> Does anyone have any experience in getting information from funeral > homes? > > I don't hear about it on any of the mailing lists I'm on. It seems > like it would be a good source of information, but perhaps the funeral > homes are not amenable to it, for some reason. I would just like to add that in addition to death certificate information I have also received a copy of the obituary from a funeral home. Funeral Homes (those still in existence) are a wonderful resource for information relating to the death of an individual. They are probably one of the more under-used sources of information. Nancy "Nancy Atkinson" <genmaillist@attbi.com>

"G. M. Lupo" <deaconblues@steelyspam.org> wrote: > wrote...Snip > > : Do you know your grandfather's Social Security number? You might > : want to send for a copy of his Social Security card application > : (form SS-5 > > As far as I can tell, he never had an SSN or didn't use it. I've > checked the SSDI and that's how I found his ex-wife, but he died in > 1950 and it doesn't look like SSNs were as common place at that > point as they've become. My guess is he never registered for one. If he was employed in the 1940s and 1950s he definitely had a Social Security number. He could not have been employed without one then, unless it was off of the books, which is unlikely at such newspapers as the Dallas Morning News and the Atlanta Journal. Not everyone who died with Social Security is listed in the Social Security Death Index. You might check for union records. Typographers, I think, had a pretty strong union then. Janey Joyce <jejoyce@sbcglobal.net>

Margie wrote: > Does anyone have any experience in getting information from > funeral homes? I don't hear about it on any of the mailing lists I'm on. It seems like it would be a good source of information, but perhaps the funeral homes are not amenable to it, for some reason. Margie, when I approached the funeral home for my family they told me it was illegal post the info on the internet and would not even give me much about my family. They gave me the pages they released to the newspaper for the obits. RPH "Rh Domino" <rhdomino@hotmail.com>

My husband is a funeral director and is all the time telling me about someone calling and asking questions. There is a waiting period on deaths, i believe 25 yrs. We have even gone to the cemetary and taken photos for people. I think that if the person you talk to is also interested in genealogy then it might help with how much detail that they may give you. (1) the first time i called a funeral home the people gave me my great-great grandparents names and some other information that was on the death cert. (2) when looking for a great uncle i called california and the funeral home has been of no help, but did receive a obit from someone on one of the list that I belong to. Jeanna "Jeanna Lowe" <jeannalowe@hotmail.com>

I have had great success with Funeral Homes. Just call, and ask to make an appointment to go through their old records. GyJnc@aol.com

<mlomax1074@msn.com> wrote... : : > I'm curious what resources exist for locating people during the : > 1930s and 40s. : > : > G. M. Lupo a.k.a. matt at lupo dot com : : When was he born and when did he die? When did he live in Dallas? : In Atlanta? Where was he living at the time of the 1930 census? This is a point of contention also. The best evidence I have suggests he was born in February of 1901, at least, that's what's on his headstone. His death certificate doesn't give an exact birthdate. He died in July of 1950. He lived in Atlanta 1948-1950 and lived and worked in Dallas immediately prior to that, but I don't know when he went there. His obituary only states that he came to the Atlanta Journal from the Dallas Morning News. : Do you know your grandfather's Social Security number? You might : want to send for a copy of his Social Security card application : (form SS-5 As far as I can tell, he never had an SSN or didn't use it. I've checked the SSDI and that's how I found his ex-wife, but he died in 1950 and it doesn't look like SSNs were as common place at that point as they've become. My guess is he never registered for one. Matt Lupo -- G. M. Lupo a.k.a. matt at lupo dot com Up on the hill, they think I'm okay Or so they say... "G. M. Lupo" <deaconblues@steelyspam.org>

> Does anyone have any experience in getting information from funeral > homes? > > I don't hear about it on any of the mailing lists I'm on. It seems > like it would be a good source of information, but perhaps the > funeral homes are not amenable to it, for some reason. > > "Margie" <margie92@earthlink.net> Yes, to three distinct funeral homes - with one major success and three dismal failures. I'm researching in the D.C., Maryland, Virginia areas. My success involved a MD funeral home that supplied info within a week re: a 1950 funeral, as well as answers to general questions via e-mail. One failure involved a MD home that was bought by another company in ealry 1990's- I got no response 2 years ago - now I understand that the 'new' home has the old records and are charging for information. I have not tried again, yet. Another failure, again no response, was a MD home located in the vacinity of an undertaker ancestor regarding any knowledge of that ancestor in 1920's. The final failure, again no response, concerned ancestors throughout the 1900's and an employee (enbalmer) in the 1920's. Dave "Dave" <barbara-dave@att.net>

I wrote to two funeral homes in my area about 2 years ago. I sent self addressed envelopes for the replies. One of the funeral Home directors called me on the telephone and went out of his way to help me even though he had nothing on the name I was looking for. This past summer, I sent him a note letting him know I had finally found the person I was looking for and thanked him for his help. The other funeral home was never heard from. So I guess the answer is it doesn't hurt to write and ask for information. Pam Pamcu@aol.com

> I doubt any of the places he worked > would still have records on him, considering that it's been over 50 > years since he worked for any of them. Have you found his obituary yet? If he was working for the Atlanta Journal when he died, then perhaps they have a very detailed obituary for him, at least that was the case with one of our ancestors. In fact, the ancestor we have that worked for a newspaper worked in the printing area but the newspaper dedicated half the page to his rememberance. But I agree with someone else here who suggested posting a little info about him. You never know what info someone here might be able to offer you. Kimber For a listing of obituaries I have on hand for St. Joseph Cty, IN, visit: http://hometown.aol.com/k727h/index.html k727h@aol.com (Kimber)

Margie wrote: > Does anyone have any experience in getting information from funeral > homes? > > I don't hear about it on any of the mailing lists I'm on. It seems > like it would be a good source of information, but perhaps the > funeral homes are not amenable to it, for some reason. Any time I've called a funeral home with a reasonable request, I've always received at least a cordial reply, even if the reply was that they don't have the records. And if it's a small town you're dealing with, often the funeral director buried Grandma, Uncle John, Cousin Walt, Aunt Linda... -- Joe Makowiec can be reached at: http://makowiec.org/contact/?Joe Joe Makowiec <makowiec@nycap.rEMOVECAPSr.com>

margie92@earthlink.net writes: > Does anyone have any experience in getting information from > funeral homes? > > I don't hear about it on any of the mailing lists I'm on. It > seems like it would be a good source of information, but perhaps > the funeral homes are not amenable to it, for some reason. Margie, I have gotten lots of info from Funeral Homes. The ones I have dealt with have went out of their way to help. I have gotten Death Certificates for FREE from them and they can tell you the name of the Cemetery where the person was buried and sometimes they have some of the Funeral Home Handout cards left over in the persons folder that will tell that info as well. You are right, not much is being said on the mailing list about this source to check for info on your ancestors. One thing I will note is that you need to know what year the person died in order for them to locate that person in their files. Hope this helps you in some way. Join Now! Subscribe: KYHeritageFolklore-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Terry Thacker Doing genealogy is like writing OUR own family Bible. Our ancestors are the ones that have came to pass, and our descendants are the ones to fulfill it.

"G. M. Lupo" wrote: > > I'm curious what resources exist for locating people during the > 1930s and 40s. > > <snip> I would suggest writing the SSA for his work history. Rather expensive but if he was on SS than it will quickly give his work and location history. bob gillis bob gillis <rpgillis@bellatlantic.net>

G. M. Lupo <deaconblues@steelyspam.org> wrote: > Anyone have any suggestions? Yes. Give us a name and specific, cited particulars of the documents you have found, their dates, and where you found them. In that way, someone may actually recognize the specific situation and give you specific advice. While it may not be true of the '30's and '40's, many people have CD-ROMs with considerable data that may be germane, but they can't look up anything for you without at least a name, and, preferably, a date or two. -- Regards, Frank Young tipcat@wam.umd.edu 703-527-7684 Post Office Box 2793, Kensington, Maryland 20891 "Videmus nunc per speculum in aenigmate... Nunc cognosco ex parte"

Does anyone have any experience in getting information from funeral homes? I don't hear about it on any of the mailing lists I'm on. It seems like it would be a good source of information, but perhaps the funeral homes are not amenable to it, for some reason. Margie "Margie" <margie92@earthlink.net>

> I'm curious what resources exist for locating people during the > 1930s and 40s. > > <snip> > > G. M. Lupo a.k.a. matt at lupo dot com When was he born and when did he die? When did he live in Dallas? In Atlanta? Where was he living at the time of the 1930 census? I recommend you examine city directories for Atlanta, Dallas, and any other major city you suspect he lived in during the '20s and 30's (maybe even the '40s, although by then most people had phones and were listed in telephone directories). I live near Los Angeles, where the public library has a huge collection of city directories on microfilm. If your local public library does not have a collection of city directories, you can have your local reference librarian order city directories from another library on Interlibrary Loan, for free or for a nominal fee. Do you know your grandfather's Social Security number? You might want to send for a copy of his Social Security card application (form SS-5), which will show his address and parents' names; the cost is $27. You might also want to send for a copy of his WWII draft registration card, which will show the name and address of the "person who will always know [his] address" (probably his wife). Most WWII draft registration cards are available from the Selective Service System; here is a link: http://www.sss.gov/records.htm (Cards for men born between 1877 and 1897 are held by the National Archives.) Good luck. Mark Lomax Pasadena, CA mlomax1074@msn.com

I'm curious what resources exist for locating people during the 1930s and 40s. My maternal grandfather was apparently the inspiration for the song "Papa was a Rolling Stone" and he wandered around quite a bit during his short life (he died at age 49). He was born and raised in Lincoln County, GA, but before he was 21, he had moved to Florida and married his first wife, who was nearly 10 years older than he was. Around this time he also learned linotype, which would be his lifelong profession. He and his wife apparently moved to West Virginia, which is where he met my grandmother after which he divorced his first wife and married my grandmother. They didn't stay married long, and divorced in 1932. From that point until the late 40s, I have no idea where he was or what he was doing, though presumably he continued to work as a linotype operator. I have found him on the census in 1930 and I know that he worked for the Dallas Morning News in the late 1940s, where he also met and married his last wife (not sure if she was 3rd, 4th or otherwise), to whom he was married at the time of his death in 1950. At that time he was living in Atlanta and working for the Atlanta Journal. None of his brothers or sisters are alive any longer and when they were, they were notoriously closed-lipped about him. My mother didn't know him very well growing up and really didn't get to know him until she moved to Atlanta a few years before he died. I have cousins who knew him, but they were all much younger and didn't spend a lot of time with him. One of these cousins remembers that while he and his family were living in South Carolina, my grandfather would visit them frequently and my cousin believes he was living near Gatlinburg at that time. This same cousin also says my grandfather was frequently accompanied by a woman my cousin believed to have been his wife, but wasn't sure. I managed to track down information on his first wife, who died in California in the 80s, but they had been divorced a long time and information on her estate didn't contain any references to him. As I say, I've found him on the census in 1930, and at the time he was still married to my grandmother. I've found his first marriage listing in Volusia County, FL in the early 1920s and that's apparently where he divorced his first wife, but when I wrote to the courthouse for a copy of the divorce decree, I was told records from that period had been lost in a fire or otherwise destroyed. I do know he was working for the Dallas Morning News in Texas before he came to Atlanta, but I have no idea when he went to work for them or where he was prior to that. There were rumors in my family that he had another child with his first wife, but with the help of an extremely helpful records clerk in California, I was able to obtain fairly extensive records on her estate and there's no mention of any children, which of course only means she probably had none at the time of her death. This also does rule out that he had children with another wife or girlfriend. Are there searchable indices of vital records for the Carolinas during that period? I haven't yet written to the vital records department in South Carolina, where he may have been living during part of the 30s and 40s, because I'd like to narrow down the information a bit beforehand. I doubt any of the places he worked would still have records on him, considering that it's been over 50 years since he worked for any of them. Anyone have any suggestions? Matt Lupo -- G. M. Lupo a.k.a. matt at lupo dot com Up on the hill, they think I'm okay Or so they say... "G. M. Lupo" <deaconblues@steelyspam.org>

Donna Hrynkiw wrote: > The land description is Secn 1 - Rg 73W - Twp 129N - 5P.M. > > I've been able to locate the 5th Principal Meridian, and thus can > locate the 73rd Range west of it. But where is the baseline that > Township 129 is North of? I've spent a couple of hours searching > the web but can't find a description of how or where baselines on > the American central prairies were determined. Were they on lines > of latitude? Tips, hints, clues gratefully accepted. Donna, You will find that the base line for the fifth principal meridian runs through Arkansas just below 35 degrees longitude. For a map see <http://www.blm.gov/cadastral/meridians/meridians.htm>. The base line and the fifth principal meridian cross each other at or close to the intersection of Monroe, Phillips, and Lee Counties, Arkansas. I see that Mr. Pence gave you the Bureau of Land Management URL which will be helpful to you. Phil Holm Phil Holm <pholm@rconnect.com>

>Pensions were also paid to the widows of disabled Union veterans >(and the degree of disability could be very slight) even if the >marriage did not take place until long after the war was over. Some >Civil War widows pensions were still being paid in the 1940s. >Don Aitken <don-aitken@freeuk.com> ================ May 23, 2003 Gathered in various places around the Internet: Gertrude Grubb Janeway, age 93, the last known living widow of a Union soldier, died Friday, January 19, 2003, more than six decades after the passing of the love of her life, John Janeway, who married her when he was 81 and she was barely 18. An honorary member of the Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War, Mrs. Janeway was the last recognized Union widow. She received a $70 check each month from the Veterans Administration. Mrs. Janeway was born 44 years after the Civil War ended. Mrs. Daisy Anderson, the last known living widow of a Black Union soldier, died in September 1998, at the age of 97. Still living is 96-year-old Alberta Martin of Enterprise, Alabama. In 1927, she became the third wife of William Jasper Martin, an 81-year-old former private in the Confederate army. He died in 1932, and today she is the sole surviving Civil War widow. "In the book "THE SOUTH'S LAST BOYS IN GRAY" by Jay Hoar, published in the mid 1980's, the last 3 surviving Confederate veterans were as follows: William Allen "Uncle Bill" Lundy, from Alabama, who died in 1957, Crestview, Florida, age 109. John Salling, from Virginia, who died March 19, 1959. Walter Washington Williams, from Houston,Texas, who died December 19, 1959. "However, a more recent study by William Marvel, published in BLUE AND GRAY magazine February of 1991 states the claims that John Salling and Walter Washington Williams must be rejected since census records indicate that in 1860 Williams was only 5 years old, and Salling was 2 years of age. "Marvel concludes the last Confederate veteran was Pleasant Crump of the 10th Alabama, who died on December 31, 1951. "It is not known to this author as to whether or not William Marvel had examined the book "THE SOUTH'S LAST BOY'S IN GRAY", but in the event his research is indeed true and correct as to the dismissal of John Salling and Walter Washington Williams as the last surviving Confederate veterans due to the census report of their age at the time of war, and in consideration Pleasant Crump of the 10 Alabama died on December 31, 1951, who he credited as the last Confederate veteran, the conclusion is that William Allen "Uncle Bill" Lundy, who died September 1, 1957 at age 109, was not only the last surviving Confederate veteran, but also the last surviving veteran North and South, of the war. "The last surviving Union veteran of the war [and the last living member of the Grand Army of the Republic] was Albert Woolson of Duluth, Minnesota, who died August 2, 1956." -Jim -- Jim Lyons jim@jimlyons.com http://www.jimlyons.com

One thing I haven't seen mentioned and thought I would just put out for all to see is that when you order a pension file, you may NOT get all the documents in the file in the initial request. Large pensions files have a card in them that indicates what is sent in the initial response. The remaining material is usually obtained through a second request asking for the remainder of the file, or by having someone go to the archives and pull the file personally. Also do not assume that what is behind the stop card is not of genealogical value. I get the remainder of one of my ancestors files and behind the stop card was a handwritten letter detailing all the places he had lived since the war, his children's names and other very good genealogical info. The people who put the stop cards in the files normally only count a certain number of pages and insert the files. All they worry about being in front of the stop card are the Pension Application, payment records, and any records indicating the person has died and ceased to receive a pension payment. Sometimes even marriage info can be behind the stop card. "Kevin Wornell" <wornell1@attbi.com>

"Donna Hrynkiw" <Donna.Hrynkiw@kwantlen.ca> wrote: > The land description is Secn 1 - Rg 73W - Twp 129N - 5P.M. Since I grew up in Twp 127N, 64W, I had a pretty good idea of where the land you are looking for is located and this helped me find it. I used to know the location of this baseline, but right now I could only guess. Fortunately, you don't need to know the baseline location in order to locate much of land in the U.S. You need to know the state and the legal description. This applies to land surveyed under the Act of May 20, 1785, which generally includes all U.S. lands surveyed after that date and including portions of Ohio and all states west (and in the public domain states to the south). If you have that legal description, you can find out which county in the U.S. the land is located by going to the web site maintained by the Eastern States Land Office, Bureau of Reclamation. Go to: http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/PatentSearch/ Once there, click on "Search Land Patents" at the top of the page and on the ensuing page select "Standard Search." Then select the state and enter the legal description. This will give you a list such as this list of original patentees in Sec. 1, Range 129 Note, Township 73 West: Lutz, Joseph McIntosh ND 6/11/1900 (Homestead) Materi, Wendelin McIntosh ND 12/7/1897 (Timber Culture) Materi, Wendelin McIntosh ND 4/3/1896 (Homestead) Uhrich, Michael McIntosh ND 1/28/1897 (Homestead) Wishek, John H McIntosh ND 6/30/1906 (Cash Purchase) Ziegler, Joseph McIntosh ND 9/11/1905 (Homestead) The authorities for the above patents were: May 20, 1862 - Homestead Act (160 acres free if certain conditions met) March 3, 1873: Timber Culture (160 acres free if certain conditions met) April 24, 1820: Cash Sale (Wishek) (minimum $1.25 an acre, at least 80 acres) Note that the state line between North and South Dakota is on the border between Range 128 North and 129 North, so the southern border of McIntosh County, North Dakota, is on the North Dakota-South Dakota state line. McIntosh County encompasses the area beginning in the southeast with Twp 129, Range 67W and closing on the northeast with Twp 131N and Range 73W. Thus Section 1, Range 73W, Twp 129N is 5-6 miles north of the southern boundary of the county and 5-6 miles east of the western boundary of the county. According to the index of a 1911 Plat Map of the county, found at the McIntosh USGenWeb site, these were the owners of Sec. 1 in that year: Materi, W. 129N 73W 1 Stackert, J. 129N 73W 1 Streifle, John 129N 73W 1 Wolf, J.K. 129N 73W 1 [See: http://pixel.cs.vt.edu/library/land/nodak/link/mcintosh.txt] You will find that most settlers in this area were "Germans from Russia"; that is, they first left Germany to settle in the Ukraine at the invitation of Catherine the Great and lived and farmed there for several generations, maintaining their German culture. When promises such as no military service eventually weren't honored, large numbers of them migrated to the U.S., particularly to the Dakotas and Nebraska, in the latter part of the 19th century and early in the 1900s. In order to obtain Homestead land, one had to be a citizen and therefore for land in this area you will often find a copy of the naturalization papers in the case file for the land transaction, along with other valuable information, such as names and ages of family members, dates settled, improvements made and when, etc. These papers are at the National Archives. Order from: Reference Service NNRS National Archives and Records Administration 8th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20408 Phone: 202-501-5400 You must know the legal land description to obtain copies of these files. There are probably more details at the NARA web site. Regards, Richard A. Pence, Fairfax, VA 22030 Pence Family History <http://www.pipeline.com/~richardpence/> "Richard A. Pence" <richardpence@pipeline.com>