The following appeared in the Jamestown Sun and the Devils Lake Journal on 8-22. Barron Researches Records To Help Others By Matthew Johnson Family/Life Editor When it comes down to finding genealogical information, George Barron of Jamestown might well be the Sherlock Holmes of Stutsman County. To say the least, nobody has done more genealogy work in Stutsman County than Barron. "I'm more or less the searcher for Stutsman County," Barron said. Barron's research has led him to chronicle events in the county ranging from marriages and deaths to documenting burial plots at cemeteries. What began as a project to benefit his own family grew into a hobby that will benefit many families for years to come. A retired Jamestown High School chemistry and aviation teacher, Barron began his "second career" by searching for information about his own family in 1988. His daughter, Mary Kuhn, had taken on the task of putting together a Barron family photo album. He set out to help her and later, with the help of his cousin, Norma M. Johnson, published "The Barron Family: From Banffshire, Scotland to Moody County, Dakota Territory, USA." The book traces the family back to the 1700s. "We got hung up on William Barron. There were two and we didn't know which one was ours," Barron remembers. Since establishing that record of his family tree, complete with photos he'd obtained himself from relatives, Barron has volunteered countless hours helping to make it easier for others to find information on their family members. "I don't do much of my own stuff anymore - mostly working for other people, for free," Barron said. Now almost an entire wall at Alfred Dickey Public Library is filled with index books he's successfully completed. "Along the way I got sucked into working on other indexing projects," Barron said. The projects include the "Rural and Village Cemeteries of Stutsman County, North Dakota," which Daphne Drewello, library director, assisted with. It's published by the the James River Genealogy Club. The 280-page book contains information on more than 8,000 burials from 73 of the 80 known cemeteries in the county. It's the most exhaustive burial information yet published in the area. This summer he's worked on documenting burials in Jamestown's city cemeteries, including two cemeteries at the State Hospital. He had already compiled burial information on Highland Home Cemetery in Jamestown back in 1992. That cemetery book, published by the Red River Genealogy Club, lists about 10,000 burials. Barron remembers going out and reading cemetery markers during the cold winter months to gather information. Before doing that book Barron had put an index in the 1990-1991 Stutsman County Cemetery book. In the process of indexing that he thought someone should put together a book on all the smaller cemeteries in the county not listed in the book. "It's like getting a virus or something. Once you get it, you can't get rid of it," Barron said. In 1990 Barron decided he could glean more information about people from obituaries and began taking them out of The Jamestown Sun, starting with the then "Jamestown Alert" in 1878. By 1995, Barron had recorded information on everyone who had any record of death in Stutsman County. He continues to record obituary information from the area. "I've gotten them all indexed from 1878 until this (Friday) morning," Barron said. The work at times can become a bit depressing. "Pretty soon you discover all your buddies are dead," he said. But Barron presses on for the benefit of providing a decent record. He said he's indexed more than 60,000 obituaries. For the complete story, see the Aug. 19 edition of The Sun Contributed by Gerald Bartram, CC McKenzie County Congratulations George! Tim

If George's work was removed from the NDGenWeb Archives the hole would not be filled in my remaining lifetime. Keep em coming and congratulations, George. Joe Tim Stowell wrote: > > The following appeared in the Jamestown Sun and the Devils Lake > Journal on 8-22. > > Barron Researches Records To Help Others > > By Matthew Johnson > Family/Life Editor > > When it comes down to finding genealogical information, > George Barron of Jamestown might well be the Sherlock Holmes of Stutsman > County. > To say the least, nobody has done more genealogy work in Stutsman County than > Barron. "I'm more or less the searcher for Stutsman County," Barron said. > Barron's research has led him to chronicle events in the county ranging > from marriages and deaths to documenting burial plots at cemeteries. What > began as a project to benefit his own family grew into a hobby that will > benefit > many families for years to come. > A retired Jamestown High School chemistry and aviation teacher, Barron > began his "second career" by searching for information about his own family > in 1988. His daughter, Mary Kuhn, had taken on the task of putting together a > Barron family photo album. He set out to help her and later, with the help of > his cousin, Norma M. Johnson, published "The Barron Family: From Banffshire, > Scotland to Moody County, Dakota Territory, USA." The book traces the family > back to the 1700s. "We got hung up on William Barron. There were two and we > didn't know which one was ours," Barron remembers. > Since establishing that record of his family tree, complete with photos > he'd obtained himself from relatives, Barron has volunteered countless hours > helping to make it easier for others to find information on their family > members. > "I don't do much of my own stuff anymore - mostly working for other > people, > for free," Barron said. > Now almost an entire wall at Alfred Dickey Public Library is filled with > index books he's successfully completed. "Along the way I got sucked into > working > on other indexing projects," Barron said. The projects include the "Rural and > Village Cemeteries of Stutsman County, North Dakota," which Daphne Drewello, > library director, assisted with. It's published by the the James River > Genealogy Club. > The 280-page book contains information on more than 8,000 burials from 73 > of the 80 > known cemeteries in the county. It's the most exhaustive burial information > yet > published in the area. > This summer he's worked on documenting burials in Jamestown's city > cemeteries, > including two cemeteries at the State Hospital. He had already compiled > burial > information on Highland Home Cemetery in Jamestown back in 1992. That > cemetery book, > published by the Red River Genealogy Club, lists about 10,000 burials. > Barron remembers > going out and reading cemetery markers during the cold winter months to > gather information. > Before doing that book Barron had put an index in the 1990-1991 > Stutsman County > Cemetery book. In the process of indexing that he thought someone should > put together > a book on all the smaller cemeteries in the county not listed in the book. > "It's like > getting a virus or something. Once you get it, you can't get rid of it," > Barron said. > In 1990 Barron decided he could glean more information about people > from obituaries > and began taking them out of The Jamestown Sun, starting with the then > "Jamestown > Alert" in 1878. By 1995, Barron had recorded information on everyone who > had any > record of death in Stutsman County. He continues to record obituary > information from > the area. "I've gotten them all indexed from 1878 until this (Friday) > morning," > Barron said. The work at times can become a bit depressing. "Pretty soon > you discover > all your buddies are dead," he said. > But Barron presses on for the benefit of providing a decent record. > He said he's > indexed more than 60,000 obituaries. > > For the complete story, see the Aug. 19 edition of The Sun > > Contributed by Gerald Bartram, CC McKenzie County > > Congratulations George! > > Tim -- Zsedeny Genealogy - http://www.rootsweb.com/~jzed/home.htm NDGenWeb Archives - http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/nd/ndfiles.htm Pembina County, ND - http://www.rootsweb.com/~ndpembin/pembina.htm Ramsey County, ND - http://www.rootsweb.com/~ndramsey/ramsey.htm