I love Find A Grave. It's like Facebook for the dead. A heartfelt thanks to all the FaG photographers who've fulfilled my requests for headstone pictures, and to others who've generously transferred your pages to me. I'm grateful for and enjoy the friendships, camaraderie, assistance, and humor that passes between and among us. You've filled missing gaps, corrected errors, and answered numerous questions. My family thanks you too, as this is really a gift to them.
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IN MEMORIAM: With all the sadness and trauma going on in the world at the moment, it is worth reflecting on the death of a very important person, which almost went unnoticed last week. Larry LaPrise, the man who wrote "The Hokey Pokey" died peacefully at age 93. The most traumatic part for his family was getting him into the coffin. They put his left leg in... and then the trouble started."
Note: Sorry, sometimes I can't stop myself, Catherine
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A CALLING: What calls us to find the ancestors? It goes beyond a simple curiosity. We are taken over, compelled, as if possessed by something bigger than us that is begging to be revealed. There's one in most every family called to be the scribe, and I'm but one of many in our clan's long line of storytellers. We gather and assemble the ancestors and breathe life into them again as far back as we can reach. We take what we find and chronicle the facts of their existence, remembering their names, who they were, and what they did. They are the sum of who we are. Without them, we would not exist. We greet those who came before us, restoring their place in line. We scribe their stories and their histories. We search for them in public libraries, county records, and weed-filled or well-kept cemeteries. We comb through yellowed newspapers, family archives, lovely old letters and photo albums. We find them! And in finding them, we find ourselves.
Catherine (Clemens) Sevenau, Sep 2009
Note: Inspired by "We Are the Chosen" written by Della M. Cummings, ca 1943
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MY MAIN LINES:
Henry HOY, Jr. & Mary Ann SMITH
Finley McLaren "Frank" CHAMBERLIN & Emily S. HOY
Isaac Willard CHATFIELD & Eliza Ann HARRINGTON
Mathew Sylvester CLEMENS & Barbara NIGON
Also working on SEVENAU/CLEMENT/KELLOGG, MACDONALD/McCARTNEY, and MILLER lines.

Always happy to connect with kin and fellow researchers to compare notes. It takes a village. Other than a handful of close friends, I'm related directly, in parallel, or by marriage to nearly every person for whom I hold a Find A Grave page, though some more distant than others.

I'm aware I have a number of non-compliant "Burial Unknown" and am doing my best to convert them as they get entered by others by moving information over and deleting my page. I've entered them to link the family through the generations in hopes a burial location will found.
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I've thought about this: Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told how the person died.
******
NOTE: If you email me and are not already in my address book, the first time out you'll get caught in my spam. Relax. I'll see your message. No need to fill out the code or get cranky and send me a crabby message.

I love Find A Grave. It's like Facebook for the dead. A heartfelt thanks to all the FaG photographers who've fulfilled my requests for headstone pictures, and to others who've generously transferred your pages to me. I'm grateful for and enjoy the friendships, camaraderie, assistance, and humor that passes between and among us. You've filled missing gaps, corrected errors, and answered numerous questions. My family thanks you too, as this is really a gift to them.
******
IN MEMORIAM: With all the sadness and trauma going on in the world at the moment, it is worth reflecting on the death of a very important person, which almost went unnoticed last week. Larry LaPrise, the man who wrote "The Hokey Pokey" died peacefully at age 93. The most traumatic part for his family was getting him into the coffin. They put his left leg in... and then the trouble started."
Note: Sorry, sometimes I can't stop myself, Catherine
******
A CALLING: What calls us to find the ancestors? It goes beyond a simple curiosity. We are taken over, compelled, as if possessed by something bigger than us that is begging to be revealed. There's one in most every family called to be the scribe, and I'm but one of many in our clan's long line of storytellers. We gather and assemble the ancestors and breathe life into them again as far back as we can reach. We take what we find and chronicle the facts of their existence, remembering their names, who they were, and what they did. They are the sum of who we are. Without them, we would not exist. We greet those who came before us, restoring their place in line. We scribe their stories and their histories. We search for them in public libraries, county records, and weed-filled or well-kept cemeteries. We comb through yellowed newspapers, family archives, lovely old letters and photo albums. We find them! And in finding them, we find ourselves.
Catherine (Clemens) Sevenau, Sep 2009
Note: Inspired by "We Are the Chosen" written by Della M. Cummings, ca 1943
******
MY MAIN LINES:
Henry HOY, Jr. & Mary Ann SMITH
Finley McLaren "Frank" CHAMBERLIN & Emily S. HOY
Isaac Willard CHATFIELD & Eliza Ann HARRINGTON
Mathew Sylvester CLEMENS & Barbara NIGON
Also working on SEVENAU/CLEMENT/KELLOGG, MACDONALD/McCARTNEY, and MILLER lines.

Always happy to connect with kin and fellow researchers to compare notes. It takes a village. Other than a handful of close friends, I'm related directly, in parallel, or by marriage to nearly every person for whom I hold a Find A Grave page, though some more distant than others.

I'm aware I have a number of non-compliant "Burial Unknown" and am doing my best to convert them as they get entered by others by moving information over and deleting my page. I've entered them to link the family through the generations in hopes a burial location will found.
******
I've thought about this: Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told how the person died.
******
NOTE: If you email me and are not already in my address book, the first time out you'll get caught in my spam. Relax. I'll see your message. No need to fill out the code or get cranky and send me a crabby message.