Cay, This is an open letter. I went to the LDS site six months age. That's how I know there is an ancestral file. I have been able to verify the names of the children of Osiah with another family member who had the names from another source. If have been using the information I found by searching the site to look for other family members. By using the search features of the Familysearch site, I was able to find the names of several of Osiah's siblings. I also had some information from my grandfather's biography published in Men of New England around 1939. It was one of those books where the person supplied the biographical information himself. I now have my grandfather's death certificate also. One day, when I was in the town where he lived, I stopped into the town hall and got the death certificates for both my grandparents. I didn't know I could get them until a few months ago. That's when I found out that my grandmother was born in Canada. Because I belong to a Genealogy Society, I had the opportunity to look at the birth records for my father and his brother. I also looked on the marriage record of my grandparents. On one of the six vital records I had access to, I found the name of the town in Canada where my grandmother was born. That was the only place it was given. I would appreciate any help you could give on using the resources of the Family History Center. It may be the only place I can get access to the materials I need to research the many members of our family. I haven't been back to the FHC since. It is out of the way and not easy to get to for me. It's a 35 to 45 minute drive in cross town traffic in a direction I don't go very often. In other words, its a special trip, and I haven't had the time to go. I realize that the centers are staffed by volunteers. I intend to go back. It will be easier if I know something about using the center and how to find materials. I've been spending most of my time for the last few months looking for information for other people in other parts of the country. I became familiar with the genforum site, and just recently discovered the roots web lists. I live in central CT where many of the earliest settlers came during the mid 1600's. Its helping me learn how to look for my own family by giving me a reason to look at many different types of genealogical resource materials. I am also finding some resources that have been helpful with the Moser family in my local genealogy library. By sharing on the internet the information I do have on my family, I have made contact with 2 distant cousins. I also met a DAR researcher who had some information about my greatgreatgrandfather that she gave me in a private e-mail. I've only been involved in genealogy since last July. None of my Moser family is from this area, except my grandfather. And he didn't get here until the late 1890's. My mother's parents were Swedish immigrants who settled in Hartford in the late 1800's, early 1900's. One of my aunts my aunts created an extensive genealogy notebook on their family. One of my cousins in Texas is working with here material and expanding on it. She has been doing some research on the part of the family still in Sweden. About the census, by the mid 1880's, Osiah was living in Kansas. My grandfather Oran A. was working on a farm in Iowa working for a farmer named Wood or Woods. His first name may have been David. Some of my grandfather's siblings may still have been in Iowa. I know some of them were in Kansas. Any information you may find would be greatly appreciated. Marilyn Cay Merryman wrote: > > Marilyn, > > Have you been to the LDS Church website at > http://www.familysearch.org > > You will find the names and most of the dates of the 11 children > of Osiah A. Moser as well as the name of the man who submitted > this material to the church website. There are several of the > marriages for the children that are listed in Madison county > marriages. It names some of the children who died at a young > age. Of course it is not good to accept all that is on that web > site, or any other, without some checking but sure seems like it > gives lots of good clues. > > Your next step might be searching the census records if you have > not already done so. One thing for all to remember is that when a > query is posted it should contain more than just a few names. > Dates are very important and township location also helps a lot. > > I have today received the 1856 and 1885 Iowa State census records > for Madison County at my local FHC. After I have had a chance to > look at them and see how easy or hard they are to read I will be > starting to transcribe for eventually uploading to the Madison > County web site. > > A Family History Center has so much available it would literally > take you years to search everything. Of course most of it needs > to be ordered by using the Family History Library Catalog which > is a card catalog on microfiche of the entire holdings of the > Family History Library in SLC. The books listed are not available > at FHC's away from the main library. Almost all the more than > 1,000,000 microfilm and many thousands of microfiche are > available to order at your nearest FHC. This includes all kinds > of records including land records, vital statistics (for earlier > years), probate records, church records (from all denominations), > microfilmed newspapers, census records, thousands of filmed > family histories, cemetery records, it goes on and on. > > Of course it is disappointing to go to a FHC expecting that some > staff member will have enough knowledge to help you and find that > no one knows more than you do. The person responsible for > learning how to use a FHC is YOU. The LDS Church supplies the > resources but it is up to each individual to learn how to help > themselves. There are plenty of tutorials on the internet, > Rootsweb, Dear Myrtle and many others can teach you what basic > resources are and how to use them. > > I have been on the staff of various FHC's for most of the past 27 > years and would be glad to give suggestions on the best way to > use the resources to subscribers to the Madison County mailing > list. Even the smallest of FHC's has a lot to offer but staff > and hours and location are not always the greatest for everyone. > > Cay Merryman > > M J Moser wrote: > > > > Sandy, > > > > My greatgrandfather, Osiah A. Moser, was living in Winterset in 1861 > > when he enlisted for the civil war? Some of his children were probably > > born there. I do have names, and even birth dates for 11 children, but > > not specific locations. Also some of the children appeared to have > > died young. Some of the older children may have married in Iowa. > > > > Part of what I am trying to learn at this time is what kinds of > > resource material do I need to look for to find information in Iowa > > and some of the neighboring states. There are probably other members > > of Osiah's extended family in the area, and I would like to learn how > > to find them too. > > > > When you say "basic resources" what do you mean? I am not familiar > > with what a Family History Center has available. I went to the one > > near my home. It was very small and did not have much available. It > > was not a particular rewarding experience. The person who was staffing > > the center that day could not answer many of my questions. > > > > I know there is an ancestral file available for Osiah and his family, > > created by the descendants of one of my grandfather's sisters. Someone > > in the family appears to have been a member of the LDS Church. > > > > I appreciate it when people can give me some specific information. But > > I also appreciate it when people can help me learn to find the > > information myself. > > > > Marilyn > > > > Bressler's wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > First...do you have any first names? I'm going to the FHC (Family History > > > Center) here in Sacramento tomorrow (Friday) and would be happy to view a few > > > basic resources for you...but some first names and dates to go with those > > > surnames might help? Also...what time frames could they have been in > > > Winterset? > > > > > > Let me know and I'll add you to some lookups I'm doing ! > > > Later, Sandy > > > > > > Carlene wrote: > > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > > > From: Carlene <obryant@coffey.com> > > > > To: IAMADISO-L@rootsweb.com <IAMADISO-L@rootsweb.com> > > > > Date: Monday, January 03, 2000 10:21 AM > > > > > > > > >I am interested in my family that originated from Winterset. They was the > > > > >Wrights, Moores or Howards. I would appreciate any information on any of > > > > >them. Thanks! Carlene > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > > Visit the Bressler Family Online > > > *** http://www.ns.net/~bbb ***