Things in motion

There's been so much going on lately that I have been remiss in actually chronicling it on this blog. Cousins met! Visits planned! Photos acquired! Information gleaned! Trees expanded! Speeches given! Family history is all the rage these days.

I've now given presentations at the Tama County Historical Society and the Central Iowa Genealogical Society on using the Internet in family history. One of the focuses has been this blog, or mores generally the benefits of family history blogging. I think people are weary of blogs, but they don't realize how much you can uncover and the connections you can make.

Case in point: Just last week I received two emails through the contact form in this blog saying "Hello! We're related!" Now I'm corresponding with two Shaffer relatives and sharing information and (hopefully) soon planning to get together. I've also planned visits to relatives in Omaha, Neb., and Wilton, Iowa, this summer and will be attending the Elgin Homecoming festivities next month.

Like I said, so much happening!

I hope soon to have a spare moment to sit down and write more detail about some of the work I've been doing and some of the newest discoveries. I also hope to have another "Family History Summer" like last year. So far it's looking like it will be very possible.

That's all for now - just to say I'm alive and well, and so is my research!

Tracing your political roots

Iowa's 30th General Assembly. John D. Shaffer is on the lower right.

I learned this week if you have an ancestor who served in the Iowa Legislature you're quite lucky.

My great-great-great grandfather, John D. Shaffer, served in the Iowa House of Representatives from 1904 to 1909, representing Fayette County. I have a rather large collection of articles from contemporary Fayette County newspapers discussing "Representative Shaffer" and his affiliations and works in the House. I also have copies of ballots, election reports, and great editorials and other endorsements.

John D. Shaffer's official House portrait,
Iowa 32nd General Assembly, 1907

For a long time I've wondered about pictures detailing his political tenure. As anyone who reads this blog knows I'm obsessed with family photos (it's why this blog came to be two years ago). I've sent a lot of time and some money digging up family relics. J.D. Shaffer's image eluded me for a long time. About 2009 I got my first glimpse of him courtesy of my great aunt, who had one of those photo sketches you see in old history books. Last summer on my trip to Clermont I found his portrait for the first time and when I visited cousins in Ely in December and in more cousins in Volga last month I secured an amazing array of photos featuring the patriarch.

And yet, I wanted more...

Knowing what I do about politicians (and that's not much) I know they like to get good press. They like to be noticed. They like to have their good works documented for posterity. They like to appear official and important. Knowing that J.D. served three terms in the Iowa House I thought there had to be photos somewhere. Even though it was the turn of the last century, there had to be photos of committees or caucuses or even just formal portraits. I started where anyone would start: I Googled it.

One of the first items to pop up was a short bio on J.D. as part of the Iowa Legislature Archives. They have profiles on all the state's legislators going back until the state became a state in the 1840s. They also had two photos: one the sketch I already had and another I hadn't seen before. Of course, they were black and white and low resolution web copies, so I emailed the webmaster and waited.

I didn't have to wait long!

The next day Craig at the Legislative Information Office emailed with larger versions of both photos and connected me with someone at the State Historical Society of Iowa. The archives house a vast array of photos and documents related to our legislators and within the same day an archivist emailed me back saying they had two formal photos and a photo of the entire legislative body. They charged $20 each for high-resolution scanned copies of the photos, but considering the cost of gas and the scarcity of the records I was glad to fork over $60 for the three images.

I also learned the State of Iowa has extensive online records about the legislature, including records of committees and appointments as well as laws and votes. You might think "Of course they'd have records of laws. They're laws." But these online records can tell you the legislators who shepherded the bills through the chamber, who wrote them, who voted for and against them. It can give you a detailed glimpse of your ancestor's political role in shaping the state.

I don't know yet what J.D. accomplished during his tenure. I've read contemporary newspaper accounts of various farm bills and actions to regulate the beef industry. I look forward to digging into this free online archive and learning more. 

"The Internet & Family History" | March 5, 2014

I'll be speaking at the Tama County Historical Society & Genealogical Library on Wednesday, March 5, 2014, at 7pm. The topic: The Internet and Family History. I'm by no means and expert on this topic, but I will be sharing my experiences using free online archives and tools, how to optimize Google for family history research, and the world of family history blogging.

The program is free and open to the public, so if you're in the area stop by!

Kissing cousins, winter weather, and salvation by tractor

A Shaffer Family Picnic in the late 1920s.

Late Saturday afternoon, as I climbed out of the passenger side door of my car while it sat at a precarious 45 degree angle on a snow-drenched stretch of farm drive, I thought to myself, "This was totally worth it."

Hardcore family historians know there's just about nothing that can keep you from making that next great discovery. On this particular Saturday it was Iowa's unrelenting winter weather that threatened to derail my planned trip to Volga. The snow held off for the two-hour drive to the Whitford Heritage Farm, but during my 3-hour visit the show fell steadily and heavily, cloaking the previously discernable farm drive to the point that I veered too far to the left while leaving and hence, ended up stick on a slope.

Thank God for distant cousins with large tractors.

The afternoon was spent with Dalene Whitford and her mother, Darlene Shaffer. Darlene's late husband, Forrest Shaffer, was my great grandfather's cousin. Darlene, who turns 96 years old tomorrow, is sharp as a tack and a genuine sweetheart. When I picked up her late husband's high school graduation photo she happily proclaimed "That's a photo of the most handsome man in the world." She knew my family very well, growing up in the same neighborhood around Illyria Church, and even dated my great-great uncle, J.D. Shaffer for a few years. She didn't elaborate on why that didn't work out.

John and Susan Shaffer with
Tom and Katie Richards, all
my great-great-great grandparents

Darlene had a unique situation in my family history in that I'm related to both her husband and her by blood. I've found in my research in Northeast Iowa that my roots go so far back I'm related to almost everyone about five different ways. In fact, many people in that area can find their trees intersect at some point. Darlene and Forrest were fifth cousins, which might shock some people, but isn't that uncommon. In fact, my great grandparents were fourth cousins once removed.

As the snow fell outside I sat at with Darlene and Dalene at the dining room table, scanner fired up, and scrapbooks piled up. Darlene had been a careful scrapbook assembler in her day and everything was labeled with names, places, and often funny anecdotes. One of the great surprises was finding so many photos of relatives of mine not related to the Shaffer or Whitford family. With everyone living in the same area they were all friends. One great example was a photo of John D. and Susan (Robbins) Shaffer sitting with Tom and Katie (Foxwell) Richards. Both of these couples are my great-great-great grandparents, but only the Shaffers share the connection with Darlene and Dalene.

Perhaps the greatest discovery was one of the last. Dalene had scads of albums ranging from the early 1900s up until present day. As the day wound down I began to skim the more recent albums, trying to find any photos I'd scan before hitting the road. Stuck in a plastic sleeve toward the back was an old cabinet photo of a young family from the 1890s. I looked once, then twice, then recognized the mother immediate - Susan Shaffer.

My heart skipped a beat. This is what I live for.

John D. and Susan (Robbins) Shaffer Family

Turning the photo over, I saw every name spelled out in detail: John D. Shaffer, Susan Shaffer, Mabel Gilson, Israel Shaffer, Jack Shaffer, Ray Shaffer, Myrtle O'Dell, Hazel Whitford, Ethel Bower. Every member of the Shaffer clan save Mary, who was born in 1899. I had to refrain myself from squealing with delight. I held the photo in both hands, looked up at Dalene, and said "This makes it all worthwhile." I kept reciting that to myself as I stood in the snow waiting for someone to come and pull my car off the slope and back onto the road.

Another road trip complete and rife with success. Where to next?

Making Contacts

It's been a while since I've had a chance to blog about family history, but that doesn't mean I haven't been hard at work! This is my self-proclaimed "Year of Research" and I plan to keep up with it as much as I can.

Last month I finally got up the nerve to cold call a bevy of distant cousins. I'm usually reluctant to do so because it feels too much like a sales pitch: "Hello, I'm your cousin, can I come to your house and dig through your personal belongings?" I know that's a bit of hyperbole, but in a very rudimentary way that's what family history is - digging through other people's stuff. Sometimes that stuff is boxes of old photos. Sometimes it's their memories. Either way, it's very personal and can be uncomfortable - especially when it's a relative stranger.

My usual plan of action is to send a letter - and I did a few of those last month as well. I find a letter allows you more of a chance to explain yourself, as well as provide proof of your connection. Most often I try to print of a photo of their direct relative to illustrate my legitimacy.

Out of all the people I called and wrote to, the first one was actually the closest on the family tree. I called my dad's first cousin, who is now 86, asking about family photos. She was unsure of what she had, but we made a plan for me to call back in about three weeks (which is coming up next week). I should mention here that my dad has about 40+ first cousins, the oldest being 90 and the youngest being my aunt, who is almost 58.

Next up was a call to a very distant relation: my grandmother's second cousin. She and I had spoke about six months ago, but lost track of things and I needed to re-connect. Her father had been interested in family history and had a lot of relics of the Gruver family. Last summer when visiting Elgin, Iowa, I saw a dray cart his family donated to the local museum. It was dated from 1873 and used by my great-great-great grandfather, William J. Gruver, when he worked for the railroad. Again, she said she'd begin preparing some photos and I'd touch base later.

Third in line was a letter. This wasn't to a direct relative, but instead the executors of the estate of my great-grandmother's first cousin. How's that for tangential!? My great grandmother, Leone (Kerr) Shaffer, had three cousins by her aunt, Lulu (Kerr) Rothlisberger. The Rothlisberger siblings never married and all lived to an advanced age. Helen and Hazel both died about a decade ago, both in their early 90s. Their eldest brother, Earl, died in 2007 in his centennial year. Sadly, I never met Earl. Even though I knew of him and was very much interested in family history at the time, I didn't make the leap from "knowing of him" to "knowing him."

It's now seven years out from his passing, but knowing he had no direct descendants - no children or nieces and nephews, I became curious about what happened to his estate. Where did the family documents go? The family photos? I got a pit in my stomach. If no one with a family tie was there when he passed, were his belongings thrown away? I began to envision priceless photos of my ancestors being placed on the curbside.

To find out what happened, I went to the newspaper archives. Earl didn't have much of an obituary published, so I resorted to the legal notices. If you're ever wondering about the heirs to a long-lost cousin, keep tabs on the legal notices in the paper around their death. While descendants aren't always listed, the executors are and they are often close family or a close friend who would have the connections to family. Finding Earl's probate notice, I saw the names of his executors, looked up their address, and shot off a letter. I asked them what happened to Earl's estate, if they had anything from it, and where family photos would have gone. Since they were in charge of his estate they could eat least tell me they were destroyed, donated, of given to a family member.

A few days after it went in the mail I received an email saying they had donated a bunch of photos to the Elgin Museum. I also learned that the executors knew my family well (Elgin is a small town). Of the couple the husband used to be babysat by my grandmother and the wife was a native of Toledo, Iowa, where I currently live. I also made another connection: my mother was named after his older sister. Small world!

Since that correspondence I've emailed the Elgin Museum asking about their records. I anxiously await their reply.

There are a few more contacts I made, but this posting is getting rather long. One contact not chronicled here has led to plans to visit Volga, Iowa, next weekend and meet the widow of my great-grandfather's cousin. She's nearly 96 and I'll be visiting with her and her daughter. Hopefully I'll have a blog in a few weeks with photos and information from that journey.

Until then, the research continues!

New Year, New Challenges, Old Questions

If summer 2013 was "The Summer of Family History" in my life then I plan to make 2014 "The Year of Family History" from January to December - including keeping up with this blog!

So far this year I've done more planning than executing, but it's early. I plan to identify and contact living relatives on as many branches as possible as I continue feeding my insatiable appetite for family photos.

I'm also undertaking the page-by-page scouring of the digitized Elgin Echo archives looking for mentions of ancestors and kinfolk. Since I'm related to nearly every person in that area, the work is long and tedious. I've completed 1902 and 1932 (not sure what prompted me to start with those random years). I'm working on 1905 now. I jump around in order to keep things interesting. I mean, I find it ALL interesting, but moving around years keeps new generations in the spotlight and keeps things fresh.

My next big adventure is actually a simple one. There are relatives in my own town with whom I have never discussed family history. Why? I don't know! I think I've taken for granted I could always call them. This year, I'm going to actually do it.

Those are my family history resolutions for the year. What are yours?

Trip to Ely

Israel F. Shaffer

Last week I wrote about the anticipation and excitement building around my trip to Ely, Iowa, to visit my grandmother's cousin and scan family photos. I tried to tell myself not to get too excited so I wasn't disappointed.

But there was no need for that.

Dan and Jan were extremely gracious to allow me into their home for what became four solid hours of scanning, scanning scanning! I came home with 179 new photos of the Shaffer and Richards family, including a few I had seen before and most that were new to me.

There are too many gems to select the "best" to post here, but I will post a few that spoke to me for a number of reasons. First, is this oval photo of my great-great grandfather, Israel F. Shaffer. Until my trip to Ely I had a handful of photos including Israel, all from his later years. Seeing this photo of a young Israel was absolutely fantastic, especially paired with the young photo of Bessie Dan had emailed the week prior.

Bessie (Richards) Shaffer with her
mother, Katie (Foxwell) Richards

There were many photos of my great-great-great grandmother, Katie (Foxwell) Richards, which was a special treat. Katie lived to be 99 1/2 years old and there are many stories about her in the family. It's great to see her sweet, smiling face in so many images. Even though our times on this earth are separated by 30 years, I can't help but feel a connection and admiration for her in the photos. That's what happens when you do family history research - you start to feel like you know your ancestors.

The photo I chose to post today is one of Katie and her daughter (my great-great grandmother) Bessie. It's just a random candid picture, but it's so incredibly warm and lovely that I just adore it.

This trip didn't satiate my desire for family photos. In fact, it only made it more intense. Now it's time to comb the family tree and figure out who's next. Watch out, cousins, I'm on my way!