Forwarding.... kathleen barlament wrote: > > Dear Marsha: You can post this if you want! > > Now that you back and trying to organize all that great info we have at > least 1 success story. George Picavet of Belgium emailed me when he found > out I got the copies of his ancestors naturalization papers and the index > of his ancestors births and deaths. He has checked three counties for > these records and had not found them until now. He was elated to say the > least and I put in the indexes as a surprise! He thanks us over and over > again for out help. He has looked for several years and has made three > trips to Wisconsin over the years to find info with no results. He could > not afford to come again and come up empty, now he knows where the > records are, so he will get difinite results if he does decide to come > back. The copies are on their way to Belgium now, put together just like > they were in the record book so when he opens them he will see what they > looked like. He can't wait to see his ancestors own handwritting as it > appeared on the record. He also said that this is the great thing about > using more than the net for research, let everyone know that at this time > you can't get everything you need on the net, go and find the records you > need and look at them, you will be surprised at what you find. > > I would have loved to have taken Marsha's picture when she found a > Touchette (Marsha: uh... it was Ashley, spelled ANSLIN. 1st time they used *that* spelling!) naturalization record. She actually had heads turning through > the whole room. The record was found almost by accident, I had found a > record for an ancestor of mine that was not where it was supposed to be. > Well, the Archivist looked at the index and stated that it was from a > collection of records that was found in a box by a student worker in the > archives. It had sat around for several years with no one knowing what it > was. They indexed the box. When she looked up my gggg uncle, she left the > index opened on the table while she was gone, Marsha happened to look > down and see Touchette (Anslin) on the page it was opened to. She asked me and the > Archivist what this was a listing of and I told her. She asked to get the > record for Touchette (Anslin), probably thinking it was something not real > important! Surprise! Somehow, Wilhelm, and student and Jeanberr Touchette (Celestin Anslin/Ashley) > found us! Who says our ancestors can't talk to us, if they want to be > found somehow they let us know where they are and what they did! > > I found the Archivist at UWGB (apologize for not remembering her name-to > many names floating in my brain right now!) (Marsha: Jean Wentz) to be very helpful and ready > to get anything you needed. They were well organized and you can get > copies of just about anything you need on the spot, no sending away or > waiting for records or microfiche to arrive. It was great to see others > there looking and the joy that went around the room when someone found > something! Even the Archivists were happy! > > We also made trips to area cemeteries in Oconto and Brown counties, There > is nothing like seeing someones headstone, it proves that they really did > exist and were important to their friends and family. Some stones we saw > in the cemeteries were sadly in ill repair and in need of repair and > cleaning. The caretakers do not do this, there are no funds to provide > for it, they only mow and trim the weeds. Several plants were left > unwatered and were wilting, no rain for a couple of weeks. Marsha > suggested I look into some way to offer a service to genealogists and get > paid for it to enable me to keep working on my ancestors and the history > of Oconto. I did finally think of a way of reproducing the faces of > stones in relief without damaging the stone, if it works in detail I > don't know but if it does, I will be offering it. I also thought of > offering a service to repair and maintain gravesites, but this didn't > seem feasable since I don't know enough about repairing stones and > resetting sunken ones on a cement pad to keep them at ground level. I did > find out one great thing when talking with my mother, most caretakers > will fix, clean and raise sunken stone at a nominal cost. All you have to > do is contact them and they will do what is asked. My mother had my g > grandparents footstones placed on a cement pad so they would not sink and > it didn't cost her hardly anything. I think the ancestors appreciate it > too, it shows that some one cares enough to take the time. Some stones > have probably been left to disrepair due to the fact that there are no > ancestors to care for them. Anyone interested in starting a non-profit to > provide restoration of these would certainly be rewarded in their hearts > and souls. Just a suggestion that I don't have time for now. > > My mother and I are going to do a tour of the cemeteries next week with > my kids to show them where their ancestors are, we are also taking with > us a weak bleach solution to remove moss from one of the older stones. I > had cleaned it two years ago but found it to be covered with even more > moss this time, seems that you need to spray on something to kill the > moss so it won't come back. We are going to try the 1% bleach solution, > enough to get rid of the moss and clean the stone but not damage it. I > will warn anyone who is trying to clean an old white stone, these are > marble and stain easily when chemicals are introduced, look up how to > clean marble before you do it! While you are there check on how to > protect it with a clear finish, there are products available to seal the > marble to prevent further staining. Check with your local stone mason > products or landscape outfit. I will clean stones in Door, Oconto and > Brown counties for a fee, and with a before and after photo if a > caretaker is not available to do it, price determined by distance and > time. Let me know if you need this done. Also, I am offering wax rubbings > and fine art pencil drawings (very detailed) for $40 and $150.00 > respectivly, in Door, Oconto and Brown County cemeteries. The drawings > are somewhat restorative, filling in hardly detectable script that won't > show up on a rubbing. A photo of the site and cleaning are included. You > must supply me with the inscription, general description and the section > and location of the stone you want done. If you don't have all of this, > we can work something out to decide if it is the correct stone before > commencing work. Email me to discuss the details. > > Time to go, Marsha, you are welcome to put all or some of this in the > newsletter or whatever. Hopefully you will wait a couple of years before > coming again, I think I have that much entering and organizing of > information to do just on two days of research. Thanks for the pics, as a > gift, I will see if I can find out how to fix the cross on your > gggrandfathers (Gilbert) stella at St. Izzies. > > Kathy That'd be great, Kathy! So, think we can support Kathy so she can make our ancestors' headstones pretty again? Is Gerrie Foster on this list? I found an old e-mail about Gerrie & another person recording a cemetery at County J and Memorial Drive. (Did we go to that one, Kathy?) Which one is that and how's that coming? Marsha