest brother as a good place to start that I would end up so entrenched in his wife's family.

The Flynn Family, ca. 1921

I dove in last night and ended up at times with way-too-many tabs open on my computer and a web of documents, dates and people. At first, there was really nothing to go by except a few census records, but from there I identified her parents and brother. Her dad was a pretty fascinating fellow who was born in Scotland and worked as a hairdresser on 5th Avenue in New York City. There are multiple source documents for her dad and it's so cool to piece his life together and learn parts of his life story from these pieces of paper. Her mom was born in Illinois so I feel a connection on both sides.

It's still in a mess and I have to sort through a lot of things to fill in some gaps in my information, but it's so fascinating! Every new discovery is so satisfying.

Rebecca Burdick Winters

Jeff's fourth great grandma was Rebecca Burdick Winters. She passed away in 1852 during her westward journey with the Mormon pioneers. The historical marker shown below tells a little bit about her, including how the railroad was rerouted so that this pioneer mother's grave wouldn't be disturbed. 

We stopped to see the tribute marker last summer on our way through Nebraska. It's located on a little sort-of-street off the beaten path, appropriately named "Rebecca Winters Drive." 

In front of the granite marker is the original iron wagon tire
that marked Rebecca's initial resting place. 

Rebecca's father, Gideon Burdick, was a 14-year old drummer boy in George Washington's Army during the American Revolution. Gideon also joined the Mormon church and settled in Illinois, but he passed away a few years before Rebecca and her family began their trek west. 

 

We've driven across Nebraska so many times, just plowing through on our way to Utah or Idaho. I'm glad we finally took the time to visit Rebecca's resting place. It was worth the trip.

A Heritage of Faith

You may remember back in July when I wrote about my great great grandmother, Sarah Moulton. Well, I was happy to see the following video show up in my inbox this morning. It is Elder Ronald A. Rasband, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, sharing the story of Sarah Moulton who happens to be his great grandmother. (That means Elder Rasband and I are 2nd cousins once removed.) Elder Rasband asked, "What moved the pioneers on? What pushed them forward? It was a sure testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ. I did not pull a handcart across the plains. But as the great-grandson of pioneers, what they felt, I feel. And what they knew, I know: that Jesus is the living Christ, the Son of God. I love Him. This is His Church.” 

Remembering Sarah Moulton

Today is Pioneer Day, a state holiday in Utah commemorating the arrival of the first Mormon pioneers to the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. I grew up in Utah and always loved attending the big parade in Salt Lake and the fireworks that night.

Recently I've been thinking a lot about my pioneer heritage. Maybe that's because we stopped at Martin's Cove in Wyoming on our way home from our vacation a few weeks ago. Martin's Cove was a stop for two ill-fated handcart companies in 1856, the Willie and Martin handcart companies. Some of my relatives, the Thomas Moulton family, traveled with the Willie company.

Thomas Moulton's wife died in 1839 just before their daughter, Sarah, turned two years old. Thomas remarried a woman, also named Sarah, and they had many more children. Several years later, they joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and eventually left England to be with the main body of the Saints in Utah.

Thomas' wife, Sarah, was expecting their 8th child when they were preparing to leave England. Thomas was worried about the journey, but Sarah was determined to leave as planned. She received a blessing before their journey began in which she was promised that no one in the family would die before they reached their destination. The baby she was carrying was born on the ship en route to America.

Once they reached Iowa City, Iowa, they traveled the rest of the way with the Willie handcart company. Because the handcart company left later in the season than planned and due to early winter storms and other hardships, it was a perilous journey. When Brigham Young received word that there were still handcart pioneers on the trail, stranded and out of supplies, he sent rescue companies to bring them home.

Ultimately, as promised, all 10 members of the Moulton family made it safely to the Salt Lake Valley. Sarah, Thomas and Sarah's 19-year old daughter, later married her rescuer, John Bennett Hawkins. They are my great great grandparents.

(Click here to read a more in-depth version of this story.)

John Bennett Hawkins and Sarah Moulton Hawkins

I love John and Sarah's story. What was important to them is important to me. I'm grateful for their heritage of faith.

Grandpa's Box

While we were in Idaho, grandma and grandpa each pulled out their box of keepsakes and let the kids look through their photographs, yearbooks, awards and other mementos. I love the picture below of Savannah who was excited about one of the photographs she came across. It was fun to hear grandpa's stories in answer to the kids' questions about the treasures they found. 

Below, Sterling holds up a picture of grandpa in his younger days. There's definitely a resemblance between these two.

49 Years

My parents were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple 49 years ago today. A sealing is a marriage that lasts through time and all eternity. None of this "til death do us part" or "as long as we both shall live" business. We believe that family relationships are eternal, and the way families can be together forever is through the sealing ordinance performed in the temple. We can also do this work vicariously for those who passed on without the opportunity to be sealed if they choose to accept it.

My brother had a whole stack of temple sealings waiting to be done for deceased relatives so he invited my parents to join him and then asked each of the siblings if we wanted to come. As it turned out, everyone was able and willing. (Rob's offer to pay for lunch may have had something to do with that. :)

Those who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will understand the significance of this perhaps more than others, but my parents and all seven of their children were in the temple together on their 49th anniversary to perform sealings for deceased relatives. At times I thought my heart would burst as I looked around and saw my whole family together in the temple. It was a fitting tribute to my amazing parents.

The Mount Timpanogos Temple

Happy Anniversary, mom and dad. I know you have forever, but I hope there are many more happy years together here, too!

I use this picture every time I post about my parents' anniversary, but it's the only one I have and I love it. :)

Finding Ute Perkins

My sixth great grandfather was Ute Perkins. He moved to Illinois in the late 1830's, joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when missionaries came through his town and welcomed many of the Saints to Perkins Settlement when they were driven out of Missouri shortly after that. Ute and his wife, Sarah, were the first permanent white settlers in the area. Perkins Settlement had other names over the years including Ramus* and Macedonia. When the Saints were driven out of Illinois, the name was changed to Webster and remains so today. 

I knew Ute and Sarah were buried in Webster Cemetery and I knew that it wasn't far from Carthage (10-15 miles) so I really wanted to see if we could find his grave. The problem was, neither our GPS nor Jeff's phone knew of Webster. It was like it didn't exist. 

Fortunately, we had a map of Old Nauvoo that showed the land as it was in the 1840's. Everything was laid out in 1 mile blocks. According to the map, "Ramus" was 8 miles north and 3 miles east of Carthage. So after our Carthage tour, we started driving north. Just before we'd gone 8 miles, a road sign said "Webster" with an arrow to turn left (east). After winding around a bit, we drove right to little Webster, Illinois. 

The cemetery was tucked away amidst fields and farms. Fortunately, Webster is very small so it didn't take us long to find it. We quickly located Ute and Sarah's grave marker, took pictures, and then explored the cemetery for a few minutes before heading for home.

The bottom of the marker says, "They Led the Way."

This was a great end to our Spring Break. The drive home was beautiful with huge "Toy Story" clouds (big fluffy ones with flat bottoms) and wide open spaces. 

A cute little country church

Our Spring Break getaway was exactly what we needed.

*Some fun trivia for members of the LDS church - two revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants were received in Ramus, Illinois: Sections 130 and 131. 

Nauvoo and Carthage

The Nauvoo Temple

I'll finish off the month with a few more details of our Spring Break. The lake house we stayed at was about 30 miles away from Nauvoo, Illinois. We've visited Nauvoo in the past, but it's been a few years and neither Soren nor Sadie remembered it.

Spencer, Soren and Sterling in front of the Nauvoo Temple

On Wednesday morning (March 16), Sadie and I dropped the boys off at the Nauvoo Temple where they were able to do some baptisms for the dead for some family names that Grandma Stowell sent them. The girls strolled around town visiting the Fudge Factory (Yum!) and a cute gift shop. We picked up a few postcards for Sam then walked up to the post office for stamps so we could mail them from Nauvoo. We finally headed to the Visitors' Center and looked around at the many displays while we waited for the boys. We were able to watch a movie about Old Nauvoo and what it was like at its peak.  Sadie thought that was fun because we were the only ones in a huge auditorium.

Joseph and Hyrum's Last Ride

Once the boys were finished, we did the Nauvoo tour. There are a LOT of things to see and do in Nauvoo. Here is a list, in no particular order, of what we were able to see in about 5 or 6 hours:

• The Lands and Records office where we found information about a few of our relatives.
• The Old Nauvoo Burial Grounds - we were looking for a marker for one of my relatives. We were unable to find it, but it was a beautiful morning and we enjoyed exploring the cemetery. 
• The Blacksmith Shop where we each got a "Prairie Diamond."
• The John Taylor Home/Printing Office/Old Post Office
• The Browning Home and Gunshop - one of the highlights for Sterling. ;)
• The Smith family Cemetery where Joseph and Hyrum are buried.
• The Riser Home and Shoe Shop
• The Lucy Mack Smith Home
• The Brickyard where we received a Nauvoo brick.
• The Scovil Bakery
• The Stoddard Home and Tin Shop
• The Family Living Center

(update: some of the above links no longer work, but I think they still take you to information about Nauvoo in general.)

Our Nauvoo Brick and "Prairie Diamond" rings

Old Nauvoo Burial Grounds

It was a busy day. The weather was perfectly mild and comfortable, and we enjoyed seeing our old favorite sites and exploring some new ones. As much as we crammed in, there is still more to see on our next trip to Nauvoo. :)

A pretty view of the Mississippi River on our drive back to the lake house. 

The next day we drove into Carthage for a quick tour of the jail before heading home. This is where Joseph and Hyrum were shot and killed. We watched a film about Joseph Smith's life and got to walk through the home/jail where he spent his last days. We walked where we had walked and felt that we were on hallowed ground. 

Statue of Joseph and Hyrum outside of Carthage Jail

This is the window that Joseph Smith jumped out of when he was shot and killed.

Carthage was a great way to end our church history tour. Just one more quick stop before we headed home, but that's a post of its own...

Our Thanksgiving Surprise, part 3 - Family

Cute little turkey! :)

The best part of our Thanksgiving trek was spending time with family. The highlight for me was seeing the look of surprise and joy on my parents' faces. They had no idea we were coming. With us there, it meant the entire family was together (36!) - minus only Sam and Jake, our missionaries.

Because my mom was making table favors for each place setting, my sister-in-law Jenny told her she'd invited a friend and her family who had nowhere else to go. My mom thought that was a little weird since the group was so large already, but whatever. She made enough favors for everyone and didn't think too much of it.

My mom was standing by one of the tables when we walked in. She said "Hi" as she looked up. And then recognition set in and her smile changed to complete surprise! When Jenny walked in, my mom said, "Is this your friend?" :) Yep!! It was much the same when my dad entered the room. He was so surprised and happy that everyone would be together. He got choked up when he said the dinner prayer later that afternoon.

When we left for home early the next morning, I sent a quick text to my parents saying, "On our way. Wish we could have spent more time. So glad we got to see you! Love you!!" Now something you need to know about my dad is that he doesn't text. He'll read them if we send them, but he'll pick up the phone and call if he has something to say. But immediately I got a text back from my dad that said, "Please drive safe. We love you and will never forget this special surprise." I'm pretty sure I cried for a half hour after that. I still can't think about it without crying. It just meant a lot to me.

We may be a motley crew, but I sure love these guys! (And I'll replace this with a less-grainy version once I locate one.)

In addition to my parents, we surprised my two youngest brothers as well. We saw Jeffrey (far right) the day before at my sister's house where Savannah was staying during the break. He pulled in after us and saw our van in the driveway. Not knowing we were there, his first reaction was, "Why did Savannah bring the VAN to school?" That's especially funny if you know of Savannah's unfavorable feelings for the van.

Surprising Savannah was tricky. She kept calling the house and, obviously, no one was home. Then she'd call my cell phone and start in with 20 questions. I was trying really hard not to lie to her, but I was getting quite creative with the truth. In the end, she was so suspicious that she figured out that we were out west somewhere! But she had no idea when she'd see us. When we finally showed up at her dorm on Tuesday night, Sadie set her teddy bear outside Savannah's door and we knocked and hid around the corner. When Savannah came out and saw Teddy, she SCREAMED!! She freaked out for an extended period of time and made us all feel really good about sitting in the van for an entire day to get to her. :)

Savannah and her cousin, Andrea

In Utah, we stayed with my younger sister, Amy. That's always a treat, spending time with her kids who always seem so excited to have us there! (Aren't they adorable?)

CUTEST. KID. EVER!!

My family wasn't the only ones we were able to surprise. Our first stop on the trip was to Jeff's parents house in Idaho. We were only there for a quick 24-hours, but we had a great visit and they seemed genuinely thrilled to have us there. It was fun to see their beautiful new home and just spend time together.

Jeff's youngest brother, Jay, who lives just a few minutes from his parents, was surprised to see us as well. His wife knew we were coming, but he and the kids had no idea. Jay's daughter was ready for a bigger violin so we personally delivered a 3/4 violin to their door. We spent Monday evening with their family. I'm so glad the kids had time to catch up with their cousins. Sadie was especially happy to see her BFF, Ana. :)

I could go on and on. We loved the time we spent with family. They made the whole trip worth it! It was pretty much our best Thanksgiving ever! 

And The Award for Coolest Uncle Ever Goes To...

It would be an understatement to say that Sterling is obsessed with swords. On a regular basis, he imagines himself defeating the bad guys and conquering the world. Perhaps trying to find a logical explanation for his obsession, Sterling came to me a month or so ago and asked if we had any pirates among our ancestors. My obvious answer was, "I have no idea. Ask your Uncle Rob."

If anyone knows our family history, it's Rob. And if he doesn't know, he'll find out. So after a quick phone call, Rob was on the case. Yesterday, this arrived in the mail:

In short, King Robert the Bruce of Scotland = Sterling's 24th Great Grandpa

You would not believe how happy that postcard made Sterling. Seriously. He has, in the past 24 hours, become quite the authority on Robert the Bruce. It doesn't hurt that the great battle led by King Robert was just outside of Stirling, Scotland. I believe Sterling's actual words were, "Robert the Bruce has spoken my name!"

So Rob, you win the prize. The Coolest Uncle Award is all yours!

Robert the Bruce -- "The most famous king who had ever reigned in Scotland, one whose name will never be forgotten as long as there is a Scottish nation."  Imagesource

Where I Come From

Five generations

My brother told me about this cool website called rootsmapper.com. Log in with your familysearch.org username and password, choose how many generations you want to see, and watch it map your ancestors. (If you don't have an account with familysearch.org, you might consider getting one. It's pretty amazing all the cool stuff you have access to in searching for your ancestors these days!)

Anyway, I'm a little bit Canada, some Sweden and a whole lot of England. None of that comes as a huge surprise to me, but it's pretty cool to watch the generations spread out. It takes a few minutes for it to fully generate, but it's pretty slick!

And I Don't Even Speak Italian

You may remember last year when I was so excited about indexing the 1940 US Census records. It was a great project that kept me busy whenever I had a little down time last summer. Unfortunately, the project was started and finished all within about six months. It ended right about the time school began and I was pretty busy with other things for a few months. Occasionally, when I thought about it, I tried other indexing projects. I spent some time on Draft Cards or WWI Pension Cards or various other projects, but nothing caught my interest like the census so I really wasn't indexing much at all. 

That all changed earlier this summer. My friend, who happens to be our Indexing director, asked me if I'd consider working on a large project to index Italian birth records, 1875 and on. She promised me that, with a little training and practice, I would be able to learn all I needed to become proficient at finding and transcribing the necessary information.

In truth, my first batch of 15 names took me between 2-3 hours! It was grueling as I struggled to locate the needed information, find the Italian months and dates on my cheat sheet and read the old script to figure out each name. Fortunately I didn't give up. I've been working on these Italian records for about 3 months and now I can usually finish a batch in 15 to 20 minutes. Once again, indexing is something I look forward to every day. 

It's exciting to be part of a project that is making this information easily available to those who are searching for their ancestors. The Italian project is best suited for those who are already familiar with indexing, but there are roughly 200 indexing projects available in a variety of languages and certainly something for everyone who has an interest in helping. 

For more information: https://familysearch.org/volunteer/indexing

It can be addicting. Consider yourself warned! :)

Peter Pan

Isn't this the cutest little Indian? My niece, Emma, was cast in her city's production of Peter Pan and we were lucky enough to be in town for closing night. She was the youngest Indian by far and had some demanding dances to learn, but she did such a great job and we loved watching her perform.

My high school drama instructor, Robyn Bishop, was a director. I last saw her in 1988. Crazy!

Sadie is all decked out in her autographed hat and fairy dust necklace.

 A fun night!

Armed and (not so) Dangerous

Just look at these four little partners in crime. Heart melters all around!

We're here at my brother Dave's house in Utah for the week. The kids are loving all their cousin time! Somehow I don't think a week is going to be long enough...

Indexing and the 1940 U.S. Census

https://the1940census.com

I love indexing! I spend some time almost everyday indexing old documents. I'm pretty much a nerd when it comes to fonts and handwriting so this is right up my alley.

In less than one month, the 1940 U.S. Census will be made available to the public and they are busy getting volunteers ready to help index this massive project. Last summer I was working on the 1930 U.S. Census and I loved it! I'm really looking forward to this upcoming adventure. (I wonder if I'll come across any of my grandparents!)

Click here if you want to get in on the fun!

If you don't want to help index the project but are interested in finding your ancestors, check out this video from the National Archives. It shows what they've been doing for the past 3 years to get the project ready for the public and tells what information you need to locate specific individuals once it is released: