A Hoosier Contribution to the Honor Roll Project, Part I

With Veterans’ Day coming up soon, I wanted to help Heather Wilkinson Rojo by contributing to the Honor Roll Project. The Honor Roll Project (https://honorrollproject.weebly.com) is dedicated to honoring our veterans, by transcribing the names from these memorials and making them easier for family members to search on the internet.

So, as I travelled to attend a family reunion this month, I stopped to take pictures of a local memorial to World War II veterans in Batesville, Indiana. In this post, I will be telling you a little more about the memorial, and transcribing the names of the servicemen who gave their lives.  Due to the large number of names on the memorial, I will continue transcribing the remaining names in several more posts.

Memorial Recreation Park (Batesville, IN)

This memorial can be found on North Mulberry Street, in front of the Batesville Memorial Pool.

The memorial is made up of a flag pole and four panels, separated by corner pieces bearing eagles and the words: Valor and Pax. The first panel you see as you come up the sidewalk has the words “E Pluribus Unum” written inside a wreath.  According to this panel, this area is known as the Memorial Recreation Park, and is “dedicated to the service men and women of the community (Laughery, Adams, Delaware, Jackson and Ray townships) who served their country in World War II, 1941-1945.”

Front Plaque of Memorial

The remainder of this panel pays homage to the local men who gave their lives in this great war. It states, “We cherish the memory of these who made the supreme sacrifice” and lists the following names:

Ivan A. Bauer

Edgar A. Bessler

Cecil C. Brunner

Francis L. Firsich

Carl W. Henneke

Charles Henneke

Herbert J. Hornberger

Raymond Hoyer

Elmer Hunter

William J. Keene

Sylvester Kellerman

Wilfren L. Matz

William J. Messang

Aloysius A. Schulte

Carl J. Shane

Delmar L. Shockley

Robert P. Smith

Clifford E. Vierling

Adelbert R. Walke

Urban G. Wintz

George F. Wolter, Jr.

Part II 
http://thishoosiersheritage.blogspot.com/2017/12/a-hoosier-contribution-to-honor-roll.html

Part III 
http://thishoosiersheritage.blogspot.com/2018/01/a-hoosier-contribution-to-honor-roll.html

Part IV
http://thishoosiersheritage.blogspot.com/2018/01/a-hoosier-contribution-to-honor-roll_11.html

Fantabulous Family History Month

What better way to  start Family History Month, than with a family reunion?

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of heading to my hometown for a family reunion.  I not only was able to catch up with relatives that I hadn't seen for a while, but met a few that I only  had known as names in the past.

I was also introduced to a new cousin from a line I didn't know existed!  I have been telling you all about Henri, Heinrich, Henry Haessig from the Alsace-Lorraine area. He travelled on the ship, Germania, in 1871, and settled in Indiana.  Other than knowing his birth year and the village he came from, I did not know anything else about his family or life before he immigrated.

Well, my cousin, David, found Jack; and we were all lucky to make his acquaintance at the reunion. Jack is the descendant of Heinrich's sister!  I would love to include his picture for you all, but I did not get his permission prior to this posting.  But, he is a pistol, and I enjoyed his company.

Visiting with everyone as much as possible means that I didn't get to talk to him long, so I will have to talk to David more for more information on this family line.

I also took advantage of being back in the hometown to get pictures of the local veterans' memorial that has graced the entrance to the swimming pool since before I can remember.

I am honored to help Heather Wilkinson Rojo add more veterans' memorials to the Honor Roll Project (https://honorrollproject.weebly.com/ ).  The Honor Roll Project contributors work to transcribe the names on these memorials so they are searchable for family members to find on the internet.  

I will be adding this memorial to her project as soon as I can get to it!

As the resident genealogist at the library where I work, I have been working on fine-tuning our Indiana/genealogy collection.  With the help of a volunteer and a co-worker who have both taken on large projects in this area, we are seriously gaining some ground this month!  Thank you, Mary and Jeanie!! 

I will get to finish out the month with a genealogy webinar at work, and then off to the Indiana State Library with the Greene County genealogist for the Genealogy and Local History Fair.

So, I am having a fantabulous Family History Month this year!!  

How about you?  What are your plans for the month? 

Family Tree, Boxes and Blogs

The Family Tree 

What would possess someone into starting a family research blog when much of her research is still in boxes?  But possessed I must have been! 

Our neighbor, a military man, had just been assigned ‘somewhere else’ for the next 1-½ years.  Since his family was planning to join him, we were asked to farmsit/housesit for them. This was a win-win situation for us.  We had a comfortable house to live in, as we were getting prepared for our own house on our property.

The only negative was that most everything stayed in the boxes.  I was able to do a little downsizing; but overall, the boxes stayed packed. 

However, even with everything in boxes, I felt the need to start this blog. And, I am so glad that I did!

I have met a new cousin online, and learned new information from her about my great-grandfather.  Cousins that I have known my whole life, are asking questions and leaving comments about our shared ancestors.

And, all of this with most of my info still in boxes!! Lol  

Just wait until everything is unpacked soon, then we will be off and running!

Where to Find the Family Tree

One important thing that I wanted to pass on to all of my relatives today, is to let you know about my family tree being online.  I have started the tree on Familysearch.org, and have also added photos to my tree.  I am also slowly, but surely, making sure that I have added my sources, too.  By doing this, you will be able to find these records for our shared ancestors yourself, if you would ever need them.

If you are related (whether you want to admit it or not! ~ Lol), you are more than welcome to take a look. The tree starts with my mom and dad, so you can start your research there to see what else that I have.

Familysearch.org allows you to add relevant information to another person’s tree.  I have no problem with that, but I do ask for a favor.  When you add information to my family tree, please be sure to add the corresponding proof to it.  I would like for the tree to be as accurate as possible; and without primary sources, or even secondary ones, it can’t be used by others as well.  

So, if you can show the sources, please feel free to add.  But, as our math teachers always taught us, you need to show your work!

And I will be grading with my red pen, too!! If it is not obvious how someone belongs on our family tree, has no sources, or I have no way of contacting the person who added it...I will probably cut that branch of the tree.

If you have any questions about this, please don’t hesitate to comment below or email me at mypassionroad@gmail.com.