John Watson Napier

John Watson Napier
Born: 06 Oct 1850 in Oakley, Carnock, Fifeshire, Scotland
Parents: James Watson Napier and Agnes Brown Watson
   Note: Napier is a title, a kind of Earlship
Married: Agnes McKinlay on 27 Mar 1874 in Cowdenbeath, Beath, Fife, Scotland
   Had seven children, James Robert, John, Isabelle, Agnes Euphemia, George Albert, and a stillborn male.
Have his immigration records as preserved by the LDS church.
Died: 12 Mar 1910 in Farnaum, Fremont, Idaho, USA

So where am I in the verifications of John's burial in Farnum? .....No where. He is listed in the Idaho State Death Index as being buried in Farnum Cemetery. So Mom, Dad the girls andI made a trip a couple of summers ago to the cemetery, and took a visual transcription. I put my findings on findagrave.com, but John's grave, if he is there, is not marked. I found the obituary for John. It says that he was buried in St. Anthony. A call to the sexton proved that this is not so. I called the Idaho State Historical Society. They have a visual transcription....been there done that. I did a web search, and only came up with visual transcriptions. I have a call into the Farnum Sexton, but have not heared anything yet....yes it has a sexton even though it is considered to be abandoned. So where does that leave me?

....You would think that verifying a burial so close to my home would be easy. Ha!!!

Where to find Meanor Beginnings early editions

I am not sure about whether or not it is alright to distribute this information. To me genealogy means sharing what you know with cousins you didn't know you had. I recently contacted the originator of Meanor Beginnings, but was made to feel unwelcome to sharing information. I feel I have a lot to give, but was treated very differently than what I would have expected. I had gathered from the newsletters that they were wanting and giving all information Meanor. However, my experiance makes me wonder if I unintentionally stepped on someones toes. Meanor Beginnings is still going strong today, but it is now in a closed forum to which I am not invited.

I still feel that I should share the information I have, so I will readily part with my source.....aka the location.... if asked off the blog for those looking for Meanor ancestors. Therefore, anyone wanting the early editions, please contact me via e-mail placing Meanor Beginnings in the subject line.

Like wise, anyone working the Peart / Meanor connection....Diane and I would love to share as we are each decended from a different pair.

Meanor Pictures are Returned

Well, it took me just about forever, but I got Diane's pictures back to her just after Thanksgiving. She was excited to see the scan and image restoration that I was able to do on the tin type. I got to meet her daughter, too. It was a good visit though no genealogy was exchanged, mabey next time.

Smith Prairie Historical Society

Norma sent me a couple of e-mails this week. One is an invitation to join the Smith Prairie Historical Society(SPHS). I haven't made up my mind about htis one yet, but it got me thinking. Where is all my hard work going to go when I die? I know I want the girls to each have a copy of it, but I think a copy of at least Mom's side should go to the SPHS. They are gaining strength so I should think they will be around when I pass on...

The SPHS has a web site up and running. For thouse intrested, plesase go to http://www.facebook.com/pages/Prairie-ID/Smith-Prairie-Historical-Society/119323679227

I didn't see anything there for membership into the organization...that doesn't mean its not there though...contact me directly if you want an aplication...and can't find one. I
ll be more than happy to forward the one Norma sent me to you.

A Little Advertizing

You may be wondering about the ads, and why they found their way into my blog space. Even if you weren't wondering, I am going to tell you anyway. I need a way to pay for my hobby...adiction...to genealogy, plus I need to have a way to help pay for those pesky missing gravestones for family graves. So like it or not the advertisements are here to stay....unless of course someone is willing to donate heavily to my cause.... Yea, I thought not. Enjoy the ads.

Lt. John L. Kinney

I was contacted by a Civil War historian. He has sent me a scan of a picture of the newly promoted Lt. John L. Kinney taken in Louisianna. He purchased the photo in Pennsylvaina. I was so shocked, you could have knocked me over with a feather. He saw my post looking for information on genforum that I placed....two years ago?... Any way, I am thrilled to have one more piece of family history.

Mom's Photo Album

Well, I still haven't managed to get any of the pictures I have borrowed returned. ....and now I have yet another project. I am redoing an old photo album of Mom's....and of course identifying the people, and why the pictures were taken, and where they were taken....

Yep, pretty well exhausted.

Photos for Marker, Davison and Meanor

I finally finished processing all the photos I acquired earlier in the month. I will be return them to everyone later next week. I have next Saturday off, so will try to catch up with Diane Willson then. I want to put some pictures together for Norma in addition to the ones I have from her before mailing everything back to her. I have already passed along pictures to Susan Sharp, but I think I want to give her some Prairie picture I have as well.

So much to do.....so little time.

Fieldtrip to Pocatello and...

We had a trip to Pocatello on Monday, July 20th. I can't say it was a good one, but it was a trip. We had planned to go first to Pocatello then on to Franklin. An achievable goal, if you leave the children and grumpy people at home.

Our voyage included, Mom (driver), Dad (grumpy person), Kyrie (only one who had fun), Carolyn (terror extraordinaire), and myself (genealogist).

We started off late... I forgot my purse and we had to go home...and break into the house. Fortunately the living room window was open able and I was able to lift Kyrie in. I would not have gone back for it, but it had the money for the trip and my camera. Mom didn't bring her camera.

The directions from Yahoo and Google were off...way off. We found everything OK, but only because Mom and Dad know a bit about where things are in Pocatello.

My great uncle, the stillborn baby boy Jarvis.... We found his grave, but it's not marked. So, a new fieldtrip needs to be planned to mark the grave.

After lunch, and tearing my leg up trying to get Carolyn out of the playground at McDonald's, we went to the County Courthouse. I went to the records window. The woman was on a cell phone. After 20 minutes the woman at a neighboring window finally told me where to find the records I was looking for. The other woman was still on the phone when we left. In the office where the records are kept from the 1920's, I was quickly assisted. I sat down with the record book and went through it twice. Great Grandma Basil's divorce records were not there. So on to Boise....another day.

Leaving there Dad was cranky and irritated. Carolyn was done. We deiced to leave Franklin for another trip, and headed home. At Fort Hall Dad had us stop to show the girls the Buffalo and the small museum. Carolyn was fascinated by the dead animals. Kyrie was entranced by the models.

Yep, spent all that money and time for for two null answers. Now I have even more questions....

C. E. Dowd

I asked for a picture of C.E. Dowd's headstone in Dayton, Webster, Iowa on findagrave.com .....just about forever ago. Today I opened my e-mail and Jim in Minnesota not only posted a picture to the site, but sent one to me as well. THANKS JIM!!! With the picture came information that I didn't have before. Love it!

Now to begin unraveling the C. E. Dowd mystery...... After the trip to Franklin....

Amazing Smith Prairie Search Results

So... I love to put in peoples names in the Google search engine with quotes around them and watch what pops up. This past week it dawned on me to try a place name. So I started with a place I am very familiar with...Smith Prairie. One word, just one...WOW! I was amazed by the stuff that popped up. I was totally and completely blown away...pictures, newspaper articles, hiking guides for the surrounding mountains, history, geology, geography, and on and on and on... I only got through the first three pages. I highly recommend this type of search.

Picture of John M. Meanor!!!

I returned the McTeer-Mateer book today to Diane Wilson. I took other things I found on-line as well as the scans of the book. In return she gave me several Pennsylvania books on CD that have passed out of copyright. She also sent home two pictures. One of William Peart Meanor that needs restoration, and one of John M. and William Peart Meanor to scan and return. She has an incredible collection of photos from the Meanor line.

Another great visit and exchange of information.

With Love from Norma

I met Norma Dart, and a friend from Scotland (who's name I didn't catch), in Blackfoot on Thursday with Mom and the girls. Norma is an Ireland/Marker... Anyway she brought a gallon baggie full of Marker, Davison and Ireland pictures. I got to bring them home to scan and send back to her. Now to find the time...

I also took pictures of Family Group Sheets that go back farther than Jens Peder Marcher (Jens Peter Marker). She gave me sheets on how to look up land pattens for Idaho with information on our Smith Prairie families pattens. She had a map which she has worked hard to fill in the who had what originally. I took a picture of it, but there was a lot of glare problems. I am not sure of some of the information on it as the homesteads for Wiley and Davison seem too close together. I'll need to do some verifications.

Susan Sharp got my autographed copy of Norma's Danskin Canyon book. Norma brought me another one and signed it exactly the same way as she signed the first one. She also gave me a second signed copy.

All in all a great visit and information exchange.

Searches for William and Ellen Hamilton Meanor

I thought if I did some more Internet surfing looking for William and Ellen Hamilton Meanor before I delve back into Meanor Beginnings Newsletters, maybe I could find some connection between what I am reading and what I am looking for. I came up with a few things on William Peart Meanor....Got to remember to e-mail Diane W., but nothing that I can positively pin on William. As for Ellen,.....absolutely nothing, zero, zip, nada.

So taking everything into consideration....I worked on weeding the garden last night instead of pressing ahead. I will be working longer days for a while, so I am not going to get much done.

Meanor Beginnings Vol. 1 Issue 4

This issue provides a well written remembrance of the Nancy Meanor Mason descendancy. Well worth the read even if I turn out not to be related to this line. Tidbits of names and dates were scattered and required a scratch sheet and five gen chart just to get a handle on it.

Names in this issue connect, in my mind at least, with a local Mason history I copied for a customer in about March. I am positive this is still of the computer at work, but if you think I am in any hurry to go back to work before Tuesday, you are out of you mind.

Meanor Beginnings Vol. 1 Issue 3

This one was pretty focused on James McCoy, his wife Rachel Meanor, and their descendants. This source seems more solid, but will still require verifications. I still don't know where this will fall in my own tree. I am going to keep plugging away at the newsletters and see if it answers more questions than it makes. There were a few lines that didn't make sense, but it was a vast improvement over the previous newsletter. I still wish the sourcing was better documented. If this winds up by being a part of my tree, it will require a lot of backing.

Yesterday just got away from me

I finnished scanning Diane's book yesterday and putting it back together. I need to adjust the picture pages, and some of the other pages are really crooked....but that is done. I'll fine tune it later today if I can stand looking at the computer that long.

I finished the next newsletter in Meanor Beginnings and will post some thoughts on it in a separate entry following this one.

I have had no new e-mails for a while. I guess everyone has forgotten about me for the moment. Time to make more e-mail karma. I have found when things get slow if I do so findagrave work it builds more e-mail Karma. I don't think I'll do it today though. I am so worn out from the week that I am sure I'll take a nap later. I got to run to the store this morning to get a card for Dad then it's out to Mom and Dad's for the rest of the day. Nick is going to make old fashioned Shepard's Pie for Dad, and he needs to put the lights on the trailer. I don't know if I will accomplish much today with it being Father's Day.

The Workbook is in beta stage.

Well I am officially using my workbook, but I am still working on the binding issue. For the beta version I am going to put it in a three ring binder. I have a pretty cool one that allows for me to carry all sorts of stuff with it. Everything zips closed so I don't have to worry about loose pages. This will give me some flexibility while I decide how I am really going to use the workbook. At the end of each month I can bind up what I actually used, and use leftover forms, if any, in the next month. This will save on waste and give me a solid reference of what I have done and when. Combine that with the blog, and I think my sources will be stronger.

I am using ready made forms for this version. As a graphic designer though, I'll make my own as I go along. I already put in my forms for cemetery transcriptions. No since in going backwards there. I definitely don't like the family group sheets I am using for the beta. There is no room or place for notes. The multiple marriages are listed on the back of the sheet instead of any where near the individual. Sourcing is difficult unless you use an new form for each source...what a pain in the neck. It is going to be a long difficult road to get where I need to be, but a road well worth the travel.

Thinking of sources, I want to go through my files and double check that everything is sourced. I seem to have lost a lot of links to the sources when I changed from PAF to FTM. Either that or I just didn't realize that my source work was so poor before. I really notice any lack of sourcing with FTM. There is a lot to be said about the differences in the two. I really like the graphic interface of FTM, but it was easier to get around in PAF. FTM however is more where I need to be to grow for now.

Meanor Beginnings Vol. 1 Issue 2

If William Meanor (wife Ellen Hamilton) is the son of William and Margaret Smith Meanor, he had to have been born earlier than the date given, because William Meanor (wife Racheal Peart) was born 6 years prior to the date given for the first William's date of birth. Even reversing the birthdates wouldn't explain the difference.

I don't know how much of the Meanor Beginnings I am going to be able to trust if this is an example of their research. I'll press though a couple of years and see where it goes, or if the quality of information improves. It definatly calls for verifications.

There seems to be some questions about Isaac's chidren that are not resolved in this newsletter. So it makes it even doublly hard to trust anything in the newsletter. The newsletter opens by giving strong first and secondary sources, but quickly drops into speculation with no clues as to what is fact and what is fiction.

I need more solid evidence that is more carefully documented and reported. Nothing personal Grace....I just can't see where your coming from.

Wookbook progress and Findagrave

O.K. So I have the workbook almost put together. I just need a couple of more things and then I am ready to rock 'n roll. I should be done with it today. If I understand the the blog thing correctly I could post the workbook to the blog when I get it done. I'll put that on my to do list.

Today I wanted to add a memorial for g-grandpa Jesse Leon Basil on findagrave. It is up, but it is a long way from pretty. Tomorrow I want to add his picture and a picture of his headstone. The headstone picture I have may not be a complete picture in which case I will request a picture. I also need to add pictures to both of my grandmother's memorials, and to Grandpa Wright's memorial. I need to add g-grandma Basil's parents....findagrave only allows for one set of parents. I think I'll put a link in the text to solve the problem. I need to check out how Robert Regan makes short URLs for this.

I hope to scan and compile the McTeer-Mateer book today. That is a project for work...maybe I'll just go in after hours tonight and get it done.

Yesterday I got the Meanor stuff from Diane Wilson printed, and the Linn stuff from Diane Linn downloaded and printed. I still need to get the Teal Suit picture of Mom and the Johnson letter printed. The Johnson Letter may be a good one to attach to the blog. It is a brief tidbit on the Frank Meanor family.

Just a thought, I should probably make a CD of each family group folder. That way it is backed up in a more logical manner. .....mmmm add CD's to the shopping list.

Why am I Here, and What am I doing

I decided I needed a place where I could keep track of my genealogy research, that I could access anywhere. It would also be nice if I could share it with others more easily. So here I am.

Today my goals were to up date g-grandpa Homer's findagrave memorial with his DSC citation, and link the stillborn to him and g-grandma Basil. I also wanted to start this blog, a recommendation of Robert Regan of treasuremaps.com. Because I believe everything must happen in threes my third goal is to actually start tackling the Meanor Beginnings newsletters with fervor.

So how am I doing? findagrave.com work this morning is done. Blog is created. So on to Meanor Beginnings. I haven't decided if I am going to work on sheets or if I want to just delve right into a new PAF or FTM file. I would prefer to only have to enter the information once so perhaps I'll start with paper and move forward from there. It may be helpful to just bind a bunch of family group sheets in to a kind of workbook.....mmmm I like that idea.

A workbook...I could put in family group sheets, a five gen chart, and note pages. The problem is knowing what I will need for each listing. Maybe if I group them and add cross referencing of some kind...

....and the mad graphic designer is off to the copier.