Roots Television | Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness

Roots Television | Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness tag:www.rootstelevision.com,2007:/blogs/raogk//5 2007-06-30T21:10:08Z Movable Type 3.31 Volunteer Bill Myers tag:www.rootstelevision.com,2007:/blogs/raogk//5.434 2007-06-30T21:02:10Z 2007-06-30T21:10:08Z

Hi, I've been an RAOGK volunteer for about 5 years, now and have enjoyed both giving and receiving genealogical help. I receive and average of 2 requests per month, and have learned many new tricks in my pursuit of responses. You both are to be commended for establishing this very useful website!!! I publicize RAOGK at our local library's "history and genealogical" department and at our San Antonio Genealogical and Historical Society. Thanks for creating the RAOGK flier. I plan to print off about 100 copies and place them in our library and pass them out at SAGHS monthly meetings. Thanks Bill Myers ]]> Slight Name Change tag:www.rootstelevision.com,2007:/blogs/raogk//5.359 2007-04-20T16:23:47Z 2007-04-20T23:21:16Z

"In Their Words" Being 70 years of age, all of my previous generation had already passed on and had not been very talkative. I had heard a few things about my maternal grandfather. Such as, he had changed his name but I did not know from what. I had also heard he was born in Concord, Merrimack County, New Hampshire. I found a RAOGK Volunteer and sent a request for his birth certificate with the little information I had. Shortly he came back to me with the comment there was not a William George Lamothe listed. He did find a George William Lamothe and also found two of George William's brothers birth certificates. They would cost me $5.00 each. Well, of course, I quickly emailed him back and said, Yes, I did want all three and would send the money. I sent the money out only to find the next morning in my mail was an envelope with the three certificates inside as he had already sent them to me. These birth certificates allowed me to see who my great grandparents were and where they were from (Canada). For the first time in my life I had a path to follow. Not knowing anything about Canadian research I went to the GenForum Canada site and posted a query. Two days later I had a reply with a Gedcom file that took my maternal side _ way _ way back. It just goes to show how you can work on something for 15 years and have it all come together in less than a week. All thanks to Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness in starting the ball rolling. Submitted by: Bill Silliman North Carolina
_{Enjoy,
Brenda K. Wolfgram Moore
RAOGK Volunteer
raogk.org}

]]> KUDOS for RAOGK tag:www.rootstelevision.com,2007:/blogs/raogk//5.353 2007-04-15T20:10:54Z 2007-06-30T20:44:58Z

Hi Everyone, Just a heads up regarding a RAOGK policy: There are volunteers located all over the internet that aid in one's genealogy research, only those whom are RAOGK volunteers will be posted on the "RAOGK Kudos". We recently made mention of RAOGK Kudo's page for thanking volunteers for the time and effort they put into your research. If you have gained insight into your family research by the use of ROAGK, why not post your thanks to: RAOGK Kudos! Thank you, Brenda RAOGK Staff ]]> Gr. Grandmom found at State Hospital tag:www.rootstelevision.com,2007:/blogs/raogk//5.351 2007-04-13T05:06:13Z 2007-04-21T02:07:45Z

"In Their Words" There isn't a way to thank my volunteer on the site since you had to disable the posting board, but my volunteer was so exceptionally helpful, that it warranted my sending an email to you (RAOGK). I sent a request to Richard, Pawnee County, Kansas volunteer. My request was: Could he look up an obit for me and take a picture of a tombstone. My great-grandfather's sister had died in the state hospital and was buried in the state hospital cemetery. Not only did Richard look up the obituary, he went to the state hospital cemetery and took several pictures for me. Since the graves are marked by numbers, not names, there was no way of telling which grave was hers. After taking the pictures, he talked with a friend of his whom worked at the state hospital to find out who I needed to contact to determine which grave belonged to my relative. I then called the hospital, found out where my relative was buried. Armed with that data Richard then went back to the cemetery a _second_ time taking flowers and a laminated card, and took several more pictures for me. He then offered to drive to a nearby county to look up additional information for me on this relative. He did all of this for free and despite my offers to pay him, wouldn't take any money. I'm still working on trying to get him to take some money, at least for gas and the flowers. I've thanked him over and over again but as I said, I thought his help was so exceptional that I should at least let you (ROAGK) know. Editor Note: 1) New area was recently created for "Kudos" aka Thank You's. Check this link: Visit RAOGK Kudos! 2) We now ask requesters to pay for gas due to the extreme cost of it. Thank You. _{Enjoy,
Brenda K. Wolfgram Moore
RAOGK Volunteer
raogk.org}]]> Tombstone Hunt tag:www.rootstelevision.com,2007:/blogs/raogk//5.346 2007-04-11T03:01:57Z 2007-04-21T02:06:21Z

"In Their Words" Hello, I just had a quick story that was heartwarming as a volunteer. Everyone I have volunteered for has been grateful and happy to receive pictures I have sent but a recent one was especially sweet. A woman requested headstone pictures of a relative and his two sons as she was writing a book on her family history. I knew the cemetery she was asking about was in terrible shape and I warned her I may not be able to find anything but, I'd give it a try. She knew the records for this town had burned years ago and getting these pictures was important. I also knew I would have to have reinforcements for this search so my 9 yr old granddaughter, who has accompanied me on my searches for years and is a budding headstone hunter, my partner, and our best friend headed out to the cemetery. We tore through brambles and bushes and hidden headstones until we, miraculously found the headstones. It was pretty remarkable these three stones were standing as the majority were not. We took the pictures and sent them off. This is the email I received from her: Darlene, I don't know how to express how much you have helped me with these pictures! I'm sitting here squealing! Do you know? none of the cemetery transcriptions online or in any books said Nancy was on the tombstone with Henry? None! I had no information on when she died or anything else!!! I had figured my book was only going to be able to include my branch of Henry's son's family (a HUGE branch, to be sure...) but was not sure if I'd ever be able to get back further, with the Newfield records burnt. YOU ARE A GODDNESS! =) If there is anything I can do to return the favor in Texas, let me know. Can I send you anything for mileage, or anything else? I just want you to know that you are incredibly valued, and that I could KISS your right now. Thanks again for a job well done. end... It is so rewarding to know that I can help others while I am having a grand time running around cemeteries. It is like getting paid to do a job you love! Darlene, Volunteer in Tompkins Co. NY _{We hope you enjoyed this volunteer's story!
Brenda K. Wolfgram Moore
RAOGK Volunteer
raogk.org}]]> Willmar State Hospital Search tag:www.rootstelevision.com,2007:/blogs/raogk//5.345 2007-04-11T01:58:11Z 2007-04-21T02:16:21Z

A Success Story The Story of How The
Genealogy Bug
Began For Me. My grandfather committed suicide in a state hospital when my Dad was just 12. I was curious to know the circumstances so I went to the Minnesota Historical Society where there are archives of all state records. While looking in the index for the hospital I ran across another patient with the same last name. It turned out to be my grandfather’s mother who had also died there almost 20 years earlier. It was exciting finding more than what I had gone there for. That was in 2002. It is now 2007 and I continue to do volunteer look ups on patients that had been in Minnesota state hospitals. I call it my “winter hobby”. I love it when I can find information for others and I get excited to find extra bits and pieces for them. The following are some emails about a lookup I did for a lady who lives in Saskatchewan, Canada. Her appreciation makes it all worth it. Note: Surnames removed for a bit of privacy. Greetings from Saskatchewan, Canada Dear Nancy, I was very happy to find your listing with RAOGK. My great grandmother, Ellen (not named) of Polk Co., MN was committed to the State Hospital at Fergus Falls, Otter Tail Co. MN about Sept. of 1923 where she died March 30, 1924. Thank you kindly, Lorraine Lorraine, Would you want copies made of commitment papers for a Christian? I happened to run across his name in looking for Ellen. He was in Fergus Falls Hospital from 1911 - 1918. Nancy Volunteer in MN for RAOGK Oh, my dear Girl, YES! You are a wonder. Christian was Ellen's husband, they were my great-grandparent and it has been a real problem trying to sort out just what happened to them after they had been through so much. And, of course, mental illness bore quite a stigma at that time so my grandparents never told my mother of their heartaches. We have searched everywhere for him and now you have found him. How will I ever thank you? Will you keep me posted. This is very exciting! Sincerely, Lorraine Lorraine, Here's a bit more info. from today's visit to the history center. I took a few notes from the commitment papers & patient register for Christian March 27 1918 Improved. Transferred to Willmar State Hospital July 16 1918 Died at Willmar (this was a note in the Fergus Falls book) I'm glad this is exciting for you. I like the challenge of finding unexpected stuff. More next week Nancy Dear Nancy, Thank you. I don't know how you do all this! Your help has paid off already. I was able to get Christian's death certificate with the info you had sent earlier. Sincerely, Lorraine Lorraine, Just an update. You will have your copies by the end of April. I have a total of 12 lookups to do & I am trying to do them all at the same time, each time I go to the History Center. My goal is to finish them all before May when the warmer weather calls me outside everyday for gardening & lawn work (I only do lookups in the winter). Sincerely Nancy Dear Nancy, All your hard work arrived this morning. It answers all my questions about my mom's terrible battle with Alzheimer's. The records of these poor little people are carbon copies of hers in the early stages. She survived much longer than they did so she was completely incapacitated. Thank you, again and again. Sincerely, Lorraine

_{We hope you enjoyed this story!
Brenda
RAOGK Volunteer}]]> Random Acts Roots tag:www.rootstelevision.com,2007:/blogs/raogk//5.334 2007-04-03T23:10:50Z 2007-04-21T02:19:16Z

The Schneider Family behind
Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness
In Their Words Bridgett, Tennessee born, is an only child and had to leave the beautiful state when her father joined the Navy when she was about two years of age. She says her roots run "deep" in Tennessee with all but 3 of her lines coming into the state pre-statehood. Bridgett ventured into her family research in 1995, but quickly got "hooked" on this well-known addicting hobby called Genealogy which remains with her still. The research she has done leads her roots back to Adam and Eve of Bible fame. "Well, sorta" she says. Her 6th great-grandparents were named Johannes Adam and Margaretha Eva (Eve) Biebel (anglicized to Bible upon getting to this side of the big pond in 1750), through their son Christian. The other half of this equation belongs to Dale "Doc" a computer geek since high school (back in the main frame days) his first PC being a TRS-80. While he served his stint in the Navy he helped to set up the computer networking in the Pacific. Now, although "Doc" is not into researching his own roots, he fully understands the passions surrounding it. Through his programming knowledge he has helped many people further their own research. His heritage is German-Russian with his first known, (as of now) ancestor landing on U.S. soil in 1857 in Maryland. The story goes his great-grandmother on his mother's side came to the U. S. from Russia as a baby. As our ancestors are known for migrating, his immigrant Schneider found themselves in Illinois and then on to Nebraska where "Doc" was born and still resides today. Both "Doc" and Bridgett have been married previously but will celebrate their 7th anniversary in June of 2007. Their combined family consists of four children and seven grandchildren with two of them being granddaughters. They range in ages from twenty-one to five months. These offspring and their offspring's are scattered across the country, and much to their disappointment they are unable to spend the time with them they would like. But... a Fur-kid does reside in their household that keeps them on their toes, 6 year old, Skyler, a Cairn Terrier. See You Next Time, "In Their Words" Enjoy, Brenda K. Wolfgram Moore RAOGK Volunteer raogk.org ]]> Coming Soon... tag:www.rootstelevision.com,2007:/blogs/raogk//5.236 2007-01-22T17:33:36Z 2007-06-30T20:06:37Z

Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness was established in 1999 as a global volunteer organization. Genealogical researchers have always needed and will always need documentation. The Internet does not provide all of this and actual footwork is needed. Before the Internet, it was necessary to travel great distances or use postal mail because most researchers do not live close to the places of our origins. Today, assistance is often just a mouse click away. With volunteers in every U. S. state and many international locations, RAOGK volunteers have helped thousands of researchers. They take the time to do everything from looking up courthouse records to taking photographs of tombstones - and all they ask in return is reimbursement for their expenses (Never their time) and a THANK YOU. Take a moment of your time when helped to post a public THANK YOU to our "Kudos Thanks" webpage at: RAOGK Kudos! Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness Thanks You for your participation. Brenda RAOGK Volunteer raogk.org]]>