Tombstone Tuesday - The Notom Cemetery, in Wayne County, Utah

Tombstone Tuesday

The Notom Cemetery, in Wayne County, Utah

On our field trip south of the Capital Reef National Park last Tuesday, we visited several 'ghost towns' where about all that is left is their large or small cemetery. Above, we are parked in front of a commemorative sign for Notom, with the current Notom Ranch Bed & Breakfast in the background (over the back of the Jeep you can see the building). This is a fascinating area.

The Notom Cemetery is not one of the larger ones. We drove a few miles on the 'typical dirt roads' of the area to where it was located.

Here are some views of the area, when we got there.

Above, you see the Jeep parked by the Cemetery (wire fencing), with the same mountain formations in the background as above, by the Notom sign. Those are the south view of the Waterpocket Fold in Capital Reef National Park. You have to really want to see them, to get this view.

Inside the wire fence, each grave is marked (and was protected earlier) by the wooden fences. Above is one, below is another.

Even more interesting to me, perhaps, were the two gravestones with more recent markers:

This was a young man who died at 13 years (1883-1896), John Christian Smith. His father was Jorgen Christiansen - a Danish immigrant (Danish surnames are a story in themselves). In the Wayne County History Class I attended the first Friday of our Utah visit, this year, we learned much of the Mormon Danish settlers in the county of this time period. [Note: I'm not Mormon, but I am 1/4 Danish - so I was especially interested]

Note the second marker was for an infant, less than a year old. His surname was also Smith.

These markers were no doubt placed more recently by family descendants. Steve Taylor, the local historian, has traced the others known to have been buried in Notom Cemetery, even though they are not as clearly marked.

A most unusual Cemetery, I just really wanted to share with you.

Families are Forever! ;-)

It's Monday, What are You Reading? Mastering Genealogical Proof

It's Monday, What are You Reading?

Mastering Genealogical Proof 

by Thomas W. Jones

This post is the sixty-second entry for this meme suggested by Sheila@ One Persons Journey Through A World of Books. [Entries 22-25 in the series were posted at  the Dr. Bill Tells Ancestor Stories]

My oldest daughter, Annette, was good enough to get me a copy for Father's Day, and got one for herself at the same time. I had written about the book earlier, and am looking forward to spending more time with it.

From the website for the book, at The National Genealogical Society:

"Mastering Genealogical Proof aims to help researchers, students and new family historians reconstruct relationships and lives of people they cannot see. It presents content in digestible chunks. Each chapter concludes with problems providing practice for proficiently applying the chapter's concepts. Those problems, like examples throughout the book, use real records, real research, and real issues. Answers are at the back along with a glossary of technical terms and and extensive resource list."

You can order your copy from the link, above.

[Cross-posted on Dr. Bill's Book Bazaar blog]

Families are Forever!  ;-)

Wordless (nearly) Wednesday - Kinnick-Williams picnic photo

Wordless (nearly) Wednesday - Kinnick-Williams picnic photo

This is a photo I took in 1955 in the basement of the 'new' addition to the Star Church of my youth, near Coon Rapids, Iowa. The occasion was a June gathering of what we then called the annual Kinnick-Williams (or Williams-Kinnick) picnic. It was the family of my maternal grandfather, Paul Kinnick - see this post for his siblings and their spouses - well represented above. His father, of course, was Kinnick; his mother was Williams.

The three in the middle, above, represent the "Williams" side - Francis (Williams) Keck (center, white hat), her son, Bill, behind her, her mother, Clara (Hull) Williams, in front.

From left, are Everett and Gertrude (Kinnick) Brideson, Robert Ford (daughter of), Lillian (Kinnick) Ford.

The large gathering sort of went away, for many years - however, in more recent years, the Kinnicks have been getting together in Coon Rapids - in June. I won't be there, this year, but did attend a couple of years ago. Fun family times!

Families are Forever!  ;-)

Danish Immigrant Musuem in Elk Horn, IA, announces expansion

Danish Immigrant Musuem in Elk Horn, IA, announces expansion

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Danish_Immigrant_Museum

My personal ancestry is one-quarter Danish, so any news of the Danish Immigrant Museum in Elk Horn, Iowa, is of interest. Here is the latest from my Hometown weekly newspaper:

Coon Rapids Enterprise - Thursday, May 23, 2013, Page 4:

Elk Horn
Museum plans $3 million expansion
The Danish Immigrant Museum has announced plans to construct
an 8,000 sq. ft. curatorial center at its location on the western edge of
Elk Horn. The center will be located below ground on the west side
of the present building and will feature an environmentally-friendly
green roof. The project cost estimates are $3 million -- $2 million for
construction and $1 million to be invested in the museum’s endowment
to meet increased operational costs. To date, over $2.3 million
has been raised or is anticipated, though construction will not begin
until the $3 million fundraising goal is reached. “Our museum is the
only museum in the country dedicated to preserving artifacts of the
Danish American community here in the United States,” said the museum’s
executive director, Dr. John Mark Nielsen. “The planned curatorial
center will assure that the museum has appropriate space for
expanded artifact collection and for creating traveling exhibits that
will be shared with museums across the country and in Denmark.”
An initial gift of $100,000 in November 2011 from Omaha museum
members, Bill and Berniece Grewcock, enabled museum staff to work
with conservation professionals and AHTS Architects of Waterloo,
Iowa, in designing the planned expansion. The resulting plans have
been shared with potential donors, which led to a $1 million gift from
an anonymous donor family. The museum has also received word
that it was the residual beneficiary of the estate of Richard Hellman
of Oceanside, CA and formerly of Atlantic, who died on March 6 of
this year. “I met with Richard annually since coming to the museum
ten years ago,” Nielsen said, “and it was always his hope that his estate
gift would be significant enough to name the expanded space
after his parents, Peter and Karen Hellman, who were Danish immigrants.”
Audubon County Advocate Journal


Families are Forever!  ;-)

Wordless (nearly) Wednesday - 4 Generations, in May 1961

Wordless (nearly) Wednesday

4 Generations

 May 1961

I'm approaching the 1000th slide scan, and came across this one earlier this week from May 1941.

You know I love multi-generational photos, and this is a 4 generation image.

Our oldest daughter, Annette, of course, along with Nancy and I on right. My parents, Pete and Eileen (Kinnick) Smith, on left, and, of course her parents in front, Paul and Dorothy (Sorensen) Kinnick.

This was at a picnic in the Bayard, Iowa, City Park near their home, about 10 days before we left Iowa (I had graduated from Iowa State University) and moved to California for my first job there.

Families are Forever!  ;-)

Review of '13 Ways to Tell Your Ancestor Stories' on Amazon

Review of "13 Ways to Tell Your Ancestor Stories" on Amazon

Great suggestions for using the workbook:

"My local genealogy society is using Dr. Bill's book as a workbook for our family history writer's group. He lays out all of the basics in an easy, understandable way. The book has been very helpful in getting people started writing about their ancestors and telling family history stories. We have added this book to our genealogy society library."

By Susan, smp, on Amazon.com. Neat! Thanks! ;-)

Families are Forever!  ;-)

Wordless (nearly) Wednesday - "Good-Bye Picnic" - May 1961

Wordless (nearly) Wednesday

"Good-Bye Picnic"

May 1961

3 brothers and 5 younger first-cousins were among those participating in a "Good-Bye" - send-off - picnic in the Bayard, Iowa, City Park, in May 1961, Nancy, Annette and I were about to leave for California following my graduation, in a few days, from Iowa State University.

Annette, of course, is in the photo, far left, in her spiffy hat.

There are some cousins in this photo that don't appear too often in my photos.

From the left: Annette, Mike Hilgenberg, brother Paul, Dan Smith, brothers Barry and Tom, cousins Cindy Kinnick, Marcia Kinnick, and Karla Kinnick.

Families are Forever! ;-)

P.S. The red coloring, of course, is due to the the combination of age of the slide and the cheapness/low quality of the 35mm film being used that day!  ;-)