Welcome to Sunflower (Kansas) Genealogy

Due to the demise of ancestry.com's Expert Connect, many genealogists who were signed up as 'Experts', are now without a 'job' on ancestry.com. Ancestry.com late last year purchased ProGenealogists. I'm sure that people seeking help from a genealogist on ancestry.com will now be directed to Progenealogists.  ProGenealogists have been in business many years and I am sure do excellent work. However, those of us who signed up to be "Experts' are now out of a job. 

With that in mind, I am prepared to assist you in your genealogy quest. Plus my fees will be less expensive than before.

What do I have to offer:  I have been researching my family genealogy for 16 years. That includes documents. Documenting your genealogy work is one of the most important things you can do for your family tree. Second, I have almost 2,000 names, that have been researhed. Difficult names have become my speciality. My ancestors, most of which were German, had last names that could be spelled at least 4 if not 5 or 6 different ways.  The Clients I worked for on ancestry.com awarded me 5 stars on every project. What does that tell you about my work?  I am dedicated to a project, I go over and above what is asked of me. Does that mean I always find what a Client is looking for - sadly no. Occassionally the information is just not there. However, I leave no stone unturned. My husband often has to 'drag' me away from researching to eat

Whenever I am researching for a Client, I always ask questions. At Court Houses, I'm not shy, I will ask for help. Libraries and Librarians are a treasure trove of information and eager to assist you.

Classes - My husband and I took Genealogy Classes offerred at the Wichita, Ks Public Library. These classes lasted over several weeks.  Too, I have participated in Web based or on line classes. Subscriptions to genealogy magazines are vitally helpful and I subscribe to those as well, for education purposes.  I have signed up to take additional classes on line to further my education.

Memberships - I am a member of the Wichita Genealogy Society, the Midwest Historical/Genealogy Society.  I am a member of American Schleswig-Holstein Heritage Society. I am also signed up on Find a Grave.com and help people find graves of their ancestors. I am a past member of Friends of Lone Fir Cemetery and of the Oregon Historical Society.

Ask me if I can help you.  Also I do record pickup's, answer genealogy questions, offer assistance among other things.

Check this blog regularly for tips, answers to questions and many other genealogy related items.....

Dad's History Part 4

Here it is about 14 or 15 years after I started doing genealogy. It has taken me this long to find out much, much more about my Dad's side of the family. I knew they were German, but just how much German I did not know. As it turns out, my Dad's mother's side is all German. My Grandmother, Martha Sophia Joehnck (Jenks)Burton Bent Crambert (whew), parents both immigrated from Germany. As of today I have the Joehnck's family back to the early 1800's in the Schleswig-Holstein area or Gross Nordsee area of Germany or Denmark. This area of Germany has gone back and forth from being part of Denmark or Germany for many years. Schleswig-Holstein has an interesting history that one can read about at www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/schleswig-holstein.

The name Joehnck can be spelled so many different ways. In Germany it is spelled Johnck with an umlaut over the O. My relatives at some point, after about 1900 changed it to Jenks. AGH a genealogy nightmare.

Through perserverance I recently found my Gr-Gr-Grandfather and Grandmother's names. My Gr-Gr-Gr-Grandfather was Johann Hinrich Johnck, who's occupation was a Day Laborer in Gut Noer, his wife was Dorothea Petersen. Son of Johann and Dorothea was Friedrich Hinrich Johnck who married Magdalena Sophia Caroline Seaman daughter of Detlef Hinrich Seaman and Dorothea Magdalena Trost (possible last name). So there are the names of my Gr-Gr-Gr Grandparents. Now I have to hunt to see who came to the US and when.

So the quest continues, why did they come to America, when did they immigrate, where did they settle first? So many questions, so much research.

Dad's Story or Part III

As told in my first blog, one of the things I wanted to find out, by doing genealogy was to find more about my Dad's family. We had heard all our lives, that Dad was born in Columbus, Nebraska. Wrong! Dad was born in Denebrog, Howard Co., Nebraska. First myth debunked, I have a copy of his Birth Certificate. We also knew that his 'Dad' died before he was born. The gentleman listed on my Dad's Birth Certificate, as being his father, died in June of 1918, 25 months before my Dad was born. Now this was decades, I say decades, before Invitro Fertilization. Guess that branch of the old Family Tree is dead. Grandma did say just before she died "Oh by the way your real Dad's last name was McMahon or McMann" or who knows? Guess that maybe where the red hair comes from?

Before finding out much more about my Dad, Garry and I got in touch with some Burton 'relatives' in Nebraska. They were warm, kind individuals and even though we were not really related, they said they'd claim us as relatives. This Burton descendent did take us to meet a guy, who would have been my Dad's cousin. When we walked into this restaurant to meet him, we stopped with our mouths open. This guy was most certainly a relative of Dad's. The resemblance was uncanny. I wish I had stayed in contact with guy to find more relatives, but unfortunately he died before I could contact him. He was a relative on the Jenks side - more about them later.

I knew we were German from my Dad's mother's side, the Jenks and that my Great Grandmother spoke German. But beyond that I knew very little, but wanted to find out more.

My quest into Dad's side of the family had started. This quest for more on his family would take me years to find. A hunt that I have performed almost weekly, but certainly monthly for about 15 years before I recieved another tidbit into the family.

Next post a continuation of the Jenks side of the family......

Chapter 2 Learning

Learning all the time.

After a couple of years of doing genealogy and learning as we go along. Garry and I took a class sponsored by the Wichita Genealogy Society in association with the Sedgwick County Historical Society.

In class we learned how and what records to search. How to 'hunt' in graveyards or cemeteries. Yes, there really is a 'way' so hunt in cemeteries. Always wear long pants and perhaps rubber band them at the ankles to keep the chiggers away. Take a couple bottles of water, along with a stiff brush, a few rags, paper, crayons (for rubbings), gloves, sunscreen, etc. And always, always, take photos. Keep track of where you have searched, what you have found. We learned how to obtain birth/marriage/death certificates. We learned how to read Census Records, and how to code or use Soundex coding. The class was helpful and informational.

Document, document, document. Documenting your research increases your credibility as a Genealogist. When you begin to share your information with others, your documentation, lets others know, you have done your research.

I have encountered a young gentleman, who had not done thorough research or obtained any documentation. He just 'assumed' what he had was correct. He had my Great Grandmother married to someone else. He would not believe what I was telling him. Ok sucka, I'll show ya. I went to northeast Kansas, obtained a copy of my Great Grandparents Marriage License. I mailed him a copy. To date, he has yet to correct his records - AGH!

I know this part of the 'blog' is boring! Wait, upcoming family stories fall by the way side.

Beginning Genealogy for my family

My genealogy quest, began in about 1996 or 1997. I wanted to find more about my Father's family and to prove that my Father-in-law was truly Irish. My Father-in-law, Charles Harvey Neel was always proud of his Irish heritage, however, I don't really know how much he actually knew. I knew little of my Father's family; I knew they were of German descent, I knew my paternal Grandmother's name and vaguely knew her Mother's name. I knew my Grandmother, Martha Sophia Jenks was born in Nebraska. I knew a 'family' story about my Dad's father. That was it.

Now back in that time, home computers were just in their adolescent years. Some people had them, a lot did not. Here in Kansas we had to use a 'dial up' system to access the internet. If you 'clicked' on something you had to sit back and wait for it to load. Some of our friends had email, most did not. But I did not let that stop me.

I did not let a slow computer or dial up deter me. I began searching anyway. I posted messages on any genealogy site I could find, with the names I was researching. I purchased Family Tree Maker Software and worked backwards. First I entered all the information I did know. Questions, I began asking of relatives. Where was Grandma born, when were Aunt and Uncle married, how old was Grandpa when he died, when did Grandma's family immigrate from Ireland and so forth. Then Garry & I took a local class from the Genealogy Society.

And so it began. Now you know why we tromp around graveyards and yes that can be fun and educational. You now know why we spend time in Courthouses pouring over old records, visiting Libraries, ordering Death Certificates, combing through roll after roll of microfilm. But we think it is fun.

Last, this is a hobby my husband of 39 years and I can and do, together. Hey the family that researches together, stays together.

Next....more on the beginnings....