Today I decided to work some more on the four microfilms that I have on loan at our Family Search (History) Center. As I arrived and departed it was trying hard to snow. One day it is spring and the next we shift back into winter weather. Tonight the white stuff is falling fast and furious. I am glad I made the trip out today, as when it snows I just stay home and enjoy the scenery until it melts away. The flowers are popping out in the flowerbeds and the trees are ready to blossom. Before April showers that bring the May flowers, we usually have March madness of weather conditions.
Working with microfilms is a challenge for me, as I tend to get motion sickness when reading them. It is important that I pace how fast I wind the film and not look at the movement any more than necessary. At my side is a package of mints to help quell the sensation that develops. While so many records are being digitized there are many more that may never be digitized. Familysearch must honor copyright laws in this process and sometimes that means only an index or a collection is available, or neither in digitized format.
With the recent price increase I decided it was time to order the microfilms and fiche that were on my Research List. The new online ordering process is user friendly and keeps one informed as to the progress of delivery. The familysearch catalog is still a very important tool in determining what records are available on microfilms or fiche, but first check the digitized collections for the records. In checking my list of films I found that three of them are now in the digitized collection. It was much nicer to use them online, in the comfort of my own home and without the motion sickness.
The digitized microfilms are:
#1605186 Probate Index for Ogle County, Illinois 1850-1900
#1605187 Probate Index for Ogle County, Illinois 1850-1900
#1605201 Guardianship Records for Ogle County, Illinois 1858-1873
The microfilms I ordered include:
#1415757 Grantor Deed Index for Ogle County, Illinois 1837-1865
#1415803 Grantee Deed Index for Ogle County, Illinois 1837-1865
#1000508 The History of Ogle County, Illinois, 1878, The Portrait and Biographical Album of Ogle County and a Surname Index created by Carolyn Jacobs.
#848591 Cemetery Inscriptions of Ogle County, Illinois
The fiche is #6089188 Brookville, Ogle County, Illinois
As you might guess, I have ancestors who lived in Ogle County in this time period. There is of course a puzzle to be solved about an ancestor who married and lived here prior to moving to Kansas. He died in the Civil War in Little Rock, Arkansas, and I have been unable to link him to his parents. Recently someone connected him to possible parents, but I do not feel that is correct. There are clues to be found that hopefully can help me to find the correct parents.
The people who I found records for are Samuel Reed the Civil War ancestor who was born in Pennsylvania, Daniel Shuey his father in law, and others with the surnames of Reed, Shuey and Straw or Stroh his wife's second husband's surname.
So far I found no known ancestors in the microfilm on the Cemetery Inscriptions for Ogle County.
In the grantor index there are thirteen deeds related to the Reed surname and three for Daniel Shuey.
In the grantee index there are many deeds for Stroh, Straw, Read, Reed, Reid and two for Daniel Shuey.
Daniel Shuey born in about 1797 in West Hanover, Pennsylvania died in Brookville, Ogle County in about 1862. The deeds for him as the grantor are dated April 4, 1855, August 10, 1855 and May 6, 1856. The deeds for him as grantee are dated June 11, 1848 and May 21, 1855. They are in four different books, which would mean ordering several more microfilms.
It may prove more cost effective after reviewing the additional records on the microfilms for me to do the research in Salt Lake City at the Family History Library or the Riverton Family Research Library or the BYU Library Family Search Center. It is important to verify that the microfilms are available at the other two facilities, but each of them has large collections.
Well, it is time for me to wrap this up and go gaze at the snow falling outside. If weather conditions change your plans, doing genealogy is a very nice alternative. Here's hoping for a quick transition into spring.
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