I'm at the point in my research that I really can't add new information very easily (well except when someone dies). I have 2 very think brick walls that don't want to come down and some family members who aren't too keen on sharing current information.

Going back beyond my g-grandparents is difficult because I would have to make the leap across the Atlantic to Eastern Europe. Most of my relatives came from Russia, Prussia, Poland, Lithuania, etc. Well you get the picture. I neither speak the local language nor Latin in which most of the Catholic church records were kept.

Of course the other stumbling block is even if I could find the correct reels of microfilm at the Family History Center at LDS--I would have to try and find time to examine and try and figure out the records during the local LDS location's hours and my free time. Free time is at a premium now that I'm working as a contractor after being laid off for a year. LOL I guess that's why so many people who do genealogy research are retired. They have more free time to do the research.

I have turned my research outward for that reason and am an active volunteer for both Find A Grave grave photo requests and Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness (RAOGK). If I can't go forward on my research--maybe I can help someone else get on with their's. I volunteer to do obit look ups in the 2 local papers and also take grave marker photos in my local area. To date, I've taken over 120 grave photos and found obits for 87 individuals. Of course, some requestors make multiple requests.....

Hopefully, the information I provided knocked down some brick walls for those I have helped.

One of my fellow RAOGK volunteers sent me a link to this website. Ohio Genweb is sponsoring space to add photos and transcriptions of grave markers to their server. The URL is: http://ohiogravestones.org/

I've added a few of my relatives and will be adding more in the coming weeks. I also want to add a few old cemeteries I've photographed in Summit county. The markers in these older cemeteries are getting very worn--no telling how much longer they will be able to be read. If you have photos of any Ohio gravermarkers--now is your chance to ad them and help fellow genealogists find their family members.

Periodically I go through the surnames in the family on various sites to see if anything new pops in. I've been pleasently surprised more than once by information that has been added to what was claimed to be a "finished" database. 

Yesterday, I put in the surname of a first cousin twice removed in the LDS pilot site for OH death certficates and came up with 2 hits I never noticed before. Low and behold there were 2 children of hers that died in infancy! While trying to figure out why I never noticed them before--it struck me!! They misspelled the father's surname! I had to chuckle at this because HIS was an easy name---Aleman. They misspelled it as Alaman! But for some reason they transcribed the mother's maiden name correctly--Babinski. And that (plus looking through all of the hits) was all it took to find these two babies.

Of course this opened a whole new can of "worms" because the one premature infant (6 1/2 months gestation) died 27 Apr 1930 and according to the citizenship papers for the father---he and his wife were married on 1 Mar 1930.  OOPS!

Since all concerned are now deceased--I guess it's just a matter of record with no one being harmed by the addition of facts to the family tree.

I recently discovered that the local chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society is selling copies of their cemetery transcription books. Since I'm gainfully employed again till at least May; I'm ordering the 3 volume set.  They don't cover all of the cemeteries in the county--but, they do cover my township and the townships closest to me. Having the books on hand will help me with my grave photography look ups and RAOGK requests as I won't have to wait till the weekend to go to the library for the information. Now all I need is some decent weather to be able to get out there and photograph!

One of the things that has always irritated me about genealogical programs is the way it excludes step-children and the other parent when printing out a family tree. Oh, I know I can print them out using family group sheets and other reports, but sometimes I'd like a complete listing of EVERYONE I've researched and see their connection to the other family members.

The way I've gotten around this is to put the other spouse and step-childrens names and some basic information like birth and death dates in the research notes. Thank goodness we haven't had a lot of divorce and remarriage in our family as this causes a lot of extra typing. Most of the blended families in my tree have come from remarriage after a spouse dies; usually at a young age.

Since I've not been able to add a whole lot to my own family tree in recent years because I need to make the jump across the Atlantic to Eastern Europe, I've reached out to help other researchers by becoming a member of Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness (RAOGK) and Find A Grave. Helping others by photographing a grave marker for them or getting copies of obits from the local library has been very satisfying and fun. I've met some very nice people and made a few long distance genea friends in the process. I'm going to the County library today to fulfill 9 obit requests that I received in the last month. If you can donate an hour or two a month to help a fellow researcher, stop by these wonderful sites and become a volunteer.

Grandma Jennie had a chicken coup in her back yard as a lot of people did in the early 1900's in this area. She kept chickens, ducks and geese; but, mostly chickens. She also had a large garden in a lot they owned across the street from the house and she would can vegetables. One spring, grandma decided that the birds were too much work and butchered or sold off all of the fowl.

 My mom and her 2 sisters decided that the chicken coup would be a perfect place to play; a kind of clubhouse and asked grandma if they could use it. Grandma said, yes; so, the 3 girls cleaned it out and scrubbed it and then got some white wash and painted the inside. They were only in there for a few weeks when grandma decided that she missed having the fresh eggs for free and a fat duck or goose for Sunday dinners now and then. So, the girls got kicked out of their playhouse when grandma bought some more fowl.

My mom still says that the only reason grandma let them "think" they were getting a playhouse was to get her chicken coup cleaned and painted.

One of the other things my mom remembers is that grandma would keep young chicks in pans under the wood stove. She doesn't remember why they were in the house rather than the coup. But, they would be there for several weeks keeping warm under the stove. The girls were responsible for catching any strays and putting them back in the pans under the stove before they went to bed. Once they were old enough or the weather was warmer--out in the coup they would go!

My mom said the best guard dog they ever had was the geese--nobody could come into the yard without them honking and hissing at the intruder. The girls hated to go to the outhouse at night for fear of running into one of the geese. They can give a nasty bite!

It's hard to believe that people were still cooking with wood stoves, had coal furnaces and barnyard fowl in city lots in the 1920's and 1930's. I guess they didn't have HOA's. ;-)

My grandma, Jennie, arrived on the SS Chemintz on 15 August 1907, from Bremen, Germany to Baltimore, Maryland at the age of 11.

Jennie was born in Konin, Kalisch, Russia-Poland on 27 May 1896. The following family members arrived together: Marya Kempe, my great-grandmother and her children: Janina (Jennie), Josef, Zofia and Helena. They were coming to Barberton Ohio to the residence of their father Antoni Kempe at 55 Center St, Barberton, Ohio.

Grandma said that because of their age, the smaller children had a lower fare. This also meant that they didn't get full meals and the family had to share what food they did get. One day when she was particularly hungry, she asked a cook's helper for a raw potato from the bag that he was peeling. He handed her a rotten potato and she got angry that he would do that so she threw it at him and hit him in the eye! She said he chased her around the deck with a knife in his hand. Fortunately, she was able to find her mother and the cook's helper just yelled something in a language she couldn't understand and then went back to peeling potatoes. Grandma said the cook's helper had a black eye the next day.

It's very hard to imagine my sweet grandma throwing a potato at someone and giving them a black eye! It was a rotten thing for the man to do--after all she was just a hungry little kid.

Grandma Jennie is in the back row in this picture. She is standing inbetween her mother and father in the dark dress. The other children are Joseph, Sophie, Helen and Walter is sitting on great-grandma's lap in a white outfit and very hard to see. The picture was taken in the back yard of James St (now 21st St NW) in Barberton OH. The picture was taken after 15 May 1908 as that was when Walter was born. He doesn't look very old in the picture--I'm guessing it was taken in the fall of 1908.

Click on the photo for a larger image.

It all started with the 1910 census----

1910 census - Shows Anna Muszynski living at 799 Tuscarawas St, Barberton, Summit, OH age 29 immigrated in 1901 from Poland. Immigration status alien. Living with husband Walter Muszynski.

Children shown as:
Yadvegy 7 (born in Ohio) and Zigmond 4 and Henry 2 (both born in New Jersey)
[2-23-2003 Per Cecelia (Solosky) Rajniak born in 1918; Yadvegy is Polish for Hattie. She only remembered Zigmond and Henry; did not remember Yadvegy (Hattie)]

Walter Muszynski (b 1882?) dies 5-31-1910 and is buried in St Augustine Cemetery, Akron, Summit, Ohio.

Joseph Bogumil Krzyzostanski and Anna Muszynski (AKA Mushinski) were married 5-2-1915.

1920 census- Shows Annie Krzyzostanski living at 326 James St, Barberton, Summit, OH age 37 immigrated in 1900 from Poland immigration status alien. Husband Joseph Krzyzostanski.

Children shown as:
Zagmont (Zigmond) 15 (born in New Jersey), Henry 13 (born in New Jersey), and Edmund 2 yrs 5 mos born in Ohio.

Note: Zigmond and Henry should have been noted as surname Muszynski (Mushinski) instead of Krzyzostanski.

August 22, 1927 Son, Edmund Krzyzostanski (b 10-5-1917), drowns in Columbia Chemical pond and is buried at Holy Cross Cemetery, Akron, Summit, OH.

1930 Census- Shows Annie Krzyzostanski living at 238 21st St NW age 47 age at first marriage 19, immigrated in 1900 status alien.

Children shown as:
Daughter Helen Krzyzostanski age 6 (born in Ohio) and stepson Henry Musinski age 22 (born in New Jersey) works as a machinists helper in the boiler factory and wife Nellie age 21 (born in Ohio).

Per Anna's Petition for Naturalization 10-18-1940, her name was Anna Krzyzostanska and she emigrated from Horzele, Poland thru Hamburg, Germany to New York, NY as Anna Maczniewska on the ship SS Moltke 4-30-1902. Naturalization shows children: Zigmund, born 3-1-1906, Henry, born 2-24-1908 and Helen 7-21-1923. Anna became a citizen on 1-17-1941.

Obit for Anna Krzyzostanski, 11-12-1948 Akron Beacon Journal; survived by daughter Helen Stanski, Barberton, OH; and 2 sons Henry and Sigmund Mushinski of Akron, OH.

Obit for Zigmond (Sigmund) Mushinski, 10-25-1967 Akron Beacon Journal; born in Bayonne, NJ; survived by wife, Mary; son, Air Force Capt, Jerome, Smyrna TN; daughters; Monica Fanaday and Maryann both of Akron, OH.

Obit for Henry Mushinski, 6-5-1984 Barberton Herald; born in Bayonne, NJ; survived by wife, Nellie; daughter, Lorraine (William) Ducar, Barberton, OH.

What I have observed:
On the petition for naturalization, dead children are not listed.

Where I have looked:
- Microfilm records at the library and online death records for Yadvegy (Hattie) Muszynski, Musinski Mushinski (also with "sky"in stead of "ski").
- Also just looked for the first name Yadvegy and Hattie in the online death certificates.
- Chronilogical microfilm birth records index at the library for 1902, 1903, 1904 for any Muszynski, Musinski, Mushinski (also with "sky"in stead of "ski").

Where I need to look:
- Ohio marriage index 1920 and after

It's amazing to me how I can find so much information on some people and with others--all I have is one reference and they seem to disappear off of the face of the earth.

I started gathering information on my mom's family tree with the help of my cousins. We divided up the tasks of looking for information on various web based sites and obtaining documents from the local health department. Most of us still live in the area to which our g-g-grandmother immigrated from Poland so that makes it a little bit easier.

As their familys grew and demands of life got more hectic, my cousins became less and less involved and I became not only the record keeper; but, also pretty much the lone researcher.

There hasn't been many major breakthroughs lately as I have to make the leap to Poland to find any more information on my ancestors before g-g-grandma. I have only been able to add the recent births, marriages and deaths as well as information on some in-laws and their parents.

Of course, like any researcher, I have a few brick walls I'd like to break through and there is always that line in a family that keep information to themselves and don't want to share.

My dad's family is from Pennsylvania which as anyone trying to do research there knows--is not genea friendly at all. I don't have much on them except what my cousin published for a couple family reunions and what my aunt and mom can tell me. Oh, and of course SSDI. I can't even find their newspaper obits online.

One of these days, I hope PA will open up at least the death records on line so that I can track down a few folks I know are deceased and maybe find out where they are buried.

All of this genea research did give me another new hobby. I took photos of the family's grave markers  to make a final record of their lives and I soon became aware of how many markers are extremely weathered and broken. I began to take photos at the old cemeteries in the area and post the information on www.findagrave.com to help fellow researchers and to save an image of the marker for future generations. After reviewing transcriptions taken even 30 years ago by the local genealogy society it was apparent that we were loosing a lot of valuable information because the markers were becoming unreadable at a rapid rate. I know I have helped a few people connect with their family from the emails I have received thanking me for posting the memorial and photo.

I'm not sure how this all works yet--but, I'm going to try and insert a photo as an example.