It is with a heavy heart that I pass along the news of the passing of Bridgett Schneider, who, among other accomplishments, started RAOGK in 1999. She went home yesterday 11/12/11 after a not so short illness.

Bridgett started small, with a big idea: genealogists around the world helping each other for free.  Today over 4000 volunteers, all over the world, assist other researchers in obtaining information and documention that they cannot travel to get for themselves, and the only charge was a reiumbursement to the volunteer for things copy copying fees, postage, photo developing, and in the last couple of years mileage.  I know I am not the only person that has made life long friends around the world, people important to me that I would have never met if it had not been for Bridgett, and her husband Doc, who spent countless hours providing the IT expertise it took to maintain what RAOGK has grown into. 

I was a volunteer for the state of Georgia before Bridgett showed her trust and confidence in me by adding me to the RAOGK staff, so that I might assist other volunteers and facilitate in problem solving.  Many untold hours were spent chatting with Bridgett about anything from site issues to my personal life, she was even kind enough to link Ancestral Space from RAOGK because she believed in my idea so much..she was the epitome of the world Mentor and I will forever be honored that I could call her friend.  Her dedication was 2nd to none, and the genealogy world has been left with a huge hole that will not soon be filled.

RAOGK has been suffering from technical difficulties the last couple of months, but Doc promised her that would be back up and running soon, so it will continue in her honor.

Bridgett's obituary can be found here:

journalstar.com/lifestyles/announcements...

A memorial has been set up on Find a Grave here: 

www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=g...

RIP my friend, I will most certainly miss you and your wonderful wit and your patience with me.

On this date in 1922 Rear Admiral Bradley A. Fiske patented  a microfilm reading device, thus insuring that future genealogists would gather in places with bad lighting and pour over badly preserved copies of documents in the great hunt for elusive ancestors :)

This is a really interesting story on an unknown grave in Aiken Co. SC,  You can see a picture of the grave AC Dicsussion Forum


According to Boyd and Diane Gunter, president of the Horse Creek Historical Society, a train came through Aiken Station - then located in Warrenville - carrying, among others, a little boy. The boy, who was approximately 12 years old, was traveling alone and was too sick to speak. He didn't have any form of identification with him so he was taken in by Henry Senn, an area wagoner whose wife operated the Graniteville Hotel, to be nursed back to health when he'd be able to tell his story.

The little boy's fever never broke, and he died a few days later. He took his identity and the purpose for his trip with him to his grave, which was provided by the people of Graniteville.

"The village folk 'nickeled' up and had Mr. Lawrence Quimby, the coffin maker, build a coffin," Boyd said. In addition, William Gregg, the founder of Graniteville, donated a burial plot in the cemetery. As was the case with other families that couldn't provide a gravestone, Gregg provided a cedar marker until the people of Graniteville saved enough money to purchase a permanent stone for the Little Boy.
This is another element that has added a sense of intrigue to his story. "Time had passed, and no one could remember the day he died, so his stone reads, 'The Little Boy, October 1855,'" Boyd said.
The generosity of Graniteville didn't stop with the interment of the Little Boy. Over the years, the grave has been visited by many adults who leave flowers and children who leave coins, toys and other small gifts.

"This is probably the most visited grave in the cemetery," Gunter said of the final resting place of many, which also includes 83 Confederate soldiers. As part of preserving the history of Graniteville and Aiken County, the historical society has maintained its monuments. The grave and tombstone of the Little Boy are no exception.

Enduring vagrants and vandalism are factors in the deterioration of the Graniteville Cemetery, which is only open to visitors during the day. Time and natural erosion ultimately have been the biggest culprits in the diminishing aesthetic beauty. The Little Boy's tombstone, the one which replaced the original cedar marker, broke over the years and is currently propped on the grave.

The historical society and the Graniteville Cemetery Association are in the process of buying a new tombstone. In addition, the historical society will beautify the grave by covering it with gravel, planting three crape myrtle trees and installing a bench for visitors.

Dedicated to the preservation and upkeep of the Little Boy's grave, not to mention his story, Boyd and Gunter are quick to point out there are so many more stories to tell. Many can be found in Graniteville Cemetery.

"Tombstones do talk," Boyd said of the symbolism and literal information they possess.
"There is so much here, a lot of history," Gunter said. "But this is what everybody knows - the Little Boy."