I'm headed for either a breakdown or a breakthrough. I'll let you know soon.

One week to go

Is it too late to switch the person I'm going to write about? It would appear that I have enough information on the Munds to get going, but I have no idea what do with it. I'm considering dropping the class. Kidding. I'm, however, considering the following angles:

The trip across the Atlantic/Steerage conditions on the Suevia. Although that doesn't feel all that fresh and exciting to me.

A sort of historical look at the day the Munds arrived in NYC, 11/27/1882. This would be light on the family and might be too much like a encyclopedia entry.

A comparison/contrast kind of thing about how John Munds rented farm land and later his daughter would go to court over farm land she thought she owned with her husband. Again I'm too sure how to do that. I thought I could find some information on farm condition in Champaign County in the early 1900s when the Munds were renting farm land, but so far I've found nothing.

I'm sure I'll figure something out.

Man vs. Microfilm

For a second today it seemed that the microfilm might win. If it wasn't falling off the reel as I scrolled through the archived issues of Champaign News-Gazette, it threatened to make me go blind with its tiny font. However, I prevailed and wasn't kicked out of the Library for nearly destroying what they've tried so hard to perserve.

Anyways, I got a ton of good information from the obits for John and Frederika Munds. Combine this with the information from Sunday and I might just have an essay to write. I know their hometown in Germany. The name of the ship they travelled on when the moved to the US. As well as the fact that they rented a farm near Bondsville. John's obit had a list of the jobs he'd held since moving from Germany. Frederika's death was bit on the mysterious side. She suddenly became ill two hours before her death. The cause of death on her death certificate was impossible to read. Why can't all of these documents be typed instead of handwritten.

I'd given up on their children because I wasn't finding anything, so of course today I discover that one of them had gone insane and spent sometime in a mental institution. This information came out in a court case over some disputed property. I wanted more info about her illness, but the case only wanted to deal with deeds and property value. Still, some great info.

gotta make the call

Greetings, intrepid researchers!

So here's the thing. I've discovered Minnie has a grandson living in Catlin, IL (further east than Sidney, past Homer and Fairmount). And since he may be a good shot at getting some much needed biography, I've decided I need to call him.

...but how to do this?!

Has anyone else other than Lillian called folks for information? How did you describe our project?

I'm scared! And in need of some tips...

Thanks :)

An "appeal for wheels" + mini-update

So it turns out the symbol on Minnie's gravestone does represent the "Order of the Eastern Star" (www.easternstar.org). Really interesting rhetoric on their main site...I was especially struck by the line,

"Its appeal rests in the true beauty of the refreshing and character-building lessons that are so sincerely portrayed in its ritualistic work."

Huh. What does that mean exactly?

I also found an address for the Illinois chapter, which is located in Macon. After getting in touch with the "Grand Secretary" I may be interested in taking a trip out there to snoop around in person. Alas, however, I am carless... So if anyone with wheels is up for a field trip in the coming weeks, let me know :)

Also, I'm heading over the the Urbana Free Library sometime this week if anyone would like to join.

Hope everyone's research is going well! (This stuff is *slow-going*........)

Let Your Fingers Do The Walking

So, not entirely sure of where/how to begin--I cracked open the phonebook. Rather, www.superpages.com

I found about 20 listings for the family that I am interested in (the Gilliland's), and called the first one. So calling people is kind of weird because I really didn't have an 'opening' prepared and had to kind of fumble through some "okay so you dont know me or anything but im a student in this class and we are doing this project about this gravestone and so i found this one and blablablabla" for a few minutes before it was clear to the woman what i was doing calling her. But once that was through, she basically said 'ok, so what do you want to know?' and she gave me the basic details about many people in that cemetery and about the family in general. So I found out about how my 'person' (Doris) died and additional information as well. She suggested contacting undertakers and funeral homes in the area to find out who manages the cemeteries, and because those people tend to have a lot of information and history as well. She also pointed me in the direction of other people who might have more information. She was extremely helpful!! I took as many notes as I could (which I will soon type up so that I don't forget) but I am sure I forgot to ask something, and she said I could call back and talk to her again for more info if I needed. The moral of the story--sometimes cold calling can work!

Going Nowhere

A lack of information was one of my fears about this project. I was hopeful when I searched the Urbana Library's database and found the obits and some headlines that to me hinted at some kind of collective illness (e.g. flu). However, after scrolling through the microfilm, I found the obits to not be very helpful. For two of the siblings no cause of death was cited. For one of them it simply said he'd been sick for a long time. My first reaction was to find a new gravestone to research because the only thing that interested me about the one I picked was the closeness of the deaths. My essay was going to attempt to reconstruct that particular year of their lives.

I did get some good information. I now know that the family moved out of Champaign for a few years to work on a farm and then they all returned. Maybe I'll focus on that. I'm not sure yet.