99 Things Genealogy Meme

I found this meme accidentally because Banai Lynn Feldstein, the Ginger Genealogist, had her blog hacked and some of her older posts, including the 99 Things Genealogy Meme, were sent out as new items.  I discovered that Saturday Night Genealogy Fun, which I use as weekly inspiration for posts, covered this topic, but in 2009, two years before I started blogging.  So I'm going to do it now.

Because my Jewish ancestry is a huge focus of my research, I'm using Banai's Jewish-focused version of the meme, although I do not agree with her logic on removing American Revolution, Civil War, and DAR as topics.  For several of the items, I changed "ancestor" to "relative" because not only did I not think it was realistic for all of those items to be for ancestors, my collateral relatives are also important in my research.  And I did a few edits just because I'm an editor and found things, and I couldn't help myself.

The list should be annotated in the following manner:
Things you have already done or found:  bold type.
Things you would like to do or find:  Italicize (color optional).
Things you haven’t done or found and don’t care to:  plain type.

1. Belonged to a genealogical society.
2. Researched records on site at a court house.
3. Transcribed records.
4. Uploaded tombstone photographs to Find-A-Grave.
5. Documented ancestors for four generations (self, parents, grandparents, great-grandparents).
6. Joined Facebook.
7. Helped clean up a run-down cemetery.
8. Joined the GeneaBloggers Group on Facebook.
9. Attended a genealogy conference.
10. Lectured at a genealogy conference.
11. Attended SIG/BOF meetings at a genealogy conference.
12. Spoke on a genealogy topic at a local genealogy society.
13. Been the editor of a genealogy society newsletter or journal.
14. Contributed to a genealogy society publication.
15. Served on the board or as an officer of a genealogy society.
16. Got lost on the way to a cemetery.  Because my father refused to ask for directions first.
17. Talked to dead relatives.
18. Researched outside the state in which I live.
19. Knocked on the door of an ancestral home and visited with the current occupants.
20. Cold-called a distant relative.
21. Posted messages on a surname message board.
22. Uploaded a GEDCOM file to the Internet.
23. Googled my name.
24. Performed a random act of genealogical kindness.
25. Researched an unrelated family, just for the fun of it.
26. Have been paid to do genealogical research.
27. Earned a living (majority of income) from genealogical research.
28. Wrote a letter (or e-mail message) to a previously unknown relative.
29. Responded to messages on a message board or forum.
30. Was injured while on a genealogy excursion.
31. Participated in a genealogy meme.
32. Created family history gift items (calendars, cookbooks, etc.).
33. Performed a record look-up for someone else.
34. Went on a genealogy seminar cruise.
35. Was convinced that a relative must have arrived here from outer space.
36. Found a disturbing family secret.
37. Told others about a disturbing family secret.
38. Combined genealogy with crafts (family picture quilt, scrapbooking).
39. Think genealogy is a passion, not a hobby.
40. Assisted finding next of kin for a deceased person (Unclaimed Persons).
41. Taught someone else how to find their roots.
42. Lost valuable genealogy data due to a computer crash or hard drive failure.  More than once, in fact.
43. Been overwhelmed by available genealogy technology.
44. Know a cousin of the 4th degree or higher.
45. Disproved a family myth through research.
46. Got a family member to let you copy photos.
47. Used a digital camera to “copy” photos or records.
48. Translated a record from a foreign language.
49. Found an immigrant ancestor’s passenger arrival record.
50. Looked at census records on microfilm, not on the computer.
51. Used microfiche.
52. Visited the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City.
53. Visited more than one LDS FamilySearch Center.
54. Visited a church or place of worship of one of your ancestors.
55. Taught a class in genealogy.
56. Traced ancestors back to the 18th century. [From Banai:  Removed 17th and 16th centuries for the Jewish version.  Ashkenazi Jews are not likely to go beyond the 18th.  There just aren’t records for us.]
57. Can name all of your great-great-grandparents.
58. Found an ancestor’s Social Security application.
59. Know how to determine a Soundex code without the help of a computer.
60. Used Steve Morse’s One-Step searches.
61. Own a copy of Where Once We Walked.
62. Helped someone find an ancestor using records you had never used for your own research.
63. Visited the main National Archives building in Washington, DC.
64. Visited the Library of Congress.
65. Found at least two relatives who came over on the same ship on different journeys.
66. Have a relative who fought in World War I.
67. Have a relative who fought in World War II.
68. Took a photograph of an ancestor’s tombstone.
69. Became a member of the Association of Graveyard Rabbits.
70. Can read a metrical record in Polish, Russian, and/or German.
71. Have an ancestor who changed his name.
72. Joined a RootsWeb mailing list.
73. Created a family Web site.
74. Have more than one genealogy blog.
75. Was overwhelmed by the amount of family information received from someone.
76. Have broken through at least one brick wall.  Well, I don't have any real brick walls, where I have exhausted every possible record and still haven't found an answer, but I did answer a longstanding research question.
77. Borrowed a microfilm from the Family History Library through a local Family History Center.
78. Have done indexing for FamilySearch Indexing or another genealogy project.
79. Visited the Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
80. Had an amazing serendipitous find of the “Psychic Roots” variety.
81. Have used Border Crossing records to locate a relative.
82. Used maps in my genealogy research.
83. Have a convict ancestor who was transported from the UK.
84. Found a bigamist among my ancestors.  No, but I have found bigamists doing research for others.
85. Ordered records from the Polish State Archives, Ukraine, or German archives.  How about Swedish archives?
86. Visited an ancestral village in Eastern Europe and did genealogy research.
87. Found a cousin in a foreign country (besides Canada).
88. Consistently cite my sources.  I do this for my clients.
89. Visited a foreign country (i.e., one I don’t live in) in search of relatives.
90. Can locate any document in my research files within a few minutes.  I used to be able to do this before I moved to Oregon.  I still don't have everything organized well since the move.  That'll teach me to tear a rotator cuff while moving boxes around.
91. Have an ancestor who was married four times (or more).  No, but I have found a cousin who did so.
92. Made a rubbing of an ancestor's gravestone.
93. Organized a family reunion.
94. Published a family history book (on one of my families).
95. Learned of the death of a fairly close relative through research.
96. Have done the genealogy happy dance.
97. Sustained an injury doing the genealogy happy dance.
98. Offended a family member with my research.
99. Reunited someone with precious family photos or artifacts.

So I have done 84 of the 99 items.  There are eight I would like to do (a couple of which I could probably justify as putting in bold already) and seven I have no interest in.  Seriously, who wants to get injured on a genealogy trip or doing the genealogy happy dance?  Why are those even on the list?

Image from Wikimedia Commons and licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Celebrate and Participate In National Memory Day

I sent this suggestion for a Saturday Night Genealogy Fun topic to Randy Seaver a while ago to use this year.  I thought it was perfect timing that National Memory Day should fall on a Saturday.

Come on, everybody, join in and accept the mission and execute it with precision.

1.  March 21 is National Memory Day.  How can we celebrate, and participate, in the day?  I asked AI tool ChatGPT how, and it suggested "Capture a Memory before It[']s Gone"; "Rescue and Identify Old Photos"; "Record a[n] Oral History"; "Organize One Small Thing";  "Share a Story with Family"; "Visit or Virtually Honor Ancestors."

2.  For SNGF this week, do one or more of those tasks or some other related task of your choosing.

3.  Share your selected National Memory Day activity in your own blog post or in a Facebook, SubStack, BlueSky, or other social media post.  Leave a link to your post on this blog post to help us find your post.

[Thank you to geneablogger Janice Sellers for telling me about National Memory Day and suggesting this topic.]

The emphasis on National Memory Day is your brain and keeping your memory functions in good shape.  One of the many wonderful things about doing family history research is that it should help increase your own memory capabilities, because family history is really puzzle solving — figuring out which pieces belong to which puzzle, assembling them and helping make sense of them, determining where you can find additional documentation to add more pieces.  I have often read that studies indicate puzzle solving is one way to keep your brain and your memory working well.

In genealogy, the aspect of memory we tend to focus on is remembering people and the past, which seems a natural corollary.  I celebrated National Memory Day by teaching an introductory class in Black American genealogy and encouraging the attendees to share their research with family members, genealogical and historical societies, archives, libraries, and as many other people and institutions as possible to ensure that the memories of our families are not lost after we, the researchers, are gone.  When we share our information, we increase the probably that others will remember our family members, and all of the work we have done will not be in vain.  I guess that comes under Randy's suggestion to "Visit or Virtually Honor Ancestors."

I looked up National Memory Day and found one page that indicated it was first celebrated in 2017 and that it was started to honor memories.  I like to think the people who created it would find the connection to family history appropriate.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Describe an Ancestor/Relative's Activities

Randy Seaver is leading us down the AI path again for this week's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun.  I decided to play along.

Come on, everybody, join in and accept the mission and execute it with precision.

1.  Do you know what activities one of your ancestors/relatives engaged in?  How much detail do you know about those activities?

2.  Use the FREE artificial intelligence tool Google Gemini 3 to describe what your ancestor or relative experienced in his/her activities (e.g., military service, a ship he migrated on, an occupation, an office she held, etc.).

3.  Share your ancestor/relative's activity of interest and description of that person's experiences in your own blog post or in a Facebook, SubStack, BlueSky, or other social media post.  Leave a link to your post on this blog post to help us find your post.

This turned out to be more interesting than I expected.

I had not used Gemini 3 prior to this, so I really did not know what to expect.  I used Randy's question about his uncle as inspiration and chose to ask about my father's service in the National Guard.  After my father died in 2019, I learned he had been in the New Jersey and the Florida National Guard.  He served in Florida from August 31, 1953 to August 30, 1956 and then from August 31, 1956 to June 5, 1957.  The reason for his discharge as an SP-3 in 1957 was that he was "Moving from state."

Putting these dates together with what else was going on in his life around that time was enlightening.  He married his first wife, Mary Lou Bowen, on December 11, 1956 in Miami.  My half-sister Laurie was born in New Jersey on September 17, 1957.  So he married Mary Lou while he was in the Guard, was discharged from the Guard, and they moved back to New Jersey (where both of them were from originally) before Laurie was born.

My father told us almost nothing about his National Guard service.  I opted to focus on his last year of service to keep the question more manageable.  So I went to the page from the link in Randy's post.  I noticed below the data entry area there were "Tools" on the left and "Fast" on the right, but I did not investigate or attempt to change them.  I typed my query in the text box:

"What did an SP-3 do in the Florida National Guard in 1956–1957?"

I got a couple of paragraphs I could see and then the text faded out.  All I could read was:

===
In 1956 and 1957, an SP-3 (Specialist 3rd Class) in the Florida National Guard was a technical expert who held the pay grade of E-4.

This rank was part of a newly established "Specialist" system created in July 1955 to distinguish skilled technicians from Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) who held command and leadership authority.
===

I couldn't make the page scroll, so I wondered if I had done something wrong or somehow annoyed the gods of AI.  I thought, "Maybe that's because I left it on Fast, so it's really short?"  So I opened Gemini 3 in another tab and clicked the arrow next to Fast.  I found "Thinking" as an option and chose that, then typed my query again.  This time I got:

===
SP-3 Role in Florida National Guard

You said

What did an SP-3 do in the Florida National Guard in 1956-1957?

Defining the Role

My initial focus is on defining the role of an "SP-3" within the Florida National Guard during 1956-1957. I'm starting by clarifying the rank and its responsibilities, aiming to provide a concise explanation of what this role entailed. I believe that understanding the SP-3 rank will allow the user to easily understand and answer their initial question.
===

and again I couldn't scroll down the page.  While I was trying to figure out what I was supposed to do, at some point I tried my down arrow, and that worked!  Suddenly I could see more text.  When I went back to my first query, it worked there also.  No surprise, "Thinking" has more information and more detail than "Fast", so I'm using that response for this post.

===
SP-3 Role in Florida National Guard

You said

What did an SP-3 do in the Florida National Guard in 1956-1957?

Defining the Role

My initial focus is on defining the role of an "SP-3" within the Florida National Guard during 1956-1957. I'm starting by clarifying the rank and its responsibilities, aiming to provide a concise explanation of what this role entailed. I believe that understanding the SP-3 rank will allow the user to easily understand and answer their initial question.

Clarifying the Pay Grade

I'm now zeroing in on the correct pay grade for an SP-3 in the 1956-1957 timeframe, which involved an adjustment. My previous assumption was incorrect, and I've verified that an SP-3 in 1955 was equivalent to an E-4, which is equivalent to a Corporal (not a Private First Class). It is critical to get the rank structure right. I am now working on understanding this rank's responsibilities.

Pinpointing the Grade

I've confirmed that the SP-3 rank was indeed equivalent to an E-4 pay grade, which is the same as a Corporal in the 1956-1957 timeframe. I needed to clarify this based on some conflicting sources, but I've now verified it. I also determined that Specialists were technical experts who did not command, but were compensated for their skills. I am working on the Florida National Guard context.

To understand what an SP-3 (Specialist 3rd Class) did in the Florida National Guard in 1956–1957, you have to look at a very specific, short-lived window in U.S. Army history.

In 1955, the Army overhauled its rank system to distinguish between Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs), who led troops, and Specialists, who were technical experts.

The Rank: Specialist 3rd Class (SP-3)

In 1956 and 1957, the SP-3 rank was equivalent to a Corporal (E-4) in terms of pay, but not in terms of authority.

• The "Technical" Soldier: While a Corporal was a junior NCO expected to lead a fireteam or squad in combat, an SP-3 was a "technical" soldier. They were paid for their proficiency in a specific trade rather than their leadership of men.

• The Insignia: They wore a smaller version of the eagle (the "Bird") with one arc (stripe) underneath it. This is different from the modern "Spec-4" rank you might be familiar with, as the system was still being tweaked.

---

What did they actually do?

An SP-3 in the Florida National Guard during this era was likely the "go-to" person for a specific technical job within their unit. Since the National Guard at the time was heavily focused on Cold War readiness and local disaster response, their roles usually fell into these categories:

• Maintenance & Mechanical: They were the mechanics keeping the Jeep fleets, M41 Walker Bulldog tanks (common in FLNG at the time), and transport trucks running.

• Communications: Radio operators and repairmen. In the mid-50s, this meant dealing with vacuum tubes and heavy, temperamental field radios.

• Clerical & Supply: Managing the massive amount of paperwork required for armory operations, payroll, and equipment requisition.

• Medical: Serving as a company medic or technician at a field hospital.

The Florida Context (1956–1957)

Life for an SP-3 in the Florida Guard involved more than just "weekend warrior" duties.

1. Annual Training at Camp Blanding: During the summer, they would head to Camp Blanding (near Starke, FL) for two weeks of intensive field maneuvers. As an SP-3, they would have been responsible for the technical upkeep of equipment in the Florida heat.

2. The Pentomic Era: The Army was experimenting with "Pentomic" divisions—units designed to survive a tactical nuclear battlefield. An SP-3 would have been trained in new, specialized equipment designed for this high-tech (for the time) warfare.

3. Civil Rights & Natural Disasters: This era saw the beginning of the Civil Rights movement and frequent hurricanes. The Florida Guard was often on standby for "state active duty" to maintain order or provide relief after storms.

---

Summary Table: SP-3 (1955–1958)

Feature	Description
Pay Grade	E-4 (Equivalent to Corporal)
Primary Focus	Technical/Administrative Skill
Command Authority	Limited (did not usually lead squads)
Common Jobs	Mechanic, Radio Op, Clerk, Medic, Gunner

In 1958, the Army changed the titles again, and the SP-3 rank was renamed Specialist 4 (SP4), which became the iconic "Spec-4" rank used for decades.

Would you like me to see if I can find which specific Florida National Guard units were active in your area during those years?

[My response] Yes, Miami

Since you were an SP-3 (Specialist 3rd Class) stationed in Miami during 1956–1957, you were almost certainly part of the 211th Infantry Regiment, which was a cornerstone of the 51st Infantry Division (known as the "Rattlesnake Division").

At that time, the 51st was a "split" division shared between the Florida and South Carolina National Guards. Miami served as the major hub for the Florida contingent.

Your Unit: The 211th Infantry Regiment

In 1956, the 211th was headquartered right in the heart of Miami. As an SP-3, you were likely assigned to one of the following Miami-based elements:

• Regimental Headquarters & Headquarters Company (HHC): Located in Miami.

• Service Company: Also based in Miami, responsible for the regiment's logistics, trucks, and maintenance.

• 1st Battalion, HHC: The command element for the first group of companies, based in Miami.

• Medical Company: Provided healthcare and field medics, also stationed in Miami.

Your Post: The Miami Armory

Your "home base" for drills and administrative work was likely the Miami National Guard Armory, located at 700 NW 28th Street.

• Fun Fact: This facility is now known as the Robert A. Ballard Armory, named after the Colonel who commanded the 211th Infantry during your era and through the late 1940s.

• During the mid-1950s, this armory was a massive social and military hub, hosting everything from troop reviews to community dances and sporting events.

Your Role as an SP-3

The "Specialist" rank structure was relatively new when you were serving (it was established in 1955). An SP-3 was the equivalent of a Corporal (E-4) but focused on technical skills rather than squad leadership. Depending on your specific job (MOS), your day-to-day likely involved:

• Maintenance: Working on the regiment's Jeeps, M35 "Deuce and a Half" trucks, or communication gear.

• Logistics: Managing the supply chain for a regiment of over 1,500 men.

• Administration: Handling personnel records or payroll at the Regimental HQ.

Annual Training

In the summers of '56 and '57, you probably headed north for "Summer Camp." The 51st Infantry Division typically conducted its two-week annual training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, or Camp Blanding, Florida.

---

Would you like me to look up any specific details about the 51st "Rattlesnake" Division’s operations during those years, or perhaps find more information on the Miami Armory's history?

[My response] Yes

If you were an SP-3 (Specialist 3rd Class) in the Florida National Guard in Miami during 1956–1957, you were part of a very specific era of military history. Your unit was almost certainly the 211th Infantry Regiment, which was headquartered right in the heart of the city.

Here is a breakdown of what your life and service looked like during those two years:

1. Your Unit: The "Rattlesnake Division"

The 211th Infantry was a key part of the 51st Infantry Division. Because you were in Miami, you were likely based at the Miami Armory (now the Robert A. Ballard Armory) on NW 28th Street.

• The Motto: You wore the "Paroneri" crest on your uniform, which is Greek for "Equal to the Task."

• The Atmosphere: In the mid-50s, the Miami Armory wasn't just a military site; it was a community hub. You might remember the local buzz of the city, potentially even seeing the start of the "Great Migration" and the rapid post-war growth of Miami.

2. The Rank: A "New" Kind of Soldier

You were actually a pioneer of the Specialist rank system. The Army only created the Specialist 3rd Class rank in 1955, just before you joined or promoted into it.

• SP-3 vs. Corporal: You had the pay grade of an E-4 (like a Corporal), but your job was about technical expertise rather than leading a squad.

• The "Bird": You wore the smaller "Specialist Eagle" with one arc underneath. In 1958, the Army changed your title to Spec-4, meaning the "SP-3" title you held only existed for a few years.

3. Summer Camp: Fort McClellan

For your two-week Annual Training ("Summer Camp"), you likely traded the Miami humidity for the hills of Alabama.

• 1956: Training records show the 211th spent time at Fort McClellan, AL, and Fort Stewart, GA.

• 1957: Specifically, from June 6 to June 23, 1957, the regiment was at Fort McClellan.

• The Training: This was the "Pentomic" era. The Army was obsessed with how to fight on a nuclear battlefield. You probably spent time in "Atomic War" drills, practicing how to disperse quickly to avoid being a target for a (simulated) tactical nuke.

4. Local Duty: Hurricanes and Civil Defense

As a Florida Guardsman, your "State Active Duty" was usually tied to the weather.

• 1956: In October, a "quasi-tropical storm" hit Miami, causing significant flooding and about $3 million in damage. Your unit would have been on standby for sandbagging, traffic control, and patrolling flooded neighborhoods.

• Civil Defense: During your drills, you likely participated in "Operation Alert" exercises—city-wide drills to prepare for a Cold War emergency.

5. The Gear

In 1956–1957, you were in a "transitional" equipment phase:

• You were likely still carrying the M1 Garand (the M14 didn't arrive until later).

• Your transportation was the M38 Jeep or the legendary "Deuce and a Half" trucks.

• If you were in a Heavy Mortar or Tank company (like those in Tampa/Palmetto that supported the 211th), you were working with Korean War-era steel.

---

Do you remember which specific company you were in (like Company A, B, or Service Company)? I can look up exactly which neighborhood armory that company called home.

===

And I currently can't find the papers I was sent about my father's service, so I can't tell Gemini which company he was in.  As far as the specialties go, he was almost definitely a mechanic, because that's what he did the majority of his working life.  He probably worked on Jeeps, rather than the tanks.  I'm going to look for the papers and see what else I can learn.

I found the disclaimer on the bottom of the page amusing:  "Gemini is AI and can make mistakes."  One way that appears to have played out for this query is that when I did the "Fast" method, Gemini told me that the Florida National Guard did its two weeks of annual training at Fort Stewart, Georgia.  The "Thinking" response was that the annual training took place in either Camp Blanding, Florida or Fort Jackson, South Carolina, but later it said Fort McClellan, Alabama and Fort Stewart, Georgia.  There are some other differences between the two responses, but I noticed that immediately.  Something's out of whack here.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: What Are Your Major Genealogy Research Challenges?

Randy Seaver is back with this week's challenge (a key word this week) for Saturday Night Genealogy Fun!

Come on, everybody, join in and accept the mission and execute it with precision.

1.  What are your major genealogy challenges — the family mysteries that you haven't been able to crack to date?

2.  Tell us about five of your real genealogy challenges with a short paragraph, and links to blog posts if you have written about them.

3.  Share your challenges in your own blog post or in a Facebook, SubStack, BlueSky, or other social media post.  Leave a link to your post on this blog post to help us find your post.

Okay, here's my list.

• Who was the biological father of my paternal grandfather, Bertram Lynn Sellers, Sr. (1903–1995)?  He was informally adopted by his mother's husband when he was seven months old and used the name Sellers his entire life.  See "I'm Apparently a Sellers via Informal Adoption" and "Looking for Mr. Mundy (or a variant thereof)."

• What happened to my cousin Raymond Lawrence Sellers (1945–?) after his mother put him up for adoption?  I was unable to find anything about Raymond before my aunt passed away, but her other children would still like to know.  See "Saturday Night Genealogy Fun:  Your 2024 'Dear Genea-Santa' Letter."

• All of my Jewish research is a challenge, but the especially difficult lines are those who were living in what was Grodno gubernia in Russia, now mostly in Belarus.  The Nazis were particularly thorough in destroying archival records about the Jews in the area.  So my Meckler (Mekler), Novitsky (Nowicki), and Yelsky lines I'm really, really stuck on.  See "Saturday Night Genealogy Fun:  Your Best Genealogy Research Find in May 2018."

• And speaking of the Jewish part of my family, I had a few cousins who ended up in Cuba when they fled Eastern Europe.  I have managed to acquire only four records from their time there (which ranged from the late 1920's to the early 1960's).  I don't know if going back to Cuba will help with my research on the Szochermans.  See "A Declaration of Intention — from Cuba."

• My ex's father (and therefore the grandfather of my stepsons), Karm Singh, was from Punjab, India, born when it was still controlled by the British.  The British barely bothered with records for their own people in India; they didn't really care about the Indians.  So I've gotten absolutely nowhere so far on finding any records for the family.  I have been told I would have better luck if I could travel there and talk to people in person.  See "'Finding Your Roots' – Margaret Cho, Sanjay Gupta, and Martha Stewart."

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: What Was the Great Love Story in Your Family Tree?

It's Valentine's Day today, and Randy Seaver has created a challenge related to that for this week's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun.

Come on, everybody, join in and accept the mission and execute it with precision.

1.  It's Valentine's Day — a day for lovers!  We all have hundreds of love stories in our ancestry.

2.  What was the great love story of the ancestors in your family tree?  What wedding had a great story in it?  Choose one ancestral couple.  Share how they met (if known) and when and where they married.  Note how long they were married.  Highlight something that suggests affection or partnership.

3.  Share your great love story in your family tree in your own blog post or in a Facebook, SubStack, BlueSky, or other social media post.  Leave a link to your post on this blog post to help us find your post.

The one great love story that I know about in my family tree is that of my maternal grandparents, Abraham Meckler and Lillyan Gordon.  Bubbie (Yiddish for grandmother) told me they met on September 15, 1937 in Manhattan, but she never told me how they met.  I know they were both living in Brooklyn (half a mile from each other!), so I have no idea what they were doing that day in Manhattan.

They were married October 29, 1939 in The Bronx, even though they lived in Brooklyn.  It was a double wedding with the younger of Lily's two older brothers, Alexander Gordon, who married Roslyn Rubin.  Technically Al and Rose's wedding was recorded as October 28, 1939, so I don't know if they married before midnight and my grandparents married after midnight.  Supposedly there's a Jewish superstition about double weddings, so the dates were recorded as consecutive instead of the same.

I have been told the caterer for the wedding was Abe's older brother Harry's wife Ida Bogus, who worked in catering with her aunt and uncle, Louis Perelmuth and Anna Posner (sister of Ida's mother).  Louis and Anna had a son named Jacob who was a singer, although not famous at the time (he did become famous under the name Jan Peerce).  He sang two songs at the wedding, although Bubbie did not remember what those songs were.  She did remember that the cantor's son sang "Oh Promise Me" and "Because."

Bubbie and Zadie (Yiddish for grandfather) were married for just over fifty years, until Zadie died on December 10, 1989.  Zadie had been ill for several years but held on for the 50th wedding anniversary party, which was held in Las Vegas.  It was a big family reunion, with relatives coming from all over the country.

I always remember Bubbie and Zadie as being very in love with each other.  Among the many things Bubbie told me was that every year while they were married, Zadie gave her a big flowery card for Valentine's Day.  After Zadie passed away, I sent Bubbie cards for Valentine's Day.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Who Are Your Spouse/SO's Grandparents and Great-grandparents?

It's time for everyone's favorite weekend genealogical activity, Saturday Night Genealogy Fun with Randy Seaver!

Come on, everybody, join in and accept the mission and execute it with precision.

1.  Have you researched the ancestors of your spouse (or significant other)?  Please list the names and vital records data for your spouse/SO's grandparents and great-grandparents as in an Ahnentafel report.

2.  Have you written a genealogical sketch and/or biography for each of them?

3.  Share your list of your spouse/SO's ancestors in your own blog post or in a Facebook, SubStack, BlueSky, or other social media post.  Leave a link to your post on this blog post to help us find your post.

Of course I've researched my ex's ancestors!  What kind of genealogist do you think I am? <grin>

Now, do I have the information handy?  No, because I upgraded my computer a few months ago, and I still haven't been able to hook everything up again and make all my files accessible, including my Family Tree Maker program.

But let's see what I can do from memory . . . .

Hugh's Ancestors

Generation 3 (grandparents)

4.  Kartar Singh Sandhu, born date unknown, probably in Punjab, British India (probably in Khatkar Kalan); married date unknown, probably in Punjab, British India (probably in Khatkar Kalan); died date unknown (probably before August 16, 1947, i.e., before Partition), probably in Punjab, British India.

5.  Raj Kaur, born date unknown, probably in Punjab, British India; died possibly between 1970 and 1971, possibly in Punjab, India.

6.  Hugh Vincent McKenney, born about May 11, 1886, possibly in Belfast, County Down, Ireland; married about 1913, probably in Brockton, Plymouth County, Massachusetts; died January 24, 1961, Quincy, Norfolk County, Massachusetts.

7.  Honora McSweeney, born about September 3, 1879, Ballyvourney, County Cork, Ireland; died February 18, 1958, Santa Monica, Los Angeles County, California.

Generation 4 (great-grandparents)

8.  <unknown given name> Singh Sandhu, probably in Punjab, British India (probably in Khatkar Kalan); married date unknown, probably in Punjab, British India; died date unknown, probably in Punjab, British India.

9.  <unknown given name> Kaur, probably in Punjab, British India (probably in Khatkar Kalan); died date unknown, probably in Punjab, British India.

12.  Patrick McKenney (unconfirmed).

13.  Mary McElaney (unconfirmed).

14.  John McSweeney, born about October 1826 in Ballyvourney, County Cork, Ireland; married about 1859 in Ireland, probably in County Cork; died 1910–1914, probably in Brockton, Plymouth County, Massachusetts.

15.  Catherine O'Leary, born about December 1834, probably in Ballyvourney, County Cork, Ireland; died December 14, 1921 in Brockton, Plymouth County, Massachusetts.

Well, that's what I am able to reconstruct at this time.  I'm pretty sure it's most of the information I have in FTM.  I might have nailed down some specific dates that I don't have here.

I haven't written a genealogical sketch or biography (particularly not with AI) for any of them.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: What Are Your Genealogy Highlights for the Last Month?

I'm a little late, but not too behind to jump in for Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge for the week.

Come on, everybody, join in and accept the mission and execute it with precision.

1.  What genealogy fun have you had this past month?  What is your genealogy research highlight of the past month?  It could be attending or watching a Webinar or local genealogy society meeting, finding a new ancestor, reading a new genealogy book, or anything else that you have enjoyed.

2.  Share your January genealogy fun in your own blog post or in a Facebook, SubStack, BlueSky, or other social media post.  Leave a link to your post on this blog post to help us find your post.

I haven't had much time for genealogy during the past month, because I've had to keep an 8:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. schedule, and that is way too early in the morning for me.  It makes my brain mush for the rest of the day.  But one recent blog post encouraged me to rethink a question I had posed previously.

For my mother's yahrzeit, I considered things that my mother hadn't told me, including the name of our poodle (Pepe) and how I acquired a scar on my left arm that I've had since I was very, very little.  Writing about those two items together made me suddenly wonder if the reason my mother never told me the name of our dog was because he in some way had something to do with the scar.  I'm sure I'll never be able to determine if that hypothesis is accurate, but it had not occurred to me previously, and at least it gives me a possible reason for why my mother "didn't remember" how I got the scar.

Not the most momentous discovery, but it's an example of how writing can help you look at things in new ways.

Can It Really Be 15 Years?

I haven't been keeping up well with my blog during the past few weeks, but I knew I had to write a post today.  It is my 15th blogiversary, after all.

Lisa Hork Gorrell and I started our blogs the same day, lo those 15 years ago.  She started a couple additional ones with specific focuses, but I've kept only this general one, lumping all of my posts together.

Who knew we would last this long?

I didn't keep quite the same pace in 2025 as I did the previous year, but I had 125 posts, which averages out to about one every three days.  That isn't too bad.

I posted many more photographs from the "photo bonanza" that my sister's niece scanned.  I still haven't received the boxes of original photos, so I don't know if anything was missed or if there really are two copies of all the photos that have two scans.  But I have identified a lot more of the photos and used some unusual resources to determine more information about them.

I also wrote several posts based on "national day of . . ." prompts.  I found a few sites that promote these days (I'm pretty sure they all make money by getting companies and people to pay to have a "day of whatever" and then advertise the days on the sites).  I've discovered that they can act as prompts to remember events and stories from my family and my own life, so I've written about them.  Documenting ourselves is something genealogists are reminded to do, right?

And of course I sprinkled several Wordless Wednesdays and Saturday Night Genealogy Fun posts in there also.  Those are staples for getting me thinking of something I can write about.

I have a lot more ideas, too:  research I haven't written about yet, more "days of", more great photos to share.  I'm going to try to catch up during the next month and get back to my old pace.

Illustration:  https://pixabay.com/illustrations/billiard-striped-ball-brown-15-1433354/

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Your Most Recent No-Name Ancestor

I'm not going to write about the ancestor most people might expect for tonight's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge from Randy Seaver.

Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission:  Impossible! music), is:

1.  Sometimes an ancestor or relative has no name at all — not even a given name (for males, we usually can surmise a surname, but . . .).  We all have millions of them.

2.  Tell us about one (or more) of your ancestors that have no given name and no birth surname who has perhaps married an ancestor with a given name and surname from whom you are descended.  (Don't worry, we'll do unknown parents some time soon.)

3.  When was the last time you looked for this no-name ancestor?

4.  Share information about your no-name ancestor(s) in a blog post of your own, in a comment to this blog post, or in a Facebook comment.

Okay, here's mine.

I'm sure many people would expect me to write about my paternal grandfather's father, whom I usually discuss when it comes to recent ancestors I haven't identified.  But in June I posted that I have decided his last name must be Mundy (or a spelling variant thereof), and I was already pretty sure his given name included "bert" in it.  So he really isn't a no-name ancestor anymore.

I'm going further afield.

The first person who next came to my mind is the father of my great-great-grandmother Beila, who married Simcha Dovid Mekler, possibly in Kamenets Litovsk (now Kamyanyets, Belarus).  I wrote about her in August for Saturday Night Genealogy Fun, "Five Questions for an Ancestor."  I know her given name, and I have estimated her year of death to be before 1924.  That's all I know about her.

So it stands to reason that I don't know anything about her father, who I am calling my "no-name ancestor" for the purpose of this post.

I admit I have never looked for him.  To be honest, I have barely looked for Beila.  I'm pretty sure both were born in the Russian Empire.  I think Beila was probably born in what was Grodno gubernia and is now part of Belarus.  Her father might have been born there, or possibly in what is now Lithuania.

If I could find a marriage record for Beila, it might include her father's name on it.  But because of the dearth of records for Jews in the former Grodno gubernia (most having been deliberately destroyed during World War II, to eradicate the history of the Jews in the area), it is unlikely I will ever find that marriage record.

If I could find a tombstone for Beila, it might have her father's name on it in Hebrew.  But the Jewish cemeteries in that area were also pretty thoroughly destroyed during World War II, and it is unlikely I will find that tombstone.

If I could find the family in a Russian revision list, perhaps the 1897 list, it would probably list her father's name and maybe even a maiden name.  Even a Russified version would be helpful.  I actually have tried searching for her, Simcha Dovid Mekler, and the two children I know of in the revision lists as transcribed on JewishGen.org, but I have not found them.  I know that many of the revision lists did not survive.  Perhaps one day a page with my family on it will be found in an attic or tucked inside the wall of a house.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Your Disappeared Ancestors

When I hear about "disappeared" people nowadays, it usually has a more sinister connotation than what Randy Seaver means for today's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun exercise.

Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission:  Impossible! music), is:

1.  Sometimes an ancestor or relative just disappears out of the records and we cannot find another record after a certain date.

2.  Tell us about one or more of your relatives or ancestors that have disappeared and not been found since a certain date.  Do you have any idea of what might have happened to them?

3.  Share information about your disappearing relative or ancestor in a blog post of your own, in a comment to this blog post, or in a Facebook comment.

Based on the way Randy has set this up, I guess I can't use any of my early ancestors on my mother's side, because I haven't found them in any records yet, period, much less after a certain date.  Or at least not in any records about them.  I have found their names in later generations' records, which is why I have the names at all, but all I have is their names.

A relative on my mother's side for whom I have not found records after a given date is my great-grandmother's brother Sam Novak (originally Shmuel Nowicki).  I have found him immigrating to the United States in 1905.  I have found him with his family in censuses in 1920, 1925, and 1930 and on a 1942 World War II draft registration card.  I am pretty sure it's him on a 1940 census page, but not completely sure.  A daughter in the household appears to be the correct person, but his wife's name has been transcribed as "Verge", and I don't know if it's Sarah or not.  The census is a different address than 1930 and 1942, so that doesn't help.  And I can't seem to find him in the 1950 census.  As for Randy's question "Do you have any idea of what might have happened to them?", I'm sure he died, but I don't know when or where.  My guess for where is Brooklyn, but that's all I have.

Two ancestors on my father's side I don't know about after certain dates are my great-grandmother's parents.  I have been able to find documents for Joel Armstrong and Sarah Ann Lippincott from their births and early lives through 1885.  I believe I have found them each in 1900 and later, although I'm not always positive it's them.  I think I have found Sarah living with her aunt and uncle and my great-grandmother in 1900; I know I have found her in 1905 living with her older daughter.  I might have found Joel with a second wife in 1910 and 1920.  At this point I have guessed that they divorced sometime between 1880 and 1900, but I don't have a record for that.  And I've seen various death dates attributed to each of them but nothing with any documentation.  So again I'm sure they died, but I don't know for sure when or where.  My guess for where for each of them is Burlington County, New Jersey.  I've seen Joel listed with a death date of 1922 multiple times, but I can't find any records to verify that.  I don't remember what I have seen about Sarah, but I do remember nothing has had documentation.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Pick an Ancestor: What Story Lines Do You Want to Explore?

It's Saturday, which means it's time for Saturday Night Genealogy Fun from Randy Seaver.  I had a very busy week and didn't have time to write at all, so I'm making up by doing last week's challenge.

Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission:  Impossible! music) is:

1.  Pick one of your ancestors whom you want to know more about.  Based on your knowledge of that person's life, what story lines do you want to explore?

2.  Tell us about your ancestor and the story lines of interest to you in a blog post of your own, in a comment to this blog post, or in a Facebook comment.

Partly prompted by my sister's comment on a recent post, this time I will focus on my great-grandmother Laura May (Armstrong) Sellers Ireland.

• Tell me about your parents, Joel Armstrong and Sarah Ann Deacon Lippincott.  How do you remember them?  What did they look like?

• How much formal schooling did you have?  Did you enjoy school?  What were your favorite and your least favorite subjects?  Did you generally get good grades?

• Did your parents divorce?  If so, when?  Did either one remarry?  If yes to the latter question, how well did you get to know the new spouse (and family, if there was one)?

• Did you know any of your grandparents or older generations?  Aunts and uncles?  I would love to hear about them.

• Did you know about your sister's first marriage, which apparently was annulled?  Why was it annulled?  Were your parents upset about the marriage?

• Was that your mother living with you in 1900 when you were enumerated in the census at your granduncle and grandaunt's house?  Tell me about your granduncle and grandaunt and what they were like.  Did your grandaunt really have three children who died between 1900 and 1910?

• Who got you pregnant with your first child?  How long had you known him?  Did you want to have his name on the birth certificate?  How did your son Bertram Lynn's birth certificate end up being listed as a girl named Gertrude L.?

• How did you meet Elmer Sellers?  How long had you known him before you married in November 1903?  Were you happy with him?

• It must have been difficult and sad to have so many of your children die so young.  Did you have funerals for any of them?  Did Elmer's mother help with their burial expenses?

• It also must have been very difficult for you when Elmer died so young.  Did Elmer's mother pay for his funeral?  Did she help you financially after that?  Did you have to go to work?  Did the older children work to help support the family?

• When did Elmer's mother die?  How well did the two of you get along?  Was she a good grandmother to your children?

• How did your children react when you had a daughter three years after Elmer had died?  Who was that child's father?  Why didn't you provide his name for Bertolet's birth certificate?

• How big of a wedding did Bertram and Elizabeth have?  Did you like Elizabeth?  How did you feel when your first grandchild was born?

• Your grandson died at the age of 2, and then your daughter Bertolet died at the age of 6.  How did the family handle these sad events?  Why didn't you include Bertolet's father's name on her death certificate?

• Your oldest son, Bertram, wrote in a list of everywhere he had lived that from 1927–1928 he was out west with no fixed location.  Do you remember that period?  Was that the truth?  Do you have any idea what he was doing during those years?

• Is it true that you married John Ireland only because someone said you needed a man's help?  And is it true that you dumped him when you figured out you really didn't need his help?  Did you stay married until he died?

• How did you manage to be not at home when the census taker came around in 1940?  Were you trying to avoid him?  Were you living by yourself at that time?

• What prompted you to get an amended birth certificate for Bertram, your oldest child, in 1940?  Did he need it for a security clearance at his job?

• Did you know that Catherine was flipping a bird in one of the photos that Anita took of you and your four adult children at Betty's house?

• When did you move to Florida to live with Bertram and his wife?

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Your Top Five Surprises

Anytime someone asks me to list my top number X of anything, I have to think about it for a while, as I did with this week's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge from Randy Seaver.

Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission:  Impossible! music), is:

1.  Check out Top Five Surprises by D. M. Debacker on the Gathering Leaves blog.

2.  What are your top five surprises you have found in your genealogy research and family history work?

3.  Tell us about your surprises in a blog post of your own, in a comment to this blog post, or in a Facebook comment.

My surprises come from more than 50 years of research.

1.  My paternal grandfather, Bertram Lynn Sellers, was born out of wedlock and was not the biological son of the man my great-grandmother Laura May Armstrong married.  This revelation, which I later proved with Y-DNA, came to me when I suddenly began to wonder why, if my great-grandfather had loved his stepfather so much as to name a son after him, he would name his second son after him, while naming his first son after a "close family friend."
See "I'm Apparently a Sellers by Informal Adoption"

2.  I had been told that my maternal grandfather's brother Rubin Meckler had been born and had died very young in the Russian Empire, before my great-grandparents immigrated to the United States.  I was amazed to discover him in the 1915 New York Census and then find his birth and death dates in the New York City indices.
See "Surprising Discovery in the New York Census"

3.  My great-grandmother Jane Dunstan was six months pregnant when she married my great-grandfather Thomas Kirkland Gauntt in 1891.  She had immigrated here from England only a year before.
See "Two Truths and One Lie"

4.  My great-grandmother Laura May Armstrong had an out-of-wedlock child, Bertolet Grace Sellers, three years after her husband had died.  She declined to name the father on both Bertolet's birth certificate and death certificate (she died at 6 years old).
See "Could 'Bertram' and 'Bertolet' Be Named for the Same 'Bert'?"

5.  My grandfather, Bertram Lynn Sellers, was registered as a girl named Gertrude L. on his original birth certificate.  I still have no credible explanation as to why.
See "An Administrative Change of Sex"

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Five Questions for an Ancestor

Randy Seaver went way over his allotment of five questions in his post, so maybe I'll do the same for this week's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge.

Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission:  Impossible! music) is:

1.  If you could go back in time to interview one of your ancestors, what questions would you ask him or her?  Tell us your selected ancestor's name, birth and death years/locations, and spouse's name and marriage date/location.  List at least five questions to ask that selected ancestor.

2.  Tell us about your selected ancestor and your questions for that person in a blog post of your own, in a comment to this blog post, or in a Facebook comment.

Ah, so now I see that Randy allowed for more than the allotted five questions by saying "at least five" in the more detailed instructions.  I can work with that.

I'm going to choose my great-great-grandmother Beila, who was married to my great-great-grandfather Simcha Dovid Mekler.  As her given name is pretty much the only fact I have for her, I'm going to start with much more basic questions.

1.  When and where were you born?  What were your parents' names?  What was your full name before marriage?  Do you remember when your parents died?  When and where did that happen?

2.  Did you have siblings?  What were their names?  When and where were they born?

3.  What were the names of your grandparents on both sides?  Did you know them?  Do you remember when they died?  When did that happen?  What did the family do at that time?  How did you commemorate them?  What are their yahrzeiten?

4.  Did you have aunts and uncles?  What were their names?  Do you know when and where they were born?  Do you remember when they died?

5.  When and where were you married?  Was it a civil marriage as well as a religious marriage?  Who attended the wedding?  After you were married, where did you and my great-great-grandfather live?  What did my great-great-grandfather do for a living?

6.  How many children did you have?  When and where were each of them born?  How many survived to adulthood?  Which of them married during your lifetime?  Did you get to know any of your grandchildren?

7.  What was everyday life like for you and your family?  Were there other Jewish families where you lived?  What was the community like?

8.  What do you remember about the end of your life?  Do you remember how old you were?  Did you become ill?

I can think of so many more questions!

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Your Ancestral Home Description

"Ancestral" might be a bit exaggerated for my answer to this week's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge from Randy Seaver, but at least I have an answer.

Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission:  Impossible! music), is:

1.  Do you recall the layout of one of your family homes (a parent's home, a grandparent's home, your first home with your spouse/SO, etc.)?  Can you estimate the size of the house and the size of the rooms?  What features were in each room?  Can you draw the floor plan, showing doors, windows, etc.?

2.  Tell us about your selected family home in a blog post of your own, in a comment to this blog post, or in a Facebook comment.

As I have reported previously on this blog, by the time I was 21, I had lived in 22 different places.  So it's hard for me to think of anywhere I have lived as an "ancestral home."

I thought about writing on the one home for which I have always remembered the address, the last place my family lived before moving to Australia:  434 Randy Street, Pomona, California.  We probably were there for a year to two years.  But I already wrote about it for Saturday Night Genealogy Fun in 2020.

So this time I think I'll write about our customized double-wide mobile home, which we had in Villa Tasso, Florida.  I don't think we had an actual street address, because Villa Tasso barely had streets.  We had roads made of Georgia red clay, none of which was paved.  We had our mail sent to a post office box in Niceville.  We lived in Villa Tasso from about 1975 to 1979 (or at least I lived there until 1979, when I moved back to California for college).

Our "double wide" was a 60' trailer and a 40' trailer with a custom addition joining the two together.  We had the longer trailer in a mobile home park in Niceville before purchasing the property in Villa Tasso.  I don't remember the history of the shorter trailer.  The longer trailer was moved to the property first, and later we bought the shorter trailer.  Then my father started working on the addition, which of course took longer than planned.  But eventually it was finished, and we had a spacious home.

The main entrance was the door to the longer trailer, which had a wood porch and stairs.  You entered the trailer in the living room, and the kitchen was to the right.  To the far left was a hallway that went most of the length of the trailer.  The first room on the left was originally my and my sister's bedroom.  Then came my brother's bedroom, the bathroom, and my parents' bedroom at the end.

The 60' trailer while it was still in Niceville.
Walking up the stairs and onto the porch, right to left:
My mother, my sister, my brother, and me

When the addition was completed, a large chunk of the wall on the right side of the hallway went away and opened to the addition.  At the left end, my father had a piano, which I liked to try to play.  I could pick out melodies, but chords have never made sense in my head, so that somewhat limited how well I could play.

The other side of the addition opened to what had been the living room in the shorter trailer.  It became the family den.  We had a big TV in there.  When I won a copy of the home version of Pong in a K-Mart coloring contest, we used to play it on that TV.  That's also the TV I was watching when I heard someone's arm break during an arm-wrestling contest.  I've never watched arm-wrestling since then.

There was a room to the right.  At first I wasn't 100% sure about that, but you can see the doorway in this photo from my high school graduation day in 1979.  The photo was taken at the opposite end of the den from the TV.

Back row:  My mother, my sister, my grandmother
Front row:  Me, my brother, my mother's Sheltie
June 1, 1979, Villa Tasso

At the far side of the den to the left was a short hallway.  The first room, to the left, was a small bathroom, and my new bedroom, which I did not have to share with my sister, was at the very end.

It just occurred to me that there was no kitchen in the smaller trailer.  Maybe the room to the right of the den had originally been a kitchen before my father adapted the trailer for our use.  I do not remember what we used that room for.

I have no idea about measurements beyond the lengths of the trailers.  I suspect trailers were made to fairly consistent specs, so it might be relatively easy to find that information, if I am inspired to do so someday.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Rabbit Hole!

I haven't had much time recently to do deep dives in genealogy, but I can come up with something for tonight's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge from Randy Seaver.

Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission:  Impossible! music), is:

1.  Have you been down a genealogy rabbit hole lately?  What was it, and what did you find?  (If not, go find a rabbit hole!  Try your FamilySearch Notifications or Ancestry.com Photos or Stories.)

2.  Share your rabbit hole chase and results in your own blog post or in a Facebook, SubStack, BlueSky, or other social media post.  Leave a link to your post on this blog post to help us find your post.

My last rabbit hole was when Randy asked us to play around with FamilySearch's Full-Text Search two weeks ago.

As I described at the time, I didn't find any of my ancestors, so I started hunting around for other families I am researching.  The most productive search was for my aunt's maiden name of McStroul:  42 results!  And most of them were documents and stories I had not previously found.

A lot of what I found was newspaper stories.  I naturally put them into chronological order, so I could see how the family changed and developed over time.

I found it interesting to be able to follow stories about my aunt's brother over several years.  In early 1962 he completed training in the U.S. Army.  In 1969 he started college (presumably after leaving the Army, but I didn't find an article about that).  In 1973 he graduated college.  In 1978 he visited his mother from out of town for Christmas and was studying at a seminary.  In January 1980 he and his wife-to-be obtained a marriage license.  Sometime between January and May they apparently married, because his wife graduated college in May 1980 with her married name.

I found four World War II draft registrations where my aunt's grandfather was the registrar.  I figure he probably registered more than four people, so maybe the AI hasn't recognized his signature on others.

I found my aunt's mother's obituary and the obituary for her second husband.  I also found my aunt's parents listed in several deed indices in Erie County, New York.  I have a vague recollection that one of the children was born in Buffalo (I can't look it up right now, because my new computer is still in transition), so I guess they lived there long enough to buy and sell some property.  More to follow up on!

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Five Reference Books for Beginning Genealogy Researchers

I suspect we will see very different lists in response to tonight's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge from Randy Seaver.

Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission:  Impossible! music) is:

1.  What five reference books (and only five) would you recommend to a beginning genealogy researcher to have on the bookshelf?

2.  Share your list of five books in your own blog post or in a Facebook, SubStack, BlueSky, or other social media post.  Leave a link to your post on this blog post to help us find your post.

Thank you to Linda Stufflebean for this SNGF topic.

I have a significantly different list than Randy's.  Mine is based on research in the United States of America specifically, which is where most of our blogging audience is, as far as I know.

1.  I'll agree with Randy on Val D. Greenwood's The Researcher’s Guide to American Genealogy (4th edition).  Quoting Randy, "Arguably the best book ever written on American genealogy, it instructs the researcher in the timeless principles of genealogical research, while identifying the most current classes of records and research tools."  This will give a beginning researcher a solid foundation of research skills for American research.

And now I will deviate from Randy and choose four entirely different books than he did.  While I agree that court and land research are important for genealogy, they're not the first topics I would emphasize for a beginner.

2.  Map Guide to the U.S. Federal Censuses, 1790–1920, William Thorndale and William Dollarhide.  The census is the starting point for most American research, and this book not only explains the census but illustrates changes in jurisdictions over ten-year increments.  It still provides a solid foundation in understanding the U.S. census.  If researchers don't understand the census and how to use the information it provides, I have learned they generally don't get far in their research.

3.  International Vital Records Handbook, 7th Edition, Thomas Jay Kemp.  This book will have out-of-date information (similar to the next entry) because it was published in 2017.  But vital records are probably the most important records specific to individuals, and this reference book explains so much about them.  Understanding the background of vitals, when they started in different areas, and jurisdictions are critical to finding and using them.  Having the names of administrative offices, which this book supplies, means you can search for them online and see if they have Web sites where you can order online, or learn if addresses and phone numbers have been updated.

4.  Red Book:  American State, County & Town Sources, Third Edition, Alice Eichholz, Ph.D.  I hesitated about this choice primarily because the last print edition was published in 2004, making a significant amount of the details in it out of date, but the basic information is mostly still valid.  I decided to include it because the information in it is important and because Randy said books.  It is possible to use the references in the book and then search online for Web sites, current addresses and phone numbers, etc.  When you don't know what resources are available, the Red Book can point you in good directions.  At one point Ancestry.com had the information in the book available on its site, but I don't know if that is the case anymore.

5.  The Chicago Manual of Style, 18th Edition, University of Chicago Press Editorial Staff.  Some may call it heresy, but I still rely on CMoS for my style information.  There is nothing I have found in genealogical research that cannot be well cited by using this book, and it is useful in other contexts as well.

And it's possible to find used copies of most of these (maybe not so many of CMoS 18) at good prices.