Friday, November 22, 2013

Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for November 22, 2013

Little Pilgrim from Clipartpal dot com public domain

A little note to my awesome readers:

There will not be a Fab Finds post next week due to the Thanksgiving holiday. I will be taking a week off from blogging to spend time with my family. Fab Finds will resume on Friday, December 6, 2013.

I want to take this opportunity to wish all of my wonderful readers a very Happy Thanksgiving!

And so, without further ado…

My Fab Finds for this week are (in no particular order)
  1. Checking Out Puzzilla - a Descendant Viewer Using FamilySearch Family Tree by Randy Seaver, author of Genea-Musings
  2. How to Overcome a Brick Wall with FANs by Beth Foulk, author of Genealogy Decoded
  3. Geeks Gone Wild At FamilySearch; And It's Going To Be Awesome by Larry Cragun, author of Larry Cragun Family And Genealogy Blog
  4. A few Legacy shortcuts by Michele Simmons Lewis, author of Ancestoring
  5. Gratitude for Memories – Looking Forward to RootsTech 2014 by Sue Maxwell, author of Granite Genealogy
  6. ‘Tis the Season to Ask for Spit by Kerry Scott, author of Clue Wagon
  7. His Navy Service Never Left Him by Peggy Clemens Lauritzen, author of Always Anxiously Engaged
  8. Free Guide to London Ancestors by Nathan W. Murphy for FamilySearch Blog
  9. Copyright and the genealogy report by Judy G. Russell, author of The Legal Genealogist
  10. Family Finder DNA Match – Alexander/Davidson by Tonia Kendrick, author of Tonia's Roots
  11. State Records are not Federal Records: Andrew Trasks's Two Illinois Purchases of Government Land by Michael John Neill, author of RootDig.com
  12. I Heart Snagit for Chrome by Taneya Koonce, author of Taneya & Kalonji
  13. Pinterest: Pinning Just Got Better by Stephanie Pitcher Fishman, author of Stephanie Pitcher Fishman
  14. Four Free Websites to Find Old Maps by Diane Haddad – Genealogy Insider for Family Tree Magazine Blog
  15. Ancestry.com DNA Results 2.0 by Emily Kowalski Schroeder, author of The Spiraling Chains: Kowalski – Bellan Family Trees
  16. WW1 Diary – November 20, 1916 by Antra Celmins, author of Discovering Latvian Roots
  17. Back at it after a long Hiatus by David Decker, author of Family History Tracing
  18. Three Family Daguerreotypes (November 19, 2013) by John D. Tew, author of Filiopietism Prism
  19. A milestone by Janine Adams, author of Organize Your Family History
  20. DNA Testing – A struggle by Russ Worthington, author of A Worthington Weblog

New Blog Discoveries

In Case You Missed Them….My Contributions to the Genealogy, Photo Blog, and Vintage Postcard Blogosphere This Week

Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog
Grandpa's Postcards
Jana's Photo Journal

Thanks for reading!


© 2013 Copyright by Jana Last

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Marit's Death Certificate

In early November, I shared my Death Causes Pedigree Chart on my blog. There were quite a few "Unknowns" on that chart. Since publishing that blog post, I ordered three death certificates from the Minnesota Historical Society. They have a Death Certificates Index online. It was so easy to search for my ancestors and order their death certificates.

Two of the death certificates I ordered have helped me replace the "Unknowns" with a cause of death in my pedigree chart.

The death certificate I'm sharing today doesn't replace an "Unknown" on my Death Causes Pedigree Chart because this ancestor is a generation back from what is shown on the pedigree chart.

This death certificate is quite unusual. At least, to me. I don't recall ever seeing one like it before. Thankfully, the Minnesota Historical Society included an Example of a Non-Pre-Printed Card (1905-1907). It explains the information contained in the death certificate.


Marit (Thorsdatter) Iverson's Death Certificate


This death certificate is for my 2nd great-grandmother, Marit (Thorsdatter) Iverson. She was married to my 2nd great-grandfather, Iver Iverson. I wrote a blog post about Iver. He served in the U.S. Civil War. Here's a link to that blog post if you'd like to read it ~ Military Monday ~ Iver Iverson – A U.S. Civil War Soldier from Norway.

Thanks to the Example of a Non-Pre-Printed Card (1905-1907) below, I was able to decipher Marit's death certificate.

Information gleaned from Marit's Death Certificate:

  • Name – Marit Iverson (she went by Mary in America)
  • Date of Death – October 8, 1905
  • Place of Death – Chippewa Falls, Pope, Minnesota
  • Cause of Death – Asthma
  • Sex – Female
  • Race – White
  • Marital Status – Widow
  • Father's Name – Thor Rye
  • Mother's Name – Marit Rye
  • Age at Death – 70
  • Place of Birth – Norway
  • Father's Place of Birth – Norway
  • Mother's Place of Birth – Norway

Example of a Non-Pre-Printed Card (1905-1907)

Marit's cause of death was asthma. I didn't know she had asthma. I am quite intrigued by this finding. Why? Because I also suffer from asthma. I had it as a child, but seemed to grow out of it. Then sometime in my early 40s, it returned. I use asthma meds to keep it under control.

Is asthma an inherited disease? According to WebMD, it is. I found an article about the risk factors for Asthma in the Asthma Health Center on WebMD . Regarding Family History and Asthma, the following was stated,
"Blame Mom or Dad or both for your asthma. Your inherited genetic makeup predisposes you to having asthma. In fact, it's thought that three-fifths of all asthma cases are hereditary. According to a CDC report, if a person has a parent with asthma, he or she is three to six times more likely to develop asthma than someone who does not have a parent with asthma."

Marit is an ancestor on my paternal side. On my maternal side, I have found another ancestor who suffered from asthma. My maternal 2nd great-grandfather, Ebenezer Perry Carlisle Webster was discharged from service in the U.S. Civil War due to "asthma of long standing."

Another interesting fact in Marit's death certificate is that Rye was listed as the surname of Marit's parents. Her father's surname was actually Toreson according to my records. The name of "Rye" is actually the name of the farm in Norway that the family came from. I also don't understand why Marit's mother was listed as Marit. My records indicate her mother's name was Rangdi Nilsdatter. Perhaps someone made a mistake on the certificate.

It's amazing how much information I was able to glean from what appeared to be a rather sparse death certificate for Marit.

Thanks for reading!

Jana

© 2013 Copyright by Jana Last

Monday, November 18, 2013

Kicking Up the Past ~ News Release

Ken J. Marks sent me the following news release -

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Last week to pledge support for documentary that portrays genealogy as art, science & hard-work.

Ambitious Kickstarter.com project must return pledges if funding goal is not met.

Speaking Saturday before a well-attended meeting of CAGGNI (Computer Assisted Genealogy Group of Northern Illinois) Kicking Up the Past project producer Ken J. Marks said, “this is the only documentary you will find on television that portrays the hard-work, art and science of researching your family tree… no celebrities… no button-pushing short cuts”.

Just 7 days remain to the novel project conceived by Chicago-area teacher & genealogist, Madonna Davis to utilize crowd funding to fund a television documentary project called Kicking Up the Past. The effort relies strictly on the strength of the public to make pledges to support the expense of producing a made-for-television documentary preserving family histories. Co-producer Madonna notes, “If just one half of 1% of everyone who pursues genealogy in the U.S. pledges just a few dollars, it would fund a full season of great television that the whole genealogy community could fully endorse.”

The deadline for pledging is this Sunday, November 24th. Simply go to www.kickstarter.com and type “genealogy” in the search bar to find the Kicking Up the Past project.The project rewards may also be viewed at http://goo.gl/n8f2f5

Kickstarter is a funding home for everything from films, games, and music to art, design, and technology. Kickstarter is full of projects, big and small, that are brought to life through the direct support of the public. Since its launch in 2009, 5 million people have pledged $822 million, funding 49,000 creative projects.

For additional information go to www.kickingupthepast.com or contact: Ken J. Marks 312 505-6193 EM: marks.kj@gmail.com

###

Madonna Davis, Chicago-area teacher & genealogist

clip_image004

** End of News Release **

Dick Eastman, author of Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter, wrote a blog post about this project in October. If you'd like to read his post, here's the link ~ Newly Proposed Genealogy Television Documentary with a Unique Funding Arrangement

Here's a short video about Kicking Up the Past:



Thanks for reading!

Jana

© 2013 Copyright by Jana Last

Friday, November 15, 2013

Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for November 15, 2013

IMGP6233 Photoshopped
My Fab Finds for this week are (in no particular order)
  1. BIG CHANGES THEY ARE A-COMIN’ by Jenny Lanctot, author of Are My Roots Showing?
  2. One veteran’s tale AND Just say no by Judy G. Russell, author of The Legal Genealogist
  3. The Veteran’s Indigent Widow AND John, This Is Your Daughter: Or, How a Timeline Uncovered a Family Story by Amy Johnson Crow, author of No Story Too Small
  4. In Memory of Josiah F. Broadfoot by Midge Frazel, author of Granite in My Blood
  5. Creating an Honor Wall Page on Fold3.com by Randy Seaver, author of Genea-Musings
  6. 2013 Veteran's Day Military Honor Roll Project Contributions by Heather Wilkinson Rojo, author of Nutfield Genealogy
  7. Overwhelming Need to Change my Plans by Jen  Baldwin, author of Ancestral Breezes
  8. Places I’ve Been, Places They’ve Been: Tuesday’s Tip by Anne Gillespie Mitchell, author of finding forgotten stories
  9. In the Kitchen: Christmas Eve Cake by Valerie Craft, author of Begin with 'Craft'
  10. A Day to Say Thank You by Jen Baldwin for Saving Memories Forever Blog
  11. Thankful Thursday - Of Taco and Wersel, Matthias and Ravold by Laura Cosgrove Lorenzana, author of The Last Leaf On This Branch
  12. Genealogy Writing Boot Camp – 23 November 2013 by Thomas MacEntee, author of Hack Genealogy
  13. Treasure Chest Thursday- Gilbert Robert's WWII Draft Registration Card by Cheri Hudson Passey, author of Carolina Girl Genealogy
  14. How can you tell if your ancestor might have served? by Shelley Bishop, author of A Sense of Family
  15. Brick Wall Comes Tumbling Down! by Smadar Belkind Gerson, author of Past-Present-Future
  16. Good news for Wisconsin researchers! by Harold Henderson, author of Midwestern Microhistory: A Genealogy Blog
  17. 1913 Red Cross Shoe Advertisement by Sheryl Lazarus, author of A Hundred Years Ago
  18. Good Eats by Heather Collins, author of Of Trees & Ink

New Blog Discoveries

In Case You Missed Them….My Contributions to the Genealogy, Photo Blog, and Vintage Postcard Blogosphere This Week

Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog
Grandpa's Postcards
Jana's Photo Journal

Thanks for reading!


© 2013 Copyright by Jana Last

Monday, November 11, 2013

Military Monday ~ A 2013 Veterans Day Tribute

Defense.gov Photo Essay - No Copyright


Happy Veterans Day!

Today, I'd like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank all of the wonderful veterans who have served in our nations' military to preserve the freedoms we all enjoy. And a heartfelt thank you goes out to all of those currently serving in the military, and to their families, as well.

I have written several blog posts about some of the military veterans in my family tree. I'd like to share a list of these blog posts with you today, ending with my Veterans Day post from last year, which includes military ancestors I have yet to write about in my blog.


Thanks for reading!

Jana

© 2013 Copyright by Jana Last

Friday, November 8, 2013

Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for November 8, 2013

White Poppy
My Fab Finds for this week are (in no particular order)
  1. A Secret Cruise -- The Rest of the Story (November 1, 2013) by John D. Tew, author of Filiopietism Prism
  2. I’m Featured in A Major Genealogical Magazine by Taneya Koonce, author of Taneya's Genealogy Blog
  3. A Big Deal In Family Tree: Why Have They Been So Silent About It? by Larry Cragun, author of Larry Cragun Family And Genealogy Blog
  4. The 2013 Awards for Top Genealogy/Family History Boards on Pinterest by Valerie Elkins, author of Family Cherished
  5. Archivo Historico Militar Mexicano (Archive of the Mexican Military) by Moises Garza, author of Mexican Genealogy
  6. The Future of Indexing by Scott Flinders for FamilySearch Blog
  7. I'm a RebelMouse! AND The Civil War in Photographs ~ Military Monday by Deb Ruth, author of Adventures in Genealogy
  8. An Emotional Turn of Events AND Military Honor Roll Project by Heather Wilkinson Rojo, author of Nutfield Genealogy
  9. How RootsTech looks from this Official Blogger's point of view by Pat Richley-Erickson, author of Dear Myrtle
  10. To have and to hold by Debi Austen, author of Who Knew?
  11. Special Pinterest Boards for Veterans Day by Thomas MacEntee, author of GeneaBloggers
  12. Use Google Books to Get Free Copies of Pages of Family History Library Books by Nathan W. Murphy for FamilySearch Blog
  13. Pinterest Pinning Proliferates -- are you taking advantage? by Diane L. Richard for Upfront With NGS
  14. WikiTree and DNA by by Roberta Estes, author of DNAeXplained – Genetic Genealogy
  15. Stories by Mom: an introduction by Diane, author of Nuts From the Family Tree
  16. Once more into FAG fray by Judy G. Russell, author of The Legal Genealogist
  17. In Genealogical Research Distance Really Matters AND I hope this program gets fully developed and available: Puzzilla.org by James Tanner, author of Genealogy's Star
  18. Free Access to Historic Canadian Military Records by Kathryn Lake Hogan, author of Looking 4 Ancestors
  19. 1 Year Blogiversary! by True Lewis, author of NoTe's To MySeLf……
  20. The Fold3 Honor Wall by Kristie Wells for Ancestry.com Blog
  21. Janet Hovorka Announces New Activity Book Series for Youth by Randy Seaver, author of Genea-Musings
  22. Getting More From Find A Grave by J. L. Beeken, author of JLog
  23. Autosomal DNA Directions by Jenna Mills, author of Desperately Seeking Surnames
  24. MyHeritage teams up with BillionGraves and Tributes.com by Renee Zamora, author of Renee's Genealogy Blog

New Blog Discoveries

In Case You Missed Them….My Contributions to the Genealogy, Photo Blog, and Vintage Postcard Blogosphere This Week

Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog
Grandpa's Postcards
Jana's Photo Journal

Thanks for reading!


© 2013 Copyright by Jana Last

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Little Carl Martin Gillberg's Cause of Death

Some time ago, I shared a Wednesday's Child post in which I remembered little Carl Martin Gillberg. He was my Grandma Ingrid's only brother. You can read that post by clicking HERE.

At the time I wrote my Wednesday's Child post, I didn't know why Carl Martin died. He was only one year and two months old when he passed away in Sweden on January 23, 1906.

Just to refresh your memory, Carl Martin was the only son born to my paternal great-grandparents,
Carl Albert Gillberg and Hilda Maria Carlsson.

Thanks to Linda, author of the
Cousin Linda blog, I now know what took the life of little Carl Martin Gillberg.

Linda surprised me with an email letting me know that she had found a Death Book listing Carl Martin Gillberg. She also found Carl's parents and siblings in a House Examine/Parish Book. These documents were from Sweden and she found them on the Swedish website
Arkivdigital. I don't have a subscription to that website, so I am thrilled and so thankful that Linda supplied me with these valuable documents. Thank you Linda!

Here is the page from the 
Death Book1 where Carl Martin Gillberg is listed.

Gillberg, Carl Martin - Death Record in Eskilstuna, Sweden

Here's the cropped portion of the book above showing Carl Martin Gillberg's entry.

Gillberg, Carl Martin - Death Record in Eskilstuna, Sweden - Cropped

Because I don't speak or read Swedish, I asked Linda if she could help me out with the column headings in this book. She graciously sent me another email with the column heading translations.

Here's the information contained in this book about Carl's death. Linda, thank you again for your help with this translation.


  • Carl's Death Year and Month – January 1906
  • Carl's Death Day – 23
  • Carl's Sex – Male
  • Carl's Name – Carl Martin Gillberg
  • Carl's Parents – Carl Albert Gillberg and Hilda Maria Carlsson
  • Carl's Birthdate – November 12,  1904
  • Carl is listed on Page 1965 in the House Examine/Parish Book
  • Carl's Cause of Death – Rickets
  • Carl was buried on January 28, 1906

Poor little Carl Martin. He died from Rickets.  So, just what is Rickets?

Wikipedia states that,
"The primary cause of rickets is a vitamin D deficiency.[8] Vitamin D is required for proper calcium absorption from the gut. Sunlight, especially ultraviolet light, lets human skin cells convert vitamin D from an inactive to active state. In the absence of vitamin D, dietary calcium is not properly absorbed, resulting in hypocalcaemia, leading to skeletal and dental deformities and neuromuscular symptoms, e.g. hyperexcitability."
MedicineNet.com states the following about Rickets:
Rickets is a disorder caused by a deficiency of vitamin D, calcium, or phosphate. Rickets leads to softening and weakening of the bones and is seen most commonly in children 6-24 months of age. There are several subtypes of rickets, including hypophosphatemic rickets (vitamin-D-resistant rickets), renal or kidney rickets (renal osteodystrophy), and most commonly, nutritional rickets (caused by dietary deficiency of vitamin D, calcium, or phosphate). Classic nutritional rickets is also medically termed osteomalacia.
I wonder what type of Rickets little Carl Martin had. It's interesting that the article in MedicineNet.com said that Rickets is most commonly seen in children aged 6-24 months of age. Carl Martin died when he was 14 months old. Whichever kind he had, his death must have been devastating to his parents and siblings.

I will share page 1965 of the Household Examination/Parish Book, that was referred to in Carl's entry in this Death Book, in a future post. Page 1965, which Linda shared with me, shows Carl listed with his family.

Thanks for reading!


Jana

© 2013 Copyright by Jana Last




1 ArkivDigital Online, Eskilstuna Kloster och Fors F:4 (1903-1913) Bild 520 / sid 44 (AID: v163140.b520.s44, NAD: SE/ULA/10226)

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Death Causes Pedigree Chart

I saw Nathan W. Murphy's post in which he shared his "Death Chart" on the FamilySearch blog earlier this week. What an interesting concept! And it can actually be quite helpful in a medical sense, can’t it?

Other bloggers have beat me to the punch in posting their Death Causes Pedigree Charts on their blogs. I'm finally posting mine today.

Death Causes Pedigree Chart 3

It's interesting to note that my maternal grandfather died of a stroke at the age of 80, and his father also died of a stroke, although he was 82 years of age at the time of his death.

My paternal grandfather died of a heart attack at 32 years of age, leaving behind a wife and four young children. At this time I don't know his parents' causes of death. His mom was only 38 years old when she died. She passed away eleven days after giving birth to her 7th child.

Creating this chart has been interesting. Unfortunately, cancer seems to be a prevalent cause of death on my dad's side of the family. Not listed in this chart are two of my dad's sisters who also died of cancer. One died from breast cancer at 58 years of age and one from leukemia at 24 years of age. My paternal grandmother, who ultimately died from gall bladder cancer at 89 years of age, was a colon cancer survivor. My dad was a non-smoker, but died from complications of esophageal cancer at 73 years of age. His esophageal cancer was caused by years of acid reflux problems.

Since writing this post, I ordered the death certificates of my paternal great-grandparents (the three "Unknown" boxes at the top of this chart). They should arrive by the end of the month. Yay! My two great-grandparents (the "Unknown" boxes at the bottom of the chart) died in Brazil. Obtaining their death certificates may be more difficult.

Thanks for reading!

Jana

© 2013 Copyright by Jana Last

Friday, November 1, 2013

Follow Friday ~ Fab Finds for November 1, 2013

Cropped Yellow Poppies 600dpi
My Fab Finds for this week are (in no particular order)
  1. X-DNA Inheritance Charts by Debbie Parker Wayne, author of Deb's Delvings in Genealogy
  2. On the scent: Eula’s bread AND Halloween’s toll AND Those pesky percentages by Judy G. Russell, author of The Legal Genealogist
  3. Learning: How to Be Wrong by Heather Collins, contributor at Young & Savvy Genealogists
  4. Ancestor of Native Americans in Asia was 30% “Western Eurasian” by Roberta Estes, author of DNAeXplained – Genetic Genealogy
  5. And you thought that over-sharing was a product of the digital age! by Ameya Warde, author of A. Warde & Co.
  6. How Has Findagrave.com Profoundly Affected Your Genealogy Research? by Caroline Pointer, author of 4 Your Family Story
  7. Death Chart by Nathan W. Murphy for FamilySearch Blog
  8. Great News - 1921 Canadian Census INDEX Online! AND Problems With 1921 Census Indexing & How To Work Around Them AND  Hallowe'en Death Chart by Lorine McGinnis Schulze, author of The Olive Tree Genealogy
  9. What's in your attic? by Deb Ruth, author of Adventures in Genealogy
  10. The Adventures of Tracking Down a Marriage Record from Galicia by Smadar Belkind Gerson, author of Past-Present-Future
  11. California Genealogy Resources and Links by Kenneth Marks, author of The Ancestor Hunt
  12. Do local Genealogy Societies have anything to offer today’s researcher? by Cindy Freed, author of Cindy Freed's Genealogy Circle
  13. MYSTERIOUS WWII RING – FOLLOW-UP by Jenny Lanctot, author of Are My Roots Showing?
  14. I ONCE WAS THE GREAT PUMPKIN - AN FM TRADITION by The Footnote Maven, author of footnoteMaven
  15. Gazing at the Gazettes - beta site by Audrey Collins, author of The Family Recorder
  16. MyHeritage Signs Partnership Agreement with BillionGraves and Tributes.com, adds 5.5 Gravestone Records and 3.5 Million Obituaries AND New Blog Launched to Tell the Stories of Ellis Island Immigrants by Dick Eastman, author of Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter
  17. More Updates to FamilySearch Photos and Stories—October 29, 2013 by Steve Anderson for FamilySearch Blog
  18. Thankful Thursday - Guides from the Past by Laura Cosgrove Lorenzana, author of The Last Leaf On This Branch
  19. THE DISH... by Deb Gould, author of Deb Gould
  20. Halloween Edition: A Turkey of a Will by Shelley Bishop, author of A Sense of Family
  21. A death chart by Michele Simmons Lewis, author of Ancestoring

New Blog Discoveries

In Case You Missed Them….My Contributions to the Genealogy, Photo Blog, and Vintage Postcard Blogosphere This Week

Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog
Grandpa's Postcards
Jana's Photo Journal

Thanks for reading!


© 2013 Copyright by Jana Last