Personal Research
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John Ira Briner, Lewis Andrew Briner biographical entry in Who’s Who in the Protestant Clergy, 1957
Amanuensis Monday – this daily prompt, developed by John Newmark at Transylvanian Dutch, encourages bloggers to transcribe family letters, journals, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. (An amanuensis is someone employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another.) Today’s post is a transcription of a book clipping, Who’s Who in the Protestant Clergy (1957). It features two of my relatives and I discovered it through Google Books. Original page (cropped): (Click to enlarge.) Citation: Who’s Who in the Protestant Clergy (Encino, Ca.: Nygaard Associates, 1957), 34; digital images, Hathi Trust Digital Library (https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001599528: accessed April 6, 2020). Transcription: BRINER, JOHN IRA: Evangelist, Assembly of…
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Rev. Arthur Vespa, Mary Chiappelli Vespa retirement notice, 1973
I’m currently waiting for a (very late) train up to Burbank for the Genealogy Jamboree this weekend, and to kill some time I thought I’d do some transcriptions. I really enjoy transcribing documents, and it’s good practice for learning different types of handwriting/fonts/etc. [Update: the train came 1.5 hours late, but I made it to Burbank!] Many of my relatives on the Briner/Vespa side were deeply involved in the (Christian) church, including my great-grandparents Arthur Vespa and Mary Chiappelli Vespa. They were ministers for the Assemblies of God for many years, and when they retired there was a notice in the local paper which talked about some of the things…
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Briners in Vira Methodist Church Cemetery, Mifflin County, PA
Today’s GeneaBloggers Tribe topic selection is: “Tombstone Tuesday – exactly what it sounds like it is.” Most of the family tombstones I’ve been able to find are pretty plain, which is a little disappointing. I keep hoping for a detailed inscription, or a fancy image, or a carving! But most of my ancestors who could afford gravestones tended towards the “modest” type, and the most they’ve got on them (that I’ve found so far), is their names and dates. So instead, I thought I’d go a little off-script for this prompt! I’m going to write instead about one of the cemeteries that my ancestors are buried in. For this week’s…
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Letter to Franciscan Missionary Sisters regarding Resta Reeves Finch, 1947
I enjoyed doing my last Amanuensis Monday post so much, I think I’ll make it a regular feature of the blog. Today’s transcription is part of a mystery I’m trying to solve. It involves my great-grandmother on my father’s side, Resta (Reeves) Finch, wife of Chester Finch. This document popped up in my Ancestry hints about two years ago, and it immediately brought up several questions.
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Research Plan – September 2018
Happy September! I’m now in my final semester at library school, which means I need to write/complete a portfolio as well as finish my last class. I may not get a whole lot of time to actually DO genealogy, but I’m going to try to accomplish a few things each month anyway.
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Merrill David Johnsen and Jennie’s wedding day, 1946
Today’s GeneaBloggers Tribe daily prompt is: “Wedding Wednesday – display those old wedding photos or scan wedding invitations and announcements, suggested by Carol of Reflections from the Fence.” I love old wedding photos! Unfortunately, I don’t (yet) have a huge collection of them, though I do have some wedding announcements and anniversary photos which I’ll probably post on other Wednesdays. For this one, though, I’m featuring my 2nd great uncle Merrill Johnsen and his wife Jennie [maiden name currently unknown].
