Here's an update to my recent (by now not-so-recent) post on Elisabeth (Fast) Sudermann's grave. After not finding her grave in Greenwood Cemetery in Newton, Kansas, I sent an e-mail to First Mennonite Church in Newton, Kansas, to ask if they had any information about her since she was living with her children who were members there when she died.
Within hours I had a response from a member of the church's historical committee. He invited me to come to the Harvey County Historical Museum that evening to use some of their resources to search for her grave. They are housed in the old Carnegie Library, a beautiful building which is worth a visit simply on its own. He had a lot of suggestions - none of which have panned out yet - but they are all good ideas worth sharing with you, dear reader.
Local Newspaper. I had found three different obituaries or mentions of her death in Mennonite newspapers, but I hadn't looked in the local newspaper, the Newton Daily Kansan. I searched for about a week after her death and didn't find any mention. Although it didn't work this time, it makes sense that a local newspaper might have burial details when an international Mennonite newspaper doesn't. But I did find a notice of a lawsuit when a lender sued her husband, Johann Sudermann, for defaulting on a loan.
Old Plat Maps. I wondered if she might have been buried on her children's farm, so he showed me a couple plat maps, and there were no cemeteries or burials marked on the maps in that area. But their ownership was not marked on any of the plat maps, so I wasn't sure if I was looking in the right place.
Contact the FindAGrave Contributor. I contacted Tom Crago, who manages all of the late Adalbert Goertz' thousands of uploads to FindAGrave. Unfortunately, he was unable to give me any more information, but he did transfer the memorial to me, so I added a note that the grave was not at the location indicated.
Local Cemetery Listings. The Historical Museum has transcribed the tombstones in many (but not all) Harvey County cemeteries, but Elisabeth Fast's grave was not mentioned in any of them. I also went online to the Reno County Genealogical Society's cemetery listings (the Mennonite community spilled across the county line into Reno), but I didn't find anything there.
Farm Burial. In the early days of settlement, many people were buried at their farms. Many of these burials have been lost because they were never well marked. And some farmers sadly would rather grow an extra bushel of wheat than preserve a burial plot, so some have been plowed over. Since Elisabeth Fast was living with her children east of Newton when she died, I want to locate their farm in the county land records and then go to the farm to see if there is a sign of a burial plot there. But I haven't done that yet.
While none of the suggestions have panned out (at least yet), they were all good ones.
Showing posts with label cemeteries. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cemeteries. Show all posts
Monday, March 20, 2017
Saturday, February 25, 2017
Buried on the Saskatchewan Prairie
I blogged earlier about marking the grave of my great-great-grandfather Johann Sudermann. Here's the story of another grave that I helped to mark.
My great-grandfather Gerhard T. Siemens #6463 (1834-1908) died near Main Centre, Sask.; but I didn't know where he was buried. I was researching about his life in general, and I ran across a reference to a history of the Exelsior rural municipality where he had lived called Excelsior Echoes. I couldn't find a copy of the book, so I wrote an e-mail to the RM office and asked if I could buy a copy of the book. It was out of print, but they kindly sent me a copy of the pages with the Gerhard Siemens story. Below is a snippet from that story:
Although the death year was inaccurate, the information about his burial place looked interesting. However, I couldn't understand why he would have been buried in a Mennonite Brethren cemetery - as best I can tell, he was a Kleine Gemeinde member all his life. Next, I wrote to the Main Centre MB church, and they confirmed that he had been buried there, but they didn't know why either.
A year later, I was in Manitoba for a family reunion, so I decided to take a few extra days to go to Saskatchewan to see where he had lived and was buried. I found the quarter-section of land that he had homesteaded in 1903, pictured below.
And I found his burial plot in the Main Centre, Sask., MB cemetery with a simple marker.
The church's cemetery committee had done a fantastic job researching the burials and putting up metal markers on all the plots that had no marker, which included Gerhard's. But these metal markers are only intended for temporary use, and some of the numbers were already falling out. I didn't want his grave to be forgotten because he had done so much to bring the Siemens family to North America and to pass on his faith in God to his descendants. I know that I benefit from his life today.
So I found a monument company in the nearby town of Morse, got prices, and organized an effort by my cousins and even a few second cousins to put up a granite marker. I put an anchor on the tombstone because for centuries that was the Mennonite symbol instead of the cross - it refers to our hope in Jesus that is an anchor for the soul from Hebrews 6. I had the verse I Thessalonions 4.13, that we should not grieve as those who have no hope, put on the stone because that was the one that his son Abraham used in his father's obituary, so I felt it was appropriate.
So how did Gerhard's earthly body wind up in the Mennonite Brethren cemetery of a church that he had never attended? The cemetery coordinator for the church had been very active in compiling the RM history book, so she had interviewed many elderly people for their stories. Amazingly, one of those was Gerhard's step-grandson, Gerhard Rempel, who was a small child at the time. He told how the family had decided that Gerhard's body should be moved from the garden to an actual church cemetery - his parents had joined the Main Centre MB church after Gerhard Siemens's death. They dug up the coffin from the garden, put it on chairs in the yard, and decided to open it. Little Gerhard still remembered 80 years later how the wind came up as they opened the lid and blew dust out of the coffin. And then they re-buried the coffin in the Mennonite Brethren church cemetery where they then attended, even though Gerhard Siemens had never gone there.
I've never seen the new gravestone, but I believe it is a fitting monument for the man who brought the Siemens to North America in 1874.
My great-grandfather Gerhard T. Siemens #6463 (1834-1908) died near Main Centre, Sask.; but I didn't know where he was buried. I was researching about his life in general, and I ran across a reference to a history of the Exelsior rural municipality where he had lived called Excelsior Echoes. I couldn't find a copy of the book, so I wrote an e-mail to the RM office and asked if I could buy a copy of the book. It was out of print, but they kindly sent me a copy of the pages with the Gerhard Siemens story. Below is a snippet from that story:
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| Source: Excelsior Echoes (Rush Lake History Book Committee, 1982) p. 1094. |
A year later, I was in Manitoba for a family reunion, so I decided to take a few extra days to go to Saskatchewan to see where he had lived and was buried. I found the quarter-section of land that he had homesteaded in 1903, pictured below.
And I found his burial plot in the Main Centre, Sask., MB cemetery with a simple marker.
 |
| Gerhard T. Siemens old tombstone - now replaced, Main Centre Mennonite Brethren cemetery, Main Centre, Saskatchewan, plot #13, numbered from NW corner, photo by author, July 2014. |
The church's cemetery committee had done a fantastic job researching the burials and putting up metal markers on all the plots that had no marker, which included Gerhard's. But these metal markers are only intended for temporary use, and some of the numbers were already falling out. I didn't want his grave to be forgotten because he had done so much to bring the Siemens family to North America and to pass on his faith in God to his descendants. I know that I benefit from his life today.
So I found a monument company in the nearby town of Morse, got prices, and organized an effort by my cousins and even a few second cousins to put up a granite marker. I put an anchor on the tombstone because for centuries that was the Mennonite symbol instead of the cross - it refers to our hope in Jesus that is an anchor for the soul from Hebrews 6. I had the verse I Thessalonions 4.13, that we should not grieve as those who have no hope, put on the stone because that was the one that his son Abraham used in his father's obituary, so I felt it was appropriate.
 |
| Gerhard T. Siemens tombstone, Main Centre Mennonite Brethren cemetery, Main Centre, Saskatchewan, plot #13, numbered from NW corner, photo by Rick of Grassland Memorials, Morse, Saskatchewan. |
So how did Gerhard's earthly body wind up in the Mennonite Brethren cemetery of a church that he had never attended? The cemetery coordinator for the church had been very active in compiling the RM history book, so she had interviewed many elderly people for their stories. Amazingly, one of those was Gerhard's step-grandson, Gerhard Rempel, who was a small child at the time. He told how the family had decided that Gerhard's body should be moved from the garden to an actual church cemetery - his parents had joined the Main Centre MB church after Gerhard Siemens's death. They dug up the coffin from the garden, put it on chairs in the yard, and decided to open it. Little Gerhard still remembered 80 years later how the wind came up as they opened the lid and blew dust out of the coffin. And then they re-buried the coffin in the Mennonite Brethren church cemetery where they then attended, even though Gerhard Siemens had never gone there.
I've never seen the new gravestone, but I believe it is a fitting monument for the man who brought the Siemens to North America in 1874.
Saturday, January 14, 2017
From Rust and Yellow Paint to Granite
In a previous post, I described how my aunt and I had put a marker at the grave of my great-great-grandfather on my dad's side, Johann Sudermann. Here's the story of the second grave marker that I helped put up.
My maternal grandfather Cornelius K. Siemens had two wives, Katharina J. K. Plett #49147 (1889-1920) and Margaretha H. Reimer #321744 (1895-1993). Not at the same time, of course - his first wife died of breast cancer in 1920. When he remarried in 1930, he and his four children moved from Manitoba to Kansas. At family reunions in Manitoba, we have gone to Katharina's grave at Riverside (formerly Rosenhoff) a couple times, and it was poorly marked.
You can't read it in the picture, but if you looked at the right angle, you could see that it said, "Mrs. C. K. Siemens" in faint yellow paint. This marker was obviously not going to last much longer. Even though she wasn't technically my grandmother (my grandmother was Margaret, his second wife), she was the grandmother of my older cousins, to whom I am very close. And she played a large role in my grandfather's life and that of my older uncles and aunts. So I didn't want her grave to be lost.
I organized a family project to raise money for a tombstone, and we collected enough and placed a tombstone at her grave. As a genealogist, I insisted that we put her first and maiden names on the tombstone, even though the original marker followed the tradition at the time she died and just called her "Mrs. C. K. Siemens." We kept the spirit of the original marker by prefacing her name with "Mrs. C. K." because that is how she would have been called back then. Even though she died almost a century ago, Grandmother Katie's memory will not be lost.
My maternal grandfather Cornelius K. Siemens had two wives, Katharina J. K. Plett #49147 (1889-1920) and Margaretha H. Reimer #321744 (1895-1993). Not at the same time, of course - his first wife died of breast cancer in 1920. When he remarried in 1930, he and his four children moved from Manitoba to Kansas. At family reunions in Manitoba, we have gone to Katharina's grave at Riverside (formerly Rosenhoff) a couple times, and it was poorly marked.
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| Mrs. C. K. Siemens tombstone, Rosenhoff Cemetery, Riverside, Manitoba, 27086 Road 2E, on west side of road, 3rd row from west, 3rd grave from south, photograph by Steve Fast, 28 July 2014. |
You can't read it in the picture, but if you looked at the right angle, you could see that it said, "Mrs. C. K. Siemens" in faint yellow paint. This marker was obviously not going to last much longer. Even though she wasn't technically my grandmother (my grandmother was Margaret, his second wife), she was the grandmother of my older cousins, to whom I am very close. And she played a large role in my grandfather's life and that of my older uncles and aunts. So I didn't want her grave to be lost.
I organized a family project to raise money for a tombstone, and we collected enough and placed a tombstone at her grave. As a genealogist, I insisted that we put her first and maiden names on the tombstone, even though the original marker followed the tradition at the time she died and just called her "Mrs. C. K. Siemens." We kept the spirit of the original marker by prefacing her name with "Mrs. C. K." because that is how she would have been called back then. Even though she died almost a century ago, Grandmother Katie's memory will not be lost.
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| Katherina (Plett) Siemens tombstone, Rosenhoff Cemetery, Riverside, Manitoba, 27086 Road 2E, on west side of road, 3rd row from west, 3rd grave from south, photograph by Betty (Kornelsen) Siemens Martens, 13 April 2015. |
Friday, January 6, 2017
Should You Mark That Grave?
I've been involved in putting a permanent marker at the poorly marked grave sites of three ancestors. While I've felt it was important to do it, I've also had a few qualms. I've wondered how sure I am that they were buried at the indicated location. The evidence might be questioned, even though I did my best to find the correct location. But I felt it was important to mark the grave both to make sure that what I had learned about their burial location was not lost and most importantly to commemorate the impact of their godly legacy on my life.
Here is one example: Johann Sudermann #26667 (1817-1907) died near Gotebo, Oklahoma. His obituary from Mennonitische Rundschau confirmed that he died there. According to my aunt, he was buried in the Gotebo Mennonite Brethren church cemetery. When that church closed in the 1910s, all their graves were moved to the Gotebo town cemetery. I checked FindAGrave and found his name listed in the Gotebo town cemetery but with no photo I put out a photo request, and a volunteer kindly offered to do it but replied that there was no such tombstone in that cemetery.
My aunt and I went to the Gotebo town office to ask for information, and they gave us a cemetery register that showed an unmarked grave ("grave here" in the image below) in the Suderman plot at the cemetery. She had been told by older relatives, now deceased, that that was Johann Sudermann's grave. The Aster Wiebe buried in the plot was Johann's great-granddaughter who died at Gotebo in 1911, so it all made sense.
But there was no written confirmation - only what my aunt had been told by older relatives. However, since my aunt is a careful genealogist, I felt that her information was reliable. We went to nearby Clinton, Oklahoma, and purchased a granite marker to be put on the grave. Maybe we made a bit of of a leap, but I'm glad that we put up the monument because otherwise my aunt's knowledge, even though it was not direct knowledge, would soon be lost forever.
Here's the new marker that we put up:
If you know of ancestors' graves that are unmarked or poorly marked, I encourage you to do something to make their memory more lasting. First, do your research to make sure that you are really marking your ancestor's grave. Ask older relatives what they know. Then go to FindAGrave and BillionGraves and upload photos of what is in place. If you have a blog, post what you know online. If you can afford it, get a granite marker with engraved (not raised) lettering to put on the site. Or even a metal plaque pressed into concrete is better than nothing. Other descendants may be willing to help with the cost, especially if you share some of your research that you have done, some of the stories that you have found, to make your ancestor come alive to them.
Here is one example: Johann Sudermann #26667 (1817-1907) died near Gotebo, Oklahoma. His obituary from Mennonitische Rundschau confirmed that he died there. According to my aunt, he was buried in the Gotebo Mennonite Brethren church cemetery. When that church closed in the 1910s, all their graves were moved to the Gotebo town cemetery. I checked FindAGrave and found his name listed in the Gotebo town cemetery but with no photo I put out a photo request, and a volunteer kindly offered to do it but replied that there was no such tombstone in that cemetery.
My aunt and I went to the Gotebo town office to ask for information, and they gave us a cemetery register that showed an unmarked grave ("grave here" in the image below) in the Suderman plot at the cemetery. She had been told by older relatives, now deceased, that that was Johann Sudermann's grave. The Aster Wiebe buried in the plot was Johann's great-granddaughter who died at Gotebo in 1911, so it all made sense.
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| Suderman family plot, Plot #10 West half, Cemetery register book, Gotebo City Hall, Gotebo, Oklahoma. |
Here's the new marker that we put up:
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| Johann Suderman tombstone, Gotebo City Cemetery, Gotebo, Oklahoma, 1 mile east of Gotebo on Highway 9, south side of road, plot #10. Photograph by Viola (Fast) Funk on 13 September 2013. |
Thursday, December 15, 2016
Not Finding a Grave
I've been searching for and not finding the grave of Elisabeth (Fast) Sudermann #26678 (1817-1892). Sometimes even when there are a billion graves, you need the billion-and-first grave. OK, enough of the bad puns.
I quickly noticed a couple things - there is no photograph of the tombstone and no plot information. Often records that are missing this information have problems, so a red flag went up. After procrastinating on going out there for a couple years, I decided to go to the cemetery yesterday to see what I could find.
But first I did some research at home. Her obituaries gave no information about her burial location. The City of Newton has a really nice search function for the Greenwood Cemetery online, so I tried that. It came up with a possible hit, Elizabeth Suderman, but the burial date of 13 January 1898, didn't agree with the burial date of 19 May 1892 in her obituary.
When I clicked on the link for her name, I got an age of 60 years, 11 months, which would mean a birth date of about 1837, and I was hoping for 1817, so it's not getting any better.
But it gave me a plot number, so I could go out there and easily find the grave.
Using the same process, I did find her son-in-law, Jacob Thiessen, with whom she was living when she died. I know it's him because his death date and age match and because he was a member at 1st Mennonite in Newton, which used the Greenwood Cemetery. He was buried on 1 August 1910, in plot 1st Addition 12-30-5, so at least I know that the family did use the cemetery.
Then I went to the cemetery, and the sexton was very helpful. We looked in the index book and found the same information as I had found online. But he also had a card index that showed all the burials in a lot.
So the Elizabeth Suderman whom I found in the online index was buried in plot #8 (circled in red), along with what turns out to be her son and husband. The top of Abraham Sudermann's tombstone had his parents' information on it. I took a picture, but the tombstone was really worn, and it was cold and windy (enough excuses for the bad photo). But the transcription says, "Elizabeth Sudermann geb. Ediger Jan. 21, 1837 - gest. Jan. 12, 1898." "Geb." is geboren or born, and "gest." is gestorben or died in German.
She turned out to be Elisabeth Ediger, #104305 in Grandma, and her husband was Herrmann Sudermann, whose inscription is just above hers on the tombstone. According to Grandma, these Sudermans are not related to my Sudermans.
I found all the people who were buried in this plot in Grandma, as well as those in her son-in-law Jacob Thiessen's plot. None of them, other than Jacob Thiessen, were related. I'm guessing that someone confused the Elisabeth (Ediger) Sudermann who is buried here with my Elisabeth (Fast) Sudermann.
The only thing that gives me pause is a little note in the lower righthand corner of the index card (circled in blue) that says (I think), "Space 5? POEncl 2/5/92." Since my Elisabeth Sudermann died in 1892, could this be a possible reference to her? I doubt it since I don't see a name, and the date is 5 February 1892, which is not the same as her burial date of 19 May 1892. But I can't be sure.
What next? I sent an e-mail to First Mennonite in Newton, where her daughter was a member. Since she was living with her daughter when she died, perhaps they have more information. I also want to go to the Harvey County courthouse to find the land records for Jacob Thiessen so that I can find exactly where their farm was - perhaps she was buried on the farm, which was a common practice in the early years after immigration.
Elisabeth Sudermann was my great-great-grandmother, and she died near Newton, Kansas, on 15 May 1892, on the farm of her daughter and son-in-law, John and Katharina (Suderman) Thiessen.[1]
Find A Grave says that she is buried at Greenwood Cemetery in Newton, Kansas.
 | ||
| Tombstone of Elisabeth Fast Sudermann, #30387659, Greenwood Cemetery, Newton, Kansas. Accessed at Findagrave.com on 15 December 2016. |
But first I did some research at home. Her obituaries gave no information about her burial location. The City of Newton has a really nice search function for the Greenwood Cemetery online, so I tried that. It came up with a possible hit, Elizabeth Suderman, but the burial date of 13 January 1898, didn't agree with the burial date of 19 May 1892 in her obituary.
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| Search for "Suderman" at http://www.newtonkansas.com/how-do-i-/request-/cemetery-plot-information on 15 December 2016 |
Using the same process, I did find her son-in-law, Jacob Thiessen, with whom she was living when she died. I know it's him because his death date and age match and because he was a member at 1st Mennonite in Newton, which used the Greenwood Cemetery. He was buried on 1 August 1910, in plot 1st Addition 12-30-5, so at least I know that the family did use the cemetery.
Then I went to the cemetery, and the sexton was very helpful. We looked in the index book and found the same information as I had found online. But he also had a card index that showed all the burials in a lot.
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| Index card, First Addition 5-29, Greenwood Cemetery, Newton, Kansas. |
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| Tombstone of Elizabeth Sudermann, died 12 January 1898, Greenwood Cemetery, Newton, Kansas, 1st Addition, plot 5-29-8A, photo by author on 14 December 2016. |
I found all the people who were buried in this plot in Grandma, as well as those in her son-in-law Jacob Thiessen's plot. None of them, other than Jacob Thiessen, were related. I'm guessing that someone confused the Elisabeth (Ediger) Sudermann who is buried here with my Elisabeth (Fast) Sudermann.
The only thing that gives me pause is a little note in the lower righthand corner of the index card (circled in blue) that says (I think), "Space 5? POEncl 2/5/92." Since my Elisabeth Sudermann died in 1892, could this be a possible reference to her? I doubt it since I don't see a name, and the date is 5 February 1892, which is not the same as her burial date of 19 May 1892. But I can't be sure.
What next? I sent an e-mail to First Mennonite in Newton, where her daughter was a member. Since she was living with her daughter when she died, perhaps they have more information. I also want to go to the Harvey County courthouse to find the land records for Jacob Thiessen so that I can find exactly where their farm was - perhaps she was buried on the farm, which was a common practice in the early years after immigration.
[1] Johann
J. Sudermann and Maria Sudermann, Letter to the Editor, Mennonitische Rundschau und Herold der Wahrheit, Elkhart, Indiana,
25 May 1892, p.1, held by Centre for Mennonite Brethren Studies, Winnipeg,
Manitoba.
Sunday, December 4, 2016
Going to the Courthouse - Other Records
There are many more minor groups of records in courthouses that can still be of great interest to genealogists. You may not be able to find all of these in all counties, but they are all worth pursuing.
Cemetery Records. Most courthouses have a list of cemeteries in the county, including small and private cemeteries and single burials, most commonly in the county clerk's office. Don't miss the chance to find your ancestor's grave.
School Records. As recently as half a century ago, counties were blanketed with rural school districts. The county clerk may have records from these school districts, including censuses of school-age children, board meeting minutes, and even children's grades, although many have been lost or destroyed. Was your ancestor on the school board? You'll need to find a map of school districts for the county to figure out which school your ancestor attended. Here is an example I found when my grandmother Elisabeth (Suderman) Fast was listed among the school-age children of Paris School District #23 in Harvey County, Kansas, in 1898.
This school census showed that the Suderman family was still living in Kansas in the middle of 1898, even though their father had bought land in south Texas in December 1897.
Criminal and Civil Court Records. I suspect that far more of our ancestors were involved in criminal and civil cases than we realize today. Occasionally these records are indexed, but far more often they are unindexed and located in dusty volumes in a vault. If there is an index, I always check it for my ancestors. On the rare occasion that I know that they were involved in a case, I will search for it, but this is usually a hard set of documents to search.
Vital Records. Sometimes counties kept vital records of births, marriages, and deaths before the official state-mandated recording began; so these may be the only official source for these events. For example, I found the marriage license for my great-grandparents Heinrich F. Reimer #317342 (1856-1923) and Katharina Barkman #317343 (1856-1943), who were married on 5 February 1880. Nebraska did not keep state marriage records until 1909, but Jefferson County started in 1864.
This document gave me the date and place of their marriage, their parents, the witnesses, and the minister who performed the wedding. And it was issued by the county a full twenty-nine years before the state required them to do so. Writing to Lincoln would not have produced this gem.
While you are in town, make sure to visit the genealogy room at the city or county library and the local historical museum. They may have city directories, farm directories, newspaper clippings, town and county histories, family histories, collections of local letters and diaries, photographs, and much, much more. Go to the church where your ancestor worshiped to look at their records. If you still have relatives, even distant cousins, in the county, connect with them as they may have valuable records and stories that need to be written down as well.
By now you should have at least a week's worth of research to do in any county where your ancestor lived. Good luck and happy hunting!
Cemetery Records. Most courthouses have a list of cemeteries in the county, including small and private cemeteries and single burials, most commonly in the county clerk's office. Don't miss the chance to find your ancestor's grave.
School Records. As recently as half a century ago, counties were blanketed with rural school districts. The county clerk may have records from these school districts, including censuses of school-age children, board meeting minutes, and even children's grades, although many have been lost or destroyed. Was your ancestor on the school board? You'll need to find a map of school districts for the county to figure out which school your ancestor attended. Here is an example I found when my grandmother Elisabeth (Suderman) Fast was listed among the school-age children of Paris School District #23 in Harvey County, Kansas, in 1898.
 |
| Census of School Population, 30 July 1898, Paris School District #23, Harvey County, Kansas, Register of Deeds, Courthouse, Newton. |
Criminal and Civil Court Records. I suspect that far more of our ancestors were involved in criminal and civil cases than we realize today. Occasionally these records are indexed, but far more often they are unindexed and located in dusty volumes in a vault. If there is an index, I always check it for my ancestors. On the rare occasion that I know that they were involved in a case, I will search for it, but this is usually a hard set of documents to search.
Vital Records. Sometimes counties kept vital records of births, marriages, and deaths before the official state-mandated recording began; so these may be the only official source for these events. For example, I found the marriage license for my great-grandparents Heinrich F. Reimer #317342 (1856-1923) and Katharina Barkman #317343 (1856-1943), who were married on 5 February 1880. Nebraska did not keep state marriage records until 1909, but Jefferson County started in 1864.
 |
| Marriage license of Heinrich Reimer and Catharina Barkmann, 5 February 1880, Jefferson County, Nebraska, No. 473437, County Clerk's Office, Courthouse, Fairbury. |
While you are in town, make sure to visit the genealogy room at the city or county library and the local historical museum. They may have city directories, farm directories, newspaper clippings, town and county histories, family histories, collections of local letters and diaries, photographs, and much, much more. Go to the church where your ancestor worshiped to look at their records. If you still have relatives, even distant cousins, in the county, connect with them as they may have valuable records and stories that need to be written down as well.
By now you should have at least a week's worth of research to do in any county where your ancestor lived. Good luck and happy hunting!
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