Gravestone Girls Tonight!

As a last minute reminder to anyone who lives anywhere near Chicopee, Massachusetts, if you're a family researcher amateur or professional and your interests lie in the burial of our ancestors, this might be for you!

The Gravestone Girls are presenting a virtual tour of the cemeteries in Chicopee which will include some surprisingly

[caption id="attachment_3493" align="alignleft" width="86"] John Chapin, a descendant of the prominent Chapin family of Springfield, Mass, died in Pennsylvania as indicated on the stone.[/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="75"] English: MacArthur's Ball, Monument to Lt Gen Arthur MacArthur in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts (Photo credit: Wikipedia)[/caption]

interesting famous personalities who were born here or lived here and certainly who died here. Well, mostly who died here.  For example, John Chapin was 44 years old when he died in 1749.  His grave stone indicates that he died in Pennsylvania.  So the question may be whether he was buried in Chicopee or was this simply a "cenotaph" honoring his memory as he was buried in Pennsylvania.  A cenotaph is exactly that; a memorial marker with names, dates and often other information of an individual who died and was buried far from their home.

All in all feel a little bit a part of this one.  I toured all the Chicopee cemeteries with one of the Gravestone Girls, Brenda a/k/a Sophronia  while giving her a thumbnail sketch of the history of Chicopee including some of the "rich and famous" from Chicopee's past.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="350"] English: Image of Chicopee Public Library (Photo credit: Wikipedia)[/caption]

The event, which is supported by a grant from the Chicopee Cultural Club, a local agency, which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency, takes place at the Chicopee Public Library, 459 Front Street, Chicopee, Massachusetts from 6:30 to 8:00 PM.

See you there!

 

 

 

 

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Wednesday Night at the Springfield Archives

It's unlikely that many of you live in or near Springfield, Massachusetts.  But I want to let everyone know that the Western Massachusetts Genealogical Society will be holding our January meeting Wednesday the 6th at 6:00 pm at the Lyman and Merrie Wood Museum of Springfield History.  It's a hidden treasure of the history of Springfield and surrounding areas from it's founding in 1636 to today.  The groundfloor and second level displays are impressive enough: an original Duyrea is on display (the first motorized automobile to ride the

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="75"] Daguerreotype of John Brown (Photo credit: Wikipedia)[/caption]

streets of any city - built in Springfield), John Brown's work desk (Yes, the "John Brown's body is a'moulderin' in his grave" fame), Indian Motocycles (built in Springfield) all over the place, the famed GB racing planes (replicas hang from the ceilings - built in Springfield), a one owner 1928 Rolls Royce that was donated to the museum by the man who drove it for nearly 75 years.

But the real treasures, in my opinion, are downstairs in the archives.  There, you can find a collection of an estimated 2.5 million historical manuscripts, the Loiselle Index (French-Canadian marriages), 6,000 microfilm/fiche, 25,000 historic photos, diaries, deeds, account books, land transfers, hundreds of historical maps including the Sanborn Fire Insurance collection, yearbooks and selected school records from the Springfield Schools, annual voter lists by ward and precinct....  and the list  goes on and on!

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="75"] English: First Church of Christ, Springfield Massachusetts, September 2009 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)[/caption]

The archives are a part of the Springfield museum complex in downtown Springfield.  Springfield residents and members of the Museum's Association have free access otherwise there is a $9 admission fee for visits during their regular hours.  There is no charge to attend the meeting.

So maybe some of you can make it!

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="75"] English: James MacNeil Whistler, a famous painter, grew up in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA. He was, however, born during his family's brief tenure in Lowell, Massachusetts. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)[/caption]

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Create Your Health Pedigree Here!

Here's a link to a post by Polly FitzGerald Kimmit of the Massachusetts Genealogical Council, among many other professional genealogical organizations.  You'll have to click "Continue Reading" to get to the active link, but I believe it will be worthwhile.  The title/link is Create Your Health Pedigree Here!

Rather than me repeating everything you'll read in the document, please take a look.  You'll be able to download your own document to fill in for your own use.  I noticed, though, that the instructions say to click on the document to download the chart.  But I found that it was necessary to click the link that's in the document for that to happen.

Here's a little more about Polly:

Polly FitzGerald Kimmitt is a Board-certified genealogist specializing in Massachusetts research. She has been taking clients for sixteen years and researchers a variety of topics from Mayflower lineages to locating townlands of Irish immigrants. She is a case worker under contract to the US Army on repatriation cases, helping to locate family members of servicemen missing or killed in previous conflicts. She currently serves as a director at Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS), and editor of the FGS Voice Newsletter, and is past president of MGC. You can visit her blog at "Polly Blog" or her website at Kimmit Genealogical Research.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Entrance to Old Ship Church, Hingham, Massachusetts (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Hingham, MA is the colonial home of the first Lincoln Family in the US, progenitors of President Abraham Lincoln.[/caption]

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More Massachusetts Vital Records Available at FamilySearch --- Indexing

Documents from the Massachusetts Vital Records from 1916 to 1920 and amendments from 1841 to 1920 are going up at FamilySearch.

The page at the web site states: This collection is being published as images become available.

My guess is that the more people who volunteer to index the records, the faster the project will be completed.   Anyone can volunteer to help.  If you're so inclined, visit FamilySearch, click on the icon labelled "Indexing" and follow the instructions.  You'll have to download a small program, but it's no big deal!  I've done quite a bit of indexing myself.

After you've been indexing for a while, they may ask you if you're interested in arbitrating.  Here' s how it works:  After you've downloaded the software, you log in and are presented with a list of documents that require indexing.  The documents are rated for difficulty from 1 (easy) to 5 (difficult).  For example, it would be easier to index a 1940 US census than a 15th century Portuguese baptismal record.  Unless you speak 15th century Portuguese!!

Each document is indexed by two separate volunteers.  Then that work is made available to arbitrators who make decisions when the indexers don't agree on what's written in the document.  For example, is it "Daniel" or "David".  Is it "Louisa" or "Lovisa".   The arbitrators decide and then the document can be uploaded and made available for searching.

It's been a  while and there might be a few tweaks in how they operate, but I can't imagine it's changed much.  At any rate, the good news is that more records are being made available for on-line research!

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Nemo February 8-9, 2013

"NEMO"...it almost sounds wimpy compared to "THE BLIZZARD OF 2013!"... The good news is that Governors of Massachusetts and Connecticut were way ahead of this one. ALL highways were shut down at 4pm on Friday. The Mass Turnpike was all but deserted by 6pm compared to the same type of storm in 1978 where there were thousands of cars stranded all along its length and all over the state. Businesses closed (smart), schools never even opened on Friday (also smart) and everyone, other than essential services, were told to stay home and let the roads and highways be cleared.

In spite of the fact that this is a genealogy blog, I thought I'd post a few pictures and videos of the past 24 hours. First, you should know that we have a new grandbaby waiting to come home from the hospital. Carter Reid was born early Thursday morning (6 lbs. 4 oz and 20 inches...Karen said this is important data to post!) to Karen's daughter Caitlin but neither can come home yet due to travel restrictions! Everyone is healthy and they'll all be home by early afternoon.

[caption id="attachment_559" align="alignnone" width="300"] Good thing the snow blower started this morning![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_563" align="alignnone" width="300"] This is why I couldn't get the back door open. I had to go in through the garage...[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_562" align="alignnone" width="300"] View of the front of the house during clean-up[/caption]