Home Again

Yesterday was an emotional day. I had a lovely visit with my aunt. My uncle had no idea who I was. The last time I visited, several years ago, he was such an active, vibrant man that it was hard to see him so weak. Even though he didn't know me he gave me one of his smiles that I remember so well.

After my visit I ran out to the old family homestead. The house has been gone for years now and the property deeded to someone else. Construction has just started on a new home and the old mighty oaks that lined the road look old and tired. I suspect that their days are numbered.


Some of the bulbs that my mother remembers seeing from her bedroom window were blooming still. I was tempted to bring a few home with me but there was no one around to ask permission of. I did take pictures and I will try to find some of the same varieties to plant here.



I decided not to travel home back through Ontario. Instead I headed onto I90 so I could make a quick stop at the cemetery in Bronson, MI. My map was almost right and I got perfect directions from a woman at a local store. I'd almost given up hope, but there in the last row and in excellent condition, I found the headstones of Michael and Sarah (Wisner) Camfield. Many of the letters I've been reading were written by Sarah and all are addressed Dear Children.


It was a bit longer coming home through Ohio but I'm glad I was able to stop as I'd never been to Bronson. I wish I'd had more time in Michigan but I can always go back. As much as I enjoyed my trip it is good to be home. I guess I missed spring while I was gone as we had a perfect summer day here today. John tells me that the last of the snow vacated the premises on Thursday.

At the library I had to sign a form agreeing not to publish any of the letters before I obtain written permission from both the copyright holder and the library. I've been working on that a bit today and will send an email to the library tomorrow. Hopefully I'll hear back quickly as I'm anxious to start sharing some of what I found.

A Bright Spot in a Frustrating Day

Several years ago I found the headstone of my 3rd greatgrandmother, Tamesin Hall Glover, in Gaines, NY. Sometime after her death her husband, David Glover, moved west to Michigan. My aunt and uncle have black and white a photo of his headstone in tall grass, taken from a distance. Recently I discovered which cemetery he is in so yesterday I headed out to find it and get a better picture.

Long story short, I got lost (several times) and when I did finally find the cemetery there were no headstones in the portion of the row where he and several other family members should have been. I did walk through the entire cemetery and I checked along the edges of the woods for stones that had been tossed aside. I was quite disappointed.

The day was saved for me by Juliane’s granddaughter. She had welcomed me to her home for a lovely lunch and wonderful conversation. She has an exciting trip of her own coming up! The time passed too quickly as we chatted about many different things. I also very much enjoyed meeting her mother. She has written a bit more about our discussion of computers and FTM.

Thanks to you both for a wonderful afternoon!

I spent the rest of the day making more wrong turns. I did find the graves of some cousins. I spent a very long time in another cemetery without any luck despite having a map of the plots.

This morning I’ll visit a bit with my aunt and uncle and then I’m heading home.

It Just Gets Better

I was able to finish at the Bentley Library, at least for this trip. I was able to flip through Hannah Glover Carlisle's diaries from the 1890's but I would need another two full days to copy them so they will have to wait for a future trip. I filled my 4gig backup and had to delete some stuff that was one my other stick to make room for all of the images that I have.

Finding all of this should be enough for anyone but not me. As exciting as it was to finally see the letters I was just as excited that I was able to have dinner with Jasia. She drove out to Ann Arbor to save me extra travel. She picked a local pub which was just perfect and I never would have discovered it on my own. We knew each other well enough from our blogs to sit and talk like old friends. And talk we did! OK, to start I did most of the talking because I was so excited and it was nirvana to have a receptive audience. We did soon move onto other topics. I was startled to realize that three hours had flown by. Jasia is just as much fun as I expected her to be and I had a great time! Since I have to come back for the diaries sometime I hope that we can do it again.

Thanks Jasia!

After I finished at the library yesterday I drove across the state to Benton Harbor so I could attend the Berrien County Genealogical Society meeting. They were a very welcoming group. Juliane's granddaughter was speaking about blogging - how could I pass that up? It was nice to be able to meet but we didn't have time to talk so we will be meeting later today for lunch and I'm really looking forward to that!

There is no internet access at the hotel here (no hot water either!) so I'm at a charming little coffee shop, the Bear Naked Beanery, where they could not be nicer. It seems Michigan is full of nice people :)

Treasure Chests

I'm finally in Ann Arbor and to say that I am overwhelmed by what I found today would be an understatement. I knew the Civil War Era letters would be there and I expected to find maybe 4 or 5 dozen other letters in Box #1.

THANK YOU! To all of you that suggested that I plan to photograph everything, thank you, thank you!

I only made it through about half of the first box today and I took over 650 photos of letters and other documents. When I realized that it was taking me an hour to look at each folder I stopped reading what was there and just skimmed the material a bit and photographed everything.

I've spent the last two hours reading and I've barely skimmed the surface. Brick walls are tumbling! I now have my great-grandfather's name and place of death. I never would have looked for him in Oklahoma. There are many names mentioned that I don't recognize. I wasn't expecting to find so much on my Camfield and Glover lines.

There are dozens of letters between my mother and grandmother. Mom often drew little diagrams to make a point. The finding aid mentions letters written by Mom as being in Box #2 so I was surprised to find these letters today.

I can't wait to see what I'll find tomorrow!

Carlisle Family Papers: University of Michigan

Back in November I asked what would happen to all of my genealogy work and family treasures down the road. Shortly after that Janice suggested that we start donating things now. It turns out that in 1972 my family did just that.

I'm not certain of the details but my grandmother required nursing care and moved out of the family home sometime in the 1960's. I remember visiting her in the nursing home in 1968 or 1969. Care of the house fell to my uncle and eventually it was torn down. Papers relating to my family's history were boxed up and donated to the University of Michigan. They now reside in the Bentley Historical Library, Ann Arbor, MI. They are safe there and have benefited many people researching women in the Civil War, but they have been frustratingly unavailable to me.

I first discovered that these papers existed several years ago while doing an online search for Hannah Carlisle. Imagine my excitement when I found this:

The papers of the Daniel Carlisle family of Buchanan, Mich. include thirty-two family letters (Aug. 17, 1862-Apr. 7, 1866) relating to Mrs. Hannah L. Carlisle, who served as a nurse during the Civil War. Seventeen of the letters were written by Mrs. Carlisle. They are chiefly from the Post Hospital at Columbus, Ky., where she was matron. She expresses her dislike of Copperheads and Secessionists. She tells of troop movements on the river, raids of guerrilla bands, the destruction of Secessionists' homes, hospital life, food and a Thanksgiving dinner, the celebration at the fall of Vicksburg, and the capture of Jefferson Davis. She often comments on the weather and the plague of mosquitoes. Later Mrs. Carlisle was in charge of a Columbus, Ky., school for the American Freedmen's Aid Commission, and she tells of the clashes between military and civil law officers, the plight of the Negroes, and the rough treatment accorded them.

I knew about the papers several ears ago when I took Mom on a trip to Michigan to visit my aunt and uncle. They shared family photos and what history they knew. We visited the cemeteries and toured the area. From a research standpoint it was a very fruitful trip even though Mom wasn't up to a detour to Ann Arbor. I did call the library to see what it would cost to have the collection copied and mailed to me. I think it took me a week to recover from the shock!

The time has finally come and I will traveling to Ann Arbor in April. I have been looking at the library's catalog and found this:

The Carlisle family collection consists of two feet of material dating from 1860 to 1972. The papers relate to various members of the Daniel Carlisle family of Buchanan, Michigan. The collection contains correspondence between Hannah L. Carlisle and her husband, Daniel Carlisle. Include as well are letters and eight of Hannah Carlisle's diaries, written between 1885 and 1900 and largely concerning her life in Dead wood, South Dakota.

Other family members represented in the collection are William and Phyllis Carlisle and Vivian Carlisle. The letters of William D. Carlisle concern his service in the US Navy during World War II. The letters of Phyllis Carlisle relate both to her student life at the University of Michigan during the early 1940s and to her service in the Waves during the war. The letters of Vivian Carlisle were written while a student at the University of Michigan and Michigan State University during the 1940s.

Other items of interest is a folder of genealogical material and a letter written by Francis A. Carlisle while serving in Cuba during the Spanish-American War, describing his experiences.

I'm not sure how Mom will feel about the fact that the library has letters that she wrote but I am very excited that I will get to see them. I can't wait to see what is in the "folder of genealogical material" I know that Isaac Ashley Carlisle was a Spanish-American War veteran but this is the first I've found that indicates that his son Francis served too.


Here's where I need help.

The only library I have ever been to is the Onondaga County Public Library in Syracuse. I have no idea what to expect from a large research library. The family papers take up 1.5 - 2 linear feet of shelf space. Mom thinks there may be some old pamphlets that were donated as part of the collection but even so the size sounds overwhelming. The main focus of the trip is to view and copy as much of this collection as I can but I would also like to have time to visit my aunt and uncle and make a few stops in Berrien and Cass Counties too.

I only have a week and I need two full travel days. How many days should I plan to spend in Ann Arbor? Will it takes days to make copies or will I be done quickly? I think the letters will be quick but eight diaries! There is no indication how large the folder of genealogical material is.

What questions should I ask the library ahead of time?

What do I need to take besides a notebook, my computer and a flash drive?

Any other thoughts or tips would be much appreciated!