Something Extra IV

Challeges #6 & 7 from the 52 Weeks to Better Genealogy Challenge on Facebook went fairly well.  #6 involved going to your public library's website and checking out the online databases available for those having a library card. There was quite alot of Michigan genealogy data and resources (not helpful for this Illinois girl). I was hoping for access to some historical newspaper collections but that did not seem available. Doing this exercise I learned how to navigate through the MEL and WorldCat data bases and today went to the WMU Regional Archive Center and was able to order the French book by Helen Trudgian that I have been looking for. It will be delivered to WMU and it can be copied, so I may soon have some answers about the mysterious Francis Tregian whose is the hurdle to me moving backwards to the next generation in the 15th century! I can't wait!

Challenge # 7 was to play with Google Maps to determine locations of addresses in your family history. My mother and I played for an hour together on the phone while she talked me through where her parents and grandparents lived in the Amberg Wisconsin area. The houses are gone....but with me on Google Maps and her remembering the roads and landmarks we were able to find a satellite view of the properties. We then went on to Middle Inlet Wisconsin to where my Dad and his parents - The Trudgians - lived....we didn't do so well there but did find my Trudgian grandparents home in Waterloo, IA and my Port grandparents in Chicago, IL.

Leaving the U.S. and traveling abroad it was much more successful as I not only found Golden Manor in Cornwall, England but multiple photos of the house,barn, etyc. That I had never seen before, including a watermill dating from King Henry VIII's reign. In Dunbar, Scotland I again was able to zoom into what remains of the Dunbar Castle (this is one of Dennis' surnames) but also found multiple photos. It just seems a whole lot easier to find a whole lot of more information.