They Were Looking For – WHAT?

Every once in awhile I like to see what search terms are bringing people to my blog. Recent search terms include:

• “blazer” ohio family all my branches – this appears as if someone was trying to find my website and what information I have about the Blazer family in Ohio.
• scrapbook love story
• “blazer” ohio family history - again, this appears as if someone was looking for this website.
• autumn on my mind - reminds me of a song lyric!
• orphan train riders – I do have information about some of my distant Goul cousins who took in some brothers from the Orphan Train.
  
• where does my name rank - many people end up here based on that search term!
  
• chest treasure - not sure I want to know what they were really looking for!
• list of lindsay lohan’s body switching movies - seriously? Lindsay Lohan? I made a reference once to “Freaky Friday” but . . . you mean, she’s done more than one body switching movie? “Parent Trap” doesn’t count – she played twins – wow, let’s see how many more people end up on this blog because of this paragraph!
• you might be a genealogist if… - you enter those search terms and end up here!
• chase noonan – must be looking for him in particular
• martha clawson - and looking for her in particular!
• branches of disneyland - they must have been very confused when they landed on this blog!
• amore brittigan wertz - really? And they didn’t leave a comment or send me an email? Who was looking for these families? If it’s you – please contact me – at least let me know who you are!
• children dress-up as grandma national geographic - I don’t want to know

(Free Question Mark clip art image from clipartheaven.com)

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Travel Tuesday – Bremerhaven, Germany

WELCOME TO BREMERHAVEN

My grandfather, Glen R. Johnson, was transferred to Wiesbaden, Germany in 1950 (before the Army Air Corps became the Air Force). Upon arriving at the Port of Bremerhaven aboard the Gen. Patch on July 20, 1950, the U.S. Band greeted him and my grandmother, Vesta. Wikipedia says that Bremerhaven means “Bremen’s Harbor” in Bremen (which was in the free Federal Republic of Germany).

The ship – USNS General Alexander M. Patch (T-AP-122) (picture of it as it is berthed at Bremerhaven in 1950 can be found here - exciting to think that this might just be at the same time my grandparents had arrived!) was named after the General who took “command of the Allied Forces in New Caledonia” in 1942 (from NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive; 2012; NavSource Naval History)

Luckily, while they were in Germany, they were able to take side trips to other places on the weekends. The picture above was taken on August 5, 1950, when they went with another lady, Mrs. Mulligan, along with a Bavarian guide to see the Nymphenburg Castle, Home of the Bavarian Kings.

Besides all of the photos, I also have several years’ worth of letters my grandparents wrote my parents. Those letters detail all the little trips around Europe they took as well as their day to day life in Wiesbaden.

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SNGF – Your Family and Genealogy

I’m a couple days late on responding to Randy Seaver’s Saturday Night Genealogy Fun post at Genea-Musings. The questions posed were how the family reacts to genealogy interests; do they listen to stories; and funny stories to share about another family member’s interest in genealogy.

Amore: On the paternal side of my family, there have been several that have delved into genealogy including: my grandfather’s brother, Zade (Isaiah), and my great-uncle Rollo’s great-grandson, Rick. Two people who helped me quite a bit when I was starting out in 1999-2000 were my cousin, Bill Jr., and my cousin, Sharon Brittigan.

House: Along the maternal line of my dad’s family, besides my cousin, Bill Amore, Jr., (see above), a few of the House cousins were also compiling information and sharing it with me. My dad’s uncle, Alva Lester House, helped by sending a letter to my dad’s oldest sister with some family information.

Johnson: On the maternal side of my family, there have been a whole host of relatives and cousins who did quite a bit of research.  The closest to me was my grandfather, Glen R. Johnson, Sr. He sent letters and information to others in the family – who have in turn (many, many years later) shared it with me!  My distant Johnson cousins, Virginia, Ruth and Alice, and myself have formed a 4-person research “team” when it comes to the Johnson family.  Virginia has been the biggest researcher though!  I wouldn’t be very far with out her help!

Wilt: This is my maternal grandmother’s family line.  Several of her cousins had trod the genealogy path so as the information trickled down to their descendants, it was shared with me (and my research shared with them).

Goul/Blazer: My grandfather’s maternal lines – again my grandfather had some of the information written down in notes and letters.

Stern: Before I was very old, at least one Stern relative was already deep into research – Virginia (Stern) Ruark. Now, her daughter, Marvel, has taken up the mantle, and between she and several others, we do quite a bit of information sharing and assisting.

My husband’s side has been researched by his sister – with help from other cousins and relatives – long before Census records were digitized and put online!

Of my four children, only my son has taken on a position as a family history researcher. He has spent several years researching the paternal side of his family and connecting with family and other distant relatives.  When I need to share stories, I usually tell him because he seems to appreciate it more than the others (the rest just roll their eyes at me!).  However, if I want to share a scandal, everyone is all ears!

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