Here is a picture in 1945 Germany, where my Uncle Bill Rettammel (second from right) is standing with fellow U.S. soldiers. At this time he was an MP.

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On Saturday, November 11, 2017 at 11am Dane County Area Genealogical Society will be offering a Webinar at the LDS Church, 4505 Regent Street, Madison, WI. Our Speaker for this is Thomas MacEntee, a Professional Genealogist and author. His Topic is listed below:

All visitors are Welcome to come!

Program Tagline

What’s Been Done: Using Someone Else’s Genealogy Research

Genealogy author and educator Thomas MacEntee provides advice on how to incorporate another researcher’s work into your own family history research.

Summary: Whether you are new to genealogy or you’ve been working on your family history for years, incorporating the research of others can always be tricky. Here’s how to develop a proven strategy to benefit from the work of other genealogists.

Description: Many of us as genealogists have inherited research from a relative and we are not always sure whether the content is reliable? What’s the best way to incorporate the research of others into your own research without leading to dead ends, road blocks and unnecessary detours? Here’s a road map on the best way to handle “outside research” and benefit from it as you combine the content with your own research.

I have been cleaning around the house and in a sports coat that I no longer need, I found my notes from what I said at my maternal grandpa’s funeral in November 2008.  Here is what I prepared.

My Grandpa Maas was born in the Spring of 1914 outside the city of Lake Geneva, WI., prior to the start of the Great War (WWI).

Grandpa said one of his first memories at 2 or 3 years old was being snipped in the buttocks by goose protecting her young. They lived on a farm at the time.

Grandpa was the 4th of 6 children born in the family. In order was Karl, Loretta, Roy, Orv (Grandpa), Ann and Lorraine.

My grandpa worked for his Dad (William) at an early age in the 1920s and 1930s working in the family taxi business in Lake Geneva, WI.

Grandpa’s Mother Marie came to the US from Frankfurt, Germany with 3 sisters in November 1901 through Ellis Island.

Grandpa graduated from Lake Geneva High School in 1934.

Had an offer to go to Northwestern on a football scholarship but did not go.

After graduating from High School went with a friend to Long Beach, CA jumping on trains like hobos in June 1934. Grandpa’s oldest brother Karl was already out in Long Beach working and my grandpa went looking for work.

While out in Long Beach and Hollywood area, Grandpa took acting classes and even auditioned for the Movie “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” done by Warner Bros, released in 1935. He did not get any part or have any movie career.  Though back in the area of Lake Geneva and Chicago he did get on the radio playing banjo with a large group for a country hr station.

Back in Wisconsin by 1935 he drove taxi again for his Dad and told a story that during this time, he had a gun pulled on him by customer who told him to take him to Kenosha, WI.

Grandpa boxed until he had too many nose bleeds.

During the Depression he was a member of the CCC program in Northern, WI.

During WWII he tried to join the Air Force but he was rejected because he was deaf in 1 ear.

Grandpa’s passion in life was golfing. He started playing as teenager in Lake Geneva, being a caddy, eventually playing until past 85 yrs old. About 70 yrs of golfing, even had a couple holes in one on a few courses.

Took me bowling on Sunday mornings for a few years when I was a kid growing up in Racine, WI.

He also was very serious and competitive with card games. When he visited Lyndon Station with his wife and daughter (my mom) in 1940s and 1950s, he would participate in local card games up as the local bars in town.

He lived in Lake Geneva for the first 50 some years of his life, moved to Phoenix, Az for one year and then in Racine, WI for 7 years before retiring in 1976 and moving to Lyndon Station, WI.

He ran a gas station in town with my grandma for a few years in the 1970s, worked at Wis Dells min-golf courses for a number of later years and died in a special facility in 2008.

Love you Grandpa Maas

While in my parents birthplace location and extended family Wisconsin roots origin, I took a good walk around the small village in lower Juneau County, Lyndon Station. Though a very unusual Summer like temperature (80s) in late September, it was good exercise and also great opportunity to see this town on foot. I have visited here my whole life but today was special, it still is in good shape (with a few bends).

Though not a hot spot for most people, it has a certain charm for those with connections to similar villages across the United States. It was a farming community, had a Train Depot stop for a 100 yrs until 1968, supported small agricultural businesses, and for awhile in 1940s through 1960s a throughfare for Hwy 12 to Wisconsin Dells nearby, to other northern locations for tourism. In 1964 the Interstate to LaCrosse and Minneapolis reached through the northern edge of town and the use of Hwy 12 declined. Passage through this town was not necessary as much.

With the changes in the fabric of small town America, Lyndon Station still has some of the aforementioned aspects but at a slower pace now. It has much history and various characters that once lived here.

It still has charm!

Now that I have a Business Logo, I can start to use it to gather more exposure in the field. One trial start is to use it at my regular coffee shop I attend.

I have a color version but at the moment have not had time to go to the local Office Depot to get it professionally done. This will happen soon, but for now I wanted to see what even a small start could lead to.

I currently have a client who has a Grandma that was Swiss-German. Since I know little about Switzerland records and laws regarding genealogy access, I reached out to a colleague that knows German Script.

Knowing when to ask for others expertise as a Professional Genealogist is key when you are working for a client that needs answers to questions that you know can be answered through coordination with other professionals in the field. It benefits you, the client, and the wonderful field of Genealogy. As a Professional Genealogist it enhances what you can offer to future clients. Plus you to learn too. 

An online page from Harper’s Weekly (June 26, 1858):405; “scoundrels”. See below.

The scoundrels it refers to is the “runners” who preyed upon confused new immigrants landing in New York Harbors to entice them to buy various tickets on trains or boats to other US destinations, real or sometimes fake. These runners worked for organiztions that sometimes we’re just cons to get money from newly arrived people. 

Not all of course but they were considered a problem that, “in 1855 the commissioners of emigration in State New of York opened a landing depot in Castle Garden” in southern Manhattan. (pg 146,  City of Dreams, author Tyler Ambinder, 2016). Castle Garden was a theater prior to its identification with immigration in New York City.