The End is Nigh for Google Reader

With Google Reader being retired July 1, 2013, I have been testing some alternatives. So far the winner seems to be Feedly http://www.feedly.com . 

*I did find an easier way to add blogs to the Feedly reader. It is a bookmarklet that you can just drop to your bookmarks/favorites bar. It can be found here http://www.labnol.org/software/rss-extensions-bookmarklets/27929/ .

After adding this bookmarklet, I can just navigate to a blog and click the button. So far it's working well.
***Update on above. See 

Google pulls malware Twitter and Feedly extensions for Chrome

Finally, There is a widget that can be added to your blog so readers can add your blog to their Feedly Reader http://www.feedly.com/factory.html :

Cick on the button you want for your blog.
If you don't see the design you need create your own using our button kit.

Sibling Saturday-George and Martha Allie Walker-Birmingham, Alabama

Martha Allie Walker was born March 31, 1880. Her brother George Milton Walker was born November, 1881 in Pickensville, Pickens, Alabama.

They were orphaned at an early age. Their mother died in April of 1895 in Birmingham, Alabama. Their father had died some time earlier. Martha went to live with her half sister, Elizabeth Carver Sanders, wife of James Monroe Sanders. Oral family history says he was "a sorry, mean man. Martha Allie hated him with a passion". 

Martha married John Henry Norman October 20, 1897 in Birmingham.

George lied about his age, and went to fight in the Spanish-American War. In the 1900 census, he is found in Samar Island, Philippines with the 29th Infantry as a "Musician". He states his date of birth as November, 1881. 

When George was discharged, he came back to Birmingham looking for his sister. The Norman family had moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They went there for John to work in the steel mills as he was an iron worker.  George had no idea where they were. George moved to San Francisco, California. He worked as an elevator operator. He met and married Susan Edwards about 1908. Susan died in childbirth with their first child.

There is a happy ending though

Reunion of sister and brother after 28 years

George traveled back to Birmingham 28 years later. Oral history says he knocked on the door and asked if Martha Allie Walker lived there.  She was extremely surprised and glad to see him.

Martha died April 21, 1948 in Birmingham. George died November 30 1955 in Los Angeles, California.

Thursday's Child- Josephine Warnick- Jefferson, Alabama

I have always loved this picture from my mother's collection. Josephine was the daughter of Eugene Ednor Warnick and Mattie E Knight Warnick. She was born December 6, 1916 in Dolomite, Jefferson, Alabama. Sadly, she died young February 12, 1936 in Birmingham, Jefferson, Alabama.

Wednesday's Child- Rolland Fenner Abbott of Wilton, Muscatine, IA

Rolland was the son of Frank Stafford Abbott and Mary Lenoria Norman Abbott. He was born May 26, 1899 and died December 16, 1976. He is buried in Oakdale Cemetery, Wilton, Muscatine County, Iowa. He was the husband of Zella L. Noble.

Finding the Old Homestead

Ever wondered where your ancestor's home was located on a modern map? It's not too hard to find out, and you can do it for free (I'm all about free!).

The first step is to search for the original land patent at the Bureau of Land Management's General Land Office Records http://www.glorecords.blm.gov. (You might want to open in a new tab.) Click on Land Patents.


You don't have to have a lot of information. For this example I searched for McCullough in Perry, Alabama. Gabriel is my Great great grandfather. William is his father.

Patents

Image Accession Names Date Doc # State Meridian Twp - Rng Aliquots Sec. # County AL1950__.374 MCCULLOUGH, GABRIEL I 7/15/1854 42665 AL St Stephens 021N - 009E SW¼NE¼ 17 Perry AL2020__.007 MCCULLOUGH, GABRIEL J 11/1/1858 46668 AL St Stephens 021N - 009E NW¼NE¼ 17 Perry 021N - 009E SE¼NW¼ 17 Perry AL2100__.009 MCCULLOUGH, JAMES W 9/1/1860 51413 AL St Stephens 021N - 009E S½NW¼ 36 Perry AL2100__.408 MCCULLOUGH, THOMAS H 9/1/1860 51852 AL St Stephens 021N - 009E SE¼NE¼ 18 Perry CV-0131-150 MCCULLOUGH, WILLIAM, SCOTT, JOHN 10/1/1831 3437 AL St Stephens 018N - 009E NW¼ 8 Perry AL0290__.274 MCCULLOUGH, WILLIAM 12/1/1831 8390 AL St Stephens 018N - 009E E½SW¼ 5 Perry AL1730__.484 MCCULLOUGH, WILLIAM 8/12/1837 30923 AL St Stephens 021N - 009E SW¼SW¼ 17 Perry 021N - 009E E½SW¼ 17 Perry AL1820__.104 MCCULLOUGH, WILLIAM, WRIGHT, OLIVE C 5/20/1841 34896 AL St Stephens 020N - 008E G 1 Perry 020N - 008E H 1 Perry AL1830__.366 MCCULLOUGH, WILLIAM 2/1/1843 35667 AL St Stephens 020N - 008E B 12 Perry AL1950__.064 MCCULLOUGH, WILLIAM 12/1/1852 41652 AL St Stephens 020N - 009E NW¼NW¼ 21 Perry

Clicking on image gives you a PDF of the original land patent which you can print, save, or order a certified copy.

Clicking on Accession gives you details of the patent.Related documents shows the same land over time, such as other owners of the same land.

Accession Nr:

AL1950__.374

Document Type:

State Volume Patent

State:

Alabama

Issue Date:

7/15/1854

Cancelled:

No

Patent Details

Patent Image

Related Documents

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Names On Document			Miscellaneous Information
MCCULLOUGH, GABRIEL I			Land Office:	Cahaba
			US Reservations:	No
			Mineral Reservations:	No
			Tribe:	---
			Militia:	---
			State In Favor Of:	---
			Authority:	April 24, 1820: Sale-Cash Entry (3 Stat. 566)
Military Rank:	---		General Remarks:	---
Document Numbers			Survey Information
Document Nr:	42665		Total Acres:	40.00
Misc. Doc. Nr:	---		Survey Date:	---
BLM Serial Nr:	AL NO S/N		Geographic Name:	---
Indian Allot. Nr:	---		Metes/Bounds:	No
Coal Entry. Nr:	---
Land Descriptions
Map State Meridian Twp - Rng Aliquots Section Survey # County AL St Stephens 021N - 009E SW¼NE¼ 17 Perry

Checking the box for map will give you one (sometimes), but not what we're after.

  

Using the Land Descriptions info from this page, go to Earth Point Tools for Google Earth http://www.earthpoint.us/TownshipsSearchByDescription.aspx

Enter Township and Range.  Optionally enter Section.  Google Earth flys you there using BLM data.  Hint: pause for a moment after choosing each of the criteria.  This allows the data to be loaded into the drop-down boxes.

State	(any)AlabamaAlaskaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoFloridaIowaIdahoIllinoisIndianaKansasLouisianaMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew MexicoNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOregonSouth DakotaUtahWashingtonWisconsinWyoming
Principal Meridian	(any)HuntsvilleSt. StephensTallahassee
Township	001 N002 N003 N004 N005 N006 N007 N008 N009 N010 N011 N012 N013 N014 N015 N016 N017 N018 N019 N020 N021 N022 N023 N024 N001 S002 S003 S004 S005 S006 S007 S008 S009 S022 S
Range	001 E002 E003 E004 E005 E006 E007 E008 E009 E010 E011 E012 E013 E014 E015 E016 E017 E018 E019 E020 E021 E022 E023 E024 E025 E026 E027 E028 E029 E001 W002 W003 W004 W
Section	(optional)             001002003004005006007008009010011012013014015016017018019020021022023024025026027028029030031032033034035036

	Free. User account is not needed.
	If you want to see the surrounding townships, then once you have clicked the "Fly To" button, come back and click the BLM or National Atlas "View on Google Earth" button. Free. User account is not needed.

I already have Google Earth downloaded, You need to have it pre-installed, if you need it, download free http://www.google.com/earth/index.html. Use the Fly To On Google Earth button to download a ,kml file. Click the file and watch the magic happen! 

Google maps has lots of features, play around and have fun! You can add pins to mark locations, get the GPS data, and tons of other things. If you go back and search for additional land, it will bring up the same map, so you can add additional locations.