A pleasant surprise today

[John Winn]

A year and a half ago I completed researching a vet who is buried in the cemetery where I volunteered for 15 years. This was my last research project before retiring from the cemetery. Long story short, he was a German immigrant who homesteaded in Nebraska and got married there before ending up in Oregon (went to California first). Not much was actually known about him locally and nothing was known about his wife. Anyway, I traced his and her families back to Germany and their arrivals in the US and their time in Nebraska and California and their land purchases in Oregon (the exact location of which was not known here). It was a big project and I was really proud of it as I solved several mysteries and made some really interesting discoveries.

So, after I'd written it all up and donated such to our historical society I sent a copy to the society in Nebraska for the county where they'd settled and married. After some time I got an email saying, essentially, thanks but that was it. I forgot about it entirely but today I got a letter from that society saying they'd accepted my work and asking that I sign an agreement (common practice). Thus, they how have the history of one of the founders of their county.

Anyway, it was a good day for me and I just wanted to share with others who appreciate research and what it takes. Merry Christmas to me !

 

[FZ11]

A year and a half ago I completed researching a vet who is buried in the cemetery where I volunteered for 15 years. This was my last research project before retiring from the cemetery. Long story short, he was a German immigrant who homesteaded in Nebraska and got married there before ending up in Oregon (went to California first). Not much was actually known about him locally and nothing was known about his wife. Anyway, I traced his and her family back to Germany and their arrivals in the US and their time in Nebraska and California and their land purchases in Oregon (the exact location of which was not known here). It was a big project and I was really proud of it as I solved several mysteries and made some really interesting discoveries.

So, after I'd written it all up and donated such to our historical society I sent a copy to the society in Nebraska for the county where they'd settled and married. After some time I got an email saying, essentially, thanks but that was it. I forgot about it entirely but today I got a letter from that society saying they'd accepted my work and asking that I sign an agreement (common practice). Thus, they how have the history of one of the founders of their county.

Anyway, it was a good day for me and I just wanted to share with others who appreciate research and what it takes. Merry Christmas to me !

Cheers for a good day!

 

[Stryker65]

That's amazing! Does the county have a website / Will they publish your work there or somewhere else?

 

[lelliott19]

A year and a half ago I completed researching a vet who is buried in the cemetery where I volunteered for 15 years. This was my last research project before retiring from the cemetery. Long story short, he was a German immigrant who homesteaded in Nebraska and got married there before ending up in Oregon (went to California first). Not much was actually known about him locally and nothing was known about his wife. Anyway, I traced his and her families back to Germany and their arrivals in the US and their time in Nebraska and California and their land purchases in Oregon (the exact location of which was not known here). It was a big project and I was really proud of it as I solved several mysteries and made some really interesting discoveries.

So, after I'd written it all up and donated such to our historical society I sent a copy to the society in Nebraska for the county where they'd settled and married. After some time I got an email saying, essentially, thanks but that was it. I forgot about it entirely but today I got a letter from that society saying they'd accepted my work and asking that I sign an agreement (common practice). Thus, they how have the history of one of the founders of their county.

Anyway, it was a good day for me and I just wanted to share with others who appreciate research and what it takes. Merry Christmas to me !

That's fantastic @John Winn ! Congratulations. It's sometimes frustrating to do all that work, submit the final version, and never know if anyone ever actually reads it. Now you know that the piece will be cataloged, findable, and available for those who may come along looking. Perhaps a descendant years from now will have you to thank for your meticulous research. Well done, my friend!

 

[John Winn]

That's amazing! Does the county have a website / Will they publish your work there or somewhere else?

I doubt they'll publish it but it is in their collections. They're the Gage County Historical Society and Museum in Beatrice, NB.

 

[Allyn]

Just curious - how much German do you know? I am hip-deep in deciphering and translating 18th and 19th century German church records, and the going is slow! Not sure which is worse, the horrible script or the language itself, since my German is self-taught, but the records themselves are genealogical goldmines. It's my winter project (maybe several winters).

 

[John Winn]

Just curious - how much German do you know? I am hip-deep in deciphering and translating 18th and 19th century German church records, and the going is slow! Not sure which is worse, the horrible script or the language itself, since my German is self-taught, but the records themselves are genealogical goldmines. It's my winter project (maybe several winters).

I took Hochdeutsch when I was first in college but only recognize a few words here and there now. Basically German illiterate.

But I have had the help of my good friend and our distinguished member @FarawayFriend to find and translate old German records. Many of those are in dialects and German script has had several incarnations so you might very well need expert help with really old records. I was able to find old church records on Ancestry but those have been translated. Many have not been.

 

[Reconstructed Rebel]

Kudos to you John! Truly a job well done.

 

[Patrick H]

Volunteer projects such as your research often lead to feelings of satisfaction. I'm happy that this made your day!

 

[lupaglupa]

Good for you! It is nice to know someone will benefit from your work.

 

[bayouace]

Nice to be rewarded for good work! Doesn't always happen.

 

[huskerblitz]

I doubt they'll publish it but it is in their collections. They're the Gage County Historical Society and Museum in Beatrice, NB.

Very likely won't be published as most of these small historical societies don't have the means of publication. But, your work will be available to everyone so I thank you for that.

 

[H. J. Durgin]

Purely Awesome Sir !

 

[Library Lady]

I doubt they'll publish it but it is in their collections. They're the Gage County Historical Society and Museum in Beatrice, NB.

For anyone interested, here is some information on the Gage County Historical Society and Museum in Beatrice, Nebraska. They appear to be involved in several preservation efforts. The one that might get @John Winn 's attention is the 33-star US flag that commemorated Oregon's entrance into the Union. They also appear to have done a fair amount of publishing over the years. I may have to check with my brother about his interest in their railroad books.

Gage County Historical Society and Museum Nebraska

Gage County Historical Society and Museum.

gagecountyhistory.org

 

[John Winn]

Very likely won't be published as most of these small historical societies don't have the means of publication. But, your work will be available to everyone so I thank you for that.

I'd be more than surprised if they published it but was hoping that it would get added to their collections. I've worked with many such societies over the years and, unless in an urban county, they're typically all volunteer outfits that might only be open a few days a week and are staffed by retirees. Usually they're nice but often can't even really do a good search. We're very lucky here in that our society - while all volunteer and also largely staffed by retirees - is well run and has an excellent library as well as a modern storage facility.

Because the one in NE didn't really have much on one of their founders (surprised me) I was very happy to have been able to provide them with what I did. It's a good immigrant story with sod houses on the prairie and a probable mail-order bride and orphans that had to find a way to get by but did well in the end and such.

 

[huskerblitz]

I'd be more than surprised if they published it but was hoping that it would get added to their collections. I've worked with many such societies over the years and, unless in an urban county, they're typically all volunteer outfits that might only be open a few days a week and are staffed by retirees. Usually they're nice but often can't even really do a good search. We're very lucky here in that our society - while all volunteer and also largely staffed by retirees - is well run and has an excellent library as well as a modern storage facility.

Because the one in NB didn't really have much on one of their founders (surprised me) I was very happy to have been able to provide them with what I did. It's a good immigrant story with sod houses on the prairie and a probable mail-order bride and orphans that had to find a way to get by but did well in the end and such.

Yep. That's a lot of our historical societies here in Nebraska. Actually, Gage County is one of the larger ones. Most are completely volunteer with very limited resources. Most I've worked with are in counties that have less than 5,000 people.

I had my 8th graders do something similar a number of years ago. They researched a Civil War veteran buried in our county, documented their service and their homesteading in the county and created a personal profile with images from the archives. I don't if many know this, but Ancestry.com offers free access to k-12 schools that also includes Fold3. It was a pretty good project.

 

[John Winn]

Yep. That's a lot of our historical societies here in Nebraska. Actually, Gage County is one of the larger ones. Most are completely volunteer with very limited resources. Most I've worked with are in counties that have less than 5,000 people.

I had my 8th graders do something similar a number of years ago. They researched a Civil War veteran buried in our county, documented their service and their homesteading in the county and created a personal profile with images from the archives. I don't if many know this, but Ancestry.com offers free access to k-12 schools that also includes Fold3. It was a pretty good project.

A lot of folks who came out west after the war spent some time in Nebraska (and Kansas). It was right on the Oregon trail not long after you left Kansas City. Those people were way tougher than us. The folks in my project left Clatonia, NE with a newborn in the fall (seems really not a good choice) and made it all the way to Santa Cruz, CA. That's like 1600 miles with mountains to cross. More than remarkable to me.

 

[donna]

Great job. Glad they recognized all your work.

 

[huskerblitz]

A lot of folks who came out west after the war spent some time in Nebraska (and Kansas). It was right on the Oregon trail not long after you left Kansas City. Those people were way tougher than us. The folks in my project left Clatonia, NE with a newborn in the fall (seems really not a good choice) and made it all the way to Santa Cruz, CA. That's like 1600 miles with mountains to cross. More than remarkable to me.

That's why Nebraska has nearly 20,000 Union vets buried in the state compared to just over the 3,000 men from the state that enlisted in the Union Army.

 

[rpkennedy]

Excellent work, my friend.

Ryan