Tombstone Tuesday

William Clouse, 4X Great Grandfather.
b. 16 June 1810 Bergen, New Jersey
d. 23 December 1872 Roxbury, New Jersey

 Malinda Clouse nee Voorhees, 4X Great Grandmother
b.  11 October 1810 Morris, New Jersey
d.  5 February 1875  Roxbury, New Jersey

located in Methodist Cemetery, Flanders New Jersey

Through this link I have met cousins I never knew as well as received land deeds from a wonderful volunteer.  I haven't sorted thru all my information however I'm truly blessed with the family I've found.

Geneaology Book Ideas?

Summer is quickly approaching and once my classes are done I will be hitting the geneaology trail!
My question for you all is:

What genealogy books do you recommend?

I would love to get a list started.  Summer is the only chance I have to read non school related books so I try to fit in as much as I can!

Thanks so much!

Listening to the past...Part 2

Here's the follow up post to the Listening to the Past try-it my daughter earned on our last trip up to NJ.

We had a blast and it was so fun to share stories of the family and visit landmarks with my daughter and niece.

The activities we accomplished while we were there:

1) Community Stories 4) Tell Stories of the Past 2)If these Buildings Could Talk - While in NJ, my father and I shared stories of with the girls, both my mother's side and my father's side.  Starting from when they came over to the United states, the wars they fought in and up thru the current members.  It was so much fun and they had great questions.  Just driving thru my hometown I was able to show my daughter where the family used to have farms and where their legacies still remain.

3) Visit the Oldest Cemetery - This may not be the absolute oldest cemetery in the town however it is definitely one of the oldest.  I gave the girls the task of finding the oldest grave and off they went!  We paid respect to both revolutionary war, civil war, and WWI soldiers in our family.

Off searching for the oldest grave

Dubois Swezy - GAR - Civil War

Gilbert and Sarah Drew - Revolutionary War

I had so much fun with my father and the girls.  I can't wait to go back home to NJ to do more research and take more pictures.  Thanks for sharing this experience with me!

Listening to the past...Part 1

This is a perfect title for this blog post. 

It's also comes from the name of the Brownie Girl Scout Try-it, Listening it the past 

 With our upcoming trip to my hometown, I thought this was the perfect time to work on this patch.  She needs to complete 4 out of 6 of the activities.  

1. Community Stories – listen to and share the stories of some of the oldest people in your community.
2. If These Buildings Could Talk – visit historic buildings, monuments, and sites in your neighborhood (just what you are doing now!)
3. Visit the Oldest Cemetery – visit a cemetery and learn some interesting facts as you look about, make rubbings, and search for different things.
4. Tell Stories of the Past – learn and share two stories written in the past or about the past (there are lots of very interesting stories to learned here!)
5. Acting Out – act out a scene from the past involving an historical or fictional character. 
6. Games of the Past – learn to play a fun game of the past and teach it to others! 

Throughout the week her and I are going to work on this and prepare for what needs to be done in NJ.  I can't wait and neither can she.  I post next week when we come home with her finished work!

I finally did it!

After many moons I finally have all the information to finish my DAR application.   I have spoken to a different chapter where I feel much more at home with.  I just have to pick up a few more documents from my father next weekend and I'm good to go!  Once I'm approved I plan on starting my daughter's application into the CAR :) 

After all my hard work I'm excited to finally be at this point.   Once I get the paperwork for my father the waiting will begin.