Poke Around

Announcements

STAR TREK MARATHON coming! First week of February 1-7, showing movies and episodes - leading up to…

Geek Day 2.8 on Saturday, February 8^th. Mark your calendar!!

Computer Classes every Sat. mornings 10-12. "Open House" Whatever you need. Drop in anytime during those two hours.

Check out our new blog on movies and music at: RPL's Movies and Music by Robert Finch.

Come see me; I'll be waiting.

Genealogy tip for the day: Poke Around

A patron came in yesterday looking for an obituary. All he had was the year the lady died. He asked if there was an easier way than sitting at the microfilm machine scanning paper by paper for that year. Maybe – maybe not!

I wish I could remember the step by step process we took. The patron had the lady’s name, her husband and her son, and where they had lived (Texas and Arkansas). So we started poking around on the internet. Surprisingly he had already checked a lot of the sources I would have suggested. He had not, however, checked the Social Security Death Index, so we started there.

We checked the Social Security Death index (on ancestry.com). Nothing

We checked census records (on ancestry.com). Found two.

We checked familysearch.org. Found very limited information.

We checked findagrave.com. Found where her son is buried, and his wife’s name but no children listed. (i. e. grandchildren)

We went back to ancestry.org. Found 1 family tree.

Going back and forth we were able to identify the right family because of the information we had to start with. We then found her parents and the fact that she and her husband lived in the Rogers area before it was called that. (The former name of the town was Esculapia. Say that 10 times, fast!!!)

By comparing what information we did come up with to what we had we were able to pin down the decade her husband died. He was on the 1920 census and not on the 1930 census. We found that her son had died recently, the date and where he was buried, including pictures. We found her daughter-in-law’s name, and where she is to be buried (I think she’s still living…)

My patron was very confident that we had found the right family and was thrilled with additional information that we were able to dig up. We never did find the exact death date or an obituary, but the ultimate goal he was looking for were her descendants. She is buried in one lot with three empty ones beside her and they need to find the heirs.

Today he came back with an update. He and a friend had found a grandson who was still living, in another state and will be contacting him. Yeah! Mission accomplished!!!

Sometimes you have to just “poke around” – see what clues you can pick up. Then maybe go back to some of the previous goodies you’ve found. Then you might be able to piece together what you are looking, or where to go next. Kinda like the Pillsbury Dough Boy – eventually you’ll be able to poke and say, “you’re done!”

“History – it’s who we are; Genealogy – it’s who I am” sg

If any of these posts are helpful drop us a line in the comments section below. We just want to know if the information we provide to you is beneficial in anyway.

Ivan the Terrible

Today in History

1547		Ivan IV crowns himself the new Czar of Russia in Assumption Cathedral in Moscow.
1786		The Council of Virginia guarantees religious freedom.
1847		John C. Fremont, the famed "Pathfinder" of Western exploration, is appointed governor of California.
1865		General William T. Sherman begins a march through the Carolinas.
1900		The U.S. Senate recognizes the Anglo-German Treaty of 1899 by which the UK renounced its rights to the Samoan Islands.
1909		One of Ernest Shackleton's polar exploration teams reaches the Magnetic South Pole.
1914		Maxim Gorky is authorized to return to Russia after an eight year exile for political dissidence.
1920		The League of Nations holds its first meeting in Paris.
1920		Allies lift the blockade on trade with Russia.
1939		Franklin D. Roosevelt asks for an extension of the Social Security Act to include more women and children.
1940		Hitler cancels an attack in the West due to bad weather and the capture of German attack plans in Belgium.
1942		Japan's advance into Burma begins.
1944		Eisenhower assumes supreme command of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe.
1945		The U.S. First and Third armies link up at Houffalize, effectively ending the Battle of the Bulge.
1956		The Egyptian government makes Islam the state religion.
1965		Eighteen are arrested in Mississippi for the murder of three civil rights workers.
1975		The Irish Republican Army calls an end to a 25-day cease fire in Belfast.
1979		The Shah leaves Iran.
1985		Dian Fossey was assassinated in the jungle.
1991		The Persian Gulf War begins. The massive U.S.-led offensive against Iraq — Operation Desert Storm — ended on February 28, 1991, when President George Bush declared a cease-fire, and Iraq pledged to honor future coalition and U.N. peace terms.

Ethel Merman

Birthdays today

1757		Samuel McIntire, architect of Salem, Massachusetts.
1749		Vittorio Alfieri, Italian tragic poet (Cleopatra, Parigi shastigliata).
1821		John C. Breckinridge, 14th U.S. Vice President, Confederate Secretary of War.
1909		Ethel Merman, U.S. singer and actress, the "Queen of Broadway."

Word for the Day

Sophist

PRONUNCIATION:

(SOF-ist)

MEANING:

noun: One who makes clever, but unsound arguments.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin sophista, from Greek sophistes (sage), from sophos (clever). Earliest documented use: 1542. In ancient Greece, Sophists were philosophers and teachers known for their subtle, but fallacious reasoning.

USAGE:

"But this day Mansoor had turned five, and Ma used a sophist's argument to call for a celebration."
M.G. Vassanji; The Assassin's Song; Doubleday; 2007.

Quote for the Day
Memoir is not an act of history but an act of memory, which is innately corrupt. -Mary Karr, (b. 1955) poet and memoirist

Today’s Recipe

Soups for Cold Winter Days

CabbageJambalaya

Recipe by Susan

"This is an EASY recipe. My son hates cabbage but will eat this like crazy. You can make it low fat by using ground turkey and low fat sausage. They won't know the difference."

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef

1 pound smoked sausage, cut into 1/4 inch slices

1 onion, chopped

3 stalks celery

1 clove chopped garlic

1 medium head cabbage, chopped

1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes

14 1/2 fluid ounces water

1 cup uncooked rice

garlic salt to taste

Directions

1.      In a large stock pot over medium high heat, combine ground beef, smoked sausage, onion, celery and garlic. Cook until beef is evenly brown. Stir in cabbage, tomatoes, water and rice. Season with garlic salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low. Cover and cook for 35 to 40 minutes, or until rice is done.

ENJOY!

Now You Know!