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Friday, October 30, 2009

Daytripping at Woodlawn


I am on a jet plane to NYC. I have been to NYC a few times, but I never had the opportunity to reserve much time for genealogical research while I was there. This time I have planned time to visit the New York Historical Society, Woodlawn Cemetery, and Greenwood Cemetery. There will be a lot of opportunity to make good use of the digital camera I bought last month.

On this trip I will be ferreting out more information on the siblings of Stephen Rosevelt, plus there is supposed to be a family record of Solomon Rosevelt at the NYHS where they also have the Relyea Papers. Those papers are supposed to have several documents regarding my line.

All of Stephen's brothers and two of his sisters resided in NYC for at least a few years. All of the brothers, except for John Henry, were involved in someway with shipping. Jacob headed the Custom House and also was a ship's chandler. Solomon and George both had shipyards and Warren was a dock builder.

My plan was originally to visit NYHS early on Saturday. The weather forecast caused me to rethink that. They were calling for rain 0ff-and-on for most of the day, but more so in the afternoon. I decided Woodlawn would be the bet for the morning. Three of Stephen's siblings are buried there, Sarah Gifford, George, and Warren. It was a very easy ride from the hotel on the subway. Woodlawn is the last station on the line and the cemetery is just across the street from it. The main entrance though, where I needed to get my photography permit, is on the farther side. It is quite a nice walk through the cemetery and the route to the office is marked by a divided white line on the lane. I had talked with Sonia at the cemetery office earlier and had emailed her several times. She was very helpful. While I was there I got the lot card, which was very helpful.

By the time I reached the family lots, it was starting to lightly rain. I hurriedly took the pictures and looked around the area. Fortunately, it wasn't raining very hard and I was able to get some very good pictures. The fun part was finding a name I did not know of before and which should open up another line of research. On the way back to the subway station it started to rain harder and I was very happy I had brought my umbrella.

Next stop-- NYHS.

Friday, October 23, 2009

It's time for NY genealogy

I'm off to New York City, not to see the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State Building, but to visit a couple of cemeteries and the New York Historical Society. I made reservations August 1 and finally it’s T minus a couple of hours. A favorite part of any genealogical journey is the planning. There are often new libraries, historical societies, and cemeteries to visit, and if you are really lucky another researcher with whom you can discuss the family tree. For my trip, it will be my first to the New York Historical Society, plus Greenwood and Woodlawn Cemeteries.
A few years ago my research indicated that the Relyea Papers had considerable information on the Rosevelt line I research. Like any researcher, I want to see them for myself and make my own analysis of what they contain. Other research indicated that there is also a “family record” of Solomon Rosevelt available. It wasn’t made evident if this is part of the Relyea Papers or is a separate manuscript. Both of them are supposed to be in the manuscript collection of the New York Historical Society. I called the archivist and had his assurance they were available. Now, it's New York genealogy time.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Search Engines for Genealogists

My favorite search engine is Google. It has great depth and some excellent search options in the Advanced Search. I am curious to know what other genealogists think. What is your favorite search engine? What makes it better?

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Tour of Wyuka


It was a beautiful day for the 140-year anniversary of Wyuka Cemetery in Lincoln, Nebraska today. I went with five friends for the celebration. Several hundred people showed up. The highlight for me was a fine hour and a half tour of the cemetery by Lincoln historian Ed Zimmer. About 200 people followed Ed through the cemetery. He highlighted several beautiful monuments, those of famous people, and early burials. The attached photo is of the group hearing about the GAR section. There are over 1,000 Civil War soldiers buried at Wyuka. The tour ended with the presentation of the new beautiful 110-page four-color book, Wyuka Cemetery: A Driving & Walking Tour, by Ed Zimmer. The books were presented free to all of the tour participants through a grant of the Nebraska Humanities Council. One of the founding goals was to have a cemetery where people could picnic and walk through treed gardens and to remember and learn of the areas past. That is what we did today, 140 years later.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Wyuka Anniversary

Tomorrow a few friends and I plan to attend the 140-year anniversary of our local Wyuka Cemetery here in Lincoln, Nebraska. Wyuka means place of rest. It was funded by the Nebraska legislature in 1869 as a rural scenic cemetery. It has winding roads and many very nice monuments. Is is now on the National Register of Historic Places. They will be giving their new tour and have other events to encourage people to visit for the anniversary. We plan to do the walking tour, or do our own, followed by a box lunch picnic. I try to do the Find A Grave requests for Wyuka and have one to do for tomorrow. Wyuka is well organized for genealogists. They have plat maps online as well as a database of burials. http://www.wyuka.com/LocationSearch/Index.asp