Pennsylvania Wanderings

The Story Continues: Ohio

2011-08-10T19:18:00.000-07:00

Some of the Goss descendants left Pennsylvania and migrated to Ohio. These are the descendants of Philip and Mary (Kendall) Goss who settled in Huntington Twp., Luzerne Co., Ohio before the revolution and before it became Pennsylvania.

One of their sons, Solomon Goss and his wife Olive Scott headed to first to what is called Dayton, Ohio about 1796 and something happened that sent them to land near Marietta, Ohio by 1798 when their daughter Elizabeth married Andrew Lake. There other daughter Lydia, married John Andrews Spracklin in 1819 and settled in Knox Co., Ohio. Lydia and John's son Daniel D. Spracklin married Elizabeth Keller, whose mother was a Delano.

Solomon's younger brother Ebenezer Goss migrated about 1804 to Portage Co., Ohio. Their brother's son John Goss also migrated to Portage Co., Ohio. Various other family members came to Ohio as well.

Join me as I share highlights of a trip to Ohio this August 2011 on another blog titled: Solomon Goss of Fearing Township in Ohio: http://sgossfamily.wordpress.com/

The Story Continues: To Massachusetts and Connecticut

2011-05-11T18:23:00.000-07:00

This Pennsylvania Wanderings blog was done several years ago when I traveled to Pennsylvania in search of the Goss family history and historical sites in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. The area around Wilkes-Barre is where Philip Goss and Mary Kendall Goss migrated and settled. They came out of Massachusetts from Becket and headed to the Wyoming Valley. Mary she is buried in the Scott Cemetery in Huntington Township, Luzerne Co., Pennsylvania. No one knows where Philip Goss is buried but probably somewhere in the area. It was a very difficult time with the land wars between Connecticut and Pennsylvania and then the Revolution occurred making it very difficult for the settlers to establish themselves. Many lost their lives in the conflicts.
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Just recently in April of 2011, I traveled to Massachusetts and Connecticut to continue the search for the historical sites of my ancestors and specficially the Goss family. The blog "Massachusetts Meanderings and more..." continues the saga of the history of the Goss family. Here is the link: http://massmeanderings.blogspot.com/

These two blogs are connected and follow the history of the Goss family from Lancaster, Massachusetts through several generations to Philip Goss the IV who settle in the Huntington Township in Luzerne County, PA. One of his son's Solomon Goss left the area about 1792 and headed to Ohio where he settled in Marietta. Meanwhile, his brother Ebenezer Goss settled in Portage Co., Ohio about 1804. In August of 2011, I will travel to Ohio and see what other information I can find on the continued migration of the Goss family.

I apologize for any broken links due to the age of this blog but I didn't want to change or edit them for fear that the original intent would be lost. If you have a problem and need my help, let me know and I will see what I can do to help.

Come along and enjoy!

Reflecting on My Travels and Moving On!

2008-10-26T06:38:00.000-07:00

Well, time moves so quickly and I have been back from Pennsylvania for over a month now. I have re-energized and relaxed from my very busy trip. I still have books to read and research to review from my adventures and that is on my to-do list.

Writing this blog while I was traveling was difficult and challenging but I found it to be very satisfying. I hope it has helped others. It was a good trip and I am pleased. I will leave it up for awhile but I will probably turn to other ideas for blogs like how to do genealogical research in the Pacific Northwest? So keep and eye out and go to my Profile on this blog for it lists other blogs. At the moment I am just having fun with my blog regarding my old cat Puffer. He is very political about pets. HA!

I am now turning my attention to other projects. On Tuesday, October 28, 2008 I will be giving a talk "Searching your Genealogical Roots" to the Rainier Chapter of DAR after their luncheon at 12 noon! They are located on Capital Hill in Seattle in a building that is a replica of Mt. Vernon, George Washington's home. Ah yes, another item for my to-do list - Join DAR! (Daughters of the American Revolution).

On Saturday November 1, 2008 I will be attending the Seattle Genealogical Society Seminar for Fall, Finding Your Past in Your Future, this is their website:

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~waseags

Just click on events and scroll to the seminar information.

The Puget Sound Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists (PS-APG) will be hosting a table at the SGS Seminar.

The Family History Expo VII, website is http://www.wafamilyhistory.net/, is scheduled for November 8th in Bellevue and PS-APG will have a table there. So if you are in the neighborhood stop by and say "Hello."

I will be in Port Angeles on November 8th giving a lecture for the Clallam County Genealogical Society titled "Wills, Probate and More!!!"

So a lot is happening!

Treasures from Pennsylvania

2008-09-30T07:43:00.000-07:00

My package arrived safely yesterday. It took a week to get here because I chose the less expensive method. I have found that shipping accumulated research papers, literature, conference syllabi, and books that I buy along the way is better than trying to drag them home on the airplane. With the new rules about luggage and the fees airlines are requiring it is better to ship from a UPS store or find one at a Staples or Office Depot. It might cost a little extra but it is worth it. Fortunately the Sleep Inn Hotel gave me directions to a Staples in King of Prussia where they had UPS shipping.

I had little time to review and read all these treasures that I accumulated while I was traveling in Pennsylvania so that will be my challenge in the next months to unlock there secrets. Meanwhile I thought you might find it interesting to see what this packrat collected:

I had previous to the trip purchased a overview book on genealogy in Pennsylvania. This book is titled Pennsylvania Genealogical Research by George K. Schweitzer, PhD, ScD, Self-Published, 1997. Make sure when you look for this booklet that you find as recent a copyright as you can. There are older versions of them. I had the good fortune of attending two of Dr. Schweitzer’s lectures at the FGS 2007 in Fort Wayne and the recent FGS 2008 in Philadelphia. Dr. Schweitzer comes dress in costume and then presents his lecture from the view of the person he is portraying. His lectures are usually about migration patterns. He has written other booklets on different subjects. I also have his Revolutionary War Genealogy and Civil War Genealogy.

His book on Pennsylvania genealogy was very helpful in getting overview of the archives and records that exist in an area. He also gives ideas for research strategies at the various archives. I read it several times before I went to Pennsylvania. It is proving to be a valuable aid and I will use it in the future as well. Do you think he takes fan mail?

While at the 2008 FGS Conference in Philadelphia I picked up my copy of the Genealogical Proof Standard, Building a Solid Case, by Christine Rose, CR Publications 2005. As I get farther back in my research beyond the 1850 U.S. Census I find that it gets harder and harder to find information and to prove that someone is your ancestor or a relative of an ancestor. This is a guide to how use the sources you have found to build your case. It is a small booklet very easy to read.

Although I do have a book on state census that was out several years. I decided to buy the 2 Volume set by William Dollarhide, Census Substitutes and State Census Records Eastern States Vol. I and Western States Vo. II., Family Roots Publishing Company, 2008. This will act as a guide to my online research on census at Ancestry and Heritage Quest.

At Washington Crossing National Historic Park at the Visitor Center I purchased two books. The Pennsylvania Militia, Defending the Commonwealth and the Nation 1669-1870 by Samuel J. Newland, PhD, Pennsylvania National Guard Foundation, 2002. Mr. Newland is a Profession of Military Education at the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, PA. See my blog entries on the park. The park probably has a link for their store.

The other book was The Pennsylvania Line, Regimental Organization and Operations, 1775-1783, John B. B. Trussell, Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission, 2nd Edition 1993. There is some interesting information on the Artillery unit and more. This I will be studying carefully along with the book above.

I also purchased a souvenir copy of the Washington Crossings Historic Park, Pennsylvania Trail of History Guide, Stackpole Books, 2004. Since I was not allowed to photograph inside the buildings these was the best I could do.

At The National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg where I stopped for several hours before heading for Sunbury I picked up a few booklets.

1. Sherman’s March to the Sea 1864 Atlanta to Savannah, by David Smith, Osprey Publications 2007. It is filled with photos, maps and interesting information. My great uncle Alexander Barclay marched with Sherman to the Sea. I have his Civil War service records and pension in which he talks briefly about this event in his life.

2. A souvenir booklet on The National Civil War Museum, An Illustrated Guide, The Creative Company 2007. Again more pictures of the museum and its contents and establishment.

3. I was surprised to find this booklet: The Civil War Research Guide, by Stephen McManus, Donald Thompson and Thomas Churchill, Stackpole Books, 2003. There actually might be more recent edition and that would be good because the Internet site chapter would be out of date quickly. However, it is still a good reference guide and I am curious as to what they suggest. Again go to my blog on my visit to the museum and see the link for more information.

When visiting the Northumberland Historic Society in Sunbury I picked up Index to Wills of Northumberland County Pennsylvania 1772-1859. It is a little booklet that I felt was helpful to me in determining family names. It will be useful in studying the county records to see if there are any gems in them for my family.

At the FGS I stopped by Retrospective’s booth and spotted a CD on Frontier Forts, this is based on the Report of the Commission to locate the site of the Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania, Vol. I and II, 2nd Edition, Thomas L. Montgomery Editor. I was very interested in forts now I can study the history of the different forts especially Forty-Fort from this CD.

My visit to the Luzerne County Historical Society prompted me to buy several titles:

1. Warrior Road, The Story of Sullivan’s March Through Pennsylvania Before the Invasion of the Iroquois Homelands, Narrated Auto Tour 3 DC’s & Guidebook, 2006. It was a little pricy but I decided it was worth it. I have yet to review the CD’s but I did review some of the guidebook while I was touring the Battle of Wyoming sites in Luzerne County. See my blog entries on the Battle sites.

2. I bought the book: The Susquehanna Frontier: Northeastern Pennsylvania during the Revolution Years, by James R. Williamson and Linda A. Fossler, Wilkes University Press, 1997. They also wrote the Zebulon Butler book that is so expensive. I am excited about reading this book and about the good sources it may provide. I wonder if they take accept fan mail?

3. The Battle of Wyoming, Pennsylvania, CD Rom, Rhino Media 2005. I hesitated on this but decided I would see what it might reveal?

I also have my conference syllabi from the Professional Management Conference (PMC) by APG (Association of Professional Genealogists) 2008. My copy downloaded from Footnote.com of Elizabeth Shown Mills, Evidence Explained. Not exactly a book for bed-time reading but it will prove invaluable as I start to work through the Goss manuscripts and their sources/citations to prepare them for updating and publication.

The syllabi for the Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference 2008 in Philadelphia is on CD Rom this year. I could have purchased a big thick volume at the conference but decided not too. I am interested in reviewing the lectures I attended and studying the ones I could not because I cannot clone myself yet.

Lastly are of course are the piles of literature I picked up at the two conferences from the vendors in the Exhibit Hall. There is literature collected from societies, archives and libraries I visited. In addition, is the pile of travel literature I accumulated on Pennsylvania as I traveled through.

Whew!!

Acknowledgements and Thank Yous!

2008-09-24T04:56:00.001-07:00

My trip to Pennsylvania was a success. It was made that way because of the people I met along the way. I had great conversations with several individuals at the PMC and FGS Conferences. I will be contacting you to at least say “Hi.” I stopped at many archives and societies and had good experiences in each. See my individual blogs on many of them.

Here are some special thanks yous:

First to my roommate at the PMC and FGS Conferences, Barbara de Mare. Barbara is a fellow APG member and you can find her in the APG Directory. Barbara shared a room at the Marriott with me and I am grateful for her company. She also kindly took me to the Budget Rental Car lot at the Philadelphia Airport after the conference. Thanks a bunch! Barbara recently completed the DAR Certified Genealogist 4 day course at DAR in Washington D.C. I think that is pretty amazing.

Doug Nicols for all his tips on Northeast Pennsylvania Genealogy. Doug is also a fellow APG member and you can find him in the APG Directory. He is an expert on NE Pennsylvania genealogy and many other topics. He suggested I visit the Northeast Pennsylvania Genealogical Society in Shavertown. Unfortunately I did not get a chance to meet Doug personally because he was doing research in Germany and on his way to England! He saw my posting to the APG-L and answered my many questions. Thanks so much for the tips Doug.

A hearty thank you to Ann at the Northeast Pennsylvania Genealogical Society for assisting me with the cemetery records and making me feel welcomed. I am a member now and looking forward to more sharing.

To the Northumberland County Historical Society in Sunbury thanks to Jack and Ann for taking time to pull items from the shelves and pointing out possibilities in their collection. My goal there was to determine if records for the area of Wilkes-Barre were at Northumberland. The other counties could be Lycoming or Northhampton.
A big thanks to Mary, Elizabeth and Donna at the Plymouth Historical Society in Plymouth, Pennsylvania. They took time out of their busy lives to arrange to come down to the Society to open the doors. This was out of the regular hours. I enjoyed my chat with them and appreciate their answering my questions. I also joined this society and I received a lovely thank you card.

A thank you to Irene. I kept running into this fellow researcher at various Wilkes-Barre area archives. She offered me goat cheese, crackers and special apples from upstate New York. I brought the wine. We were sharing different rooms at the Best Western Genetti. Thanks a lot Irene. I ate all the apples and they were delicious. What a delightful and unexpected exchange of genealogical knowledge and sharing.

To Katherine at the David Library of the American Revolution for all her help, her friendly and guidance. We had several very interesting conversations about our genealogical experiences in old overgrown cemeteries and family history. What a great library there in Washington Crossing.

To John B. Koehler, Financial Specialist for Wachovia a thank you for the unexpected lesson on migration routes in Pennsylvania. John was having lunch at the Wagon Wheel in Shickshinny and overheard my conversations about where to get a Shickshinny T-Shirt and that I was researching my family. He has a love of history and we chatted while I ate my hamburger about the French & Indian War, the Revolution and other items of interest. This was another unexpected fun exchange.

A very big and hearty thank you to Donna Goobic of the Greater Shickshinny Historical Society for being my tour guide in the Shickshinny area. Donna opened her home and took time out of her life to show me around. She coordinated with me and the Historical Society my talk on Genealogy. Thanks for the T-shirt and all the fun stories and being willing to answer all my questions. I am still trying to say it right “Wapwallopen!”

To the Pineapple Bed and Breakfast in Washington Crossing a thanks to Kathy and Cookie for their warm hospitality. The story of Cookie finding the falcon and returning it to his owner was the kind of story that Puffer, my 133 year old cat likes to hear. I wonder if they found some strange pole in their shed? I could not take it home a little hard to carry on the plane. It was for stomping in steep cemeteries and it really is a handle for a broom. To Linda proprietor of the River View B&B in Sunbury a thank you. We had a wonderful chat at breakfast and I think that her B&B is one of the loveliest that I have seen. I wonder what adventures await Linda, she is quite the clever lady.

To Tony Brooks of the Luzerne County Historical Society for his interest in my research. I will be getting in touch with you Tony. Thanks for caring.

My trip to Pennsylvania was enjoyable and to all the people above I am grateful and to those that I did meet along the way and who answered my questions, helped me with directions, pointed me to food and more. Thank you!

My Final Hours in Eastern Pennsylvania!

2008-09-22T11:45:00.000-07:00

Taking the Trolley Tour at Valley Forge really helped to give a great overview of that national park. They only stop at two sites along the way and zoom by the other locations in the park, but at least that gives you an idea of where things are and then you can go and explore later. Unfortunately there is a lot of construction going on so that is cutting off areas of the park and I was not able to see the Artillery field.

As I left the park I stopped at the National monument and then I found Valley Forge road that took me to Hiway 202 and then Hiway 252 which was a little longer than the toll road 476 but I like to see the country side. Hiway 252 becomes 320 or N. Providence Road and led me right into Chester where I found the Days Inn just in time. I was hungry! King of Prussia was crazy, Chester was a little more relaxed and less overwhelming. In King of Prussia they have the huge Mall and that makes things busy.

There is a Staples on 202 off Henderson road not far from the King of Prussia Mall where I packed up some items and had them shipped home with UPS. I am finding that helpful when I can’t resist books and literature buy them at the conferences or along the way. With the new fees they are adding on the airlines added weight is not a good idea.

I settled in to the Days Inn in Chester and found a diner next door, yeah salad bar! Signs out of my room window pointed to I95 and that was good because I was going to be up at 3 a.m. to get myself to the Philadelphia Airport. My flight was at 6:08 a.m. and I was not going to miss it or be rushed.

I managed to get a little sleep but 2 a.m. was there before I knew it and I was up because I could not sleep and 3 a.m. was my real target. Soon I was out the door and on my way to the airport. Getting onto I95 was a little odd but I managed it in the dark. I was told to take Exit 12 on I95 going North to the Philadelphia Airport. I found the Car Rental Return Road without a problem and was back at the Budget Lot in without an incident. I had completed my circle of Eastern Pennsylvania.

This is a major major feat for me. As I have aged, I have found that I am less and less excited about driving and that swishing cards, big speeding trucks and unfamiliar territory, hills and other assorted driving conditions do not thrill me. So I plan and study the routes carefully and try not to scare myself and other drivers. I am patting myself on the back for this accomplishment. There were a few mishaps and I had to double back on some things because signage was terrible but no disappearing streets like in Hartford.

The Philadelphia Airport was sleeping when I got there at 4 a.m. There was no food or drink that I could see available. The United ticket counter was empty of humans till about 20 minutes later. The security for D gates had not opened up and that was another 20-30 minute wait. So I probably could have chopped off 30-45 minutes from my arrival time but I would rather spend it in the airport at the gate reading a good novel (like reviewing Eragon for the coming of the 3rd in the series due out Sept 20th) then get caught in long lines at the ticket counter, security or other problem unforeseen. I know I was born a worrier!

All went well and I was on my flight at 6:08 a.m. and on my way to Dulles, yeah United had me going from Philly to Dulles to Chicago – 3 flight changes. I had used my UA Mileage points and they changed it on me about a month ago. It worked. I made it through all three stops without a problem but it was a long day of being in airplanes and various airports. I am familiar with Dulles (Wash D.C.) and O’Hare (Chicago). So that helps. I actually go to the airport website before I go and get a map of the airport. Philly’s was terrible. The back of the Hemispheres Magazine in your airplane pocket has good information and maps on airports.

Things got a little dicey in Chicago when people were lined up due to messed up flights. I heard someone on their cell phone talking about running out of fuel? That sounded scary.

I was determined that since I got that far, Chicago, and United had already changed my flight plan to stick it out. The 3rd flight was delayed a little but according to my hubby we arrived on time in Seattle and he was glad to see me. He gave me a big hug and kiss and then he went off to find my luggage which actually was there. I must be the luckiest traveler ever. I just smoothly get through airports with very little trouble. My time may be up one of these days. HA!

So I am back on my own turf here in Shoreline, Washington a city just on the northern border of Seattle and still in King County but right on the border to Snohomish County. We walked into the door at my home at 4 p.m. Pacific time Sunday, September 21, 2008.

Now the process of unpacking, reviewing my research, documenting my research and figuring out what I have to do in the next weeks begins.

This is not totally the end of this blog. I will be fixing some glitches, contact those who have made comments and thank them for their interest, add more pictures and links and making some ending comments. I will probably keep it up for about a month and then move onto other things.

Thanks for watching!

Valley Forge, In Search of American Revolution War History

2008-09-20T15:34:00.000-07:00

Today I visited Valley Forge National Historic Park. I came to honor my cousin the Rev. Paul H. Goss and his ancestor Ebenezer Goss who served there. Ebenezer was a brother to my Solomon Goss and youngest son of Philip & Mary Goss. Paul wrote in one of his manuscripts that he walked Valley Forge trying to visualize what his 3rd great grandfather experienced.

The first stop was the Visitor Center where I looked at the shop and then signed up for the 1.5 hour tour of the park sites. The tour started at 1 p.m. and we first stopped at Muhlenberg Camp and listened to one of the park recreators tell us about what it meant to participate in a revolution. The cabins reminded me of logging camps. We then moved on and saw the National Monument Arch, the Pennsylvania Columns and Wayne's statue other items. They did not stay long at these instead giving us time at only two stops. The next leg of our journey was to Washington's Headquarters and we went past David Potts house. They were doing construction at Washington's Headquarters but we still were able to go inside and see what it might have been like for him. Along the way there were many deer crossing the road and in the fields. Two actually stopped us for about 5 minutes while they were on the road.

At Washington's Headquarters there were recreators out on the lawn, the Redcoats were there. Actually they had camped there at Valley Forge first before Washington made it a winter camp. One man was dressed in the red version of the Stuart colors and told me the reason the tartan on the ground was green and blue was to hide them when they were hunting. The group was eating their lunch and it smelled rather good. The tour was over and we headed back to the visitors center. I learned that the Artillery field was closed due to the construction. Ebenezer had been in the Artillery.

I set out in search of my road to Chester by driving through the park and revisiting some of the same places like the Monument arch and seeing the Pennsylvania Columns. I was soon my way to Chester my last stop on this tour of Eastern Pennsylvania. My actual wanderings were about to come to an end.

I had booked myself into the DaysInn in Chester which was a little ways from the Philadelphia airport. I drove through several towns along the way and saw many big houses and lovely settings as I made my way south. I found the Days Inn really easily and was soon having dinner at the diner next door. I settled in for the night. Wake up time 3 a.m. My flight 6:08 a.m. I have to return the rental car and get myself to the airport and get my ticket and check my bags. I hope I can do this without too much trouble. It will be dark. I do remember how to get to the car rental return because I watched Barbara, my roommate at FGS drive it very carefully when she dropped me off at the Budget Car Rental lot.

The David Library of the American Revolution at Washington’s Crossing!

2008-09-20T08:05:00.001-07:00

When I was preparing for this trip I stumbled on this library. Being the curious person that I am I could not pass up visiting it. So on Friday, September 19th I prepared to find out its secrets.

After a hearty breakfast, several cups of coffee at the Pineapple Bed & Breakfast I packed up my car and left to climb Bowman’s Tower a part of the Washington Crossing Historic Park. I was encouraged by a woman at the Visitor Center who felt it was spectacular and joined the tour I was on the day before. Apparently Washington used it for a look out while the Revolutionary army was camped here. It means driving along a road till you get to the gate and then up another road that is very steep and a little bumpy. You come to a parking area shaded by trees and you are on this hill which is pretty high up.

Today the wind was a little chilly, Fall was making it presence known. I waited while the attendant prepared the area for the day. When I was given the okay, I entered the elevator to the top. The elevator is enclosed so you don’t see anything at all. Once at the top you have to climb circular narrow steps to the lookout platform. The view was excellent but the wind was bitting…brrr. It was sunny and a beautiful day in the Delaware Valley. I quickly took my pictures of the surrounding views and returned down the tiny circular staircase and elevator. It was worth it. The park opens at 9 a.m. but you might want to wait till 9:30 a.m. Give the attendant time to get there and open up the two gates, visitor center and the elevator.

My real main goal to come to this area along the Delaware River was the David Library of the American Revolution. It is about ½ mile from the Pineapple Bed and Breakfast and before you get to the Visitor’s Center for Washington Crossing. As you are driving along the narrow road by the Delaware River which is on your left you come to a big open field on your right and a driveway with a sign indicating that it is the David Library. Can’t miss it unless you are driving to fast or enjoying the view of the river. Their driveway is long and travels through a big open field of green grass and over a little bridge. I arrived a little bit before 10 a.m. and the door was opened at that time by the Librarian.

The Librarian, Katherine, inquired about my interests and I told her my shopping list one was the very early militia specifically the Connecticut militia for the Wyoming Valley about 1776 to 1780. I was trying to pin down Solomon Goss and Philip Goss’ involvement in the revolutionary years. This was not my only interests. I had looked at their webpage before coming and studied their listings for microfilm, books, subjects and more. They have British information, Loyalist information and of course American Revolutionary War information.

As usual I was probably a little ambitious for one day of research. I proceeded to examine their book shelves, pulling books off as I spotted interesting titles. I love one stop shopping at a library. Their brochure reads “Dedicated to the study of American History in the era of the American Revolution.” This library was started by Sol Feinstone when he dedicated and donated his collection and gave them his farmstead. The present library was built in 1974. It is very nicely laid out, with plenty of room for tables to sit and spread out your research.

This library has three rolls of the Susquehanna Papers films from the Connecticut State Library. The library will tell you in the description where the information comes from. I looked at the Susquehanna Rolls of film and was happy to find several of the Liber’s and the actual copies of the pages of these liber’s. I immediately pulled my copies of Donna Bingham Munger’s “Connecticut’s Pennsylvania “Colony” 1754-180, Susquehanna Company Proprietors Vol. I.” I made copies of the references there for my family. I have all 3 copies of these books by Donna: Proprietors, Settlers and Claimants. I shared this information with the Librarian and I know that she will probably obtain copies and then review the films to get a really good description of them.

I looked at Obadiah Gore, Jr.’s diary which was a published booklet and found on one page a statement made that the lists for Capt. John Franklin’s militia are not found regarding the Sullivan Expedition. I am wondering if any of the militia for that time period prior survived?

Katherine assisted me with Bounty Land warrants that I had found on Footnote.com. I had two signed by a Solomon Goss? I am wondering if there are my Solomon Goss and he was speculating? They are dated 1790 and the men who bought from him are from Connecticut? I do not know if it is Solomon Goss my 4th great grandfather yet, more research is needed. Katherine informed me that these federal records were destroyed in 1800 and then in 1812 the British did worse damage. We found more in the two books so I will have to go back to Footnote and do a little digging. She found several other things. I found a Comfort Goss 1832 petitioning the Congress.

Now I know that a lot of these sources can be found elsewhere in other repositories but when you have someone who knows these sources and they are all in one place it makes cross referencing easier and it also makes it easy to revisit something if you need to. There are always titles I have not seen and you can study them to see what secrets they contain. They had several books on Timothy Pickering’s papers, indexes and explanations of the collection in Massachusetts. Now I know that these books exist and I can revisit them when I have the time.

Hours: Tuesday through Saturday 10 to 5 p.m., 215-495-6776, website http://www.dlar.org/

They do basic research for people and will answer questions. Katherine told me that she does do presentations and a tour on the sources in the library. I wish I could have her for my group. It is a little far for her to commute but they were talking about lecturing online at the APG Conference in Philadelphia two weeks ago. Hmmm….??

It was 3:30 p.m. and I was fading fast and getting tired. I had to drive from the library in Washington Crossing to King of Prussia so I could visit the Valley Forge National Park on Saturday. I had some driving to do in strange country and from what I was being told it was not going to be easy. I was getting hungry. So I packed up and said goodbye to this great resource. It was fun chatting and sharing stories with Katherine about family, stomping overgrown cemeteries. Thanks Katherine for your help.

Sometimes I wish I could be like Mr. Feinstone…wealthy and able to building fantastic libraries…!

Washington Crossing Historic Park on the Delaware River!

2008-09-20T07:49:00.001-07:00

Washington Crossing Historical Park is located below New Hope. New Hope is a quaint tourist town along the Delaware River. It is filled with shopped, restaurants, a couple of museums and more. There are several bed and breakfasts, inns and more in the area. There were lots of people coming and going, sitting in the restaurants and enjoying a wine or brew. You can park along the street keeping a meter happy or find a parking lot. I did not linger in New Hope but I did drive up and down the main street which is quite picturesque. I had arrived in the area on Wednesday evening September 17th.

Washington Crossing Historic Park is divided into two parts. In order to really understand it you need to go to the Visitor Center which is down the road in the lower part of the park. If you get to the bridge that goes to Hiway 532 you have gone too far. The sign is on the left for the Visitor Center but the parking lot is on the right. The park attendant sitting behind the desk in the Visitor Center can explain to you how to get around the park and where to find interesting sites.

There is a website for them at but beware when you actually come to the area and start exploring it gets a little confusing because the signs are not that good and there are these large expanses of park areas. It is big and has many areas to it so if you are looking for history you need to stop and get oriented first. The Visitor Center has books about the Revolution, the Crossing and more and other items for sale. Yeah, I bought three one on the Continental Line and the other on Militia for Pennsylvania.

They have a 15 minute film about the big event of the crossing of the Delaware by Washington and his troops. There are tours of at the Visitor Center that describe the crossing and then take you through the remaining houses from Taylorsville and give you the history of that thriving town and the colorful people that lived in it. You do get to go inside a couple of the houses and see what life was like in the early 1800’s. They also have more detailed information about the different sites in the park in brochures that you can pick up at the Visitor Center.

There is the upper area where Washington stayed and the lower area where they actually crossed the Delaware and were the town of Taylorville grew up after the Revolution and was the economic hub of the area. On the upper part of the park you will find the Bowman’s Tower, Thompson-Neely House, Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve, and the Thompson-Neely Gristmill and there are picnic areas and more.

I went down to the Visitor Center in the lower part of the park and looked around. I saw a little bit of the film explaining the crossing and the events that lead to it. There was a tour at 2 p.m. so I took that and learned that Washington crossed and then engaged the enemy and then he returned. He did that all in a snow blizzard, at night on Christmas Day and the day after. The Delaware River can be treacherous and they lost the first boat upon the crossing. They had Durham Boats in the barn that were like the actual boats used in the crossing. The painting that is so famous is not historically accurate. These boats were a good size and the oars were very long. We toured Taylorsville and were able to go inside of several of the houses. It was a very pleasant an interesting tour.

Hours are Tuesday thru Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday is Noon to 5 p.m. There is an admission fee. Website: www.ushhistory.org/washingtoncrossing Call them if you have questions they are helpful and friendly (215) 493-4076.

I chose to stay at the Pineapple Bed and Breakfast Lodging located in Makefield about 4.5 miles south of New Hope on the left. It is located right before Stoney Brook Road and the Taylorsville Road. You can look for the Pineapple Flags. This house was built in 1790. My room was the John Scott and it was very comfortable. Take it easy driving into their driveway for it is narrow and a little steep but there is a great parking area which makes it nice. I was great to be able to stay in this circa 1790 house because when I visited the Nathan Denison house in Forty-Fort, PA. I was unable to go inside. My breakfast was delicious both days and the coffee was good and strong. The proprietors are friendly, helpful, welcoming and will answer your many questions and give some good advice. They also have Sherry to sip. They have wireless in their dining room area. The other good thing about the Pineapple Bed and Breakfast is the location is right in the middle of all the action. New Hope is just up the highway. There is a big binder in the dining room filled with suggestions for restaurants. This B&B is between the two parts of the Washington Crossing Park and they are mostly importantly just about 1 mile north from the Washington’s Crossing Visitor Center and less than that to the David Library of the American Revolution where you can go and research from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.

I would be ready to deal with the tailgating impatient locals. I was advised to turn up my mirror ignore them. Also be aware that the road is only two lane and narrow and it is hard to find a place to turn out to retrace or get out of the way. I also noticed that there were not a lot of street lights so if you drive at night please be careful.

It is lovely country with beautiful big and old houses and lovely estates and parks to explore. There were lots of houses for sale? Anyone got a $1 million plus? It is really tough for a photographer to not want to jump out and take a shot here and there but there are not too many areas to do that so you have to do a little reconnaissance and planning. This is an area to come relax, have fun bring your spouse, your significant other and just explore enjoying the sites. You can even explore the other side of the Delaware River by crossing the bridges into New Jersey.

I spotted several signs about wineries in the area. Hmmm, a little wine tasting sure sounded good.

It Was Time to Say Goodbye to the Susquehanna Valley, Wilkes-Barre and Shickshinny!

2008-09-19T05:08:00.002-07:00

It was time to leave and I started south on Hiway 239 towards Wapwallopen to find Hiway 93 and head for I80 going east to 476 and south to Quarkertown Exit 44. I waved my goodbyes and felt a slight tug at my heart and tears in my eyes.

It has been a tough week. I was tired but happy. There is never enough time to do all you would like, but I think I crammed a lot in. I hope it helps the descendants of the Goss families or at least touches them.

Hiway 239 get real close to the Susquehanna River and level to it. When I found Hiway 93 I had to do almost a complete 360 to turn south on it when I felt I was going east. I found a gas station store along this highway and stopped to ask if I was really going in the right direction. They said that I80 was just over the mountain. I took off and drove about 2 miles and found I80 and was soon zooming along through green tree filled hills and over bridges with signs that read “Bridge could be Icy.” I’ve been told that Pennsylvania gets 2 to 4 feet of snow sometimes. I live in Seattle, if we get snow it melts quickly but it does stop the traffic! The scenery was beautiful. I like Pennsylvania it is green like western Washington. A little too muggy for me. It was bit cool in the morning to my surprise. Of course if you come to Seattle it is probably cooler so bring a sweater or light jacket.

After about 20 miles I came to the exit for the Turnpike Exit 277. It took about 5 minutes to get up to the Ticket/Easypass booths for there was lots of traffic and construction going on. I headed for the Ticket/Easypass booth and saw a ticket dangling in the wind. So I grabbed it. In Washington we have no turnpikes, we call them freeways or highways. We have no toll roads. We did at one time pay a toll for the Evergreen Floating Bridge but that was long ago. So this was a big deal for me. I didn’t want to upset the locals by not practicing good entrance and exiting of the turnpike. So far so good.

Zipping along the scenery was green with rolling tree filled hills then the signs read slow to 55 miles and hour and I was at the Lehigh Tunnel. I was impressed. It was well lighted and similar to tunnels we have. Ours are a little shorter.

As I drove along I noted that the natives were going a bit faster than the speed limit? No offense they do that in Washington. There were emergency phones every 1 mile. That was reassuring. There were refreshment refueling stations every once and while. That was good. There were very few exists, so it was important not to miss the one you wanted. I could see the toll booths so I was getting an idea of how things worked. Very nice system.

At Exit 44 I exited and the man at the toll booth was very pleasant took my ticket and charged me $2.75. Good thing I was ready with my change. I think I had asked about 5-10 people about the toll road.

Once on Hiway 663 which changed to 313 I was passing through Quakertown (very nice) and then Dublin (even better). No time to linger, I needed to get to New Hope and my B&B. After 70 miles of traveling I was getting hungry. However, the traffic along these 663 and 313 was busy and they were not forgiving, tailgating! Of course there were no restaurants on the right for me to turn into until I got on Hiway 202 (going north again when I was suppose to go east???) I found something just before the turn off to Hiway 179 to New Hope.

After my dinner, I made my way to New Hope. I was not expecting this clever fun touristy town at all. For some reason I thought it would be like Huntington Mills or something like that but it was filled with people enjoying their dinners and drinks at the local establishments. By this time was I really tired forgetting that I had been up since 5 a.m. and I was getting real annoyed with the tailgating.

I went a little too far and had to call the Pineapple Bed & Breakfast to ask where they were. Fortunately I was only about 1 block away and I retraced and found them on the right side. I don’t do well with things on the left when I am concentrating on narrow highways. I knew I had gone to far when the Delaware River was very close to the road on my left.

I was greeted by Kathy the proprietor and taken to my room. She told me about the Sherry in the corner table of the main dining room. When I came down to get my Sherry she had already poured some for me and had some pound cake. I had a sip and started to eat the cake it was good. I had just eaten so I was a little surprised. My dinner was not that good.

I settled in for the night. I am in this area for the next two days. I plan to visit Washington Crossings National Park and then do some research at the David Library of the American Revolution.

Shickshinny, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania

2008-09-19T05:08:00.001-07:00

When I first came to Luzerne County I drove right through Shickshinny. These towns are not labeled very well so I suddenly realized I was there. I could not linger because I needed to get to the Luzerne County Historical Society in Wilkes-Barre and I was late for my first day of research. So I come back on my way out on Wednesday, September 17, 2008 and ate lunch at the Wagon Wheel. As I ate my lunch I made new friends. I walked around the main area and I took pictures of the town. I bought a Shickshinny T-shirt at the Graphics store past the mini-mart and gas station. I wish the Greater Shickshinny Historical Society much success with their new building.

On Sunday at 3 p.m. between the visits to the cemeteries, I stopped for about about 2 hours to give a talk on Genealogy for the Greater Shickshinny Historical Society. I own BJM Genealogical Research Services and am current President of the Puget Sound Chapter of the APG. My talk was about hiring a genealogist to assist you with your genealogical research and explained the differences between the APG (Association of Professional Genealogists) and the BCG (Board of Certification). I also gave tips on hiring a professional genealogist. I then explained my family research and why this Scottish girl was visiting the area. I gave a description of the family I was researching and the surnames Goss, Scott and Seward are the main ones. There are more names but it can get a little overwhelming.

I then went over some principles about doing genealogy and things to look out for. I left my presentation board with the Historical Society for their use. A small group had gathered for this talk and it was fun to answer their questions. Again, thanks Donna and Phil for putting this together. I appreciate it.

Other Genealogical Possibilities in Wilkes-Barre

2008-09-19T05:08:00.000-07:00

Luzerne County Historical Museum: I was unable to visit the Luzerne County Historical Museum because it had the same hours of the Bishop Library. I did go inside for a brief moment. I like to visit the historical society museums in the areas that I am studying because it gives me an overview of the areas history and it might point to something I did not give thought to. To find it you locate the Osterhout Free Public Library and it is right behind it along the east side in the back. Hours are 12 noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. It is open Saturday 10 to 4 p.m.

The Farley Library: The Wilkes University is located approximately South St. to Northhampton and from River St. several blocks over from the river. I decided to take a quick tour of the Farley Library to see what they might have. It is on Franklin St. almost to South. I discovered that you have to enter the library from the campus side, not the street. They have a reference desk on the 1st floor with the reference materials behind that desk. I was told that the Pennsylvania books were on the 2nd floor. There is an elevator tucked in the back.

On the Second floor I found the Pennsylvania books in the F section. I took a quick look and found a complete set of the Pennsylvania Archives Volumes and the Susquehanna Company Papers. There were other titles for Luzerne County history. They had a copy of the Zebulon Butler book. I did not check the catalog for any other items of interest and did not look for any thesis written on historical subjects. Universities are set up to serve the students and faculty. You have to dig for the information. Who knows what treasures might be at this library and it is only two blocks from the Luzerne County Bishop’s Library. The Farley Library has very long hours. So if you want to study a Luzerne County history book that they have. You can do it here and save yourself some time.

The Osterhout Free Library was about 3 buildings west of LC Bishop’s Library. Their hours are longer. They have newspapers for the area and city directories back to 1881 or about. Again you might have to do some digging to find the genealogical gems in this library. I just went inside to get a look at the interior and see how it was organized. They do have a print out of what they have genealogically but it is a little vague. I would check the online catalog and see what might be there. I did take their listing of the Library of Congress subjects to use for searching a catalog from home.

I was told there were at least 4 libraries within walking distance along Franklin Street. That could be interesting! I will have to investigate when I get home on Sunday.

The Luzerne County Courthouse is located on River St. right on the Susquehanna River. You cannot miss it for it is a large stately building. I understand that the records however are divided among several other buildings and not all at the Courthouse. So you need to do some research to determine where you want to go. I decided not to go to the Courthouse. I felt I could get the information I needed from other sources like the Family History Library. Deeds (Grantor/Grantee) are located at the Courthouse in the Recorder of Deeds office at 200 North River Street. Go to their website and do searches for information and give them a call to make sure. It is a little far to be walking all around the area by the Courthouse. http://www.luzernecounty.org/search/results.

If I had gone, I would need to go to the building located on the corner of Pennsylvania Ave. and Market St. (20 N. Penna. Avenue, Wilkes-Barre 9 to 4:30 M-F). It is right across from the Best Western Genetti. They have the marriages, deaths, probates and wills. I was also told that if the records are very old regarding the probates they might have to be ordered. They do this twice a day and retrieve the documents. If you are lucky it comes the same day, otherwise you have to wait till the next day. I looked through the window glass of the door to see if there was a directory and there is one right inside the door. I could not read it for it was too far away. There is also a security check down the hall. They were closed by the time I got there.

There is a group on the web called the Courthouse Gang. They are at Yahoo Groups. You have to join Yahoo Groups before you can access their chat group. Once you do you then ask to join the Courthouse Gang. They are also listed on the Luzerne County PAGenWeb. So you can check there.

The Luzerne County PAGenWeb has a much more complete listing of libraries, archives and societies with links.

Happy Hunting!

A Tour of Huntington and Fairmount Township, Luzerne County Part IV

2008-09-18T15:46:00.002-07:00

The town of Harveyville, Huntington Twp., Luzerne Co., Pennsylvania

Located on Hiway 239 or the Hunlock-Harveyville Road.

Pine Grove Cemetery – outside of Harveyville

Finding the Pine Grove Cemetery was easy. It you are in Harveyville take Cemetery Hill Road to the west and go southeast. This cemetery it is just outside of Harveyville about 1 mile. It is right out in the open easy to spot with a view of country side. It is on your right. Don’t confuse this with Pine Hill which is located in Shickshinny nor the one in Berwick which is in Columbia County. This cemetery is easy to access and find the tombstones. It is well maintained.

The grandson of Nathaniel Goss Sr. and Hannah Scott is buried here. He is towards the north side. There are Santee’s buried there as well.

The town of Fairmount Springs, Fairmount Twp., Luzerne Co.,

The history books tell of a tavern owner named Gad Seward. He had a friendly tavern in this town. There were several buildings there but I do not know for sure if that tavern still exists? To find this town continue on Hiway 239 north.

Mossville, Fairmount Twp.

The Mossville Cemetery was also easy to locate. It is located outside of Mossville to the east.

It is also easy to spot being out in the open. My goal was to locate the grave stone of a Willard Gerhardt. I was interested in Willard because I believe he is the man that Cousin Paul H. Goss wrote about visiting in the late 1930’s and early 1940’s. Willard was the son of Reuben Gearhart and Mary Ann Goss. Mary Ann Goss was the daughter of Nathaniel Goss (1785-1854) and Thankful Forbes (1785-1869). Willard died in 1944. This makes Willard a grandson of Nathaniel and Hannah (Scott) Goss.

Willard talked with Cousin Paul H. Goss about the death of Philip Goss great great grandfather. It is through this man that Paul seems to think that both died in the events following the Battle of Wyoming. There is a Gearhart genealogy at the Luzerne County GenWeb. I do not have that much information on the Nathaniel Goss, son of Philip Goss and Mary (Kendall) Goss for my focus has been on Solomon Goss, Nathaniel’s brother.
There were Sewards in this cemetery.

It was about this time to stop and have some dinner so Donna took me to the Rickett’s Restaurant in Benson. It was a lovely dinner and more conversation with Donna. It was time to head back for darkness was coming.

It was and end to a lovely and busy day. Thanks Donna!

A Tour of Huntington and Fairmount Twp., Luzerne County Part III

2008-09-18T15:46:00.001-07:00

The Old Goss Cemetery (Trescott) below Harveyville

This cemetery is very difficult to find. From the Scott Cemetery continue on the Waterton Road till you get to the turn off for the Huntlock-Harveyville Road. It is a slight right. Take that road till you spot some rather new houses out in the open on your right. When you see them you know you are close. Once again you get back into a tree lined road and the buildings/houses are on the left. Continue along the road till you spot yellow markers. The cemetery is in the flat area between the yellow markers. There is a driveway but that is private property to the south of the area. There is no parking on the street unless you have a truck or 4 wheeled vehicle.

I visited this cemetery twice. The first time we did park in the driveway at the house to the south with permission but the second time I came there was a big black dog. I am sure he was friendly but I did not want to push my luck.

I would like to thank the Goss Cemetery group at Yahoo Groups for cleaning up this cemetery. I was told the leader of that group passed away. It was probably in worse shape last year but nature is trying to reclaim her again. I am grateful to them for taking pictures and posting them at the Goss Cemetery Group. Again you have to join Yahoo Groups to join the Cemetery group.

The first time I came I was not prepared to climb the steep knoll that is there. It also took me awhile to figure out a way to climb the little hill for it was slippery from the rain the night before. See the picture up above for the height from the street to the top. It was also overgrown again an that obscured the way up. I finally plunged in and climbed it. Once there you see the condition. I was not able to go very far. I thought I could walk along the chain link fence but the vegetation was a little to daunting. I did return a couple of days later with gloves a pruner and a stick. However, when I saw the big dog I decided it was not a good idea. I have the names from publications and information at the LCHS and NEPGS and I have the pictures at the Goss Cemetery group.

I did manage to get a couple of pictures of graves and found Titus Seward's. I really could have used my husband's sister regarding any poisonous plants for all I had on was a T-shirt and my arms were bare the first visit. I wanted the stick for balance to climb the hill and look for anything that might be hiding in the bushes.

The cemetery is marked by a wire gate that is sort of just sitting there and there are pieces of a chain link fence lying on the ground as well. I could see that chain link fencing did outline the area.

I declined to get out of my car with the dog there. I did get to stand there on the ground of the cemetery for a little while the first time. I was leaving on Wednesday to continue on my adventure. It is times like these when I wish I didn't live so far way. I would have been up there on the knoll cleaning up.

Make a note: bring dog biscuits next time!

A Tour of Huntington and Fairmount Township, Luzerne County Part II

2008-09-18T15:46:00.000-07:00

The Scott Cemetery

After Wapwallopen we went back up Hiway 239 through Shickshinny to go in search of the Scott Cemetery near Waterton. We took Hiway 239 up through Shickshinny till we came to Sunshine Road and then we went left. There is a gas station there. This road meanders along, gently weaves up and down and goes in and out of shade and sunshine. It seems like you are going along way before it connects with the Waterton Road. Turn right and go about ¼ to ½ mile and you will come to the cemetery. There is a sign by the highway “SCOTT CEMETERY” and a lovely white house across with a big red barn.

The cemetery has a grassy area and most of the tombstones are on the other side of the little knoll facing. The beautiful maintained property across from the cemetery has an old house that stands smartly. The man who lives in it told me the floor has rough hewn timbers in it. He thinks the house it really old. It is beautiful. Could this be the “Old Scott House?” Difficult to say the owner didn’t really know. There are other houses along this road that might be the “old Scot house” as stated again in the history books. I told him the history books were published about 1880. So if the house was standing then his house could be very old. He has done many improvements.

I had a map showing where the graves were located. I found this map at both the Luzerne County Historical Society (LCHS) and Northeast Pennsylvania Genealogical Society (NEPGS) societies that I have mentioned. Someone had mapped out the Scott Cemetery graves with numbers and rows. It is a big map and difficult to copy. I was able to find the tombstones I was looking for. I was looking for Mary Goss (1721 to 1821) and her son Nathaniel Goss (1749 to 1812). Mary was 100 years old when she died. She outlived her son Nathaniel by 9 years. She is my 5th great grandmother, wife of Philip Goss (1724 to 1778/9). It was a great day. I had traveled a long way to view this grave site. I did not want to leave! Nathaniel is brother to my 4th great grandfather Solomon Goss (1754 to 1825). Solomon took his family and left the area of Huntington and Plymouth and went to Ohio where he settled in Washington County, Ohio.

The Town of Huntington Mills, Huntington Twp., Luzerne Co., Pennsylvania (formerly Hublerville)

This town is up the road about 1 mile from the Scott Cemetery. I was interested in the gristmills that were supposed to have been built there. I was told by Donna that there were stones from them somewhere in the area. She thought it was about where the post office stood. The location these historical sites is fast fading need to be better identified for future generations. I did not have time to really dig in. I was getting a general idea. The white church was pretty in the sun but Donna said it was no longer being used.

Enjoy the photos!

A Tour of Huntington and Fairmount Township, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, Part I

2008-09-18T05:32:00.002-07:00

My goal this trip was to search out the cemeteries of Huntington and Fairmount Township for family and visit the little towns along the way like Harveyville, Huntington Mills and Fairmount Springs.

I had studied the cemetery listings that you find online at Interment and at the USGenweb for Luzerne County. They are not always complete so read the introductions carefully. Many thanks to those who have contributed to these websites. Their hard work is greatly appreciated by those of us who do not live in the areas of our ancestors.

The Northeast Genealogical Society in Shavertown has a map on their wall with red dots and that map shows the locations of the cemeteries. Each red dot has a number for that township and they reference them in a binder that lists the cemeteries by township, number, the name of the cemetery or other names of that same cemetery, and whether they have them on microfilm. Otherwise there are listings in the binder for the cemetery. Check the website for more information.

The Luzerne County Historical Society has in the subject filing cabinets cemetery file folders that contain similar information, newspaper articles about the cemetery and more. They have a cemetery surname card file that lists the name of the person and what cemetery they are buried in. You can also check the card catalog to see if a book exists for a cemetery. There are some published cemetery volumes I believe they are NE Gen Society titles? Check for those as well.

Armed with this information I was off to Huntington Twp. to do cemetery visiting on Sunday, September 14th. I picked a hot and muggy day to do this and that would prove to be a challenge. My guide was Donna Goobic of The Greater Shickshinny Historical Society. This society will be located right on the main street of Shickshinny at the stoplight. I had contacted Donna to find out if the historical society had any records and if I could do some research. At this time they are not open to the public. She did tell me they have a building now and are in the process of renovating it. The plan is the building will be opening next year. When that happens they can start getting set up to assist people with their research. This is exciting news!

Donna was born in Shickshinny and now lives in Huntington Mills. She offered to drive me around. Thank you Donna! I met her at the Wagon Wheel restaurant in Shickshinny for breakfast. We did not waste any time and launched into a very intense discussion about family. I shared mine and she shared her stories. She has German heritage while mine is English. This conversation lasted the whole day and I think we talked about everything! Donna knows a lot of people in the area and was going from table to table greeting others.

Since Donna is a native to the area, she had lots of stories to tell. She was getting a big kick out of my stumbling on the names like Wapwallopen. I still have not mastered that one. HA!

Our first destination was the Wapwallopen area. The story is that Philip Goss was killed below Wapwallopen in a canoe along with Capt. [Daniel] Carr. This story is told in several of the history books starting with Charles Miner’s book in 1845. Harvey’s book on Wilkes-Barre suggests he died in the later part of 1779. There is a probate in the Westmoreland Township Records for Philip Goss administered by his one of his sons Nathaniel Goss. This story is disputed later by the family and it is said that it was David Goss a son that was killed? We may never really know. There is no grave for Philip Goss the father who came from Massachusetts/Connecticut and settled in the area in 1769. Cousin Paul tried to find it nor one for David that I can see in the cemetery records. If they were lost to the elements after being killed by the Indians that is understandable. There was a lot of confusion after the Battle in July records are wanting. Remember that there is a lot of unreadable, broken and missing tombstones in these cemeteries. This is not unusual. Sadly, time has a way of slowing removing traces of the past.

Seeing the area was important to me for I wanted to get the distances between places. When I get home I will do a postscript giving more details of the books I am referencing. I am on the road at this time and really busy.

In reviewing Cousin Rev. Paul H. Goss’ manuscripts he suggests after talking to family members back in the 1940's that both were killed - David and Philip. Charles Minor in his book the letters to his son published in 1845 states that Phillip was killed in Oct 1778 along with Capt. _____ Carr. Then under the Recapitulation page in the back of the book he states that Philip Goss was killed in Nov. 1778? What does this mean? They were supposedly scouting for Indians? This is months after the Battle of Wyoming in July 1778. I am using Miner's book to start from because it is the oldest published book. Chapman’s may be older but I don’t believe I have seen it yet?

Donna suggested that I get a larger view of the area and I agreed, so she took me up to an overlook called Council Cup. She waited in the parking lot while I trekked up the path. Be careful it is a little confusing and consists of loop trails so read the information boards and note where you are going so you can get back quickly. Coming back from the look out was downhill and slippery with the rocks and rain from the night before. It was also hot and muggy.
The view was spectacular!!!! I was able to see the nuclear power plant but mostly to see the Susquehanna River and look to see the area of Huntington and Fairmount and probably Union Twp. (Remember I live in the West). If you look down sharply you can see the town of Wapwallopen. You can observe the curve of the Susquehanna River. So if either Philip or David were in a canoe you can get an idea of the area as it is today, rivers do change their course.
The description in other history books mentions “Beach” or “Beach Grove.” Donna said that was on the other side of the river from Wapwallopen.

Mysteries are great…!

Luzerne County Historical Society, Wilkes-Barre

2008-09-18T05:32:00.001-07:00

I entered the Luzerne County Historical Society formerly the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society on Thursday, September 11, 2008. I was late by an hour. They are open from 12 to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Friday and Saturday 10 to 4 p.m. They are not open on Monday or Sunday. Look for the turret.

I arrived around 1 p.m. I set to work after paying my $5.00 to do research. Get there at 12 noon to get your money’s worth they do not prorate the $5 fee as the day goes by. I also signed a form about their rules. I found a Seward Account book with the name Peter? written together in the card catalog. It was dated around 1869. It was for a lumber company.

I asked if it could be copied but was told it was too delicate and the answer was “no.” I asked if I could take a photo (of course without flash) and was informed that they only allowed photos of the maps? This was not the Enos Seward Account book that I was looking for per Paul’s manuscripts, it was another Seward and I recognized names in the account book. It covered a lumbering business. I asked if I could get special permission to photograph it but was again told no.

There are three main rooms. You enter the main hall and walk into the area where the reception desk is located. There is a table provided. That area has the card catalog file that are subject and people oriented. They have an atlas stand with a very good warrantee atlas of Luzerne and more. The Phillips Collection is a study of the local newspapers covering a 30-35 year span indexing newspaper articles. There are city directories back to 1871 for Wilkes-Barre and some other areas, also family history books. They have items for sale in the bay window. I found some interesting books and things that I purchased.

The back room has bookcases with local history books such as the Michael Shoemaker book. The History of Wilkes-Barre and more. If you can’t find the book on the shelf, check the card catalog and get the call number and the receptionist will pull the item for you. There are filing cabinets along the wall. One section of approximately 9-10 cabinets holds family histories and inquiries of the last 30 years. There are about 4-6 filing cabinets that hold subject and name files. They have an index for these. On top of the family history files is a surname cemetery card file that gives the name of the person and where they are buried. The cemetery records are either listed in the card catalog or in files in the subject files. I pulled a stack of files for cemeteries for Huntington and Fairmount Township and found some interesting information. There are more cemeteries in these file folders. My interest was specific to Huntington Twp. and Fairmount Twp.

Manuscripts are accessed by asking for the indexes. The receptionist will obtain those for you. Make sure you get the printout in the folder and the two boxes of card catalogs. I was told they were the same, but I checked the titles I had written down from the printout with the card files and did not find the same information so I do not think they are the same? You have to ask for the manuscripts. I found many interesting items of which I made a list of what I thought was pertinent to my family research. Unfortunately I did not have time to view these items as this was my last day and you can only do so much in 4 hours. There never seems to be enough time to do research! This was a trip to see what was available as well as do some research. I did ask to view one particular item. It was great to find it there. It made my day! (See my profile for my direct e-mail).

There microfilm room is small and filled with a reader and a reader/printer. There is a book on laying on the top of the cabinet that indexes the films. Grab that and review it first. There is a microfilm cabinet containing census films, newspapers, index films for the courthouse records. In the very back of the book are the Westmoreland Township Records (Litchfield Co., Connecticut) which are not in the microfilm filing cabinet. It is a good description of their contents. You have to ask for them. There are two rolls to search. They are very difficult to read (negatives with bleed through), poorly filmed and no index. The Pennsylvania Archive has a copy but I was told this copy was better and I agree. It did say duplicate on the film rolls. I think that they originals are at the Connecticut Historical Society in Hartford but I will need to check on that first so don't believe me yet. Their collection of newspapers on microfilm looks very good and is extensive. The Pennsylvania Archives also has a fantastic newspaper collection. Once on the reader/printer you have 2 hours. So get in there first thing at 12:01 p.m. and do the films for other researcher come and want o use them and it gets busy.

You can get off their website a summary listing of their holdings before you come or pick one up at the reception desk. There is also a Luzerne County Area Key that I have a copy of through the Family History Library that gives a list of what they have and lost after the 1972 flood.

They have very strict rules, no food, drink, no photos except for maps, no pens, no noise (cell phones off or on vibrate). The receptionist does the copying for you. So don’t wait till the last minute (last copying is about 3:45 p.m.) and be ready to pay for your copies. They do accept credit cards.

It gets busy as the afternoon passes so plan your research carefully to take that into account. The research area is not very large so it gets a little crowded and tight. I found it hard to negotiate around the tables to get from one end to the other for people were blocking the aisle way seated in chairs and not intentionally. They have volunteers sorting boxes and they occupy some of the research table space. I found being in the other room with the filing cabinets a lot easier to move around.

Digging deeper into Luzerne County History...!

Plymouth Historical Society, Plymouth, Pennsylvania

2008-09-18T05:32:00.000-07:00

The Plymouth Historical Society is in the basement of a church that is no longer being used as a church. They still have the wooden pews and a velvet carpeted stage area with a curtain that is in pretty good shape. The museum’s treasures are on the same upper floor in the back part of the church behind the big curtain. It is a large room and items are displayed around the room in smaller rooms.
This society is tucked into the town (or maybe borough) of Plymouth along Gaylord Street which is one way going south. The backside is on the next street west of Gaylord and there is a small grassy driveway where you can park your car. There are other options for parking your car, so give them a call before you come. Gaylord is permit parking only during the week.

I had arranged to be there at 1:30 p.m. to do research in their library on Monday, September 15th. This is outside their regular hours. I arrived about the right time and met another lady coming in from upstate New York to do research as well.

We found the entrance on the north side of the church building in the back, through a small white door. You can see the signs in the window on the northwest corner. Remember I am may be slightly off on my directions because to me the angle of the Susquehanna River is northeasterly in this area? So get out the map of Luzerne which I obtained one at the Chamber in the Public Square of Wilkes-Barre for $3.00. The Visitors Center on the other side of the square gives them out free but they go fast.

They have a card catalog with names and subjects which I checked. They have family history files in vertical filing cabinets. Cemetery records cover mostly the Plymouth area and are heavy with the Shawnee Cemetery. They have books that cover Luzerne area history and several titles for Plymouth history. They do have church records which you would need to contact them for more information.

I had a pleasant afternoon chatting with Elizabeth who greeted us first. Mary came a little later to assist us. She remembered me from the Luzerne County Historical Society last Thursday. They are friendly, helpful and accommodating to busy researchers schedules. I joined their society.

Their information is: website: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~paplyhs/PHS/
115 Gaylord Ave, Plymouth, PA 18651(570) 779-5840

Are there any architect’s out there who love old churches? Remember this is a non-profit society that operates on contributions.

Do remember that the townships back when they were originally established in 1769 and onward are a lot different then the townships that are in existence today. So keep that in mind when you are researching.

Look for the Shawnee Tavern and a gas station about the middle of the long main street you see here in Plymouth. That is where Gaylord is. Remember it is one way south, so you need the street before or the street after to get to the Historical society.

Happy Hunting!

Life and Times of Luke Swetland and Nathan Denison

2008-09-17T06:30:00.000-07:00

Luke Swetland Homestead, Wyoming, PA

These houses are situated along Wyoming Ave (Hiway 11 north). If you go to the Wyoming Monument and turn south onto Wyoming Ave. You can easily get to the Luke Swetland house as you come down the highway. It is to the right. Turn at the street on the north side of the house and park in the gravel area across from it. The house is situated almost on the highway.

The Luke Swetland Homestead was opening at 11 a.m. and I wanted to stop by and see it and I am glad I did. A nice lady whom I believe is the Administrator of the Homestead, greeted me and she took me on the tour. She is very knowledgeable about the artifacts and items in the house and knew the genealogy of the family of Luke Swetland.

She took me into each room and showed me the portraits of the family and told me stories about them. She cares about the artifacts and memorabilia and has been reading up on the history. Marcy stated that Luke had been captive with the Indians for 18 months. I asked if he suffered much in the aftermath of his captivity? She thought he did well with his life after but he did come home to find that the family had left and returned to their original home in Connecticut. The family thought he had been killed.

The house was added onto by the sons and other family members over the years. There is big huge fireplace in the dining room which indicates that it used to be the kitchen but that was moved to another area behind the original house which was not connected till later. I loved the velvet on the old dresses. One was a rich deep red. It was a very elegant house. I was also impressed with the grounds which seemed extensive and well maintained. There is a brochure you can get at the Luzerne County Historical Society that gives some information but not as much history as I would have liked. You can view the graves at the Forty-Fort cemetery, they are along the side of the Meeting house.

Information: Luke Swetland Homestead,

885 Wyoming Ave, Wyoming, PA 18644,

570-823-6249 or 570-693-2740.

Open Saturday 11 to 4 p.m. and Sunday 1 to 4 pm. I was going up the Northeast Pennsylvania Genealogical Society for research that afternoon so I was not able to linger as long as I may have liked. It was a very pleasant and interesting tour and I have been through lots of old houses. They would not allow photographs. By the way my family eventually married into the Swetland’s. It is a bit convoluted but there is a little connection later on down the family line.

Nathan Denison House
I was not able to tour the Nathan Denison House but it was on my way so I stopped to view it. It is located around the corner at Denison and Wyoming Ave. There are several parking spots that you can pull into. An information board sits in the parking lot and the house is situated on a lovely green lot. Apparently the house had been remodeled over the years and added to. According to the information board it was restored to its original look. I wandered around the outside of the house just enjoying the look of the house. I carefully peeked into the windows and got a good view of how it looks inside. This house is very different from the Luke Swetland house. So it is a good idea to see them both to get a feel for the time period. This house was built in 1790. I found a great brochure that really gives a good history of the house.

When I tried to find out information on these historical sites it was a little difficult to obtain on the web. Here is the information from the brochure: 35 Dennison Street, Wyoming, PA, Hours are Sunday 1 to 4 p.m. and the number to call is 570-288-5531.

Both tours charge a small fee but they are worth it. I think the Nathan Denison house is doing fall festival, which sounds like a really wonderful event?

Memories of a Battle Fought Long Ago, the Wyoming Monument 1778!

2008-09-17T06:20:00.000-07:00

The Wyoming Monument stands tall in Wyoming, PA. My family is not listed on this monument? I still wanted to see it because it does list individuals that knew my family at one time or another and this battle did have some impact on my family as well as the whole valley.

The Wyoming Monument commemorates the Battle of Wyoming and those that gave their lives and were killed on July 3, 1778 not to far from the monuments location. It was raining at the monument when I visited.

I was surprised to find it in a grassy park like area right along Wyoming Ave. Keep and eye out for the United States Flag standing tall through the trees and you will find it just past the transformer station. If you are going north on Wyoming Ave. (Hiway 11) you may see the Luke Swetland home on the left and that means you are very close. The monument will come up on your right. It is shrouded in trees so it is hard to see but it is there. You can turn right onto Susquehanna Ave (one way) and you can park easily right on that street next to the grassy area. The monument is easily accessible.

There are two cannons in front and one has a plaque explaining their histories. The plaque is a little difficult to read. They were used in the War of the Rebellion.

Take your time and walk around the Wyoming monument because there are several plaques placed on it. The first plaque that faces the street explains the monuments purpose. The second lists the officers and privates slain. The last is a long list of those that were killed. I have read many versions of the events of the battle, some online and some in addresses and books. Just recently a new book has come out titled “Battle of Wyoming: For Liberty and Life,” by Mark Dziak. I tried to get a copy at the Barnes & Noble in Wilkes-Barre but they were sold out. I am told by a reliable source that it is very good.

Forty Fort Meeting House and Cemetery Walk!

2008-09-16T19:29:00.000-07:00

After visiting the site of the actual fort, I proceeded further north to the Forty Fort Cemetery and Meeting House. I found the gate opened so I entered with my car and slowly drove past the tombstones to the back of the cemetery. I decided to walk around a little even though it was raining pretty hard by that time.

This cemetery is much bigger than I expected. It did suffer greatly with the flood of 1972 and many of the graves were destroyed. The recovery efforts placed them in other cemeteries and a mass grave with a commemorative monument is placed there. It left a portion of the cemetery unused and you could see it because it is very green and has no markers in it. It is a very sad story.

I walked toward the Meeting House and looked inside the windows but it was not revealing much. I turned and the caretaker inquired if I was looking for a grave? I said I did not think I had any family in this cemetery but I did want to see the cemetery for the historical significance The names on the tombstones were the names familiar to me from the histories of the Battle of Wyoming. He showed me Luke Swetland’s grave. I introduced myself and the caretaker said his name was Dave. He was the son of the former caretaker who was very involved in the recovery of the bodies after the flood. Dave was only a small child at the time but he remembers the destruction. He was very kind and friendly, so if you go there and see Dave, say “Hello” from Bonnie.

The Forty Fort Cemetery and Meeting House are located on River Street and Wyoming Avenue. You cannot miss the cemetery for you can see the black iron fencing. River Street meets Wyoming Ave at an angle. Do not get confused by the Forty Fort Park that is along Wyoming Ave and comes up first if you are going north on Wyoming Ave (Hiway 11), keep going and you will find the cemetery tucked behind a big building that is called the Forty-Fort Boroughs Building. Turn right on Wyoming Ave. (11) and you can go into the cemetery.

Even the street names are echos of the past - Dorrance, Shoemaker, Slocum, Durkee...

Forty Fort, In Search of the Fort Site!

2008-09-16T19:11:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, September 12th, my first goal was the marker that was placed at the actual site of Forty Fort. It was important to me to feel the physical distance of the various locations so that I could better understand the events of the Battle of Wyoming.

I found the marker stone and information board at the corner of Fort Street and River St. (watch for one way on these streets) in Forty Fort which is past Kingston and before Wyoming on the north side of the Susquehanna River. River Street is a busy street and they zoom along. I parked on the north side of the street under some trees. Be careful when you cross. It was raining so it was slick.

The original marker stone had the metal plaque missing. However, the information board which was a little more to the northeast gave good detail about the fort. This information board was located where the ramp is that leads up to the top of the cement dike/levee that has been built. The dike is very white, huge, long and stretches along the Susquehanna River. You cannot miss it. It was built as a result of the terrible flood of 1972. You can climb this ramp and even walk or ride a bike for I saw at least two riders exit at the Forty Fort site. The Susquehanna River is right on the other side of this dike/levee. So this gives you and idea of how close the original fort was to the river.

My interest in the original fort site is because my ancestor Solomon Goss (4th great grandfather) was held prisoner there after the Battle of Wyoming but he escaped. This is accounted for in the history books written in the 1800’s and early 1900’s. Unfortunately these history books do not give their sources easily.

I have seen the pictures of the Fort and they are renderings of what they think it might have looked like. The information board had the picture of the fort on it. So you can see it if you do not find it in the Luzerne County history books. There is also a map on the information board giving you the location of the fort in reference to other sites like the Forty Fort meeting house and cemetery. There is also a great map in the book “The Certified Township of Kingston” that also gives a visual picture of the area.

The book Frontier Forts is on CD Rom and I got my copy at the FGS conference. I love forts a result of my father Keith’s interest in them and always taking us to them in the Puget Sound area. So this is just another fun thing for me to do. In my area of the US the forts are still in existence and you can go and visit them. Now they may not be the original fort but they are very close to a recreation of them.

Northeast Pennsylvania Genealogical Society, Shavertown, Pennsylvania

2008-09-15T09:40:00.000-07:00

My visit to the Northeast Pennsylvania Genealogical Society was too short but I was very impressed with this group of friendly locals. They welcomed me graciously and introduced themselves and made me feel comfortable.

This society is located in Shavertown just minutes from Wilkes-Barre and Kingston. I took Hiway 309 north from Kingston and was there in no time. Once you get to Shavertown turn right at Center Street and then N. Main is right there. Keep an eye out for a small building on the left about ½ way down N. Main at 156 North Main Street. The sign is on the front of the building and reads “NE Pennsylvania…”

Website: www.rootsweb.com/~panepgs/ or call 1-570-674-7648, email is nepagsl@epix.net

I was greeted by Ann who has a hearty voice knowns just what they have in this genealogical society and is there to assist you. My interest was the cemeteries and she handed me 2 heavy white binders. So I started looking for cemeteries in Huntington Twp. and Fairmount Twp. Ann pointed out a cemetery map that was on the wall that had red dots with numbers on them indicating the location of the known cemeteries in Luzerne County. I was thrilled and asked if I could take a photo and was told to go right ahead and I did. So I did of the Huntington & Fairmount Twps.

I was happily studying the cemetery books when Ann mentioned my cousin had been by looking at cemeteries. So I explained our relationship. My cousin Jean is a descendant of John Andrew Spracklin’s son Solomon Goss Spracklin who is the brother to my Daniel Dare (Dair) Spracklin. John Andrews Spracklin married Lydia Goss and it was the Goss family that both of us where interested in.

I took a look at their family histories and found some information on Thankful Forbes who married Nathaniel Goss, Jr . There was a whole genealogy on the Forbes family. I studied their listing huge listing of church records which are on microfilm. They also have an index of the FHL films for the Family History Center in Scranton. You have order them at the center however. They have history books on the shelf that cover the area and some rather unusual ones. They also have internet access for online genealogy.

They may be small but they are friendly and knowledgeable about genealogy in their area. The cemetery maps and records are worth a visit.

Wilkes-Barre, One of Many Cities by the Susquehanna River

2008-09-15T06:46:00.000-07:00

A lot has been happening since I arrived in Wilkes-Barre on Thursday, September 11th. I have been to the Luzerne Historical Society several times, visited the Northeastern Pennsylvania Genealogical Society in Shavertown traveled up through Kingston and Forty Fort to view the historical sights. I will take each one individually in later blogs.

Saturday evening I toured Wilkes-Barre and here are some of the photos. I have been using the Market Street Bridge to travel to Kingston and Plymouth and it is real easy because it just means going around the Public Square in Wilkes-Barre and getting on Market and one block down is the Best Western Genetti on the right as you go west were I park as a guest. In Kingston and Plymouth Hiway 11 runs through them and it is called Wyoming Avenue. Once on that avenue you can find your way along very easily.

This Market Street Bridge is old, stately and beautiful. There was a couple walking over the bridge holding hands and later joggers. I walked the length into Kingston and then crossed over and went back to Wilkes-Barre.

I headed right after crossing the bridge along River Street and was came upon the Wilkes University which covers the block of Franklin Ave and River Street and probably a lot more. The houses are labeled with the halls name and are all very grand. You can walk the campus if you like.

Watch out some of the streets are one-way and others are two way, so you have to pay attention in the downtown area of Wilkes-Barre and other towns in the area.

Along River Street and by the South Street corner to the east are the historic markers for Fort Durkee and Fort Wyoming two very important forts in the history of the area and during the Revolution. The actual forts are long gone now but they are commemorated here.

Unfortunately they are ripping up the River Front Park and reconstructing it. So it is all blocked off at this time. There is another park on the other side of the Susquehanna which is Kirby Park and as far as I can tell it is on both sides of the bridge. A truck with a boat was getting ready to launch into the water on the east side of the Market Street Bridge

I headed down South Street for Franklin and passed by the Osterhout Free Library (71 South Franklin St.) which is undergoing renovation and then the Luzerne County Museum is tucked back behind it on a long walkway on the east side of the library. I then passed by the Bishop Memorial Library for the Luzerne County Historical Society (49 South Franklin St.). This library is east a few houses down and has a turret. There isn’t a sign out front on the street so you do have to pay attention. The sign is on the building and rather dark to read. There is a grassy area between that was filled with a big tent for they were having a wedding. There are several churches that lined the street and were interspersed along the same block which is Franklin Street between Northhampton and Market Street. My exploration was at an end.

If you want to do more exploring the Luzerne Historical Society has a brochure featuring the Walking Tour of Wilkes-Barre. It is quite detailed about the Public Square area history and architecture. I found my copy at the Luzerne Historical Society.

Traveling along the Susquehanna River

2008-09-15T03:56:00.000-07:00

I left Sunbury September 11th about 10:50 a.m. and drove up Hiway 147 to cross over Island and the Susquehanna River to the north side and Hiway 11 and headed east. First up was Danville, then Bloomsburg where I stopped to seek out the Rosemount Cemetery which is a little outside of town in Espy. My cousin needed me to get a photograph for her of a grave. I pulled out her maps and information and found John Boice’s grave fairly easily. It was a big cemetery so it was very important that she had marked the map of the cemetery that she had e-mailed me with a big X. I was a little surprised but his wife’s grave was behind him and over to the left about 5-6 grave sights. Shall we speculate, why so far away? I took photos of the area and other graves to make sure there was a reference. My chore was done so I was off on my way.

The next town was Berwick and after that Shickshinny which came up much faster than I expected and I was in Shickshinny next thing I knew I was out of that town and on my way to Wilkes-Barre. I found Hiway 29 and turned south but after some thought I probably would have been easier to just go into Plymouth and Kingston and turn south on Market. Anyway I did make my way through to Wilkes-Barre and finally found the public square which was crowded with people for the Farmer’s market. I turned down Market to the Best Western and checked in. I didn’t go to my room I parked the car, packed up and headed for the Luzerne Historical Society. I arrived there at 1 p.m. so I was an hour late and that meant only 3 hours of research time.

It was a busy day, visiting the courthouse in Sunbury, driving to Bloomsburg to document a grave and then driving further to Wilkes-Barre and doing research at the Luzerne Historical Society.

The Best Western Genetti is well situated to walk to the Historical Society and other sites in the downtown Wilkes-Barre area.

Sunbury, Pennsylvania - Northumberland County Seat

2008-09-11T04:10:00.000-07:00

My visit to Sunbury was only a 1 night stay but I did it in style at the River View Bed and Breakfast right on Hiway 147 and the corner of Chestnut, which is a one way street going East. The house is beautiful and sits overlooking the Susquehannah River and a park with a gazebo. If you see the gazebo you know you are right by the B&B. The first Gazebo not the second one! I found the key as instructed and proceeded to empty my car and pile my items by a chair in the lobby area. I then reparked the car over in the back of the house across the street. No to convenient for luggage handling although I did park temporarily on the street till I collected my items. I had reduced myself to a few choice things to keep it simple for repacking.

I entered the River View Inn and was greeted with beautiful antiques, lovely floral arrangements, mirrors, paintings and rich colors. I love B&B's and enjoy seeing the details provided by the owners and their choices of colors, textures and decor. Staying at B&B's is always an adventure.

The River View Inn is a little oasis in Sunbury. I found a grocery store nearby and bought some food for my dinner. I was having trouble finding restaurants that would not mean driving across the river. So keep that in mind. Actually I was to learn that going to Northumberland on the other side of the river was not that hard and they had a better selection I suspect.The picture above is of the Susquehannah through the window of the B&B. So there are reflections of the glass.

Harrisburg to Sunbury, Northumberland County Seat

2008-09-10T17:39:00.000-07:00

After visiting The National Civil War museum I headed up to Sunbury the county seat of Northumberland County. I wanted to visit the Northumberland Historical Society and see just what they might have regarding the history of the area.

Everything was going well till I took the wrong exit and had to backtrack. Then I panicked as I was driving up Hiwy 22 waiting to find Hiway 11. I took an exit to Halifax and it turned out to be Hiway 147 which was really perfect. A two lane, country road through little towns along the east side of the Susquehanna River. I saw the land, I saw farmland, rolling tree covered hills and fields. It was beautiful. Wonderful towns with the houses built almost on the highway itself. Everything was going great till we got behind some trucks painting lines?? Well that lasted about 20 minutes and then I was again on my way. I think the road sign indicating mileage saying 14 was incorrect, or the trucks slowed me down more than I realized. Finally I was in Sunbury and looking for the Historical Society which is on Hiway 149 at the north end of town. Be careful it comes up quickly and you can miss the entrance.

I parked in the parking lot on the other side of the museum which can be accessed by other streets if you know what you are doing. The museum itself was closed for renovation, but the genealogical library was open from 1-4 p.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I met Ann and Jack and they assisted me in finding information about Goss, Scott and Seward. I looked at their family histories but I did not see anything that would fit my line of the Goss family. They were using Goss/Gass interchangeably and I think that is German in origin, my family is English. They have a nice collection of maps. History books for the area they serve. It is small but it has lots of shelves with many books and it is a growing active genealogical library. Jack and Ann were very helpful and efficient.

I was informed that early marriages would probably appear in the church records (1776) and was pointed to Humphrey’s work. I was familiar with it because I visited his booth and attended his lecture at the FGS in Philadelphia. He had not done anything on Luzerne yet. They did not have that much on Luzerne County which was a bit surprising, but apparently they are concentrating on Northumberland instead. They did have an index printed of the probates that covered 1772 to 1859 and I purchased a copy for $5.30. I did not find my surnames in it but I did find the name Gearhart and that was a family that married into the Goss family through Nathaniel Goss. I also found a copy of Huntington and Fairmount Twps from the Atlas from the 1875 Atlas of Luzerne. I was happy to find my family in that and do not think that I have seen that. I believe the Nathaniel Goss is the grandson of Philip that this atlas features. I need to study it more.

You may not have great finds when you visit small historical or genealogical societies but you never know what you will find. I feel that I have determined just what they have and their interests are and it does not include the Luzerne area I am interested in. Tomorrow I will check the deed indexes at the courthouse and see if anything interesting comes up. However, according to my resources Northumberland was the county but the area I am studying did not have probate or deed jurisdiction while under Northumberland. I need to seek confirmation of that fact?

The best is hopefully yet to come, tomorrow Wilkes-Barre is the goal and the Luzerne Historical Society which used to be called the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society. I will be much closer to where the family actually settled.

The National Civil War Museum, Harrisburg, PA

2008-09-10T17:20:00.000-07:00

My first stop today was the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg. I had no trouble getting to the museum except for determining the entrance to it which looks like a service road. I had to back track but I did find it and the signs were better going west then east. I immediately climbed a hill and circled around to the parking lot. The museum is situated on a hill overlooking the city.

The building is very new and stands proud on this hill. I entered and went into the Museum shop to purchase my ticket for $7.00. I asked about the research center and was informed that it was not yet ready for the public to use. I could however, make an appointment. I told him I was interested in pictures from the Grand Review at the end of the war. This was a parade that took place in Washington D.C. and my great uncle Alexander was said to have participated.

A young man with the museum came to greet me and told me that they could not take pictures with motion in them at that time so there were very little photographs of that parade. Grant’s men were cleaned and pressed and looked wonderful but Sherman’s were ragtag and he was embarrassed. He suggested I try Harper’s for drawings of the war. Knowing what I know about photography I should have realized that the technology was not good enough at the time. I was hoping for at least a view of Alexander’s regiment or company but I guess not.

I proceeded to take the tour of the museum. They had dioramas, artifacts, guns, sabers, uniformed, stories and a lot more. They also had movies about the battles by an battle expert, a movie about the reactions on both sides to the end of the war. There was a lot about the African-American participation in the war in the infantry and navy and of course, slavery. There was a picture of a man with the shackles they used to restrain them from running away. Sigh! The loss of life in the Civil War is too awful to comprehend. The aftermath is also difficult to understand. I my opinion Reconstruction was not what it should have been. It may have even been more damaging or added to the damage already done. One of my clients calls it the "War of North Aggression" and it is 2008. He was born in the South and lives in Virginia at this time.

This is a good museum to visit and I recommend that if you are in the Harrisburg area set aside more than 1 hour. I know a lot about the Civil War with the research that I have done my my great grandfather George Angus Barclay and his brother Alexander Barclay. Alexander marched with Sherman. George was a wagoner. They both served ffrom Minnesota. I was at Gettysburg several years back and that was a sad business. I think Gettysburg is haunted.

The National Museum of the Civil War is a good place to remind yourself of the cost of this war to our nation and maybe we can learn from it?

The Pennsylvania State Archives, Harrisburg

2008-09-10T04:57:00.000-07:00

I awoke and found that the sky had filled with gray clouds. I went down to the lobby of my motel, the Comfort Inn, and found out that the weather report included thunderstorms and lots of rain. I was told it was going to be all day. I was planning to walk to the Pennsylvania Archives so I could enjoy Harrisburg and see the city. It was not going to happen. I was going to have to use the rental car and try to drive in rush hour traffic in a city I was not familiar with. I ate breakfast and did some chores and headed back to my room to make up my mind about what I wanted to do. I finally decided to just “feel the fear and do it anyway!”

I ran out to the car and climbed in and made my way to the Pennsylvania Archives. I found the 7th and Forster Street Parking garage and was relieved to find out that it was in view as I drove up Forster. That was a good thing! I climbed the parking lot to the 5th floor before I started to find parking spaces. I was soon on my way to the Archives. By the time I got to the parking garage the rain had lighted up and it was now breaking up. It was a little before 9 a.m.

The Pennsylvania Archives is in the tall building that is like a big rectangular straight block. The research area is on the ground floor and that is where you enter. It is next to the Museum which is a circular building. You have to walk about 3 long blocks to get to it from the parking garage on 7th Avenue. The entrance is on the corner of Forster and 3rd Ave. I entered the courtyard and the door to the Research room was straight ahead of me through a courtyard.

Your first step is to sign in at the reception desk. You have to empty your bags and place them into a locker and take only what you need. They don’t have a lot of tables to work on so you best keep things simple. I took over the end of one long table.

The research room is divided into the outer area where you access the books and the microfilm. The inner area is the manuscript room which is restricted. I ordered the Susquehanna Company Papers and was very disappointed to find that they were two boxes, the first was filled with carbon copies of some typed transcript with no identifying information about where it came from. The other box contained copies of a microfilm stacked in this large box with the information written on the backside of each copy but their were no names or any kind of index that I could see. I was disappointed. I had to fill out more paperwork to enter the Manuscript room.

The rest of the day was deep into the Land records and Connecticut Claimants and surveys and such. I had not been able to pull off their online surveys because the volumes were not the same. It was decided they were the Connecticut surveys and those were on other films. I did look at the films and it was very interesting and I took lots of pictures of the surveys. I did not accomplish all I had hoped for but then I was a little ambitious. This is definitely a two day affair and maybe more. One day was not enough to look at the films; however, some of the films are at the Family History Library especially the county records so check that online catalog before you go. They have a heavy microfilm collection.

It was a very busy day and my little Sony Camera did a great job taking digital photos without my tripod which is a little risky. I am very pleased because it is a hard business to copy things at 50 cents a copy. There equipment is old and they only have two microfilm printer machines. So when it gets busy it is hard to copy items.

Since they closed at 4 p.m., I decided it was too late to start anything else. So I packed up about 3:40 p.m. and left the archive and headed to my car in the parking garage. The rain was gone and it was partially cloudy. I decided to try the local maneuver and to a U turn at one of the lights to get back on Forster to go west to Front Street. A big Cadillac didn’t like my slow driving and zoomed past me only to be stopped by lots of heavy slow traffic on Front Street.

I was back to the motel without much fuss and ready to plan the next phase of my journey!

The State Library of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg

2008-09-09T04:49:00.000-07:00

I spent Monday at the State Library. It is next to the State Capital. It is in the first floor of this large building to the right as you enter - Room 102 which is called the Reading Room. It is made up of a large room with Alcoves and then mezzanines. At least 2 levels that you climb the stairs to find books. The Genealogy room is to the right and is about 2 rooms deep with a mezzainine for more family histories. There are lots of nooks and crannies in this library. If you are the kind who likes to look and see what there is beware or they will wonder what is wrong with you. I was stopped twice because of my curiosity.

I spent most of my time in the Genealogy Room where you find county and state histories, family histories and more. I ordered some newspaper microfilms to study from the Reference Librarian. It requires a form to fill out. I was not successful in finding obituaries 1801 to 1855 time period for my family. I did find legal notices, some deaths, some marriages, land sales, partnership dissolutions so they did have good information, but it would take a lot of time and determination to get the information for your specific family if at all.

Many book titles are in the Genealogy room and some are in the main library area. You just have to get use to the way they label things 929. or Ref## is the number in the Genealogical Room and 974 is outside in the first two alcoves.

The Reference librarians are there to assist you if you need help and they also are in charge of ordering items from the basement. These are usually closed stack items. The morning group of assistants was very helpful and friendly. Come prepared with your copies of the library catalog items that you research online before you come. It helps. They use them to order the items for you.

All in all I am glad I visited the State Library and would recommend it to anyone. Happy Hunting!

The State Capital of Pennsylvania: Harrisburg!

2008-09-09T04:40:00.000-07:00

I arrived in Harrisburg, Sunday, September 7th in the early evening and made my home the Comfort Inn on Riverside by the Susquehanna River. Riverside Park is right outside of the motel so it was easy to find and gaze on the river and see the many bridges of Harrisburg.

I was told by the receptionist at the Comfort Inn that 2nd Street from Market on up is what is called restaurant row. He felt confident that I would find something good to eat and could walk to it. It was Sunday so it might not be as easy to find something good.

I tried several restaurants but they were a bit noisy with loud TV’s or speakers so I continued on down the street looking for a quiet place to eat dinner. I found this restaurant that looked promising and entered. I was seated in a pleasant area. It was not going to be inexpensive. I ordered the filet mignon and it was delicious. I had 8 white beans positioned around the plate in some sauce and a few pieces of baby asparagus. The dinner was delicious but I not a big fan of Nouveau cooking if that what it is called these days. I did eat all of the filet mignon.

I meandered back by to my motel along River Front Park and curled up for the evening.

The Federation of Genealogical Societies Conference September 3 to 6, 2008

2008-09-07T04:46:00.001-07:00

The Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) Conference started on Wednesday, September 3, 2008. This first day was for librarians and for the members. The official start was Thursday at 8 am. for the Welcome address. The lectures started at 10:30 a.m. with the Exhibit Hall reopening at 11 a.m. The FGS' membership includes genealogical societies from all over the United States and International as well. This gives them a forum to discuss their problems, to educate their members and just improve the quality of genealogy.

This is the 2nd FGS Conference that I attended. Last year they were in Fort Wayne and I was very impressed. This year they chose Philadelphia and again they did a wonderful job.

The Pennsylvania Convention Center which is connected to the Marriott is huge and comparable to McCormick Place in Chicago where the annual RSNA is scheduled. My husband attends that conference and it is even larger but this Pennsylvania facility is probably 2nd in size. In order to get to the FGS Conference you walk through the Marriott into this entry way that opens to a huge hall with a curved ceiling. You have to walk through that and it is like a huge basketball court and maybe larger. Then you enter a carpeted walkway which has rooms on each side. This is where they held the luncheon banquets. You keep walking and to the left was registration and then you turned left passed that to where the Exhibit Hall was located. To get to the lecture rooms you took an escalator to the lower floor and again walked some more till you came to them. Now if you had a lecture in 101 that was at the end of this very long hallway.

The schedule was full of many choices in lectures so I kept very busy going to them, as well as attending several of the banquets. Various organizations like APG, NGS - National Genealogical Society and more sponsor a luncheon banquet and schedule a speaker with a topic. It is an opportunity to visit with others.

You can go to the link for the FGS that I have posted in the More Information section of this blog and click on their link to their conferences. FGS will hold their annual conference in Little Rock, Arkansas and NGS will be in Raleigh, North Carolina. I am tempted because I have a client with North Carolina roots. The archives for the State of North Carolina are in Raleigh.

As I walked back to the Marriott after my last lecture that ended at 6 p.m. I saw the Exhibit Hall completely disassembled and the registration desk was gone. They had not wasted anytime.

It was all over...sigh!

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania & the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania

2008-09-06T19:30:00.000-07:00

These two organizations have merged their collections at this time. The process is still going on. The Genealogical Society is housed upstairs in the same building. They had a booth at the FGS convention.

I went to the Historical Society on Tuesday, September 2nd to do research on my family. I left the Marriott and traveled down 13th Ave, which I was to learn later, might not be a safe route and that you should go down Market to Broad Street and then find Locust. I will study my map to see what that involves. Apparently 13th can get dicey at night and the Historical Society does stay open till 8:30 p.m. on some evenings.

You enter the reception area and if you have not visited before you are requested to sign a form. Everyone pays $6.00 to use the facilities unless you are a member. After you complete the form you go into another room and find your locker. You pay it a quarter and turn the key, but you do get it back when you are ready to leave. You can only take exactly what you need into the research rooms.

The next step is to have the reference librarian give you an overview of the collection. This librarian explained the card catalogs and told me not all are online so you do have to check them. They have a hand out that gives more detail.

There are several rooms. The area where the card catalogs are located. The Reading Room, the Pennsylvania Room and the Family History Room. Mr. Arnold said that the Family Histories had spilled out into the Pennsylvania Room. The Pennsylvania Room has of course, Pennsylvania titles and more and also New Jersey. They had to remove the Delaware because they were running out of room.

In the Reading Room it is divided into two parts. The restricted area where you order 3 items at a time and then wait about 30 minutes for them to retrieve them. Once they come you have to sit in the special area so they can keep an eye on the documents and give them to you one at a time. The desks are numbered.

The unrestricted area is on the other side and you can access the library shelves yourself and again you do not reshelve items. They are not as strict as some archives but they are very careful. Absolutely no pens!

My goal was to see just what they had on the Connecticut Claims. They brought me several big books and a box filled with old papers. I could see that they had value. They will take more than a quick study. The other goal was to find Peter Spracklin, son of Betty and Peter Spracklin of Hardin Co., Ohio. I had traced him to Trenton, New Jersey. Fortunately they had Philadelphia city directories and one or two Trenton, New Jersey directories. I found him in two of them. So I was pleased. Apparently he is also in a history of the area. So I will have to trace that book and see what they have written. Peter is the brother of my John Andrew Spracklin. John is my 4th great grandfather. I like to track the collateral lines to find at the very least where they went.

It was a pleasant visit...

APG’s Professional Management Conference

2008-09-05T03:37:00.000-07:00

The APG Roundtable discussion took place Tuesday evening before the official PMC conference on Wednesday. This is where the members gather to discuss a topic and ask questions of a panel. It is called a roundtable but this year it was not set up that way it was more lecture style. Each panel member introduced themselves and told a little about their journey in the field of genealogy. Then the members ask them questions about the topic: “Diversity and Plan for the Future.” Of particular interest to me was the discussion of the virtual world of lecturing and on line group meetings for the chapters.

The official PMC conference started at 7 a.m. the next day where we gathered for a little breakfast and networking. The sound of voices greeted me as I entered the room. It was filled with round tables of genealogists from all parts of the United States and Canada. I seated myself at a table with two of my fellow genealogists from the Puget Sound Chapter of the Association of Professional Genealogists: Trish Nicola Hackett and Karen Wallace Steely. I introduced myself around and met Eileen Curley from Boston, Massachusetts. Susanna de Groot was there from the APG Ontario Chapter. We had met at the last PMC in Fort Wayne. It was good to see her again. They have a very active group in that part of Canada. I want to visit Ontario some day.

Eileen was very knowledgeable about the Boston area repositories and I told her of my plans to travel the state of Massachusetts one day from Boston to Lancaster/Brookfield and then to Springfield and Becket. She told me about finding a one of her grandfather’s clocks in Brookfield in an antique shop by knowing the markings. The breakfast gathering was filled with good coffee, muffins, exchanges of business cards, stories and more.

Donna Moughty the conference coordinator proceeded to make some announcements and gave us a warning that the last call for coffee was to take place and then Donna began her introduction of Elizabeth Shown Mills.

Elizabeth was leading a workshop based on her book “Evidence Explained” (Genealogy Publishing Co.) which is a monumental work that has broken ground on citing sources for genealogy. The internet has created a multi-layered level of source documentation. An example would be finding a document on Footnote.com such as a Revolutionary War Pension. How do you source that Revolutionary Pension from this particular source? Well, you have to document what the document is, then document that you obtained it from Footnote.com. You cannot stop there, you then document that Footnote.com obtained the Revolutionary War pension from a National Archives microfilm and more. It can get really complicated. This is of course, a simple explanation of a very complex subject.

After the morning workshop is the luncheon for the PMC Conference. Each table in the luncheon is hosted by a genealogist that is lecturing or participating in some way at the conference. As members, we choose the table and subject we are interested in and spend the time during the luncheon exchanging ideas with our fellow APG members.

The rest of the day was spent attending various other lectures on business practices and building our genealogical businesses.

Later that evening the FGS (Federation of Genealogical Society) Conference opened the Exhibit Hall at 6:30 p.m. for business.

Time for browsing…

Philadelphia City Hall!!

2008-09-05T03:17:00.000-07:00

The Marriott in downtown Philadelphia is situated one block east of City Hall. The big ornate building with the scaffolding is City Hall. In 1952 they consolidated the town and the county into this building.

My task was to obtain a will for a client. So off I went. I saw this arched opening so I crossed over to it and walked through it with a little trepidation. There were maps on the wall telling you where rooms are located. So I tried one door but it was not right at all. I finally realized that the building is huge and has a courtyard in the middle. Radiating out from the center of the courtyard is a compass and there are archways at the major compass points that reveal the city and streets beyond but you enter through them to find the hallway and room you are seeking. It if very confusing, so if you go there study the map carefully. If you need a room on a higher floor read the instructions that are posted.

Armed with this information I walked across the courtyard to the other side and found the proper door that led me to the Registrar of Wills in room 180. This building is very old and the doors are narrow and it feels like walking into a closet. I entered and explained what I needed and was sent into the back. They promptly told me that I need to go to room 187 and get the proper information. The door to room 187 was not marked but I entered anyway. To the left was the old books and to right was the microfilm area. I ended up on the left side and a nice clerk helped me to interpret my information which was from the Orphan Court index listing. She pulled down a heavy book and we opened it and immediately I spied my individual. With a little discussion with her fellow co-worker we determined what was the correct number. A little more discussion and I discovered I could just use microfilm rather than order a copy. Otherwise I would have to go back to the Register of Wills room. So I went walked over to the counter on the right and talked to the clerk who pulled the microfilm and even put it on the machine for me. She was friendly and helpful. I found my information quickly and made my copies. They were $2.00 a page which is better than $5.00 a page which I have been charged in other probate offices.

My client had sent her letter asking for this will to the wrong office, although they are connected. She had sent it to the Orphans Court Room 415 at City Hall. I have seen this same problem with other indexes, so beware of the indexes you use, you may have to do a little more digging to find the proper number to obtain the will or probate file. My will was 1928. This is why it is important to read the information on a website before you come or even call them to confirm.

Unfortunately I do not think that this will is going to solve problems for my client. The deceased gave his money to this friend?

This experience went well...

Independence National Park, Philadelphia

2008-09-05T02:29:00.000-07:00

I was told by the concierge that walking to Independence Square from the Marriott took only 8 minutes. Well, I didn’t time it, but I did walk east into the sunrise on Market Street.

Market Street is a main street in the downtown area and it is lined with stores like Ross, Staples and CVS. There are restaurants like the Hard Rock Café, Dunkin Donuts which is housed in the Pennsylvania Convention center. This facility covers one block. There was a Courthouse which I learned was the Bankruptcy Court. The street was alive with people, cars and the business of the day.

Independence Square appeared quickly and I found the Visitor Center. It is a very long building with exhibits but I didn’t have time today. I obtained my ticket for viewing Independence Hall, it was 8:30 a.m. You need to read the National Park website for information about how to obtain your tickets so you can see Independence Hall. I walked down passed the Liberty Bell Center taking photos. The park is very large with a huge lawn area spreading out between the buildings.

I passed through the security to Independence Hall and wandered around the courtyard behind it waiting for my tour at 9 a.m. Rangers were positioned at various locations keeping an eye on things. One of them pointed to a door instructing us to enter. We gathered in a room with chairs and a screen on one wall. We were told that the tour would begin in a few minutes.

A little after that announcement a very pleasant and friendly Ranger appeared and started chatting. I asked him how long the tour was and he told us “about 15 minutes.” He informed us that we could take as many pictures as we wanted. He gave us a little more detail and asked where we all came from. The other Ranger gave him the "all clear," and sharply at 9 a.m. our guide said “follow me” and led us through a door on the right side of the screen. Apparently we were not going to see the usual short intro movie??

We entered into a hallway and to the right was the court room area. The Ranger went behind the wooden railing and started to tell us about the events that took place in this room. He pointed out where the prisoner stood and he said “innocent until proven guilty.”

Then he lead us into the room across and this is where the Declaration of Independence was signed. The delegates gathered here from the various colonies to argue and discuss the events and issues of the times. Once again the Ranger went behind the wooden barrier. This room was the scene where the delegates signed the Declaration of Independence. When the delegates signed the Declaration they all knew that it meant death. They were committing treason and if the new nation lost the war there would be serious repercussions. Later they would sign the Articles of Confederation in this same room.

After this simple but sweet visit to Independence Hall, I decided to try the Liberty Bell. It is housed in this very long building filled with exhibits, but I blazed past them to see the bell. It was there at the end of the building suspended in this round room with windows from ceiling to floor. I was told the wood at the top was Elm and they had dated it to around 1700. I had a nice talk with the Ranger. He was surprised that I was able to view it alone for that didn’t happen to often. I tried to get the crack to appear in my photos.

I am a very content Patriot….

First Impressions of Philadelphia!

2008-09-04T18:52:00.000-07:00

My flight to Pennsylvania was easy with no problems or troubles. I arrived safely about 4:30 p.m. and made my way to baggage claim. Of course, my bags were the last to show on the carousel. I collected them and headed for the taxi.

I could have taken other transportation like the train or a hotel van but decided this was the most efficient and easiest for me and someone else could do the lifting of all the heavy bags.

My driver was a grumpy Russian man, who growled that that he knew where the Marriott was downtown. We speed away and the highway curved around giving me a view of Philadelphia's downtown. The tall buildings grouped together remained me of Seattle. The sun was shining and it was warm but not hot. I was glad I didn’t bring heavier clothing from home.

I was deposited outside the Marriott which had a curved driveway and that made easy access. I paid my taxi driver in cash and probably a little too much but he got me to the hotel in one piece. As I get older my tolerance for speeding cars is not as great as it used to be. I was just relieved to be done with the airplane travel and safely in my hotel. The hotel lobby opened to this large grand hallway with a glossy marble floor. The thought of taking off my shoes and sliding across it quickly passed across my mind and I smiled.
I found my room on the 8th floor and the view was to the west toward the City Hall. Philadelphia is old and the buildings are crowded together. There is scaffolding on a portion of City Hall. She is very large and ornate so you only see a small part of the building peaking out from the surrounding buildings. Not wasting much time, I left my room in search of dinner and decided to try the hotel dining room, I think the name is 13. After that I walked around the block getting a feel for this city. I spied lots of restaurants that were possibilities and stores that may have items I needed. I have been to Chicago and walked the Magnificent Mile. I have taken the Freedom Walk in Boston and seen the old city cemeteries and historic sites. In Los Angeles, I had dinner with friends. In San Francisco, I have been on the cable cars and shopped in the downtown stores. Now I add Philadelphia to my visits this countries big cities.

More exploring comes next….

Just Days Away till Flight Time!

2008-08-28T06:17:00.000-07:00

Flying out to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is only days away! Preparations are underway for this 3 weeks trip in Eastern Pennsylvania.

It starts in Philadelphia for the Professional Management Conference by the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) and is followed by the Federation of Genealogical Society Conference (FGS).

The festivities are kicked off on Tuesday evening with the APG Roundtable where members of APG gather to share ideas. The next day will be amazing for Elizabeth Shown Mills is giving a workshop on sourcing your research based on her book “Evidence Explained.” I will be taking tickets for lunch and being door monitor at one of the afternoon sessions, so if you see me, say “Hello.” FGS last year was filled with great information, good lectures, excellent food and I walked away with far too many books from the Exhibit hall. HA!

Philadelphia is a great place to do genealogical research. I will be visiting the Historical Society of Pennsylvania http://www.hsp.org/ which also houses the Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania collection. http://www.genpa.org/library.html

The Genealogical Society of Pennsylvania has a great listing of local genealogical treasures which include links http://www.genpa.org/RepositoriesPhilaGen.html The website also gives information about where to find the records.

My journey will take me to the Philadelphia City Hall where I will be obtaining a probate file for a client. In 1952 the city and county of Philadelphia combined their resources. That will be a very interesting adventure. If Philadelphia’s City Hall is anything like King County it will be busy and challenging.

Of course I will have to see the Liberty Bell http://www.nps.gov/inde/liberty-bell-center.htm and Independence Hall http://www.nps.gov/inde/planyourvisit/index.htm
before I leave Philadelphia. I have seen the Declaration of Independence in the National Archives in Washington D.C., now I will get to see where it was signed.

It is going to be an exciting and busy 1st week of the 3 weeks.

Washington D.C., Our Nation's Capital

2008-08-21T06:04:00.000-07:00

We landed at Dulles in the late evening on August 14th and the taxi wove its way east towards D.C. As we approached the city, I began to see the familiar sites and sounds: Lincoln’s Memorial, the Washington Monument and all the huge stately buildings that line the city streets.

As tourists, we took the Odyssey cruise on the Potomac and visited the Jefferson Memorial. We have seen Monticello, Jefferson’s home, so reviewing the information in the underground museum of the Jefferson Memorial reminded me of this extraordinary man and the men he knew, like George Washington, whom Jefferson admired. Seeing this Memorial was probably a good idea because I am researching my two ancestors Philip Goss and his son Solomon Goss who lived at the approximately the same time as Jefferson. Solomon died in 1825 and Jefferson in 1828.

My time at the DAR Library is a true adventure. They now have the Seimes Microfilm Room which houses all the microfilm, fiche, CD’s and more. This room is separate from the main library. I did obtain several DAR applications off of the computer in the Seimes Room. They have scanned many of the files to the appropriate Revolutionary patriot. You can research a member, an ancestor and look at supporting documentation. It still costs $10.00.

I have been spending most of my time in the main library with all the wonderful books. It is so beautiful. It was once an assembly room and the funny small door that you enter the library was the entrance to the stage area. Getting some of the books is a challenge for you have to climb up to the mezzanine and move the big moving shelves that they have installed. So far, I am getting a lot of problems on sourcing solved and finding most of the books and the GRC’s Reports that are listed in the online index at the DAR website.

It is time to go do more research…

Second Time Around – DAR Library

2008-08-11T07:43:00.000-07:00

Before going to Pennsylvania there will be a slight detour to Washington D.C. an awesome place to visit.

On August 14th I fly out to D.C. with my hubby. He will be attending a seminar through his hospital and I will visit the DAR Library (Daughters of the American Revolution) and other repositories. We will be there for about a week. This will be my 4th time to Washington D.C. and my second time to the DAR Library.

My first visit to the DAR Library Washington D.C. I was very green to genealogy. It was at the DAR Library that I discovered my Mayflower heritage through my Goss line. My cousins Paul Henry Goss and Flora Montanye Osborn did a lot of research back in the 1930’s-1950’s and wrote articles and manuscripts. I have been collecting these articles and manuscripts and have about 20 plus in my genealogical library.

So I am off to the DAR Library to research these two cousins and hopefully learn more about them and to continue checking the sources used by Paul and Flora. Later I will compile all my findings and put them into some form to share with others researching the Goss Family. This is the same Goss Family that I will be doing research on in Pennsylvania. So going to the DAR Library before visiting Pennsylvania will be great!

I will also be doing client research. I plan to visit the Virginia Room of the Fairfax County Regional Library in Fairfax, Virginia. My client has an old North Carolina family that has roots in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Washington D.C.
My other client has a very old Virginia family who probably knew Thomas Jefferson and may have a family connection to George Washington. I am hoping to visit with him and plan some strategies for research other family lines that will take us to an very interesting place?

I can hardly wait to dangle my feet at the DAR Library!

Reunions Viking Style II - Dosewallips State Park

2008-08-05T08:50:00.001-07:00

The Rowberg Campout has come and gone for another year. It went so fast!

There was lots of good sharing, food and fun. The claming and oyster hunting was very successful. The hiking took them up a mountain where they saw a bear with her cubs. The rain didn't stop the family from gathering together and fortunately lasted only one night! Yes, the turkey was moist and delicious!

Next year there will be a campout and a wedding which means a lot of great celebrating!

Reunions: Viking Style!

2008-07-30T08:07:00.000-07:00

My hubby and I are off to the annual Rowberg Campout this Thursday July 31, 2008 till Sunday. This year it will be held at the Dosewallips State Park on the Olympic Peninsula. It is on the east side along Highway 101 near Hood Canal.

Now what does this have to do with Pennsylvania? Absolutely nothing! I figured it would be good practice learning to blog these different happenings up to my actual big event trip. Besides reunions are a great way to share and get to know your family and keep the stories of your ancestors alive. This family knows how to do that, thanks to their mother Luella.

This reunion is for my husband’s family and they are of Norwegian descent. The names are Rowberg or Rauberg as it was first written. Other surnames are Lokensgard, Romtvedt, Brathole, Walswick and more. They have a heritage tent that guards the many photobooks and memorabilia of their mother’s and father’s.

The Kjetil and Aslaug Rowberg/Rauberg came in 1870-1. Their grandson Hardy Rowberg married Alvhild Lokensgard. Her grandparents Ole and Helga Lokensgard came to America back in 1857 and last year they celebrated the 150th year anniversary of this event in Minnesota where they settled. This is my hubby's father's side. On his mother's side Louis Brathole came in about 1886 to America from Norway. The Walswicks came about 1856.

Every year for the last 20 or so, this family gathers at a campground in Washington State and spends 4 days visiting and sharing their lives. Last year it was Deception Pass State Park which has memories of camping with my father and mother Keith and Marjorie. The photos are from that 2007 campout.

This family gathers around the campfire after dinner and each person gets a chance to share their life events of the last year. I mean everyone! The news is about 27 people will be there! They come miles to be there and they are very sad when they cannot make it.

Every campout has been documented in special scrapbooks of the photos and it is fun to see the family members change throughout the years. Yes, they have their group photo shoot and they actually cooperate!!!

My sister and brother and his friend came last year. This year my sister Nancy will be come for a visit.

Well I am off to pack up the van for this trip!

Get Out the Maps and More...!

2008-07-21T10:09:00.000-07:00

An itinerary is only useful if you know where you are going. So get out the maps! The destination in September is Eastern Pennsylvania.

http://www.map-clipart.com/

Genealogy research trips are like treasure maps and always an adventure. It is important to have a road map of the area you are visiting so a state map is very important. A detailed city map is useful for the big cities.

How do you get a hold of maps like these or find your way?

If you are a member of Triple AAA, The Automobile Club, you can get free maps and travel booklets that list hotels. This website for AAA is for Washington State: http://www.aaawa.com/ You will need to sign up for your own state. You can order maps and booklets through their website. Another option is a used bookstore like Half Price Books. They have older versions of travel books. You do pay a small fee for them.

The tourism website for the state you are going to visit can be of assistance and frequently you can get free travel brochures by clicking on their links. I just typed “Tourism Pennsylvania” into Google and it takes me to all kinds of information and I can pick and choose what I want. I decided on this site for Pennsylvania: http://www.visitpa.com/visitpa/home.pa. A state tourism website is a great place to get familiar with the regions and the way a state views itself. There are links to lodging, activities and more. They also have maps to view. This particular website is very helpful and easy to get around in. Some can be difficult very difficult to find information.

This tourism website also tells you about other visitor centers. Going to a visitor center can be helpful. You get more good maps and can ask questions of the natives.

I will be visiting in several of the regional areas in Pennsylvania. First stop is Philadelphia and the Countryside http://www.visitpa.com/visitpa/regionsDetail.pa?regionid=7. I will fly into Philadelphia and stay there for the conferences for the PMC for APG and the FGS. Then I will rent a car and drive to Lancaster. At the end of the trip I will return to visit Washington’s Crossing and Valley Forge.

Next, Dutch Country Roads http://www.visitpa.com/visitpa/regionsDetail.pa?regionid=6.
I will drive through Lancaster, do a little exploring and have a little dinner before I head for Harrisburg.

After Harrisburg is The Alleghenies and Her Valleys as another regional area I will travel through. I will follow the Susquehanna River up to Sunbury and vist that area for a day or so. http://www.visitpa.com/visitpa/regionsDetail.pa?regionid=5

The target area is the Northeast Pennsylvania Mountains. From Sunbury I will travel East to Wilkes-Barre and stay there for six days. This is where the Goss family settled in 1769. http://www.visitpa.com/visitpa/regionsDetail.pa?regionid=3

To plan my route I am using Microsoft’s Streets and Trips 2008 software, which I purchased at Sam’s Club (Walmart) for about $22.00 this year. This gives me very good detail. It sets up a driving route from each point giving me time and miles between stopping points. The time factor is very important in planning your trip. I can turn on local information like hotels, museums and parks to see what is in an area. It doesn’t have them all but it helps. With gas prices as high as they are these days this is extremely important in making sure you plan your trips efficiently.

If you don’t have access to Triple AAA or want to save money you can use MapQuest http://www.mapquest.com/ and Yahoo Maps http://maps.yahoo.com/. I find them very helpful and they have worked great for me in the past. I would plan a route between to stopping points. It gives me the time and miles. I can even zero in on a city and just make a map of the area in the city that I need or a whole town if it is small enough. They save your addresses which makes it easier to make adjustments. You can print them off to place into your Travel File for later viewing. I write on the printouts what the addresses refer to and put them in order into my Travel File. These maps don’t always give you as much detail as you need so you still need a city or state map to review as well.

This year I have discovered Google Earth http://earth.google.com/ which takes you to the location in real time showing you houses, buildings, roads, cemeteries etc. It is sooo cool! It will be great for finding cemeteries. I have wandered around a bit looking for the small ones before, HA! You will have to sign up for Google Earth but the basic is free.

Don’t forget the DOT for the state you are visiting. DOT stands for Department of Transportation. The one in Washington State has cameras on the roads so you can see what the highways look like and get a feel for the area. They also tell you about construction problems. Street’s and Trips 2008 does too. This is the one for Pennsylvania: http://www.dot.state.pa.us/.

The other websites that you might want to study are Airport websites which give you a map of the airport. Here is the Philly airport site http://www.phl.org/index.html. Airport websites give ground transportation information for taxi’s, shuttles, rental cars and a map of the airport and terminal, food and shops, flight information etc.

How do you find these things. Just type DOT Pennsylvania into Google and you will get there. For Airports just Google Philadelphia Airport. Remember to be careful and choose the right airport. Some cities have several?

I have two routes set up on “Streets & Trips 2008.” One is the overall trip which is like a big circle: Philly to Harrisburg to Wilkes-Barre back to Philly. The second route is in the Wilkes-Barre area to all the sites and repositories I will be visiting.

You gotta know where you are going or it can be really be a problem. You can waste time. Wouldn't you rather be researching your family and having fun? So plan inadvance it works!

www.brimfieldbarn.com/

I will put these route maps on my laptop where I have the software loaded and it will help me to find my way. Then with my new Moto Q9c cellphone with Sprint Navigation on it I should be able to get from one place to the other just fine.

Love It!

It is in the Details!

2008-07-07T05:32:00.000-07:00

My first step in preparing for a genealogical research trip, is to prepare an itinerary that details each of the day’s activities. I open Word on my computer and just type, nothing fancy…

Day 1 – Monday, Sept. 1, 2008: Fly into Philadelphia…

Day 2 – Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2008: Go on walking tour of Philly…

Day 3 – Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008 etc…PMC Conference…"

I add as many details as necessary to make my life easier on the trip. I add addresses, phone numbers and the hours/days a society or library is open.

You never have enough time! So the more detailed the itinerary is, the less time you spend looking for information. Besides you can just print a copy for family or friends so they know where you are.

So what is on the itinerary??

1. My Goal for the whole trip. The dates of the trip and the location targeted...
2. Each Day and date of the day - underlined and bolded so I can find it easily
3. Then I follow with the goals of the day.
4. Addresses, phone numbers and hours of the archive, genealogical society, museum or library
5. Checking into and out of a hotel/motel/B&B. Addresses of hotels and phone numbers
6. Airfare reservation information
6. Car rental information and the address of the rental agency/phone number
7. Shuttle or taxi service information that I might need and where to find it.

It gets frequent updates till the first day of the trip. It is printed out and placed in a travel file for the trip. In that file are my confirmations, reservation information, brochures and maps. All my travel information. I also have copies of my itinerary on my laptop.

The itinerary is constantly updated right up to the beginning of the trip. Do I do everything I plan…No…so the itinerary is just a plan of action subject to change. The details of the actual trip are in the journal I write as I experience each day!!

Sign Up for Door Prizes, You Might Win!

2008-06-25T08:17:00.000-07:00

The concept for this genealogical research trip to Pennsylvania was always in the back of my mind. I wanted to visit the area of Wilkes-Barre where my Goss ancestors settled in 1769. I have been tracking this family for many years.

However, back in August 2007 when I attended the Federation of Genealogical Society Conference (FGS) in Fort Wayne, Indiana it became a real possibility. This Federation promotes, educates and assists member genealogical societies in growing and developing. http://www.fgs.org/

There are actually two conferences held at one time. The other conference is the Professional Management Conference (PMC) sponsored by The Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) http://www.apgen.org/ This Association educates and promotes its members. They have a listing of professional genealogists for hire on their website. This Association has under its umbrella many different categories of genealogists which can include librarians, writers, editors, heir researchers, researchers and more.

I am a member of APG and I am also the current President of the Puget Sound Chapter of the Association (PS-APG): http://www.apgen.org/chapters/pugetsound/index.html

They were offering door prizes at the PMC/APG conference so I signed up for several. Much to my surprise, I won the FGS 2008 registration fee sponsored by FGS! I was thrilled! That was great, but the best part was the FGS 2008 conference was to be held in Philadelphia on September 3 to 6, 2008. It was a done deal! I had to go!

The first stop on this trip will be, of course, Philadelphia. I will be flying out of Seattle on September 1, 2008 at an early hour and hopefully arrive in Philadelphia by 5 p.m.

Meanwhile, preparations for the trip are already underway…