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| Aune Reini Proctor (1912-2007) |
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| Happy Birthday Grandmother! |
I wish she could have lived a couple more years to hear all that I have learned about her family!
You can read more about Aune here.
Showing posts with label Reini. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reini. Show all posts
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Today is the 100th Anniversary of My Grandmother's Birth - Aune Reini Proctor, born Jan 21, 1912.
I wish she could have lived a couple more years to hear all that I have learned about her family!
You can read more about Aune here.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Sepia Saturday #72 - A Trick of Time
I was very surprised to see this photo because I feel like I am looking at myself in a wig. In reality, this is a photo from 1939 of my grandmother Aune Reini Proctor holding my mother (left) with my Great Aunt Cleo Proctor Cavanaugh holding her son Jack. I have never thought that there was any resemblance between us, but the likeness is undeniable here. Strange!
Just a quick entry for this week's Sepia Saturday.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Sepia Sunday: Proctor Logging Camp in Washington State, Summer 1947
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| Everett, Aune, Jayne Cook, Janis Proctor, Jean & Johnny Cook |
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| Proctors and Cooks; Joyce and Jayne; Aune, Jayne and Jean |
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| Ray, Johnny (in-laws=yawn), Everett, Aune & Rusty the Dog, Joyce & Jayne |
The Everett Proctor Family at Ray Proctor's logging camp in the woods near Mt. Vernon or Startup, Washington in the Summer of 1947.
I am a little late for my Sepia Saturday posting, so it will be Sepia Sunday this week.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Remembering Aune on her 99th Birthday
Today my maternal grandmother Aune (Reini) Proctor would have been 99 years old. She passed away Oct 24, 2007. Since it seems that she did not have an obituary published, here is my version of what it should have said:
Aune Maria Reini was born on January 21, 1912 in Hamilton, Washington to Finnish immigrants Matti Wiita and Mathilda (Huhtala) Reini. Her parents had each independently come to the U.S. from South Ostrobothnia, Finland (1900 and 1902) and married on July 6, 1906 in Washington State. Matti often worked as a foreman for the logging industry and Mathilda sometimes ran a boarding house in Seattle for newly arrived Finns.
Aune had a difficult young adulthood, which ultimately resulted in her growing into a very strong, fiery woman. She lost her two sisters, whom she very much loved and adored, and three newborn children all within a span of 11 years in her young life. She was only 13 when her oldest sister Helia died. Soon after, Aune became very ill and spent much of her 14th year in bed. Her illness was most likely due to her intense grief at losing her sister. She and her sisters had all shared a bed growing up, resulting in a special closeness between them. Aune thought so highly of her sister Helia that she spoke of her with deep love and in the most glowing of terms, almost on a daily basis, for the rest of her long life. To make matters worse for the young woman, she lost her close sister Miriam only 11 years later. After Miriam’s death, she cried so much and so often that she feared she would damage her young daughter's psyche. She managed to go on with her life, but she would always suffer the effects of the loss of those closest to her.
Aune married Everett Herman Proctor, whom she met at a dance, on May 5, 1927 in Snohomish County, Washington. She often remarked that it was love at first sight. The young couple moved into a "shack" on Everett's parents Daniel and Millie Proctor's property, where they lived until, at least, 1930.
Aune suffered from various maladies into her thirties. She had difficulty carrying her pregnancies to term and delivered all five of her children prematurely, which resulted in three of them dying before she could take them home from the hospital. (They are buried in Greenwood Memorial Park in Renton, WA.) This caused her and her husband great sadness. Her daughters Jean and Janis were able to overcome their premature starts and grew into relatively healthy children. From that point and on into her nineties, Aune enjoyed excellent health.
She began working at Boeing around 1940. For almost 30 years, she worked full time while raising her family. She enjoyed it so much that when women were urged to quit their jobs after WWII, she continued on and, eventually, managed her department. At the same time, her husband Everett was working his way up in the ranks, and was given the job of Supervisor at the Seattle Water Department. One could say that they were ahead of their time as a "career couple," long before that became the societal norm.
Aune excelled at fashion and drawing. She absolutely loved to go shopping and put together outfits for her children and grandchildren. She also expertly sewed special occasion dresses for her daughters and granddaughters. She spent much of her retirement, joining her daughter Janis at the mall, or taking the bus on her own, for a day of shopping. When she was home, she would sit and sketch female silhouettes for hours. Those who knew her, often remarked that she should have had a career as a designer or buyer for a retail store.
She became a young widow after 47 years of marriage, when Everett passed away in 1974 while they were living in Rancho Bernardo, CA. She soon moved a few blocks to the home of her daughter Janis Moore and her family, spending the summers with her elder daughter Jean Hewitt in Salt Lake City, UT. She lived a very active life and was immersed in her grandchildren’s activities on a daily basis (including doing their paper routes and mowing the lawns when they were supposed to do it themselves). In her day to day life, other than her regular shopping trips, she enjoyed her religion, crossword puzzles (she could spell anything), Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, dancing, sweets and babies (of which she was provided a never ending supply in the form of grandchildren, great grandchildren and great, great grandchildren). She was a hardy old woman, seemingly immune to common illnesses like cancer and heart problems that plagued others her age. She had been repeatedly exposed in her younger years to handfuls of asbestos, extended x-rays and secondhand smoke, but none of this had an effect on her. She seemed like she would live forever...
In the summer of 2007, her daughter Janis was finally unable to continue to care for her full time, as she had been doing for quite a few years prior, because her husband Tony was suffering from Parkinson’s Disease. So, her elder daughter Jean arranged to have her cared for in a nursing home in Salt Lake City. At first, Aune seemed to enjoy her time there, socializing and taking part in the daily activities. However, she soon deteriorated and passed away after only having been there about four months. There can be no doubt that her legacy continues to live on in her large family. At the time of her death, she had 9 grandchildren, 13 great grandchildren and 2 great, great grandchildren. She was predeceased by her husband, her sisters Helia and Miriam, her half-sister in Finland Hilma (Wiita) Myllykangas, her brothers Louie and George, her half-brother Einar Huhtala, three infant children and one grandchild Kathleen Cook.
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| Everett and Aune Proctor c.1930s |
Aune Maria Reini was born on January 21, 1912 in Hamilton, Washington to Finnish immigrants Matti Wiita and Mathilda (Huhtala) Reini. Her parents had each independently come to the U.S. from South Ostrobothnia, Finland (1900 and 1902) and married on July 6, 1906 in Washington State. Matti often worked as a foreman for the logging industry and Mathilda sometimes ran a boarding house in Seattle for newly arrived Finns.
Aune had a difficult young adulthood, which ultimately resulted in her growing into a very strong, fiery woman. She lost her two sisters, whom she very much loved and adored, and three newborn children all within a span of 11 years in her young life. She was only 13 when her oldest sister Helia died. Soon after, Aune became very ill and spent much of her 14th year in bed. Her illness was most likely due to her intense grief at losing her sister. She and her sisters had all shared a bed growing up, resulting in a special closeness between them. Aune thought so highly of her sister Helia that she spoke of her with deep love and in the most glowing of terms, almost on a daily basis, for the rest of her long life. To make matters worse for the young woman, she lost her close sister Miriam only 11 years later. After Miriam’s death, she cried so much and so often that she feared she would damage her young daughter's psyche. She managed to go on with her life, but she would always suffer the effects of the loss of those closest to her.
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| Aune, Helia and Miriam Reini, c.1925 |
Aune married Everett Herman Proctor, whom she met at a dance, on May 5, 1927 in Snohomish County, Washington. She often remarked that it was love at first sight. The young couple moved into a "shack" on Everett's parents Daniel and Millie Proctor's property, where they lived until, at least, 1930.
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| Aune and Everett c.1930s |
Aune suffered from various maladies into her thirties. She had difficulty carrying her pregnancies to term and delivered all five of her children prematurely, which resulted in three of them dying before she could take them home from the hospital. (They are buried in Greenwood Memorial Park in Renton, WA.) This caused her and her husband great sadness. Her daughters Jean and Janis were able to overcome their premature starts and grew into relatively healthy children. From that point and on into her nineties, Aune enjoyed excellent health.
She began working at Boeing around 1940. For almost 30 years, she worked full time while raising her family. She enjoyed it so much that when women were urged to quit their jobs after WWII, she continued on and, eventually, managed her department. At the same time, her husband Everett was working his way up in the ranks, and was given the job of Supervisor at the Seattle Water Department. One could say that they were ahead of their time as a "career couple," long before that became the societal norm.
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| Everett and Aune 1956 |
Aune excelled at fashion and drawing. She absolutely loved to go shopping and put together outfits for her children and grandchildren. She also expertly sewed special occasion dresses for her daughters and granddaughters. She spent much of her retirement, joining her daughter Janis at the mall, or taking the bus on her own, for a day of shopping. When she was home, she would sit and sketch female silhouettes for hours. Those who knew her, often remarked that she should have had a career as a designer or buyer for a retail store.
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| Aune c.1940s |
She became a young widow after 47 years of marriage, when Everett passed away in 1974 while they were living in Rancho Bernardo, CA. She soon moved a few blocks to the home of her daughter Janis Moore and her family, spending the summers with her elder daughter Jean Hewitt in Salt Lake City, UT. She lived a very active life and was immersed in her grandchildren’s activities on a daily basis (including doing their paper routes and mowing the lawns when they were supposed to do it themselves). In her day to day life, other than her regular shopping trips, she enjoyed her religion, crossword puzzles (she could spell anything), Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, dancing, sweets and babies (of which she was provided a never ending supply in the form of grandchildren, great grandchildren and great, great grandchildren). She was a hardy old woman, seemingly immune to common illnesses like cancer and heart problems that plagued others her age. She had been repeatedly exposed in her younger years to handfuls of asbestos, extended x-rays and secondhand smoke, but none of this had an effect on her. She seemed like she would live forever...
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| Aune c.1970s |
In the summer of 2007, her daughter Janis was finally unable to continue to care for her full time, as she had been doing for quite a few years prior, because her husband Tony was suffering from Parkinson’s Disease. So, her elder daughter Jean arranged to have her cared for in a nursing home in Salt Lake City. At first, Aune seemed to enjoy her time there, socializing and taking part in the daily activities. However, she soon deteriorated and passed away after only having been there about four months. There can be no doubt that her legacy continues to live on in her large family. At the time of her death, she had 9 grandchildren, 13 great grandchildren and 2 great, great grandchildren. She was predeceased by her husband, her sisters Helia and Miriam, her half-sister in Finland Hilma (Wiita) Myllykangas, her brothers Louie and George, her half-brother Einar Huhtala, three infant children and one grandchild Kathleen Cook.
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| Aune c.1990 |
Monday, December 20, 2010
Amanuensis Monday - Letters from Finland
Last year I was very fortunate to meet a cousin through Ancestry.com who had many items of importance to my Finnish family history research. Among these items were 34 letters from my great grandfather Matti Wiita Reini's sister's family in Finland that were sent to the US. I was also very fortunate to receive a tremendous amount of help translating these letter from Finnish to English from my wonderful Finnish friends, members of the FinnGen community and, eventually, Finnish cousins that I was able to track down thanks to information from the first few translated letters. You may notice that the English is a bit awkward since we strove to preserve the original intent/wording of the letters as much as possible. I edited the translations provided to me just a bit to make them readily understandable. These letters were mostly written right after WWII and show the suffering that the Finnish people were enduring. I chose this one to post because it so clearly shows the state of affairs in which many Finns found themselves.
Lapua, Finland - 26 May 1946.
Dear relatives!
Aunt and cousins, a lot of thanks to you for the parcels that have arrived. I have to describe Mother’s joy- if only you would have seen how Mother enjoyed keeping a a package of coffee under her arm, and saying, "It is good that my dear sister still lives and remembers me and my children and also her children take so much care". This is because mother hasn't had a chance to drink real coffee in such a long time. Now there have been no breaks, as cousin Ernest has sent so many parcels and there has been coffee in all of them and so many other good things that we have not had in many years. A lot of thanks for all the clothes and shoes as we now in summer time get only paper shoes with wooden soles. Also the quite new fabric that we have not seen in many years. It is so odd here that you have to be a good friend with the dealer, then you are sold to under the counter. That's as things are so that sometimes there's new fabric in the shop, but you have to be at the shop right away. We can't as the shops are far away and there is nobody to save any for you, so you have to be without. Liisa’s husband is in the book store and they do not have that type of stuff. It is so wonderful to see fabric with a summer look.
Here the summer is soon at its most beautiful. The leaves on the trees are half grown and the cuckoo is calling and the birds build their nests - in everything you see the beauty of the Creator. It would be lovely if I could shake your hands and thank you, but it is not possible, so I thank you from my heart for everything that I have received from you. The shoes were too big for me, but Mother swapped her smaller size shoes with me so I got the right size anyway. So, we thank you for everything.
With many heartily greetings,
Sanna Liisa and Saima (Honkaharju)
*Translation by Ismo Nuuja*
Finland was decimated by the wars that raged there from 1939-1944. Then, to add insult to injury, the Soviet Union imposed heavy war reparations on Finland after WWII. Most Finns had almost nothing - not even the basic staples of life. In response, the US organized a program called "Finnish Relief" or "Help Finland, Inc", overseen by the former US President Herbert Hoover, to send over desperately needed packages of food, clothing and shoes. Judging from the letters, Matti's sister Josefina (Wiita) Kitinoja was sending these supplies to their sister Sanna Liisa (Wiita) Honkaharju and her children. Most of the 34 letters are from this time period and are full of appreciation for the, obviously, much needed supplies. Lucky for me, some even contained extremely valuable genealogical information.
It was a real eye-opener to be able to read my Finnish family's actual feelings and experiences, especially at such a trying time in their history. Although the letters were often sad, I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the various writers' personalities through their individual styles and stories. I can't help but wish that I had letters like these from my own great grandfather, Matti. Unfortunately, that is probably an impossible wish since he did not keep in touch with his family back in Finland or his siblings in the US.
That, however, is a story for another day. One that I am sure to tell...
Lapua, Finland - 26 May 1946.
Dear relatives!
Aunt and cousins, a lot of thanks to you for the parcels that have arrived. I have to describe Mother’s joy- if only you would have seen how Mother enjoyed keeping a a package of coffee under her arm, and saying, "It is good that my dear sister still lives and remembers me and my children and also her children take so much care". This is because mother hasn't had a chance to drink real coffee in such a long time. Now there have been no breaks, as cousin Ernest has sent so many parcels and there has been coffee in all of them and so many other good things that we have not had in many years. A lot of thanks for all the clothes and shoes as we now in summer time get only paper shoes with wooden soles. Also the quite new fabric that we have not seen in many years. It is so odd here that you have to be a good friend with the dealer, then you are sold to under the counter. That's as things are so that sometimes there's new fabric in the shop, but you have to be at the shop right away. We can't as the shops are far away and there is nobody to save any for you, so you have to be without. Liisa’s husband is in the book store and they do not have that type of stuff. It is so wonderful to see fabric with a summer look.
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| Original in Finnish, Courtesy Sara Grostick |
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| Original in Finnish, Courtesy Sara Grostick |
With many heartily greetings,
Sanna Liisa and Saima (Honkaharju)
*Translation by Ismo Nuuja*
Finland was decimated by the wars that raged there from 1939-1944. Then, to add insult to injury, the Soviet Union imposed heavy war reparations on Finland after WWII. Most Finns had almost nothing - not even the basic staples of life. In response, the US organized a program called "Finnish Relief" or "Help Finland, Inc", overseen by the former US President Herbert Hoover, to send over desperately needed packages of food, clothing and shoes. Judging from the letters, Matti's sister Josefina (Wiita) Kitinoja was sending these supplies to their sister Sanna Liisa (Wiita) Honkaharju and her children. Most of the 34 letters are from this time period and are full of appreciation for the, obviously, much needed supplies. Lucky for me, some even contained extremely valuable genealogical information.
It was a real eye-opener to be able to read my Finnish family's actual feelings and experiences, especially at such a trying time in their history. Although the letters were often sad, I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the various writers' personalities through their individual styles and stories. I can't help but wish that I had letters like these from my own great grandfather, Matti. Unfortunately, that is probably an impossible wish since he did not keep in touch with his family back in Finland or his siblings in the US.
That, however, is a story for another day. One that I am sure to tell...
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Wedding Wednesday: Daniel Hewitt Proctor and Amelia "Millie" Travis, 1900
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| My great grandparents, Daniel and Millie (Travis) Proctor, Wedding- 1900 |
Right up front, I want to say that my grandmother Aune Reini Proctor said that Dan and Millie were the nicest people she ever met. Since she was their daughter-in-law, this is pretty significant. Aune met a lot of people in her 96 years of life and I never heard her say the same thing about anyone else. For this alone, they deserve to be remembered. Fortunately, this is not all that I know about them.
Thanks to the wonderful people over at Iowa Old Press who have transcribed and posted so many gems about my Travis family, I found their wedding announcement:
THE FREMONT COUNTY HERALD
October 25, 1900
Married
On October 24, 1900, at 7:00 o'clock p.m., Mr. Daniel H. Proctor and Miss Amelia Travis, Rev. E. Dickinson officiating. The wedding was a quiet one and took place at the home of the bride's parents, Mr. and Mrs. A. Travis, the immediate friends of the contracting parties only being present, with Livingston Mitchell who played the wedding march. The couple left on Tuesday morning for Omaha and will make a tour through Kansas to look up a location for a home. Their many friends extend warmest greetings and prayers for their happiness and success.
Millie was 30 and Daniel was 34 when they married - unusually late for a first marriage in those days. I have found no evidence of an earlier marriage for either of them and in the 1900 Federal Census, just prior to the marriage, both lived with their tight-knit families. The Travises were one of the founding families in this area of Iowa and Millie was born and raised there, so it is a bit surprising that their wedding was such a quiet affair.
Daniel's family had moved from Equality, Illinois, the place of his birth, to Sidney sometime between the 1880 Federal Census and the 1885 Iowa State Census. I have not yet discovered what precipitated this move by Daniel's widowed mother, Mary Hewitt Proctor, and her children. Judging from the number of Proctors there in later censuses and in the cemeteries, it appears that others from the extended Proctor family may have been involved. Daniel's father, Ephraim, passed away in 1875, so Mary and the children may have been somewhat dependent on family members who decided to relocate. (Whatever it was, I am thankful!)
I had never heard that Dan and Millie considered living in Kansas before reading the snippet above. I have wondered what motivated them to move away from Millie's well established family in Sidney and settle in the Seattle area. This tells me that they had planned to move from the outset of their marriage, so it wasn't a spontaneous or rash decision. Judging from their children's birth dates and places, they came to Washington State between March 1903 and March 1905. Since their daughter Cleo Proctor Cavanaugh wrote in a letter from 1990 that she was born in the first house that Daniel built at 4221 Ferdinand St, Columbia City, they must have been there for awhile before her birth in March 1905 to allow time for the construction, thus narrowing the window.
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| 4221 Ferdinand St, Columbia City, WA |
[Update - Thanks to Scott R's comment below, I did some research on the house. Apparently, the current owner is running a yoga studio out of it (it must have good energy!). I will have to take a yoga class next time I am up there. Also, the state archivist is in the process of retrieving a photo of it from 1937. It was built in 1904.]
Millie and Dan spent the rest of their lives in the Seattle area and raised a happy family of four sons and one daughter. I have many photos of them in their later years, but I especially like the one below for the following two reasons:
1) They look every bit as pleasant as my grandmother Aune described them.
2) I am quite confident that I recognize the shadow on Millie's dress.
I find it a fitting metaphor that just as Aune's remembrances of Dan and Millie shaped my understanding of them, her silhouette is clearly visible in this image. In our search for our ancestors, we often find ourselves "chasing their shadows," so be sure to find out all you can about your family history from your older relatives. It may be the only real chance that you have to get to know those who have gone before you.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Young Love
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Helia Justine Reini (1907-1925)
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| Helia Reini c.1917, Seattle, WA Courtesy Viola Petersen |
My grandmother used to tell a story of how one day Helia took it upon herself to get dressed up, carefully curling her hair, and went down to the local photographer to get her picture taken. I wonder if this is that day. They were a very poor immigrant Finnish family, so I wonder how she got the money together for the photo. (She probably even made this dress for herself since she was a talented seamstress from a young age.)
[Update - Aiko Studios operated in Seattle at 613 1/2 Jackson from 1911-1925. Helia and her family were living at 108 Broadway in January 1918 according to her father's naturalization application. This is less than 1/2 mile away! Judging from this new information, it very well may be the photo taken the day of the story above. The family had moved away by September 1918.]
Helia was said to have possessed psychic ability. From what I am told (surprisingly, by family members who don't believe in such things), before she could read, Helia would pretend to read the newspaper to her parents, making up news stories about neighbors and local events. Strangely, on several occasions the events she described were reported to occur AFTER she "read" them. I have no way of knowing if this is true, but she does look like an "old soul" in this photo.She did extremely well in school, making straight A's, sewed beautiful clothes for her family and played a large part in raising her four younger siblings. From all accounts, she was a very talented, kind and well loved girl.
Tragically, Helia passed away at the age of 18 on Oct 10, 1925. Her death certificate lists the cause of death as "diabetic coma". At this time she was the wife of George G Hawke. Her family was understandably brokenhearted to lose this very special girl. Aune thought so highly of her sister Helia that she spoke of her with deep love and in the most glowing of terms, almost on a daily basis, for the rest of her long life (96 years). Because of this, I grew up feeling like I knew her, so I am pleased to be able to share this memory of her with you.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Miriam and Aune Reini c.1927
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| Courtesy Viola Petersen |
Friday, August 20, 2010
Follow Friday: Google Your Ancestors
I have become a real fan of Google for my genealogy research. With more and more information being digitized and put online every day, it is amazing what you can find! Google's mission is to make information easily accessible to all of us. As a researcher that is music to my ears!
One Google search of my great grandparents' names led me to an interview done by the Issaquah Historical Society with my mom's first cousin that she hadn't seen or spoken to in almost 60 years. Since then we have enjoyed a mutually beneficial and thoroughly enjoyable collaboration, enabling us both to learn more about our Reini family. I have provided much of the research and she has provided photos, documents and, best of all, flesh-and-blood first-hand stories of my great grandparents who raised her. We even went to visit her this spring and the cousins were reunited after all of these years.
Many of my searches end up at Google Books. In my experience, there are already a number of historical publication on early counties and their founding families. In these, I have found all kinds of interesting tidbits on many of my ancestors that help to fill out lives that would otherwise be just names and dates on a page. Google Books has the goal to digitize ALL the books in the world, which on August 5th they estimated to be approximately 130 Million. So, keep checking back. You never know what might pop up!
Quite often in my Googling, I find others who are researching the same families that I am. It seems that many of the researchers with the best documented genealogies do not put their work on Ancestry.com, but they DO put it on Rootsweb. In contrast to the sites behind a pay wall, Rootsweb appears to be fully indexed by Googlebots, thus included in your Google search results. The Rootsweb WorldConnect Project is just FULL of well documented trees with extensive source material. It is especially refreshing to be able to contact the researchers directly via their listed email addresses.
I love to use Google Maps to get a better understanding of where my ancestors lived and migrated, as well as how far away they lived from "suspected" relatives. When you Google a place name, usually a Google map will come up at the top of the page. After clicking on it, there is an option to choose "Directions." From there you can plot exactly how many miles it is from one of those small towns we so often come across in our research to another area of interest.
Google Translate is a big help when I am researching records in other countries or trying to read a letter written by one of my immigrant ancestors.
Just tonight I saw that Roots Television has a new video on using Google News archives for genealogy. I think I will have to check that out too!
I could go on and on about the genealogy applications of Google. Heck, I'm even using Google's free services to publish this blog. If you haven't tried Googling yet, give it a whirl. You might be surprised what you learn!
One Google search of my great grandparents' names led me to an interview done by the Issaquah Historical Society with my mom's first cousin that she hadn't seen or spoken to in almost 60 years. Since then we have enjoyed a mutually beneficial and thoroughly enjoyable collaboration, enabling us both to learn more about our Reini family. I have provided much of the research and she has provided photos, documents and, best of all, flesh-and-blood first-hand stories of my great grandparents who raised her. We even went to visit her this spring and the cousins were reunited after all of these years.
Many of my searches end up at Google Books. In my experience, there are already a number of historical publication on early counties and their founding families. In these, I have found all kinds of interesting tidbits on many of my ancestors that help to fill out lives that would otherwise be just names and dates on a page. Google Books has the goal to digitize ALL the books in the world, which on August 5th they estimated to be approximately 130 Million. So, keep checking back. You never know what might pop up!
Quite often in my Googling, I find others who are researching the same families that I am. It seems that many of the researchers with the best documented genealogies do not put their work on Ancestry.com, but they DO put it on Rootsweb. In contrast to the sites behind a pay wall, Rootsweb appears to be fully indexed by Googlebots, thus included in your Google search results. The Rootsweb WorldConnect Project is just FULL of well documented trees with extensive source material. It is especially refreshing to be able to contact the researchers directly via their listed email addresses.
I love to use Google Maps to get a better understanding of where my ancestors lived and migrated, as well as how far away they lived from "suspected" relatives. When you Google a place name, usually a Google map will come up at the top of the page. After clicking on it, there is an option to choose "Directions." From there you can plot exactly how many miles it is from one of those small towns we so often come across in our research to another area of interest.
Google Translate is a big help when I am researching records in other countries or trying to read a letter written by one of my immigrant ancestors.
Just tonight I saw that Roots Television has a new video on using Google News archives for genealogy. I think I will have to check that out too!
I could go on and on about the genealogy applications of Google. Heck, I'm even using Google's free services to publish this blog. If you haven't tried Googling yet, give it a whirl. You might be surprised what you learn!
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