Altenkrempe Basilica

In addition to the church in Süsel, we visited the Basilica in Altenkrempe where my great grandmother, Emma Bertha Anna Sell, was baptized.   Emma was born 14 June 1885 in Blackfoot, Idaho.  She and her brother traveled to Germany with their mother, Bertha Friederike Jacobine Sick Sell and lived there for some time before returning to Idaho.  My mother remembers being told by her grandmother that she had to re-learn English when they came back to the United States.

Family photograph

Baptism entry for Emma Bertha Anna Sell and her brother, Otto Heinrich Carl Sell.

Picture this – the day before my sister and I were to head off to Germany with our 79-almost-80 year-old mother, the whole trip is in jeopardy.  Mom hit her arm and has developed a huge bruise which goes all the way down to her fingertips.    As a result, her white cell count is elevated, but she is bound and determined to go no matter what – this is the trip of a lifetime and she’s not going to let this stop her.  Yes, we had trip insurance, but none of us wanted to cancel.  We agreed to visit the hospital and if she could get the ok to travel, we were going.   When the doctor said that he had seen bruises like that many times and that he “wouldn’t let that stop him from going to Germany,” the trip was on!  We left the next day for our great adventure.

Our main goal was to visit our ancestors’ villages and get in some sightseeing along the way.  One of the first churches that we visited was St. Laurentius Church in Süsel, Schleswig-Holstein.  

My 6^th Great-Grandfather, Timm Sick and his wife, Marie Lisbet Schumacher, were married here on 11 May 1754.  

Many Sick family members were baptized and married in this beautiful little parish church.  It was an incredible feeling to be in the same spot where they once stood.

My Dear German Ancestors,

I know you are out there just waiting for me to find you.  I have been remiss in keeping track of you of late, but I am going to fix that.  I am more determined than ever to discover more about you and your lives in Germany.

I look forward to the hours I am going to spend tracking you down!

Relatively Yours,

Cindy

Guess What I'm Doing

Yep, cleaning out the files.  It's not very glamorous or fun, but I do feel productive.  I'm trying to make sure that all the pictures and documents that I have "hidden" away in file folders have actually been scanned.  (Yes, I will be using my handy Flip-Pal scanner!)  I pre-ordered the 2012 Family Tree Maker upgrade and when it arrives in mid-October, I should be ready to go.


I'm also trying to get rid of the hard copy printouts of census records.  All that paper takes up a lot of space and I want to find a more permanent storage area for the files.  Right now, my genealogy addiction has taken over part of the kitchen table and floor, part of the living room, and part of the bedroom.  It's not that I have a huge collection, it's more that I don't have one area big enough for all of it.  

I will dig myself out from behind all the paper to join my fellow GeneaBloggers for the radio show tomorrow night.  The show is called "Genealogists Bore Their Families - What You Can Do About It."  And as Thomas likes to say, "GeneaBloggers Radio is about the most fun you can have with your genealogy on a Friday night."


For now, back to the paperwork.....

I Did It!

After thinking about it for ages, I finally went to my first local genealogy society meeting - and joined!  I'm now a proud member of the Whatcom County Genealogy Society (http://wagenweb.org/whatcom/WGS/wgs.htm ).  We are located in the northwest corner of Washington State.


It seems like a nice group of folks and they were very welcoming. I am looking forward to monthly meetings and the chance to help others with research.


If nothing else, it will keep me off the streets one night a month :)

Found : Black Sheep

I recently found a black sheep in my family, courtesy of my niece.  I have found others who appear to be black sheep, but this one is the real deal!



***Beware parents whose children have cell phones.  You might just be turned into a sheep like my sister was!

Genealogy Generosity at Jamboree

The SCGS and GeneaBloggers crew really went out of their way!  These are the items that I had in goody bags - pretty cool stuff, eh?  Oh, and as I learned in the Blogger Summit II class, I need a disclaimer.  I received these items as free gifts.  I do use some of the products, and some I have yet to try.  Any opinions that I express later will be based solely on my experiences with services/products.  

Now with that out of the way....

I should mention that the Google for Genealogists CD was part of a 10 pack of webinars from Legacy Family Tree.  (It looks as if there is just one from my picture).

Thank you vendors and GeneaBloggers for the great stuff!