Simmons and Related Families Projects: Simmons and Related Families Histories

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October 3, 2012

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Over the years, as I have gained knowledge and experience in genealogy, I became aware of a number of efforts needed to move in a positive direction with my family history. Also, once I committed to sharing my family history by using the Internet and a family history website, additional efforts were needed to keep the website current, accurate and interesting. Although I have stayed organized in my genealogy and website efforts, I am the only one that has knowledge of the numerous projects that I have completed and no one has knowledge of the projects that are in progress or which ones are being considered. This page is created to communicate all my projects that are in progress and projects that are being scheduled in support of the Simmons & Related Families Histories web pages.

Logging photo of unknown location & date.

Again, over the years I have completed a number of projects but I have also defined a larger number of family history projects that are on my "To Do" list. I am constantly re-prioritizing them as new projects are desired and defined.

On this web page I am listing all the projects that have been defined to date categorized into three groups. They are: Projects In Progress, Projects Scheduled and Projects Waiting. Also, I will try to keep this page up to date with status and comments about each project's progress.

Projects in Progress

The Next Family Line (Completed January 16, 2012)
Select the next family line to include on my website. The initial setup for the Moon family line was completed January 12, 2012 and installed on January 16, 2012. I am in need of material for writing and publishing some Moon family articles. Please send your suggestions and supporting material to me using the Contact US link located in the left side menu.
George Washington Connection Quest (last updated Oct 2011)
This project commenced in Feb 2011 and is currently in need of some attention. I have some new data that could help advance this project. Details about what this project will produce can be found here: George Washington Project
Quest for Ancestors of Wm Simmons (last updated December 10, 2011)
This project commenced in Feb 2011 and is currently in need of some attention. I have some new data that could help advance this project. Details and progress can be viewed here: Wm Simmons Ancestors
Quest for Ancestors of Betsey Ives (last updated December 15, 2011)
This project commenced in Feb 2011 at the same time that the Quest for Ancestors of Wm Simmons was started and is currently progressing slowly. As of the last update this effort is being documented on the Quest for Ancestors of Wm Simmons web pages. Sometime in the first months of 2012 the Quest for Ancestors of Betsey Ives will be separated from Wm Simmons. There is much information to sift through and some of Betsey's ancestors are American Indian which has it's own research challenges.
Database Analysis for Wm Simmons (last updated Nov 2011)
This project was created in support of the Quest for Ancestors of Wm Simmons. I have a large amount of data from multiple sources for this project and need an analysis method to help review and digest this large amount of data. My intentions are to be able to assess the current data and have the ability to add new data and reassess the information easily. I am currently testing this concept and should be ready to use this tool in a serious way by Feb 2012. This project is on hold, as it appears that it will not generate the expected answers.
Locate the Borgwaldt Family Bible (last updated Jun 2011)
This project was started about two years ago and has been active a few times since its inception. A number of cousins have been contacted in pursuit of this bible but to date it has not been found. Will post more detail about this project in the coming weeks.
Locate Genealogy files of Marcia Eisenberg and Roma Nowak (last updated Mar 2011)
Marcia and Roma have passed away a number of years ago. They are the originators and authors of the Simmons Kinfolk Newsletters published in the late 1970's. They were both very active in Genealogy and their research files could be a valuable source of information for my Simmons history quest.
Locate cousins to help provide family information around our generation (last updated Jul 2011)
This is an on-going effort and I have been contacted by a number of cousins to date who have provided some needed family information with promises of more information to come. I will stay in contact with all cousins that have contacted me to keep them updated on the family research progress and hope that they can continue to contribute. Also, they may be able to put me in contact with additional cousins.
Cemetery Headstone project (last updated Jun 2012)
This is another on-going project and is not well defined. Currently, when I come across a headstone I spend some time researching the information and find other headstones of interest. Each time I add another cemetery to my list and continue searching for headstones of ancestors and cousins interred there. I need a well focused and defined project to be thorough and accurate in documenting these headstones. This has been an on-going effort with new cemeteries and headstones being added on a regular basis.
The Pfeifer family history (last updated May 15, 2012)
This project was started to help my nephew research his father's family history. It is an on-going project that was recently updated.

Scheduled Projects

1940 US Census (Last Updated June 29, 2012)
The 1940 US Census is scheduled to be released for public view mid April 2012. My project will be to find all 1940 US Census records for all persons on my database that should have been included in this census and update the affected individuals and families that populate my database as of Apr 2012. I have been searching and locating these census records. There are many more to locate!

Train Station photo of unknown location & date.
Write and publish a number of Family Articles (Scheduled Start is ASAP)
There are a number of family articles that I want to write and publish but the time needed to research, write and publish a single article can be quite large depending on the subject matter. Listed here are some articles that I want to produce within the next 12 months.
    a.  The life of Rix Robinson a Michigan Pioneer.
    b.  The Trek of Lyman Simmons from New York to Ionia, Michigan.
    c.  Jacob Ball American Revolutionary
    c.  The Finding of Great Grandmother Susan Ball
    d.  The Beckett Farm House of Lowell, Michigan.
    e.  Logging Industry of Michigan late 1800's and early 1900's.
Update Help and FAQ pages (Scheduled Start - Jan-Feb 2012)
These pages are out of date and need information contained on them updated to reflect the current state of this website.

I THINK THAT I SHALL NEVER SEE,
A FINISHED GENEALOGY!!

I started out calmly tracing my tree,
To find, if I could, the making of me.
And all that I had was Great Grandfather's name,
Not knowing his wife or which way he came.

I chased him across a long line of states,
And came up with pages and pages of dates.
When all put together it made me forlorn,
I'd proved poor Great Grandpa had never been born.

One day I was sure the truth I had found,
Determined to turn this whole thing upside down.
I looked up the records of one Uncle John,
But then found the old man to be younger than his son.

Then when my hopes were fast growing dim,
I came across records that must have been him.
The facts I collected then made me quite sad,
For dear old Great Grandfather was never a dad.

I think maybe someone is pulling my leg,
I'm not sure at all I wasn't hatched from an egg.
After hundreds of dollars I've spent on my tree.
I can't help but wonder if I'm really me.

-- Author Unknown

Projects in Waiting

Horse & working sleigh of unkn location & date.

Photo identification project
This project has been started and halted a number of times. It is very time consuming trying to identify these photos so my time is allocated from time to time on this project. Currently, this project is waiting for me to scan some additional photos and upload them to this website.
Research needed project
My master database is housed within Legacy 7 and when new data is found or received and researched it is entered into this database. In that process sometimes errors are encountered or questions arise that need to be resolved at some point. So within Legacy a Research Needed entry is created for future reference and action. Each entry needs to be displayed on a web page of this website for public review.

Hemlock Special Cheboygan, Michigan

Genealogical DNA Testing
A little over a year ago I was collaborating with a group of 3 others that have submitted to a DNA test for genealogical purposes and they believe it has helped them move forward and is helping them get past their "brick wall". So, I have reviewed the pros and cons for DNA testing and have not yet submitted to a test. I do plan to perform the test and participate in a collaborative effort using the DNA results as the basis for this collaboration. This can develop into a large project but could produce great results.
Additional History Articles to publish
Listed here are a few more articles that I would like to publish. At the moment I do not have a desired schedule for these articles.
    a.  The history of the village of Sunfield, Michigan.
    b.  The history of the village of Saranac, Michigan.
    c.  Some history of the Sunfield Lions Club.
    d.  The Borgwaldt Family Bible (when found).
    e.  The Simmons Family Bible.
    f.   A hand made blanket by Betsey Ives.
    g.  Articles about some history books that I have read in my research efforts.
Military Honors Project of our Ancestors and cousins.
There are many veterans identified within this database that I would like to honor by providing some information and history of each veteran's service. First step is to identify and list all the current veterans of the database and incorporate military service information gathered during initial research of new additions to the database.
Old Post Card Project
This project was started a couple of years ago and is currently on hold. I have hundreds of old and interesting post cards that have been scanned but are not ready to upload to this website yet. This is an interesting project but adds little to family history information.
Death Certificate Transcriptions (Last Updated July 15, 2012)
Finding death certificates is an important source of information and I try to find one for each individual contained in my database. However, at times I did not transcribe the information but did attach the image of the document to the appropriate individual. I need to spend the time to transcribe all certificates that have not been transcribed. All new death certificates found are being transcribed. I have been transcribing the existing Death Certificates as they are encountered.
Old Kinfolk Newsletters - Information Corrections
After finding these newsletters and parsing the information to use in my database I have discovered a number of errors and inaccuracies that are worth mentioning with their corrections. This is not meant to demean these wonderful newsletters but to document the information gathering process. There are errors contained in much research and those errors/inaccuracies need to be corrected for the sake of accurately framing our ancestors and their lives.
Genealogy of David Schuyler - Book
After receiving the Schuyler book from James Schuyler and reading it, it became clear that I should write a few articles using the book as the basis for the articles. This is a wonderful book and has much interesting information. Review Introduction to this book