Well, why didn't you tell me I was illegitimate?

A couple years back, I was searching through some of the records my father had obtained from his uncle that had recently died.  I knew my Asmussen line hadn't been explored too thoroughly, so I was excited to fund quite a number of documents on my Asmussen line.

Unfortunately, as I was searching, I realized that the information had all been recorded and the temple work for the individuals had already been completed.  That is, until I came across a shocking discovery.

I was looking upon some records regarding my great great grandfather Johan Heinrich Asmussen when I found a record pertaining to his birth.  I started deciphering the writing, expecting to find as his father Heinrich Conrad Asmussen and his mother Wilhelmina Benedicta Schmidt.  However, I noted a word in German that looked familiar, but that ultimately I did not recognize.  When I looked up the translation, it said "illegitimate."  My eyes widened when I realized what I had discovered.  My great great grandfather was not the son of Wilhelmina Benedicta Schmidt at all.  In fact, he was the child of Sophia Magdalena Lucie Schmidt, a name I had never seen before in any records.  Apparently, Johan had been born of Sophia, but raised by Wilhelmina as one of her own.

What did this exciting revelation mean? It meant that I had an entirely brand new line of ancestry that had never been researched before! What luck! What glory! I carefully studied all of the records in my father's possession and uploaded the names to Familysearch.org (here's a link to Sophia's page).  However, I have done nothing further on the line.

Project:

1) Flesh out this family tree

There is a ton of research that could be done here, but I know very little about German family history.

Ideas:

1) What we need to do is see if we can find any records pertaining to Sophia: See if she remarried, see if she had any other kids.
2) We can look for all of her brothers and sisters in records, too; see if the married, had kids, etc. (plus, I need more information on them so we can do endowments, sealings, etc.)
3) We can try and push this line back as well, starting with attempting to find more information about Sophia's parents (again, I need more information on them so we can do endowments, sealings, etc.)

Where to go first:

1) The best and easiest thing to do would be get the records from my dad, see where they came from, and look in similar records (also, they all need to be digitized for record keeping purposes)
2) Familysearch has an awesome wiki that has so much valuable information.  You could start by reading the Germany page.
3) Then, you might check out the page for Schleswig-Holstein, the area where Sophia was born.  That should give you some idea of records that are available.
4) You could always just Google it.
5) After you are done, check out my favorite German soccer team, Holstein Kiel.  Can you guess why they are my favorite? :)

This is all original research! If you want to talk about it, give me a call! I would love to brainstorm!

Familysearch - What does it all mean

Familysearch.org is awesome.  And it has a ton of information on there.  But a lot of times people get on and say, "What does all this mean? And how can I use this?"

Information on Familysearch is compiled generally from member submissions.  The bulk of it was created from databases downloaded by previous generations (our grandparents and parents) that used the churches software to compile their data.  When they would upload their files to the Church, the church used them all to create one massive massive family tree.  However, all that came with it was the data, none of the sourcing.  So, while likely 85% of the information is correct, there is another 15% that is inaccurate or downright wrong.

What is good as that the majority of people that are on Familysearch.org have had their work done.  So even if we don't exactly know where the information came from, at least we know their souls are saved (well, at least that the have the option of saving their souls).  This is important to understand for those of you who want to simply find a line and experiment and try and find new information.  So, the best way to find potential names for temple work is to go to a line (or some branch of a line) that looks a little sparse or that cuts off early.  Then, you can search both in all directions (laterally as well as descendants and ancestors) to find new people to baptize.  When you find those people, you enter their information into Familysearch, including the source information, and then do the work for them!  Finding one new name can often lead to a cache of other new names.

I am involved in a project that is much more tedious.  I am highly skeptical of all of the information on Familysearch unless it is actually sourced.  I figure, while everyone needs to be baptized, I would rather work on people I know are in my family.  So I have been attempting to create a tree that has only information that I can pin to a specific source.  This project is not conducive to finding new names for baptism, but they do pop up occasionally.  Dataheads can join me in my quest.

William and Sarah - Someone thinks we're married ...

William Bean and Sarah Wallage are my fourth great grandparents on the Bean side of the family.  I found information that their marriage record was extracted way back when by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  However, I don't have copies of the original.  I have found that looking at the original Marriage records and searching through the entire film can produce a wealth of additional information.  This is the printout of the extraction:

This is the information you will use to locate him on the film. Now, this one is confusing, because there appears to be no film for 1832 ....  However, after a little research, I think 0254576 is the way to go.  I literally have no primary documents on these two, so this record would be awesome.

Oh, and if you're interested, this is the sweet church they got married in.

Project:

1) Order the film number 0254576 from the family history library (use this link) (the films cost $7.50 to rent on a short term basis)

2) Find a Family History Center with a film reader

3) Search the film for the name "Bean" or "Wallage"

4) If your Center has the capability (and let's pray they do), capture each image that could potentially be related to the Bean and Wallage families; otherwise just write down all the information

5) Rejoice in your discovery!

William Bean - I've been Christened!

William Bean is my second great grandfather on the Bean side of the family.  I found information that his Christening record was extracted way back when by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  However, I don't have copies of the original.  I have found that looking at the original Christening records and searching through the entire film can produce a wealth of additional information.  This is the printout of the extraction:

This is the information you will use to locate him on the film. 

Project:

1) Order the film number 025462 from the family history library (use this link) (the films cost $7.50 to rent on a short term basis)

2) Find a Family History Center with a film reader

3) Search the film for the name "Bean"

4) If your Center has the capability (and let's pray they do), capture each image that could potentially be related to the Bean family; otherwise just write down all the information

5) Rejoice in your discovery!

Digitize your own records

Take all of your vital records (Birth Certificates, Marriage Certificates, Ordination Certificates, etc.) and digitize them.  It makes family history at least a billion times easier in the future.

Interview Parental Units

My Mother and Father have fantastic stories.  One of my biggest regrets is that we never recorded an interview with my Grandpa and Grandma Bean before they died.  However, we did does so with my Petersen Grandparents and that recording is like gold.

Let's face it, my parents aren't getting any younger, but their minds are still sharp and they remember a great deal about their youth and growing up.  This information needs to be recorded and transcribed soon so that it can be preserved for generations to come.

Project:

1) Interview Lee and Julie Bean (for question ideas click here)
2) Make sure you record the interview (this can be easily done with nearly any phone)
3) If you have time, transcribe the interview (or pass that project on to someone else!)

COMPLETED: Sally Petersen - Remembering the Dead

Stephanie took on this challenge and found the obituary! Here it is:

 

Here is the link to the obituary. I was surprised that the obituary was so small, but I couldn't help but wonder how this family coped with the loss.  I would love to talk to my mother about this.

PRIOR PROJECT

 

 

Sally Petersen was my mother's sister who died early in life.  Surprisingly, however, I have almost no documents relating to her or her life, which is unfortunate!  Any documents on Sally would be appreciated, but I am particularly interested in her obituary, as I have seen that document referenced in multiple places.  I think she died in May 1, 1971, Orem, but I am not even sure about that.

Project #1:

1) Call Julie Bean and ask her for more information regarding the time and place of death
2) Locate Sally Peterson's obituary
3) Capture an image of the obituary

Possible Resources:

1) Julie Bean
2) Online archives of newspapers

Project #2:

1) Collect all documents relating to Sally Petersen

Possible Resources:

1) Don Carr, her husband prior to her death
2) Julie Bean
3) DeAnn Wilson