NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS OR GOALS FOR 2014

Now, that Christmas and New Years is over, I have run out of excuses for not creating new posts on this blog. How can I best juggle blogging, researching relatives and organizing my findings, photos and records?  I keep thinking if I can come up with a list of topics for my blog posts that will solve my blogging problems but then again is that too staged and stifling to my creativity as well as any discoveries I may find along the way? I need to be doing my research because how else can I find more information on my ancestors and all their descendants?  Do I even dare ask the question of when is the proper time to find to file my records, should I go to all electronic data keeping and will my office area ever really be as organized as I dream about?

So, after much thought and some analysis, here are my goals for at least the first few months of 2014

1. Research on a regular basis -- I believe that through research will I not only find answers about my ancestors but will also discover topics to write about on my blogs.

2. Enroll and complete some genealogy classes -- my local school district is offering some classes on Family History Research as is OASIS (classes for the over 50 crowd).  Even if I know a lot of the material that they are discussing I love interacting with others who are just as enthralled with genealogy as I am.  Yes, those people get me!

3. Organize my drawers of genealogy documents and information so that I don't spend needless time looking for a specific item.

4. Keep updating my Family History Research Journal which will help when I start writing my Family History Stories.

5. Evaluate my progress at the end of March to see how much I have accomplished and whether or not it is working!  Do I need to narrow my focus or spend time doing a variety of things?

Now that I have publicly stated my goals, maybe this will make me more accountable.  Time will tell!

THOSE PLACES THURSDAY

It seems like I have been neglecting my blog these past few weeks. Of course, there was Thanksgiving, the never ending over 3 month bathroom re-model (which is still not done), decorating for Christmas and probably some writer's block, but no more excuses.

In 1967, my Grandparents (Charlie and Theresa) took me along with two of my cousins to Santa Barbara for the weekend. We visited the Santa Barbara and the Santa Ynez missions.  We also visited my cousin Bonnie, who had 2 little girls at the time.  The photo above was taken at the Santa Ynez Mission.  Grandpa Charlie was the photographer.  I am not sure why the parking lot took center stage over us or the mission buildings but that was probably why Charlie was better in front of the camera than behind it.

In October of this year, my sister Kate was visiting me from Colorado. I suggested to her that we take a road trip from San Diego up to the Santa Barbara area.  On our way back to our hotel, the Santa Ynez Inn, from Solvang, Kate pointed out the Santa Ynez mission.  We decided to stop and visit for a bit. I immediately thought back to my trip with my grandparents and cousins 46 years ago.

Here's a photo of what the mission looks like currently --

Funny thing -- the parking lot still basically looks the same!

While we were in Santa Barbara, we did meet with one of Bonnie's daughters, Julie,  who is now all grown up with kids of her own. It was fun visiting with her and her family, as well as with my brother and some of his family. Travel and family -- it doesn't get better than that!

MILITARY MONDAY

While many of my ancestors and relatives have served in the military, there is probably only a handful who actually died while serving their country.  One of those relatives is Charles James Chambers.  Charles Chambers was a first cousin of my Grandpa Charlie Sherlock.  Charles Chambers' parents were Michael Chambers (brother of Charlie's mother Bridget Chambers) and Winifred Callahan.  Like my Grandpa Charlie, Charles James Chambers was born in Chicago, Illinois.  He was 19 years younger than my grandpa, being born on 22 December 1919.

Charles J Chambers was a Staff Sargent in the 324th Infantry Regiment 44th Infantry Division during World War II. He died on 13 November 1944, probably somewhere in France.  Charles received the Purple Heart Medal of Honor.  He is buried in the Epinal American Cemetery in Lorraine, France.  This cemetery was opened in October of 1944 to bury those Americans killed in combat in campaigns across northeastern France to Germany.

TRAVEL TUESDAY

When I visited Innsbruck, Austria at the beginning of October of this year, I brought this photo along with me on my IPAD.  I so wanted to re-create the photo -- have a photo of me under the same sign that Grandma Theresa posed under in 1961.  Well, I looked around at various spots in Innsbruck and to my chagrin I never found that spot.  Of course, 52 years later, things can look a lot different.  So, I had to settle for sign below.

Reading Grandma Theresa's travel diary, I did notice that she visited the Castle Heidelberg (received by King Ludwig I) on that trip. Since we didn't go to Heidelberg, I did not have the opportunity to see the ruins of that castle.  Instead I had the opportunity to visit on of my favorite castles (if not my favorite) the Neuschwanstein Castle, built for King Ludwig II.  It was definitely one of my top reasons for the trip and I was not disappointed. Not only is the castle majestic, but the surrounding area is absolutely beautiful.

GRANDMA THERESA

Typically I talk a lot about my Grandpa Charlie on this blog but not as much about my Grandma Theresa.  Well, today would have been her 114th birthday so I decided to devote this post to her.  I think she looks very glamorous in this photo.

Theresa Nebgen was born on 13 Nov 1899 in Chicago, Illinois.  She had two older sisters -- Helen and Ann -- and a brother Emil (who was just 2 years older than her).  Theresa finished her formal education after the 10th grade. According to the 1920 US census, she worked for a bank and the best that I can decipher the handwriting of the census taker, she was possibly a "switchboard operator".

Theresa married Charlie on 23 March 1918 in Indiana.  Charlie was 17 at the time and Theresa was 18.  This may have been the reason why they went to Indiana to get married vs. marrying in their hometown of Chicago.  I think they eloped and that their families were not so happy to hear the news.  In fact, the parents made the loving couple (while still married) live apart for a few years.  I believe the story goes " they were told if you are still in love in a few years, then you can live together".

Not only were they still in love a few years later, but they celebrated their 50th Anniversary to a lot of fanfare 50 years later on 23 March 1968, surrounded by family members and friends.   They would go on to celebrate their 60th anniversary in 1978 and Grandpa Charlie would die just a few months after their 65th anniversary in 1983.

While looking through my photos of Theresa, I found this one below that I just love.  It is not a great photo of Theresa but I love the emotion that is shows -- pure joy and excitement.  I don't know when or where it was taken but I would love to know the story behind it.

Happy 114th Birthday, Grandma Theresa!

MILITARY MONDAY

Veteran Day Tribute --

I am very proud of my Dad (Donald Sherlock) and his two brothers, Edmund and Charles "Chuck", who served in the military.  Edmund Sherlock (2nd from the left) served in the Navy during World War II.  He enlisted in 1944 when he was 18 years old.  Eldest brother Chuck (4th from the left) also served during World War II, but he served in the Air Force.

 Donald served in the Army during the Korean Conflict in 1951 to 1953.  Below is a photo of him (on the right) with his section leader Keith Daily.  This photo was taken in Korea.

Happy Veteran's Day to all of those who have served in the military (both past and present -- including my nephew Wally) and a huge debt of gratitude to all of you  for your service to our country.

WHAT IS THIS?

I am not quite sure what this is.  The above document was given to me by Susanne while I was visiting Munich.  At first, I thought it was some organization that my grandfather belonged to while he was living in Germany.  However, Peter Joseph Nebgen came to the US at age 20 and he definitely looks older than that in the photo.  So, my next guess (I always like to have several options) is that is some group he was the President of while living in Chicago. From what I can tell (with my limited knowledge of German) that it was a group that was either planning a trip to Europe or one that was encouraging people to visit Germany. ( I did figure out that there is a Secretary, Financial Secretary, Treasurer and 2 Board of Directors also listed on the photo.)  Obviously it was aimed at German speaking Americans since it is in German.  Perhaps my Great Grandfather belonged to some civic group, like Kiwanis or Rotary, and was encouraging travel to Europe.

So, here is what I do actually know -- I have found documentation of his travels to the US from Germany on three different dates.  He came to the US on 8 Dec 1888 (still trying to figure out if this was his initial visit) on the ship Waesland.  The trip was from Antwerp, Belgium to New York.  The second trip was in 1914 -- he arrived in New York from Rotterdam on 18 Aug 1914.  He traveled with his wife Theresa aboard the ship Nieuw Amsterdam.  The last trip that I found happened in 1929.  On 1 Sep 1929, he arrived in New York from Bremen.  He, along with his wife Theresa, sister-in-law Helen, and niece Rose Roemer were aboard the ship Muenchen.

So back to my research because the more I find out, the more questions that I have ...