BBPetura on Twitter

Using Twitter is a fun way to meet genealogists, get tips on new family history resources and record research progress.  And also to follow news media, experts on archaeology and gardening, and more! Unique diary! Here are some of my recent tweets:

9/12/2009

Wisconsin 1875 Census on FamilySearch with index & scans is great! Ancestors Benjamin Church & Sherman A. Bradley in Milwaukee!

RT @Palaeogeek Thirty thousand year-old colored twine found in Georgia: http://is.gd/37AYC | Europe that is!

Beautiful day so I enjoyed a visit to Living in the Garden north of #Pullman for fall #flowers, food treats: http://tiny.cc/LvngInGrdn9

RT @Cherryteatime Condense #genealogy w/geography – Suffolk, Shropshire, Yorkshire ENG, Glarus SWISS, Pomerania, Holstein, Trier GER, more!

My http://books.google.com/ search – ancestor Ferdinand Hachez did weather observations 1865, helped found a hail insurance company 1870

#Genealogy tip: At least once a year, search for your ancestors in old books & documents at http://books.google.com/ Great finds possible!

Great idea: search anew for ancestors’ info on their birthday. Thanks @mjnrootdig for #Genealogy tip of the day: http://tinyurl.com/Bdays9

9/9/2009

RT @jefferymartin Skull has been found that rewrites the history of man — http://bit.ly/ypKRY | And woman we presume!

9/7/2009

Try to be a generous genealogy volunteer and help others find their families! See an example at Relative Musings: http://tiny.cc/RMsng939

Labor Day #genealogy – Ancestor Sherman A. Bradley was a carpenter, then pumpmaker, owned Badger Pump, Milwaukee. Pumps then made of wood!

Labor Day #genealogy – Ancestor John Nicholas Luehr was stonemason & farmer in late 1800s. His hard work meant two sons could go to college!

Labor Day #genealogy – Ancestor Benjamin Church, pioneer carpenter in 1835 in Milwaukee, from Ulster County, NY: http://tiny.cc/BnjChurch35

Labor Day #genealogy – Both of my grandmothers, Beatrice and Lucille, were teachers before marrying: one home ec, one elementary school.

Labor Day #genealogy – William Henry Luehr was a newspaper publisher, a school teacher & principal in Wisconsin: http://tiny.cc/WHLuehr

Labor Day #genealogy – Martin Friedrich Bruss came to Milwaukee from Cammin, Pomerania, to continue family tradtion of ship building, 1839.

Labor Day #genealogy fun: tweet about the labors of your ancestors – any of their occupations a suprise? a family tradition? Please RT!

9/6/2009

Amazed at my Hachez ancestors’ migrations: Brugge, Belgium, to Bremen, Germany, to village of New Holstein, Wisconsin, in 1854!

Just finished replying to a distanct cousin in Germany about the Hachez family of 3 who came to Wisconsin in 1854: http://tiny.cc/FHHachez

Note: The hash # tags and at @ tags you see above don’t work outside Twitter! You can find those tweeting by putting their Twitter handle after http://twitter.com/. Mine, for example, is http://twitter.com/BBPetura.  Please follow me!

Genealogy Scavenger Hunt

How about a Genealogy Scavenger Hunt? Randy Seaver at GeneaMusing posed a challenge to find a missing census entry a great-great-grandparent [or other relative] for SNGF or weekend genealogical fun. So here we go:

First, I did try one more time to find my second great-grandfather Sherman A. Bradley in the 1850 Census. I tried again a variety of strategies in the Ancestry.com search such as using just part of the surname like this: Bradl* plus born in Connecticut in 1835. And other variations. No luck.

I don’t think he was recorded. Neither were his parents, Leaming Hawkins Bradley and Mary C. Simons Bradley, as far as I can tell. The family was from Bradleyville, Litchfield Township, Litchfield County, Connecticut.

Sherman’s grandfather Horace Bradley and uncles John and Clark Bradley were in Trenton, Dodge County, Wisconsin, in the 1850 Census.  Sherman arrived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, about 1857-1858, based on a Milwaukee City Directories.

What about Sherman’s other uncles and aunts in the 1850 Census?
> Frederick Abernathy Bradley was in New York City.
> Dan Augustus Bradley was in Washington, Litchfield County, Connecticut where Leaming H. Bradley was found in 1840.
> Julia Ann Bradley, not found in 1850 Census.
> Henry Bradley, only listed in a family genealogy book
> Edward S. Bradley, Guilford, Chenango, New York, a location where other of his siblings settled over the years.
> Aaron Bradley, Guilford, Chenango, New York
> Amelia Bradley, New York City, lived with brother Frederick

Since I wanted to find a new census record for the scavenger hunt, I returned to Wisconsin and my great-grandfather William Henry Luehr , an educator, newspaper publisher and state government official. I noticed that I had not found him in the 1895 Wisconsin Census. Attempts with his surname spelled correctly turned up nothing in 1895, but I was sure he should be there. He was a school principal and newspaper publisher at that time in the Grand Rapids / Centralia area, Wood County, Wisconsin, now Wisconsin Rapids.

After several more attempts, now using Luhr and Lehr, I searched in the 1895 Wisconsin Census, Wood County, with just William — and there he was, his surname mistranscribed as Luchr. The original clearly shows Luehr. So I have a new entry in his timeline:

William Luehr, household 1 male, 2 females [wife Clara, daughter Lucille], Grand Rapids, Wood, Wisconsin. Source:  Wisconsin. Wisconsin State Census, 1895 Microfilm, 10 reels. Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin. Via Ancestry.com.

I now have all eight possible census records for him, including the 1895 and 1905 Wisconsin Census records. Very satisfying.

This is one in a series of genealogy and family history research articles with ideas to help you find your family and ancestors. Please follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/BBPetura

GenealogyWise Networking

One of the best ways to learn more about your ancestors is to network with others researching your surnames. But finding those genealogists and family history researchers isn’t always easy.

Now, the new GenealogyWise Social Network is making it possible for you to find people interested in your family surnames, your family locations, your Y or mtDNA Haplogroup, and much more. And membership is free.

In keeping with the spirit of this blog — Finding Family for Free — we encourage you to visit the GenealogyWise Web site. If you like what you see, and we think you will, please join and get into the conversations underway.

The site has not yet been officially launched, but as of July 10, 2009, it had more 1,600 registered members who had created more than 450 special interest groups.

GenealogyWise reported that among the most active groups at that time were such groups as:
– Germany and German Ancestry
– Ireland and Irish Ancestry
– Genealogy Tips and Links
– The Genealogy Guys Podcast
– Scotland and Scottish Ancestry

Of course you’ll want to join groups. And, if you are researching a surname or location, you’ll want to create a group if one doesn’t exist.  I’ve created these groups:

> Bradley Genealogy
> Conger Genealogy 
> Haplogroup U – for all in mtDNA U Haplogroup

You can post your queries, invite and make friends, help other members, find out about upcoming genealogy events and much more.  You’ll enjoy genealogy networking as never before.

And if you join, please invite me to be a Friend. You’ll find me at:
http://www.genealogywise.com/profile/BarbaraBradleyPetura

This is one in a series of genealogy and family history research articles to help you find your family and ancestors, often for modest or no cost.