Family History Work, preparing our family members to receive the blessings of Eternal Life...
This post is for me to provide resources and Family Search suggestions, more than telling my story about my ancestor; JOHN WILLIAM KREBS.
My Great, Grandfather’s name is John William Krebs. He was born in 1875 in South Weber, Davis County, Utah. When he was 5 years old his father (same name) disappeared. I have been hooked on searching for any information I can find on him for about a year! Family Tradition says…
1. He was born in Ireland (or Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada) on February 22, 1844.
2. He was married to Hannah Maria Firth Winks around 1873 in South Weber, Utah.
3. He lived in South Weber in 1880 (around the time that he disappeared). Their name was listed in the US Census for that area as Cribbs.
4. He had three children; John William born 1875, Lola born 1877, and George born 1879.
5. He was baptized and confirmed on November 9, 1889.
6. He died in Idaho Falls, Bonneville County, Idaho on February 9, 1919.
7. Temple work was done for him in 1975; where he was sealed to Hannah and to two people who we have not been able to confirm as his parents.
That last one is why I am working so hard to confirm his information and confirm or get the correct temple work completed. I also feel drawn to learn details about his life. No one knows when or where he was actually born or who his parents or siblings are (or if he had any). Why did he leave his wife and young family? What was his childhood like? I might not find all these details before I get to meet him in the next life, but everything that I find now is like finding treasures! *Keep in mind I am new at this. I will add updates to this post (after the last paragraph), if someone adds or makes corrections to my suggestions.
Our family has been searching for John for over 60 years! That was enough for me to take on the challenge of finding him. This is my first experience with Family History. Sometimes I regret that, sometimes I’m glad that I started on a difficult “investigation”, because of all that I am learning! Every other ancestor that I investigate is a breeze compared to him. I am doing small amounts of research and data integrity verification for other family members, but I always go back to John. For some reason I feel like he is where I need to focus my efforts right now. I even landed a temporary, part-time job, working for the Salt Lake Family History Library, knowing that this would allow me to search for him (and others) every day!
The Family History Library has paid and voluntary consultants who are trained to help guests. Two months ago I found a pension receipt on Fold3.com (you get limited access to this site as a registered member of Family Search and 100% free access when you are in the Family History library). I was referred by a consultant to a clerk (Eugene Buck) who works with the National Archives Records Administration (NARA). For a small price he retrieved a copy of John’s Pension Application. I sent him an e-mail (ebuck43@aol.com) with the information about the document that I was looking for and he sent me back a 20 page Application with an invoice for his services.
Gene is on the hunt right now to help me find John’s Army enrollment application and medical records. From the application, I discovered that he was actually born in 1838 in Baltimore, Maryland (or at least that’s what he said). He married Hannah in Evanston, Utah; a town in Summit County that existed for 3 months. They lived in South Weber and Burley, ID. When he filled out this application, he was in Idaho Falls, having no knowledge at that time where his children were living. He had a bullet wound scar on his left calf and one in the middle of his forehead from his service in the Army during one of the Indian Wars (1866 thru 1869).
I also learned from Sons of Utah Pioneers (SUP) that he worked for Union Pacific Railroad around 1869 in Omaha, NE.
I have searched hundreds of birth records, census records, marriage, death, and cemetery records. I have searched land ownership records and probate records on microfilm, books and online. I have learned about The Indian War, about the early settlers in South Weber and Idaho Falls. I have learned all about my other ancestors who were directly related to him; his wife Hannah, her family, their children, their grandchildren, his step-children, neighbors, friends, and their enemies all for the efforts to find any information that I can find on him. I got off on tangents. I ran circles. I reinvented many, many, many wheels to confirm his information and look for more clues. I discovered a lot, but I also added to my list of facts that I need to find and/or confirm.
I am learning all about organization and task management. I’m an Executive Secretary by occupation. Organization and multi-tasking is the entire nature of that position, but I have never had to organize so much information or manage so many tasks for one person! I am gaining the skills of paying close attention to details, and remembering them (another skill that I am developing). I am gaining a love for my ancestors and a deep respect for what they endured in their lives, nothing compared to what I think I have to endure. I am learning how to stay focused, stay on task, prioritize, and follow through ~ tons of following through!
Here is a list of some of my favorite sites. Some of them are free from any computer; all of them are free when you are in the FHL.
• 19th Century British Library Newspaper Digital Archive
• The American Civil War (via Alexander Street Press): Research Database, Letters and Diaries, Images, Photographs, Posters, and Ephemera, Social and Cultural History, Women and Social Movements in the United States
• American Ancestors (by New England Historical Genealogical Society)
• Ancestry.com - (in the library, you get the Institution Version)
• Findmypast - (in the library, you get the Institution Version)
• The Genealogist
• Historic Map Works - (in the library, you get the Library Edition)
• Kinpoint - (in the library, you get the Premium Edition)
• MyHeritage - Library Edition
• Access Newspaper Archive
• Paper Trail
• ProQuest Obituary Listings
• Puzzilla.org - Premium Services
• World Vital Records - All content has been added to MyHeritage.com (who purchased WVR).
In order to get free Premium access to these sites, type fhc.familysearch.org in your internet browser when you are at the library. Go to the Genealogical Research section and click on Premium Family History Websites. The Family History Center in our area is at the American Fork Tabernacle on 100 East and Main Street. I will provide more information here when I get it.
Family Search, Family History, Genealogy, whatever you’re doing, whatever you call it; it’s not for wimps or “old” people (like I used to think)!
If you like reading, researching, investigating, writing, analyzing, organizing, tracking, planning, finding and/or problem solving, you will love Family History! But just a warning; once you get started, you’ll be hooked! That’s what the Spirit of Elijah does; it brings the hearts of the children to their fathers (and mothers) and the hearts of the fathers to their children. See LDS.org for more on "The Spirit of Elijah".
