NEGenWeb Project
Photo Album

That's how we were greeted when entering the genealogy room of a particular historical society!

This photo album is starting because one of the members of the NE Roots list asked why Nebraska didn't have one for the state (Thanks, Sandi). The idea appealed to us primarily because we have "lots of stuff", have often detoured to find a fragment. Intended to get a personal family history site together, but seem to get bogged down in other projects. Putting together a state photo album will hopefully help us organize and sort out our own.

The way we've worked -

About 1985, my Father "dumped" three boxes of old photos and papers here with statement to the effect that it would be my job to get it organized and provide my siblings with copies. Once Ted's Mother saw the notebooks, she brought her collection for preparation. We were "hooked" on genealogy.

We started writing for information, going to NARA for census records - you know the routine. Everytime we learned a little more, it triggered additional memories by one of our parents. There were lots of "you should work on "xxxx" at the same time, because we're related to them somehow." And my Dad's favorite - "they were wonderful people, you should see that they are remembered ..."

So we'd make a few notes about the neighbors, etc. Whenever we went to Nebraska, would be making stops - meet people and talk to them about their families.  Among our relatives, made copies of their old photographs, stopped by the cemetery to snap the family graves, etc. Often saw a name we knew a little about - so took another snapshot.

Recently, Aunt Lois visited California and noticed a box full of photo envelopes on a book shelf. She searched through them and discovered copies of a cousin's family photos that she'd never seen. (We do try to make extra prints and send them out every so often.)  That box happened to be primarily from a trip in 1990.

In that year, we were looking for a number of surnames, had several "projects". We had the basics on our "straight lines" - we were looking for "the married into's", and the rumored "shirt-tales". What we needed -

1. Learn where the Ewerts came from, and when they moved to Cheyenne County. (Answer: from Thayer and Gage Counties - but the immigrant retired to Colorado & died there!) Get the maiden names and the married into's (argh!) By the end of the interviews (beginning of trip) we had lots of names and little connecting data.

2. Collect the Benda's from Shelby area and Columbus (not related - at least in the USA).

3. Look for the Napiers around Surprise & Rising City. (Later learned they were buried at Bellwood - a cemetery we didn't try!)

4. Keep an eye out for those Swiss surnames.

5. The Persons & Lunds were related to the Nelsons of Leigh - find out how. (Should have asked - which Nelsons?)

6. Learn something about the Hollands, they died in Beatrice.

7. Find out where Aunt Josie is buried, her body arrived at the Columbus train depot during a blizzard in Jan 1949 - "don't know if she was buried in Platte County or was enroute to an Omaha cemetery" (She's buried in Boone County - learned that last year!)

We photographed a jillion gravestones because the surname was "right", and just kept rolling along. The car was "trained" - would swerve toward the cemeteries and courthouses ...

So - the Nebraska Photo Album will provide an opportunity to post the snapshots taken of assorted gravestones in a multitude of cemeteries. Most of these people are NO relation to us - fragments that didn't connect to our lines (at least not yet). We did accidently find Great Grandmother's Jacobson's sister buried at Arlington!

Sure - it would be nice to find complete cemetery lists, etc. Well - from these bits & pieces perhaps we can build bigger files. Will be adding more. Please contribute your snaps as well.

We are asking the NE County Coordinators to "move" these files to their county websites. Not certain how this will work out in the future - but are attempting to use every bit of genealogy info ever collected.

If it's not ours - maybe it is YOURS!

The "NUTS" - Ted & Carole Miller

PS - We collect MOSER / MOSIER / MOSHER for a nice man who was very helpful on our one & only trip to western New York.  He had an ancestor whose grave was "missing". We didn't find his ancestor while walking cemeteries there - but in appreciation of his assistance, and with the wild hope that someday we'll provide him with a bit of helpful info - we have photographed the occasional gravestone found in NE for his "most wanted" surname.

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© 2000, 2001 for NEGenWeb Project by T&C Miller