My maternal Great Grandmother Johanna Walsh/Welch Hanley was born on the beautiful Dingle peninsula in Ireland. She was born 12 June 1859 and her baptism on that same date is recorded in the parish of Ballyferriter. She arrived in the U.S. by September 1889 as on 3 September 1889 in Winona, Winona County, Minnesota, she […]
What a tribute to their deceased father. “RICHMOND, Minn. — On Wednesday afternoon at Sts. Peter and Paul cemetery in Richmond, Harold Hemmesch’s family gathered to dig his grave.It wasn’t the first time Hemmesch’s children dug into the ground of the cemetery. Their father had been a gravedigger for 50 years, and they had all […]
If you live in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa or Illinois and are planning to attend the September 2011 Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference in Springfield, Illinois, you need to know about two bus trips! The Minnesota Genealogical Society and the Wisconsin State Genealogical Society are both sponsoring coach bus trips to Springfield. It’s more fun to […]
How many obituaries have you read in recent years that had some sort of error? Sometimes you see the newspaper print a correction but that is rare and usually separate from obituaries or death/funeral notices. Any time such an announcement is prepared, several chances for errors loom. The same applies to all such notices in […]
You read that correctly. The Federation of Genealogical Societies 2011 Conference begins on September 7th in Springfield, Illinois. The local host, the Illinois State Genealogical Society is helping to pull out all the stops to make this a great educational, fun, prize winning, memorable, and all-around great event. If you haven’t checked the FGS Conference […]
Are you getting some “wish you were here” postcards or watching your neighbors hook up the boat and trailer and feeling like you are missing out on some vacation time? Many genealogists interpret vacation as going somewhere to research, attend a conference or institute or order a bunch of birth and death certificates. How about […]
Grab a box of tissues because you will need them after you read this. The Isanti County Minnesota Historical Society’s building was totally destroyed by an arson fire early this morning. According to the Princeton Union-Eagle newspaper, it’s a total loss. Documents, artifacts, publications, and more are gone forever. Check here to see the many […]
The 4th of July was a big day in our neighborhood when I was growing up. It meant family and neighbor time. Some years it meant patriotic singing, led by my Dad’s booming voice. It meant hot dogs and hamburgers cooked by my Dad, Bill, and our neighbor ,Ernie Lindberg. For many years the biggest […]
I have known Jan and Warren Mitchell for years. Last weekend at the Minnesota Genealogical Society’s Winona Genealogical Program they were among the vendors. They gave me a gift, some Family Tree Wine Glass Charms! I think I need to have a party now. These cute charms hook around your wine glass so that you […]
The Century Farms program in Minnesota began 35 years ago in 1976 and a list of them is now online. Depending upon which website or news article you look at, it’s of 8,000-9,000 farms that have been recognized as a Century Farm since the program began.The application forms through the 2009 designees are at the […]