RECENT FAG ACTIVITY (Updated 5 Feb 2020):

I haven't updated this page for 3 years so need to bring it current.

In mid-2016 I was in the middle of restoring an abandoned family cemetery in Caldwell County, Missouri (Sloan Cemetery) and still trying to figure out what happened to my EDWARDS grandfather who disappeared in Los Angeles in 1933 so I could work back in time to identify earlier EDWARDS Grandparents.

SLOAN Cemetery Update:
I completed my work in the Sloan Cemetery in October 2016. A stone sign was installed as well as a new marker for my 3X Great Grandparents, Stephen and Judith Ent SLOAN. I've seen the cemetery once since then and nature is back at work, but living 2000 miles away does not allow for ongoing care. Hopefully a distant cousin who lives in the area and/or the Caldwell County Historical Society will provide care when they can.

My EDWARDS Line - Update:
In the Fall of 2016 I presented a summary of my search for my EDWARDS grandfather to a local (Los Angeles) British Isles group that offered "Brick Wall" assistance. I was thrilled when I learned his death record had most likely been located. It did in fact turn out to be my Grandfather whose death record included an incorrect middle initial.

Since then I've been able to trace my EDWARDS line back to my 8X Great Grandfather in 1694 in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Most likely an immigrant from England of Welsh and English ethnicity, identifying and linking my EDWARDS grandparents prior to the early 1800's only proved possible because of books written by 2 distant cousins. To these 2 women, Marie Edwards Quisenberry and Lela Lillian Lones, I am indebted for their painstaking and meticulous work. Without their labors to record their and my EDWARDS history, I would still be "guessing" regarding my early EDWARDS roots.

Travel to EDWARDS grave-sites:
2017: In June I visited 2 cemeteries in Colma, CA (immediately south of San Francisco) where my Grandfather (John S Edwards) and Great Grandfather (John M Edwards) are buried. Previously unmarked, both graves now have permanent markers with my Grandfather's engraved "Our Missing Grandfather". In September I traveled to Hiawatha, Kansas to visit the graves of my 2X Great Grandmother, Louisa Clement Edwards, and my 3X Great Grandparents, William and Joanna Clement. Louisa's grave is unmarked, her parents' graves are marked.
2018: In September I traveled to Eau Claire, Wisconsin, to visit the grave of my 2X Great Grandfather, Martin Edwards, a Civil War veteran with a government-issued grave marker.
2019: Last year I made trips in search of my 3 X Great Grandfather, Sanford Edwards, and my 4X Great Grandfather, Jesse Edwards. The search for Sanford took me to Cloud County, Kansas and Summit Cemetery where I'm certain he is buried in an unmarked grave next to his 2nd wife, Rebecca. Looking for Jesse's grave took me to Miami County, Ohio in October. I guessed he had been buried in an unmarked grave in the Crawford Cemetery as the 2 families were connected thru the marriage of one of Jesse's sons. However, upon my return home, I discovered Jesse was buried in a cemetery within 2 miles of the Crawford Cemetery in a neighboring county! So I am hoping to return to the area this year to visit my 4X Great Grandfather.

Other Info to Share:

1. MOUND CEMETERY, Christian County, Illinois: I have just spent a little time updating some of the memorials (mostly links to parents and birth and death data) I created in 2015 for persons buried in this cemetery. I visited Mound to find the grave of my 3X Great Grandfather, Benjamin Persinger. I also researched at the Christian County Historical Society which shared an interment list with me for Mound Cemetery, the source of the memorials I created in 2015.

2. SLOAN CEMETERY, Caldwell County, Missouri. Here is the link to the Sloan Cemetery and a note regarding errors on the 1986 USGENWEB list of burials. I welcome questions, suggestions, or assistance with this cemetery.

LINK: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=31633

USGENWEB ERRORS: Over the course of 2016 I researched all burials. An important outcome was determining 4 errors were made in the 1986 "reading" of the cemetery posted to USGenWeb. Unfortunately, the webmaster has never responded to my request for corrections. These errors are:

a. Hiram Sloan: Wrong age in 1986 USGenWeb list (incorrectly stated as 10 instead of 40)
b. Minerva Swigart: Wrong age in 1986 US GenWeb list (incorrectly stated as 34 instead of 56)
c. Frank Stanley Slocum: Wrong surname in 1986 USGenWeb list (used middle name as surname)
d. William Higman: Wrong surname in 1986 USGenWeb list (transcribed incorrectly as Holman)

3. TRANSFERS: I would like to transfer any memorials I have created to family members as long as they are not my ancestors. Many of these memorials are included in my Virtual Cemetery "Unrelated Persons - Ready for Transfer". Just contact me with your FAG # and I will transfer your family member's memorial to you.

4. MY APPROACH & PHILOSOPHY: Once I started researching my family history in 2010 I knew I wanted to visit the places my ancestors lived and their burial locations. Most of my research has taken me to the Midwest & adjacent states (Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin), Montana, Pennsylvania, and Vermont. While in cemeteries, I take photo of grave-sites adjacent to my ancestors' graves on the possibility some of those grave-sites were not yet memorialized in FAG. In some cases I also fulfill Photo Requests. I always take photos of both individual grave markers and of the same markers in context with adjacent markers (I call them landscape photos). This latter practice has been of real help in identifying relationships among those interred. It should also help anyone (including me on a possible return visit) who wants to find individual grave-sites as you can see the grave marker "in context"

I also try to assist others, particularly people who are pursuing an unusual project or want to work collaboratively. Generally, the research is NOT related to my ancestry, so I tend to call these efforts "volunteer projects". The most interesting such project so far was in early 2016 when I was contacted by a French researcher who was researching coal miners who had immigrated to Illinois from northern France. His name appears in many memorials created for burials in Illinois cemeteries. It was an enjoyable albeit fairly intensive effort for about 5 weeks. Wonderful learning experiences when you undertake research that brings you into other cultures and life situations.

5. MY RESEARCH / ANCESTRAL LINES: I started researching my ancestry in October 2010. My ancestral lines:

--Douglass: (2X GGrandmother's line) Scotland to Ireland to PA to Ohio to Missouri to SW Montana
--Edwards: (Father's line) Wales to England to Pennsylvania to Virginia (now West Virginia) to Ohio to Wisconsin to Kansas to Los Angeles
--Ent: (3X GGrandmother's line) Difficult. Virginia to Ohio
--Gannon: (Both 2X GGrandparents' lines) County Galway, Ireland to NE England to Pennsylvania to Missouri to Kansas City, Kansas (coal miners)
--Jehle: (Both 3X GGrandparents' lines) Baden, Germany to Pana, Illinois (Central IL) to Kansas to California
--Marsh: (Back at least to 5X Great Grandfather): England to Massachusetts to Vermont to NE Ohio to SW Montana
--McIntyre: (2X GGrandfather's line): County Longford, Ireland to Lexington, Lafayette Co., Missouri (coal miner)
--Persinger: (3X Great Grandfather's line) Switzerland (?) to Indiana to Christian County, IL
--Rickard: (2X GGrandmother's line) Difficult: New York to Ohio
--Schmitt: (Maternal Grandfather's line) Bavaria, Germany to Allentown, Lehigh County, PA, to SW Montana to Los Angeles
--Sippel: (Maternal GGrandmother's line) Bavaria, Germany to Allentown, Lehigh County, PA
--Sloan: (Maternal Grandmother's line) Scotland to Ireland to SW Pennsylvania to SE Ohio to NW Missouri to SW Montana (farmers/ranchers)

I've also researched at least somewhat these families as a result of marriages into my "blood lines": Burns, Butler, Coughlin, Ebert, Felder, Gangewere, Griffiths, Holzemer, Neil, Schmidt, Spath.

I am happy to share my findings with others. Please contact me at my gmail address.

RECENT FAG ACTIVITY (Updated 5 Feb 2020):

I haven't updated this page for 3 years so need to bring it current.

In mid-2016 I was in the middle of restoring an abandoned family cemetery in Caldwell County, Missouri (Sloan Cemetery) and still trying to figure out what happened to my EDWARDS grandfather who disappeared in Los Angeles in 1933 so I could work back in time to identify earlier EDWARDS Grandparents.

SLOAN Cemetery Update:
I completed my work in the Sloan Cemetery in October 2016. A stone sign was installed as well as a new marker for my 3X Great Grandparents, Stephen and Judith Ent SLOAN. I've seen the cemetery once since then and nature is back at work, but living 2000 miles away does not allow for ongoing care. Hopefully a distant cousin who lives in the area and/or the Caldwell County Historical Society will provide care when they can.

My EDWARDS Line - Update:
In the Fall of 2016 I presented a summary of my search for my EDWARDS grandfather to a local (Los Angeles) British Isles group that offered "Brick Wall" assistance. I was thrilled when I learned his death record had most likely been located. It did in fact turn out to be my Grandfather whose death record included an incorrect middle initial.

Since then I've been able to trace my EDWARDS line back to my 8X Great Grandfather in 1694 in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Most likely an immigrant from England of Welsh and English ethnicity, identifying and linking my EDWARDS grandparents prior to the early 1800's only proved possible because of books written by 2 distant cousins. To these 2 women, Marie Edwards Quisenberry and Lela Lillian Lones, I am indebted for their painstaking and meticulous work. Without their labors to record their and my EDWARDS history, I would still be "guessing" regarding my early EDWARDS roots.

Travel to EDWARDS grave-sites:
2017: In June I visited 2 cemeteries in Colma, CA (immediately south of San Francisco) where my Grandfather (John S Edwards) and Great Grandfather (John M Edwards) are buried. Previously unmarked, both graves now have permanent markers with my Grandfather's engraved "Our Missing Grandfather". In September I traveled to Hiawatha, Kansas to visit the graves of my 2X Great Grandmother, Louisa Clement Edwards, and my 3X Great Grandparents, William and Joanna Clement. Louisa's grave is unmarked, her parents' graves are marked.
2018: In September I traveled to Eau Claire, Wisconsin, to visit the grave of my 2X Great Grandfather, Martin Edwards, a Civil War veteran with a government-issued grave marker.
2019: Last year I made trips in search of my 3 X Great Grandfather, Sanford Edwards, and my 4X Great Grandfather, Jesse Edwards. The search for Sanford took me to Cloud County, Kansas and Summit Cemetery where I'm certain he is buried in an unmarked grave next to his 2nd wife, Rebecca. Looking for Jesse's grave took me to Miami County, Ohio in October. I guessed he had been buried in an unmarked grave in the Crawford Cemetery as the 2 families were connected thru the marriage of one of Jesse's sons. However, upon my return home, I discovered Jesse was buried in a cemetery within 2 miles of the Crawford Cemetery in a neighboring county! So I am hoping to return to the area this year to visit my 4X Great Grandfather.

Other Info to Share:

1. MOUND CEMETERY, Christian County, Illinois: I have just spent a little time updating some of the memorials (mostly links to parents and birth and death data) I created in 2015 for persons buried in this cemetery. I visited Mound to find the grave of my 3X Great Grandfather, Benjamin Persinger. I also researched at the Christian County Historical Society which shared an interment list with me for Mound Cemetery, the source of the memorials I created in 2015.

2. SLOAN CEMETERY, Caldwell County, Missouri. Here is the link to the Sloan Cemetery and a note regarding errors on the 1986 USGENWEB list of burials. I welcome questions, suggestions, or assistance with this cemetery.

LINK: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&CRid=31633

USGENWEB ERRORS: Over the course of 2016 I researched all burials. An important outcome was determining 4 errors were made in the 1986 "reading" of the cemetery posted to USGenWeb. Unfortunately, the webmaster has never responded to my request for corrections. These errors are:

a. Hiram Sloan: Wrong age in 1986 USGenWeb list (incorrectly stated as 10 instead of 40)
b. Minerva Swigart: Wrong age in 1986 US GenWeb list (incorrectly stated as 34 instead of 56)
c. Frank Stanley Slocum: Wrong surname in 1986 USGenWeb list (used middle name as surname)
d. William Higman: Wrong surname in 1986 USGenWeb list (transcribed incorrectly as Holman)

3. TRANSFERS: I would like to transfer any memorials I have created to family members as long as they are not my ancestors. Many of these memorials are included in my Virtual Cemetery "Unrelated Persons - Ready for Transfer". Just contact me with your FAG # and I will transfer your family member's memorial to you.

4. MY APPROACH & PHILOSOPHY: Once I started researching my family history in 2010 I knew I wanted to visit the places my ancestors lived and their burial locations. Most of my research has taken me to the Midwest & adjacent states (Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Ohio, Wisconsin), Montana, Pennsylvania, and Vermont. While in cemeteries, I take photo of grave-sites adjacent to my ancestors' graves on the possibility some of those grave-sites were not yet memorialized in FAG. In some cases I also fulfill Photo Requests. I always take photos of both individual grave markers and of the same markers in context with adjacent markers (I call them landscape photos). This latter practice has been of real help in identifying relationships among those interred. It should also help anyone (including me on a possible return visit) who wants to find individual grave-sites as you can see the grave marker "in context"

I also try to assist others, particularly people who are pursuing an unusual project or want to work collaboratively. Generally, the research is NOT related to my ancestry, so I tend to call these efforts "volunteer projects". The most interesting such project so far was in early 2016 when I was contacted by a French researcher who was researching coal miners who had immigrated to Illinois from northern France. His name appears in many memorials created for burials in Illinois cemeteries. It was an enjoyable albeit fairly intensive effort for about 5 weeks. Wonderful learning experiences when you undertake research that brings you into other cultures and life situations.

5. MY RESEARCH / ANCESTRAL LINES: I started researching my ancestry in October 2010. My ancestral lines:

--Douglass: (2X GGrandmother's line) Scotland to Ireland to PA to Ohio to Missouri to SW Montana
--Edwards: (Father's line) Wales to England to Pennsylvania to Virginia (now West Virginia) to Ohio to Wisconsin to Kansas to Los Angeles
--Ent: (3X GGrandmother's line) Difficult. Virginia to Ohio
--Gannon: (Both 2X GGrandparents' lines) County Galway, Ireland to NE England to Pennsylvania to Missouri to Kansas City, Kansas (coal miners)
--Jehle: (Both 3X GGrandparents' lines) Baden, Germany to Pana, Illinois (Central IL) to Kansas to California
--Marsh: (Back at least to 5X Great Grandfather): England to Massachusetts to Vermont to NE Ohio to SW Montana
--McIntyre: (2X GGrandfather's line): County Longford, Ireland to Lexington, Lafayette Co., Missouri (coal miner)
--Persinger: (3X Great Grandfather's line) Switzerland (?) to Indiana to Christian County, IL
--Rickard: (2X GGrandmother's line) Difficult: New York to Ohio
--Schmitt: (Maternal Grandfather's line) Bavaria, Germany to Allentown, Lehigh County, PA, to SW Montana to Los Angeles
--Sippel: (Maternal GGrandmother's line) Bavaria, Germany to Allentown, Lehigh County, PA
--Sloan: (Maternal Grandmother's line) Scotland to Ireland to SW Pennsylvania to SE Ohio to NW Missouri to SW Montana (farmers/ranchers)

I've also researched at least somewhat these families as a result of marriages into my "blood lines": Burns, Butler, Coughlin, Ebert, Felder, Gangewere, Griffiths, Holzemer, Neil, Schmidt, Spath.

I am happy to share my findings with others. Please contact me at my gmail address.