July 2002 Newsletter

Officers for 1999-2000:		Committees:
President	Donna Marrs	Obituaries/Vital Records	Donna Marrs
Vice President	Patricia Moehring	Membership	Patricia Moehring
Recording Secretary	Mary "Dell" Krueger	Social	Patricia Moehring
Corresp. Secretary	Donna Marrs	Newsletter	Donna Marrs
Treasurer	Jackie Skinner		Patricia Moehring
		Programs:
Past-President	Uilani Clifton	Inter-Society Liaison	Donna Marrs
		MGC Delegates	Donna Marrs
These officers and Past-President comprise our executive board.			Janet & Don Rechlin
		Publications	Sue Giessel
		Historian	Pat Moehring

Publisher of "The Keystone" is the Gaylord Fact Finders Genealogical Society, a non-profit organization. Publication is in January, April, July, and October.
Membership dues are $10.00 per individual (or $ 12.00 per family), and are due by the May meeting each year. If the dues have not received, that member will not receive the July issue of "The Keystone." Regular meetings are held at 7:00 p.m. on the third Wednesday of each month (August - November, and March - June) at the Family History Center, 600 N. Elm, Gaylord, Michigan. Correspondence should be sent to the address shown at the top.

This issue includes "Library Corner", a short family history, current membership, upcoming events and selected genealogical tid-bits, homestead records, WWI Selective Service records, and "Inevitable laws of Genealogy."

"For many years I have had a desire to compile reference works for separate localities of the United States, so that each genealogist would not have this great task before actually accomplishing any real good on his personal problem. I feel that there is more duplication, wasted time, and discouragement in this field than any other.

"Many marvelous books have been published with data on particular records. Most of them deal with a certain type of record for the whole of the country, or with a section of it. First the researcher must become aware of these works, then familiar with them, before he can begin to separate out the small part that his own personal research may need. He must have access to these books, either by purchase, rental, or in libraries which he may be able to visit. If he is wise, he will copy what pertains to his area so that he may refer to it often; many times he will never find the most valuable records in his area, or fail to make proper use of what he does find. Too often, the time and expense connected with locating locality sources is so discouraging, he never really learns to love the work of searching for his own ancestors.

"Since Pennsylvania is the birth state of my paternal grand-parents, I have thoroughly enjoyed what I have learned about this state. I hope that by publishing what I have learned, others may be encouraged and benefited in their genealogical research.

"I know that mistakes and ommissions will come to light and would appreciate comments and additional information which may be added to a future supplement or edition. I also wish to express my appreciation to all of the librarians and individuals who have given help and encouragement in this endeavor.

Sincerely,
Florence Clint" (Author)

ASK YOUR LIBRARY ABOUT
ACCESSING "AncestryPlus"
AT HOME------------------------------------------------IT'S FREE!!!!

She was beautiful, feisty and restless. Clarissa Jane Lockwood was born in 1850 in Colchester South in Essex County, Ontario, Canada to former New Yorker, Charles Lockwood and his wife, Ann Ulch, from the large German Ulch family that had lived in this farming community since 1783. Clarissa was a middle child of seven Lockwood children.

Clarissa married John Alexander Grubb on October 2, 1870, in the Baptist Church in nearby Gosfield. They were living with John's parents, Walter & Nancy Grubb, on their farm in Colchester South in 1871. In the next nine years, Clarissa & John had seven children, but only four survived. They were Ina, Ona, John W. and Ella.

The Grubbs moved to Michigan in 1880 and bought a farm in Livingston Township, just outside Gaylord. The farm was in her name and because her father, Charles Lockwood, had died in Ontario in 1871, she may have inherited some money. In the 1880 Michigan federal census, Clarissa had shortened her name to Clara and added an "e" to Grubb which became Grubbe. Another daughter, Edna, was born in 1866 and died 5 days later. In 1900, John & Clara were living in Bagley Township. In adjoining properties, their grown children, Ina and her husband Sam Moss, Ona and his wife Jennie, and John W. and his wife were living with their children. Ella would marry Frank Bell from Lapeer in 1904 and move to Vancouver, B.C., then to California.

Family legend says that in the early years of 1900 Clara left her husband, dyed her hair red, put her feather bed on a stagecoach and went adventuring. One of our cousins remembers a photo of her driving a stagecoach! My mother, her granddaughter, told me that Clara spent her "older years" visiting her married children. Apparently she was a terror, and my grandfather Frank Bell, dreaded her visits.

She began selling off her Otsego County land in 1899, selling pieces of it in 1902 and 1906. She next appears in 1907 in Marquette County in the upper peninsula of Michigan. She sold another part of her Otsego County land at this time. In 1909, she was in Bellingham, Washington, and sold another piece of her Otsego County land. In 1910, she was working as a cook and living with her daughter Ella and husband Frank Bell in Blaine, Washington. We lost her again until 1916 when she was homesteading outside of Riverton, Wyoming. She bought two city lots in Riverton in 1917, and apparently built a house on one of them.

She died October 8, 1919, just two months after making a new will. In the will, she left $300.00 to each of her two sons, Ona, and John W., and directed that the two Riverton, Wyoming lots and the house on one of them be sold and the proceeds divided between her two daughters, Ina Moss and Ella Bell. In January, 1920, her son John W. Grubbe and his wife Allie, initiated a Quit Claim Deed for these lots. It was never filed in Wyoming. Checking with the County Clerk in Wyoming, I learned that the lots were sold for taxes in 1930, and neither daughter received her inheritance. There was enough cash left in her estate to pay for her funeral & burial expenses. She also left some jewelry, two comforters and an electric battery, and since her son Ona was the executor of her Estate, he may have kept them.

Her husband, John A. Grubbe, died in 1924 at the home of their son John W. Grubbe and his wife Allie in Detroit. Most of her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren stayed in Michigan. Other great grandchildren are living in Washington, Oregon, Missouri, Arizona, Colorado, California and elsewhere.

The descendants ofOna Grubber's daughter Winnie, who married Harvey Otto, have a family reunion every August in Lansing. Last year, some of the descendants of Clara's other three children, Ina, John W„ and Ella, were at the reunion. This was the first time in many decades that Clara Grubbe's descendants were together."

Diana Severns-------great granddaughter

(Editor's note - these short stories are being contributed by members of our genealogical society for publication here. IF ANYONE HAS NOT YET CONTRIBUTED THEIR STORIES, PLEASE SEND THEM TO PRESIDENT, DONNA MARRS, OR TO THE SOCIETY.)

116 Donna MARRS, 4283 Pineview Rd., Elmira, Michigan 49730
231-584-2625 dmarz@avci.net

150 James & Sue GIESSEL, Box #260, Waters, Michigan 49797
989-732-0926 (work 800-444-6711) giessel@freeway.net

162 Helen FRONCZAK, 5821 Tanbark Ct., Gaylord, Michigan 49735
989-939-8585 cehe@avci.net

163 Gerald R. GREENE, 2282 Perch Lake Dr., Gaylord, Michigan 4973 5
989-732-3181 rodgreene@aol.com

164 Richard & Mary "Dell" KRUEGER, 3558 Highland, Gaylord, Mi.. 49735
989-732-7824 dkrue@freeway.net

165 Thomas & Patricia MOEHRING, 4548 Hiawatha Tr., Gaylord, Mi.,
49735 989-732-2953 woodseys@hotmail.com

171 Donald & Janet C. RECHLIN, 5160 Greenacre Dr., Frederic, Mi. 49733
989-732-4961 drechlin@freeway.net

174 Donald R. MOSS, 7806 Blue Grass Dr., Parkville, Missouri 64152
816-741-5196 DJMoos@prodigy.net

178 John J. & Judy M. BINKLEY, Box 834, Lewiston, Michigan 49756
989-785-2149 alma@i2k.net

A bus research trip to Ft. Wayne is being planned for May 30 - June 2 for members of our Gaylord Fact Finders, and members of surrounding genealogical societies who would like to accompany us. Please contact the society if you would care to participate.

UP-COMING EVENTS:
August 7 FGS Conference, Ontario, Canada
August 19 "Military Records & Resources" Library of Michigan $10.00
Sept. 28 Traverse City, "Immigration to Michigan" $30.00
Oct. 12 "French-Canadian Resources, Library of Michigan $10.00
Oct. 26 Sandra Hargreaves Lubking at Ann Arbor

CENSUS - The 1930 US census was released on I April, 2002, and will be available at the National Archives in Washington, DC and its 13 regional facilities. Library of Michigan was one of FIVE libraries across the nation who ordered the COMPLETE census, and it is expected at any time., Soundex is available for only 12 Southern states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. For more information on this census, visit http://www.nara.eov/genealogv/genindex.html#regional/

GENDIS-Michigan Death Index--Has many Michigan death records on-line. Available at http://www.mdch.state.mi.us/PHA/OSR/gendis/index.html.

In 1862 the Homestead Act was passed by Congress allowing settlers to make a claim for free land west of the Alleghenies. This did not include the states of Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee, and most of Texas.

To qualify for a homestead the applicant had to take up residence on the land and improve it, be a citizen of the United States, or declare their intention of becoming one, and pay a small registration fee.

The information on a homestead claim can be found in the courthouse of the county where the land is located. The records themselves are held by the National Archives, and in order to locate the file, you have to have the legal description of the land and the patent case file number.

Union veterans of the Civil War, who had served 14 days or more during the war, automatically meet the age requirement of 21. The Confederate veteran was not allowed to apply until 1867. In 1872 the 5-year residency requirement was modified to allow a Civil War Vet with 90 days service to apply up to four years towards residency.

The application at the Archives is in 2 series, one for those completed, and the other for those uncompleted. They date from 1863 - 1908. The completed file contains the application, a certificate of publication of intention to make a claim, homestead proof (2 witnesses and claimant testimony), final certificate authorizing the claimant to obtain patent and a copy of the naturalization proceedings or discharge certificate when appropriate.

Bureau of Land Management Eastern States Office 350 S. Pickett St. Alexandria, Virginia 22304 (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin)	Bureau of Land Management P.0. Box 1828 Cheyenne, Wyoming 82001 (Wyoming, Kansas, Nebraska)
Bureau of Land Management P.0. Box 2695 Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 (New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma)	Bureau of Land Management P.0. Box 30157 Billings, Montana 49101 (Montana and the Dakotas)
FOR HOMESTEAD PAPERS National Archives Reference Branch General Archives Division Washington, D. C. 20408 (There probably is a fee for this)

WORLD WAR I SELECTIVE SERVICE RECORDS are often overlooked as a source of genealogical information. Most male residents of the United States born between 1873 and 1900 were required to register for the draft. However, some did not actually serve in the war. The registration cards contain information about birth date, race, citizenship, occupation, employer, nearest relative and marital status. The cards have been microfilmed and are held by the NATIONAL ARCHIVES - ATLANTA BRANCH, 1557 ST, JOSEPH AVE., EAST POINT, GEORGIA 30044. Information is filed by State and thereunder by the Draft Board. Requests for information must include a complete name and address of the person at the time of the draft. There is a fee for copies of the information.

NEW MEMBERS
#177 John I & Judy M. Binkley, Box 823, Lewiston, Michigan 49756
989-785-2149 alma(g).i2k.net
Researching Chisholm, Binkley, Beach, Richmond

#178 Terri Hay, Box #1466, Gaylord, Michigan 49734
231-546-3078
Researching Hay, Theisen, Esper, Colyen, Mardis

#179 Maxine McGivern, 10465 Olds Rd., Elmira, Michigan 49730
231-584-2965
Researching McCracken, Sprolls, Carroll

The records you need for your family history were in the courthouse that burned.

John, son of Thomas, the immigrant whom your relatives claim as immigrant ancestor, died on board ship at the age of 12.

The public ceremony in which your distinguished ancestor participated when the platform under him collapsed, turned out to be a hanging.

Records show that the grandfather, whom the family boasted, "He read the Bible at four years and graduated from college at sixteen," was at the foot of his class.

Your grandmother's maiden name for which you've searched for years was on an old letter in a box in the attic all the time.

When at least you have solved the mystery of the skeleton in the closet, the tightlipped spinster aunt claimed, "I could have told you that all the time"

You never asked your father about his family because you were not interested in genealogy while he was alive.

The family story your grandmother wrote for the family never got past the typist. She packed it away "somewhere" and promised to send a copy, but never did.

The relative who had all the family photographs gave them to her daughter, who had no interest in genealogy and no inclination to share.

A great-uncle changed his surname because he was teased in school. He moved away, left no address, and was never heard from again.

Brittle old newspapers containing the information you desired have fallen apart on the names and dates and places.

The only record you find for your great-grandfather is that his property was sold at a sheriff's sale for insolvency.

The portion of the index you need is continued in the next issue, only the publisher died prior to publication.

When you find the obituary for your grandmother, the information is garbled. Her name is exchanged with her daughters, the whereabouts of her sons are unknown, and the date for her father's birth indicates that he was younger than she.

The only surname not found among the three billion in the Mormon Archives is yours.

The vital records director sends you a negative reply, having just been insulted by a creep calling himself a genealogist.

The 4-Volume, 4,800 page history of the county where your great-grandfather lived is not indexed.

(Copyright 1993 Heritage Quest, Box #329, Bountiful, Utah)

HUMOR????
An archaeologist is the best husband a woman can have—the older she gets, the more interested he is in her!

Indian blood is like gold---no matter how thinly it is spun, it still shines as brightly.