Subject: Interview First Kiss - howtos Part 1 a blend of some of my past posts on interviewing.... HERE is a G-R-E-A-T book for those that are going the route of interviewing their elders - the absolute best place to start! All the little things that MAKE a PERSON come to the surface this route... Civil records give us documentation, not the essence of the person... An interview can make that person 'come alive'..... I, myself, did this for about 10 years before I did any real on-line searching.... (course then there wasn't as much on line!) and I had a rather large group of living elders....) It is called RECORDING YOUR FAMILY HISTORY BY WILLIAM FLETCHER by Gamut, NY NY. ISBN 0-396-08887-2 1983, 1986 runs about 300 pages It is packed with questions to ask...And WHY you should ask them, as well as techniques for asking the questions. also: Shirley Hornbeck HORNBECK SURNAME RESOURCE CENTER: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~hornbeck/hsrc/home.htm or THIS & THAT GENEALOGY TIPS: http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~hornbeck My tips now available from Genealogical Publishing Co.: http://www.genealogybookshop.com/genealogybookshop/files/General,General_Reference/9377.html commentary on interviews and questionaire.... I would suggest using a video camera.....even if the person is NOT VISIBLE on the video.....use it as a tape recorder.... and if you have any photos or other items discussed in the interview, pass them in front of the lens. I have found that if you cover the flashing red light on the video (electricians tape is best), that 'life is better for you' as you tape....plus, they forget about the camera...by the end of your session, they will likely want you to come back for more 'talkin' ALWAYS remember to hold the photos in YOUR hand as you discuss photos, then you can control the speed at which they are looked at and you get a chance to 'label' them in some way...have a pencil(s) handy.... What I do is plug in the camera before it ever gets onto the tripod. Then as soon as I have the machine locked in place and Ihave the area in the viewer, I turn on the machine. and recording.. the time before the actual interviewing is just as much fun as hearing the questions and as you are setting up you can be talking about what you are going to do...what the date is and where you are....ask them their address and how long they have been there, etc.....instead of breaking the bubble with the formal introduction.....and then trying to recapture the moment... just sit down and start asking questions.... they will be eased into the interview this way but they will ask if the camera is on and just tell them oh yes, and go on with your questions.... Have a question in mind for when this happens - because it will! Your job as the interviewer is to keep the questions going....and knowing when to add to your question list on the fly.... YOU WILL BE ABLE TO DO THIS, you see it happen on TV all the time... now it is YOUR turn.... If you feel that you need to practice, then interview a spouse...which you should do anyway....or YOURSELF! Always ask if an elder remembers ancestors speaking with accents, if they could speak another language, play instruments, had missing appendages, markings, eyesight/deafness, lifelong illnesses, smoking habits, ability to drive/or not, religious background, school experiences, cemeteries that they visited (that is where you will find people linked to you in some way) and churches that they went to, if even for a marriage, funeral, etc. occupations.- for them selves and for those that were older them themselves.. STAY ORGANIZED...do mix too many people into the interview and if GRANDMA is said, ALWAYS ask "GRANDMA who? and get the real name.... ALWAYS! DO NOT MISS THIS POINT! Ask about their travelling experiences...and work experiences because this is another area(s) where they might have LIVED and that is where some of your records might be. When you take photos of these folks remember to label them EACH INTERVIEW should be identified with a date and the person at the beginning and on the label.....and others present. If you interview again, ask a few questions over again....make sure that you get the same basic response.... Age is a nasty thing sometimes....If they forget something as they talk, go on to another question and come back to the question again... USE SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT WORDS IN THE REquestion here to trigger new thought process.... Forgetting happens to all of us....that 'it is on the tip of my tongue' usually comes back after another question has been answered..... just format the question a bit different. DO NOT interview with telephones or radios or tv on and with a bunch of people around. make it one on one if at all possible. INTERVIEWING at a birthday gathering is not a good thing, although sometimes the questions do happen. Be prepared with the video and take what you can get, but try to revisit one-on-one at another time...IN THEIR FAVORITE CHAIR....or at THEIR kitchen table... their comfort zones....NOT in a FORMAL setting or sterile place.....

Yes, please, Laura Freeman ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lynn Kimball" <rlk4@qwest.net> To: <ILKANE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, April 07, 2003 9:16 AM Subject: Re: [ILKANE] Westside School > Would anyone like a picture of east and west schools? > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "DEBBIE MOBLEY" <mobleydj@yahoo.com> > To: <ILKANE-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Monday, April 07, 2003 5:59 AM > Subject: Re: [ILKANE] Westside School > > > > > > Elizabeth: I found some photos of my ggrandparents with their friends Mr. > and Mrs Ira Snow. Could they be related to you also? They lived in > Batavia. > > > > Debbie in Florida > > > > > > > > --------------------------------- > > Do you Yahoo!? > > Yahoo! Tax Center - File online, calculators, forms, and more > > > > > > ==== ILKANE Mailing List ==== > > You can contact the list administrator for this list by sending a > > message to mailto:ILKANE-admin@rootsweb.com > > > > > > > ==== ILKANE Mailing List ==== > Software and hardware for this list are provided courtesy of RootsWeb. >

yes please! ----- Original Message ----- From: Lynn Kimball To: ILKANE-L@rootsweb.com Sent: Monday, April 07, 2003 9:16 AM Subject: Re: [ILKANE] Westside School Would anyone like a picture of east and west schools? ----- Original Message ----- From: "DEBBIE MOBLEY" <mobleydj@yahoo.com> To: <ILKANE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, April 07, 2003 5:59 AM Subject: Re: [ILKANE] Westside School > > Elizabeth: I found some photos of my ggrandparents with their friends Mr. and Mrs Ira Snow. Could they be related to you also? They lived in Batavia. > > Debbie in Florida > > > > --------------------------------- > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Tax Center - File online, calculators, forms, and more > > > ==== ILKANE Mailing List ==== > You can contact the list administrator for this list by sending a > message to mailto:ILKANE-admin@rootsweb.com > > ==== ILKANE Mailing List ==== Software and hardware for this list are provided courtesy of RootsWeb.

Hi, At one time I was able to access the Aurora Beacon News online, but cannot find this now. I cancelled the automatic mailing when I was offline traveling and now cannot find it again. Can anyone help me? Joyce in Florida

Would anyone like a picture of east and west schools? ----- Original Message ----- From: "DEBBIE MOBLEY" <mobleydj@yahoo.com> To: <ILKANE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, April 07, 2003 5:59 AM Subject: Re: [ILKANE] Westside School > > Elizabeth: I found some photos of my ggrandparents with their friends Mr. and Mrs Ira Snow. Could they be related to you also? They lived in Batavia. > > Debbie in Florida > > > > --------------------------------- > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Tax Center - File online, calculators, forms, and more > > > ==== ILKANE Mailing List ==== > You can contact the list administrator for this list by sending a > message to mailto:ILKANE-admin@rootsweb.com > >

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/ ----- Original Message ----- From: <JoyceJ1@aol.com> To: <ILKANE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, April 07, 2003 8:18 AM Subject: [ILKANE] Re: Aurora Beacon News > Hi, > At one time I was able to access the Aurora Beacon News online, but cannot find this now. I cancelled the automatic mailing when I was offline traveling and now cannot find it again. Can anyone help me? > > Joyce in Florida > > > ==== ILKANE Mailing List ==== > You can contact the list administrator for this list by sending a > message to mailto:ILKANE-admin@rootsweb.com > >

The following appeared in a summer 1907 issue of the Batavia (IL) Herald: "At the German Lutheran Church, Rev F. Miessler officiating, at 7:30, Wednesday, June 19th, 1907, occurred the marriage of Mr. Frank Koepke, son of Mr. H. Koepke, of East Wilson street, and Miss Elizabeth Melcher, daughter of Mr. F. J. Melcher. A reception was held at the home of the bride, one mile south of the city. Mr. and Mrs. Koepke will make their home in Chicago." Just another limb, Laura search for fallen leaves at http://home.attbi.com/~branchingout

The following appeared in a summer 1907 issue of the Batavia (IL) Herald: "Sunday June 16, Very Rev Phillip Birk, C. P., organized the Holy Name Society, in Holy Cross Church. The object of this Society is to prevent cursing and all profanity against the Holy Name of God. The officers appointed by Pastor Rev James O'Shea were: C. J. Perusse, President; O. D. Challman, Secretary; Anthony Kames, Treasurer. Very Rev J. L. Rooney, Administrator of Newry Cathedral, Ireland, will Lecture in Holy Cross Church, Sunday evening, June 23, on "Mary, Queen of Scots". Father Rooney is a gifted and magnetic speaker." Just another limb, Laura search for fallen leaves at http://home.attbi.com/~branchingout

The following appeared in a summer 1907 issue of the Batavia Herald: "The marriage of Miss Frances E Burnett, daughter of Mr and Mrs John S Burnett, formerly of this city and now residents of Kamos, Wash., to Mr C O'Neill of Chicago, was solemnized on the evening of June 17, 1907, at seven o'clock at the home of the bride's uncle and aunt, Mr and Mrs Albert E Snow on North Prairie Street. The wedding was witnessed by twenty of the relatives and friends of the two families. The bride and groom were unattended. Rev G M Daniels of the Baptist church conducted the marriage service, which was followed by a wedding supper. The bride and groom left early in the evening for a trip to Kansas, the old home of the groom. They will reside in this city and will be at home after July 15 at 75 E Wilson street. Mr O'Neill is connected with the offices of a Chicago firm and the bride, who is one of Batavia's deserving young ladies, has until recently acted as cashier at the offices of Lloyd D Wood on E Wilson street." Just another limb, Laura search for fallen leaves at http://home.attbi.com/~branchingout

Hi Elizabeth, I've looked all over my 1907 West Side commencement article (and surrounding pages) but can't find the name of the principal. Isn't that odd, that his name isn't mentioned in the graduation announcement? Here's what I did find: East Batavia School Teachers: LF Wentzel - Superintendent CH Bramer - Principal High School Emily R Johnston - Science Vivian Jarvis - Latin Madge Grimes - 7th and 8th grade L Vivian Jarvis - 5th and 6th grade Retta Kuhn - 4th and 5th grade Mary Fitzgerald - 3rd and 4th grade Margaret Nolan - 3d grade Nellie K Netzley - 2d grade Emma J Lemley - 1st grade Just another limb, Laura search for fallen leaves at http://home.attbi.com/~branchingout ----- Original Message ----- From: Rea7669@aol.com To: ILKANE-L@rootsweb.com Sent: Sunday, April 06, 2003 10:03 PM Subject: [ILKANE] Westside School I have been looking for information about my gg-grandfather Oren Theodore Snow who was supposed to have been principal of Batavia High School in the 1800s. Is it possible that he was principal of Westside instead? He was probably in the job after 1880 as the census simply gives his position as school teacher. Elizabeth in Florida.

Elizabeth: I found some photos of my ggrandparents with their friends Mr. and Mrs Ira Snow. Could they be related to you also? They lived in Batavia. Debbie in Florida --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - File online, calculators, forms, and more

there are those on the list that say - "nope, won't go to ebay" and if they do they figure they are just finding postcards of no interest or just don't find anything. but tonight I ran across a bunch of photo postcards which on their own, based on their subject lines, would have not been of interest to me either UNTIL I read the description and found SURNAMES. LOTS of them! and then there are some that have addressees mentioned that might also be a link to you. so give it a try.. enter in your ancestors hometown name enter in your surname of interest as in "escanaba michigan" and see what is there.. read the description.. look at the picture. print a copy.. CONSIDER ALSO 'bible" in the collectibles. Often these too have names noted in the descriptions.. tighten the search the same as you do in google.com though you might not purchase the item, you might learn, or get a feel for what it might have been like for your ancestor. I caution you, if you click on titles and descriptions, and yo are entering in a query for a place, you will get all those folks that live in these towns that have items on ebay. so I would not click on that option unless you have some time.. but that said, if you are looking for a NAME, then titles and descriptions would be appropriate.. WON'T YOU BE THE HAPPY ONE IF YOU WERE TO COME ACROSS SOMETHING FROM YOUR FAMILY!

I have been looking for information about my gg-grandfather Oren Theodore Snow who was supposed to have been principal of Batavia High School in the 1800s. Is it possible that he was principal of Westside instead? He was probably in the job after 1880 as the census simply gives his position as school teacher. Elizabeth in Florida.

Listers, The following obituary appeared in the December 5, 1944 issue of the Aurora Beacon News: "Mrs. Mabel Anderson, 52, of 450 Spruce street, died last night at Copley hospital. She was born Sept 11, 1892, at Manhattan, Illinois. In addition to her husband, Fred, she is survived by two daughters, Mrs. Beulah Grady and Mrs. Lorraine Buerer of San Francisco, Calif., her mother, Mrs. Emma Peterson; one sister, Mrs. Herman Helner of Ringsted, Ia., and five brothers, Ernest, Axel, and Caulyer of Ringsted, Arthur Peterson, Jackson, Minn., and Harry Peterson, Triumph, Minn. Funeral services will be held from the Healy chapel Thursday afternoon at 3:30, the Rev. J.E. Borgman officiating. Interment in Riverside cemetery. Friends may call at the chapel." Just another limb, Laura search for fallen leaves at http://home.attbi.com/~branchingout

Thanks Terry for your help. Laura ----- Original Message ----- From: "Terry Beck" <ta.beck@gte.net> To: <ILKANE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, April 05, 2003 6:41 PM Subject: RE: [ILKANE] High Schools in Aurora > There's a great history of Holy Angels School: > http://holyangelsschool.net/sh01.htm > > Good luck, > Terry > > -----Original Message----- > From: howard/laura [mailto:hfreeman@sktc.net] > Sent: Saturday, April 05, 2003 4:30 PM > To: ILKANE-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: Fw: [ILKANE] High Schools in Aurora > > > I submitted this query a while ago and it has been pointed out to me that I > meant the West side of the Fox. The address would have been on South River > St. and also Woodlawn. Now does that make better sense?. Sorry for the > confusion. The other Laura > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "howard/laura" <hfreeman@sktc.net> > To: <ILKANE-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Saturday, April 05, 2003 5:32 PM > Subject: [ILKANE] High Schools in Aurora > > > > My father Raymond J. Linden was born in 1901 in Aurora and went to just > the 8th grade. Would he have gone to one of the High Schools in Aurora. He > was Catholic so would he have gone to Catholic school in the 8th grade? They > lived east of the Fox and went to Holy Angels Church. Can someone tell me if > there would be school picutres or book with names available. TIA > > The other Laura > > > > > > ==== ILKANE Mailing List ==== > > You can contact the list administrator for this list by sending a > > message to mailto:ILKANE-admin@rootsweb.com > > > > > ==== ILKANE Mailing List ==== > The companion web site for this list is found at > http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilkane a part of the ILGenWeb Project. > > > > > ==== ILKANE Mailing List ==== > Software and hardware for this list are provided courtesy of RootsWeb. >

I submitted this query a while ago and it has been pointed out to me that I meant the West side of the Fox. The address would have been on South River St. and also Woodlawn. Now does that make better sense?. Sorry for the confusion. The other Laura ----- Original Message ----- From: "howard/laura" <hfreeman@sktc.net> To: <ILKANE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, April 05, 2003 5:32 PM Subject: [ILKANE] High Schools in Aurora > My father Raymond J. Linden was born in 1901 in Aurora and went to just the 8th grade. Would he have gone to one of the High Schools in Aurora. He was Catholic so would he have gone to Catholic school in the 8th grade? They lived east of the Fox and went to Holy Angels Church. Can someone tell me if there would be school picutres or book with names available. TIA > The other Laura > > > ==== ILKANE Mailing List ==== > You can contact the list administrator for this list by sending a > message to mailto:ILKANE-admin@rootsweb.com >

My father Raymond J. Linden was born in 1901 in Aurora and went to just the 8th grade. Would he have gone to one of the High Schools in Aurora. He was Catholic so would he have gone to Catholic school in the 8th grade? They lived east of the Fox and went to Holy Angels Church. Can someone tell me if there would be school picutres or book with names available. TIA The other Laura

There's a great history of Holy Angels School: http://holyangelsschool.net/sh01.htm Good luck, Terry -----Original Message----- From: howard/laura [mailto:hfreeman@sktc.net] Sent: Saturday, April 05, 2003 4:30 PM To: ILKANE-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Fw: [ILKANE] High Schools in Aurora I submitted this query a while ago and it has been pointed out to me that I meant the West side of the Fox. The address would have been on South River St. and also Woodlawn. Now does that make better sense?. Sorry for the confusion. The other Laura ----- Original Message ----- From: "howard/laura" <hfreeman@sktc.net> To: <ILKANE-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, April 05, 2003 5:32 PM Subject: [ILKANE] High Schools in Aurora > My father Raymond J. Linden was born in 1901 in Aurora and went to just the 8th grade. Would he have gone to one of the High Schools in Aurora. He was Catholic so would he have gone to Catholic school in the 8th grade? They lived east of the Fox and went to Holy Angels Church. Can someone tell me if there would be school picutres or book with names available. TIA > The other Laura > > > ==== ILKANE Mailing List ==== > You can contact the list administrator for this list by sending a > message to mailto:ILKANE-admin@rootsweb.com > ==== ILKANE Mailing List ==== The companion web site for this list is found at http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilkane a part of the ILGenWeb Project.

My Dad graduated from West Aurora High as class of 1917. We still had his year book and an autograph book that he took to all of the class reunions and collected signatures and addresses. I have not been there but I understand that they have more items from the history of West High. Perhaps it would be a good resource for someone searching for people on the West Side. Bill Thompson

Kristy, I like this guess - and I think you're probably right. It's so fascinating to think of how every day life was in those years, isn't it? Laura ----- Original Message ----- From: Kristy Gravlin To: ILKANE-L@rootsweb.com Sent: Saturday, April 05, 2003 12:23 PM Subject: [ILKANE] West Side School in Batavia First Laura.... < the 1907 graduation exercises for the East Side school were held in the < Baptist church and the West Siders had their commencement at the < Congregational church. Neither had their own school building. <Why churches though? Makes me wonder if the schools were east and west <because of geography only or was there a religious component involved? This is only a guess from a small-town Illinois girl...but I would think it quite likely that they used the churches because of seating. There would be a "stage" and lots of places for proud families to sit while the ceremony progressed. And, probably, for free or at least very low cost, to the District. Plus, it seems that there was little thought given to "separation of church and state" as far as cooperative spirit was concerned. I didn't graduate until 1959 (far from 1907 and, distressingly, nearly as far from 2003...but I digress...) and we used church buildings upon occasion, and even had some "religious" services in the high school gym. "Small town" may be the key word. I assume that the beginings of the town when they were lucky to have a building that could be used for "all" gatherings (not living and not a saloon) might have still been an influence in 1907. I'll be watching to see if anyone with local (Batavia) information has a more accurate view. Kristy from Plano ==== ILKANE Mailing List ==== Software and hardware for this list are provided courtesy of RootsWeb.