Not again!!

Tombstones toppled and broken

by South Jersey News Online

Monday September 15, 2008, 3:39 PM

By JEAN JONES

jeanjones@fast.net

MILLVILLE -- Vandals toppled 31 more stones in Mount Pleasant Cemetery during the weekend and broke three that probably can't be replaced, said Jim Reeves, cemetery manager.

“We thought it was 30, but we found another one this morning, “Reeves said Monday afternoon. “You can see pretty much where they either came in or ended. They went around the circle and then on from there. Some were big and some were small. Three looked like they were kicked over and snapped off. They were the old marble stones, only about an inch thick. You can't even get that kind of stone any more.”

The vandalism happened sometime between 5 p.m. Saturday and 5:42 a.m. Sunday, police said. Reeves said it likely happened when it was still daylight. The cemetery is closed from sundown to sunup and he said police patrol it.

“It was probably kids on foot. It was at least two, and maybe three,” Reeves said. “It had to be older kids to have the strength to push the stones over.”

He said this was the second time in three weeks that the cemetery has been the victim of vandalism.

“Before, there was a fire in the woods and they pushed over seven stones,” he said.

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I'm trying to find out who they are to see if it's my family.

-andrea

Tea Burner 5K

Down in Greenwich, Cumberland Co, NJ, they're also having a 5K race on September 27.

Go to www.teaburnerrace.com for more info

September 27 at 8:30 am and help raise funds for the C. Wallis Goodwin Scholarship Fund and the Greenwich Fire and Rescue Squad. The run kicks off the 100th anniversary celebration of the dedication and unveiling of the Tea Burner Monument in Greenwich, NJ, which will be held on Saturday September 27 and Sunday September 28, 2008 in conjunction with the Cumberland County Historical Society's Artisans' Faire. The 5K course takes you past the Faire on historic Ye Greate Street lined by colonial homes, to Market Lane by a local marina on the Cohansey River and scenic marshland, to Pier Road with farms in view, then on to Bacons Neck Road and finally back to Ye Greate Street. With luck on the run you might even see one of the local eagles or hawks!

It's never too late to sign up!

-andrea

Greenwich Tea Burners

As you all know, one of my pet peeves is the exploitation of the deceased.

This year is the 100th anniversary of the installation of the Greenwich Tea Burners Monument in Greenwich, Cumberland, NJ. You can read an article about the celebration here.

There's even a company called Greenwich Tea Burner Tea. I emailed them and asked if they donated a percentage of the sales to the Tea Burners or some sort of organization. They did not email me back.

These 24 men risked their lives and the whole town's having a big party. At least do something to benefit the men while you exploit them. They're even selling pitchers, for goodness sake!!

So I wrote into the local paper again. Should be in Thursday's edition.

I was wondering if there is a project going to obtain flag holder grave markers for the 24 Tea Burners. I know that some of the men do not even have tombstones. I do not know how much a custom flag holder would cost, but I know that a new cast iron GAR one is $20 on ebay. The flags could be renewed every December by the DAR or a similar organization. Perhaps, there could be some sort of donation at the 100th Anniversary of the Tea Burner Monument for these special holders.

I think we should do something that directly benefits the the men who risked their lives on December 22, 1774, this September. I read about all the things that were being sold such as programs, stamps, minatures, books, mugs, pitchers, and tea pots, and I was wondering what part of those proceeds go to the very people who we are remembering? For every Tea Burner, there is a cemetery plot that could always look a little nicer.

-andrea

Shopping the sales

Besides genealogy, I'm a hard core Target shopper. I know the markdown schedules and I know the seasonal rotation. I buy things for cemetery decoration at 90% off at Christmas. This year, everyone's getting bows that I'm making from a ribbon spool I got for 99c. (reg 9.99!) You have to do that when you have a lot of ancestors, or you would go broke!

I wanted to bring your attention to the fact that Target's 'back to the dorm' line is 30% off now. This includes.. yes.. wait for it.. the gentle plastic bristled grave cleaning scrubbers! I picked up a new one for 68 c (reg 99, ha!) even thought I'm pretty sure I don't need it. You'd be suprised at the things you can find there for genealogy if you know the 'season' they are in and can stock up.

-andrea

FGS Conference in Philly

I'm not at the FGS Genealogy Conference in Philly this week. Why not? It's because I don't go to conventions unless someone pays me to speak at them. I feel they're a waste of time.

I also couldn't justify spending approximately $150 to go when I could have spent it finishing a deceased relative's tombstone.

I looked over the brochure a few months ago. I think a lot of classes could be eliminated if the people who took them spent a few minutes on the internet.

A Few Examples:

F-137: Using the NJ Room at the Alexander Library- Rutgers University
Michelle Chubenko
An overview of the genealogical resources held within Special Collections and University Archives.

I see Michelle all the time at the NJ State Archives and I know she is a fine genealogist. But this class, really? I've been to the Alexander Library. The card catalog is on computer or a card file for names in the corner. You find this out within 2 seconds of telling the people at the desk that you're new to the place. Their holdings are also online on Rutgers's website. The hardest part about going to the library is finding metered parking since it is across from the student center.

F-109: Wills & Probate Will Be the Death of Me
Angela McComas

Learn how to find indexes of courthouse records, microfilmed records and how to read a will.

I find a will is pretty straightforward if you have command of the English language. What words you don't know, you can look up. You can find indexes of the courthouse records at the courthouse or you can google them to see what other repository they are at. Then you can go there. I just saved you 1 hr of your life.

F-135: Photography Workshop. ($15 supply fee) Limited enrollment. Advanced Registration required!
Maureen A. Taylor
Got a question about a family photograph? This workshop covers both identification and preservation of family pictures.

Save your $15 and buy something from Archival Methods that it will fit into. As for identification, if you don't know who the person is and have compared it to everyone else's photo collection in your family (and I mean all the distant cousins), you could probably find out when it was taken based on dress and photography studio with a little use of good ole google.

and I will close with my personal favorite.....

F-132: Overlooked Census Data: Reading Those Orphan Columns
Carolyn Earle Billingsley

Genealogists tend to read census returns for names, relationships, etc. There are many columns of information that are overlooked, and which can be useful.

Look at all the columns in the census. Now go use that hour of your life to do further research on your distant relative.

-andrea

Unclaimed Persons (rant)

It happened again.

As many of you know, I help out on the Unclaimed Persons Facebook Group. We are given cases from coroners where they cannot find the next of kin for persons who have died. Usually these cases are a few months to a few years old. We all spend hours on these cases for free in order to help these "lost souls" be reunited with their family.

It is the Coroner's job to make a "good faith effort" to find the family. When that fails, they turn the case over to us as we have a different skill set.

According to the youtube video introducing the problem, a death investigator will go through the deceased's dwelling, mail, personal property, computer to look for names and relatives, and get a copy of his phone records. They will then call the people they've been calling to see if they're related. They talk to neighbors, mailmen, and call area hospitals. If the coroner has to go through a court process to get that person buried, they sometimes sit in the morgue for two, sometimes three months.

We just got a new case where the person died on 27 Aug 2008. That was Wednesday, less than a week ago. Thursday and Friday were the only working days that they had to go through the deceased's things. I doubt they could get the phone records that fast.

I feel as if my fellow genealogists and I are being taken advantage of. This is the third time it's happened. The first time it happened, I raised the issue, but was told that "It'd be nice to reunite the deceased with his family sooner rather than later."

I hear that the Coroner's offices are understaffed and have a lot of cases. I think that we should not help until a month has passed. They should not rely on us immediately. If they cannot handle this, they need to take issue with the persons in charge or the taxpayers and lobby for more staff. This problem is not going to go away and they're going to turn off kind volunteers like myself who will spend hours coming through newspaper articles and ancestry.com looking for the next of kin.

I like helping out and I think we do a great service, but I want us to be the last option, not the first. It makes me feel as if our generosity is being taken advantage of and I don't like that.

-andrea

Tombstones

My mother just sent me an article about a Tampa Bay man installing a tombstone for his great great grandfather.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/military/war/article791095.ece

I'm currently saving up for tombstones for a bunch of my ancestors.  Right they have temporary funeral home markers that I purchased off ebay with laminated placards that I made.

I even have 16 blank flat markers that I was given from a local monument dealer that went out of business. I'm saving up to have those engraved for aunts/uncles/cousins who don't have a stone.

Ancestry.com and the 1900 census

Ancestry.com did something in the past few days to the way they display search results for the 1900 census. For example, if I search Fra* Ayr* in Salem Co, NJ, not only will I get his listing, but I will get everyone in his household.

This annoys me because it's extra data I don't need. The household data in the column to the right of the name is enough for me. Why did they do this? Now I have pages to go through instead of just one.

I wish they'd change it back.

-andrea

View Record	Frances Ayres	Eva W	Upper Pittsgrove , Salem , New Jersey	Apr 1875	New Jersey	White	Head
View Record	Eva W Ayres	Frances	Upper Pittsgrove , Salem , New Jersey	Oct 1876	New Jersey	White	Wife
View Record	Bertha Ayres	Frances, Eva W	Upper Pittsgrove , Salem , New Jersey	Aug 1895	New Jersey	White	Daughter
View Record	Charles Ayres	Frances, Eva W	Upper Pittsgrove , Salem , New Jersey	Apr 1899	New Jersey	White	Son

Census fun!

I was looking for Elizabeth Diament in the 1900 census. How was I supposed to find her when you have to have 3 characters before you use a * (wildcard) on ancestry.

1900 United States Federal Census
about Elizabeth D Di*Ent
Name: Elizabeth D Di*Ent
[Elizabeth D Dent]
[Elizabeth D VA*Ant]

1901

Yay! I reached the year 1901 in the Letters Testamentary for Cumberland Co, NJ!! Only 500 more pages to go. The milestones is that now they use preprinted forms :)

-andrea