Backpost 15 March 2008

My grgrgr-grandfather, Alonzo John Rutter, fought in the Civil War. I know he had health problems from his service due to the 1890 Veteran's Census and his death certificate. However, according to Ancestry.com's Civil War Pension Index, he never filed for a pension. I was playing around on a new (for me) site, Footnote.com. Low and behold, Alonzo did receive a government pension! I like Footnote because you can buy individual records rather than pay for a yearly subscription. So now I have Alonzo's pension index card, and have sent away to NARA for his pension file.

Backpost 24 January 2008

Recently I visited the grave of my grgr-grandfather, James Elzra Shaw, for the first time. On his stone was a symbol I had never seen before. His wife, Katherine, who is buried next to him, also had a symbol on her stone. I tried Google searching both acronyms, but came up with nothing. Today I was flipping through a 1900 Sears Roebuck catalog I have and came to the fraternity jewelry section. There was the symbol I could not find! It turns out James belonged to the Modern Woodmen of America. I still have yet to identify Katherine's symbol. If you recognize it, please e-mail me. The point of my story: you never know where or when you might come across a bit of information, so keep your eyes open!

Backpost 22 October 2007

Today is a day to celebrate. I found my elusive Linderman family. On findagrave.com someone had posted a picture of the family grave stone. It seems all but two children were buried with their parents. Birth and death dates were listed! From there I was able to track them down in the censuses. My ancestor even served in the Civil War. Now I have another pension file to order (which should provide even more information).

Source
Find A Grave, Inc., Find A Grave.com, digital images, (http:/www.findagrave.com : downloaded 22 October 2007); photograph, “gravestone for Jason Linderman (1840-1876), Memorial No. 15899715, Records of the Lenox Centre Burial Ground, Richmond, Michigan;" photograph © Jack Vander-Schrier.