The Genealogy Search

I decided to do a little research on the meaning of the name Skibbe.  The only information I have located so far is:  North German: from Sorbian   skiba   ‘slice of bread’, perhaps a nickname for a poor person.     I found this information at http://www.answers.com/topic/skibbe .  Please let me know if anyone else can come up with anything.  My Skibbe's do hide - maybe because no one knows the origin of their surname.

Looking at this picture of my daughter Juliana I am led to believe our mannerisms must be genetic!  I remember this pose on my mother and Grandmother.  I am sure that it skipped a generation because I would never project such an attitude!

Grandfather William A. Skibbe, World War I soldier.  I am blessed to be the keeper of his pay record book and sleeve, dog tags, and sewing kit.

Violet Gollnick Skibbe (adopted), Clara E Miottel, and George Miottel about 1926, Chicago, Illinois

Ruth Skibbe, my grandaunt,  died early in life in Chicago, Cook, Illinois.   Ruth was engaged to marry Walter Lemke of North Judson, Indiana.  Burial in Saint Paul's Lutheran Cemetery also known as the Denham German Lutheran Cemetery in Denham, Pulaski, Indiana.

I am so glad that I had the opportunity to attend the banquet Friday night at the Expo.  Dinner was excellent, the company was even better and the presentation outstanding.  The evening started with bloggers seated among the tables sharing the "tech to trace your roots".  I had the good fortune of sitting with Lisa Louise Cooke, Bruce Buzbee and Thomas MacEntee.  The live Genealogy Gems Podcast with Lisa Louise Cooke and her stage manager daughter Lacey Cooke was very entertaining.  Podcast guests included Anastasia Tyler of Ancestry.com (recently featured on The Martha Stewart Show), Bruce Buzbee of Roots Magic - the new sponsor of Genealogy Gems Podcast,   Gena Philibert Ortega, of   Gena’s Genealogy Blog , and the witty and entertaining Thomas MacEntee.  Anastasia shared what we should expect from Ancestry in 2010, talked about the new TV series Who Do You Think You Are? premiering  March 5.  Gena shared how easy it is to blog.  She is the Genealogy Community Director

 Lisa A. Alzo presented attendees of her Best Web Sites for East European Research with a wonderful listing of links for research.  I am looking forward to sitting down later this afternoon and giving them a go.  I must also give Lisa kudos for being so patient and kind to a few less than respectful attendees!  She is one classy lady!

I can't pick out just one thing about the Expo I enjoyed the most.  There were so many wonderful classes, and people.  I had a wonderful time filling in at the Genealogy Gems booth, I met some wonderful folks that stopped by and had the opportunity to talk with other vendors at the show.  The banquet was a lot of fun and I had the opportunity to meet Bruce Buzbee of Rootsmagic and Thomas MacEntee of blog, Facebook and Twitter fame and best of all spend some time with Lacey and Lisa Louise Cooke.  Lisa Louise and Lacey  engineered a great live podcast after dinner was served.  I attended many classes my mind was jam packed with information.  Now I need to sit back and go through all of the information and goodies I picked while I was there.

There is something to think about - visit family, research, and attend a conference all in the same week.  I enjoy researching at the  The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library   I have a lot of towns to research along with a few counties within driving distance.  The best part is I have family near Springfield that I would get to spend time with.

Assess yourself!  You’re great at researching everyone else’s history, but how much of your own have you recorded? Do an assessment of your personal records and timeline events to ensure your own life is as well-documented as that of your ancestors. If you have a genealogy blog, write about the status of your own research and steps you may take to fill gaps and document your own life. I have ignored myself in my genealogy search.  I had entered marriage info, birth info, with a few vitals, of course my children show up in my timeline.  Things that I did not have in my timeline were high school and college information, employers and occupation, study tours I went on, and residence changes.   I found a copy of my senior picture and my freshman high school id in the process! I think now I am all caught up.  This was a great challenge!

The challenge:   Go to your local public library branch again. Examine the local history, archives and/or special collections section. Ask a librarian if you don’t know if your library has special collections or where they are located. Be sure to check the reference section, too, as many of the newer and more valuable books are held in that area. If you have a genealogy blog, write about what you find in your library’s local history and special collections. The Joel D. Valdez Library is Tucson, Arizona’s main library branch.  Located at 101 North Stone Avenue, the library is in the heart of downtown Tucson.  The library offers an online catalog that links all of the library branches and resources.  Items of interest may be transferred within the library system enabling all patrons’ equal access to materials.    This library participates in the interlibrary loan for books and for newspapers available on microfilm.   The main branch has three floors.  Each floor has a photocopier and

It is quickly approaching, the Mesa Family History Expo.  I am looking forward to seeing my genealogy friends!  Lisa Louise Cooke is hosting the  Mesa Arizona Family History Expo Banquet which should be a blast.  Colleen McHugh -  I am sure you will do a wonderful job presenting - I stop in and say hi!  

Going through the pile of information accumulated these past few months.  They have been scanned, transcribed, had a proper citation included on it, and had an id #  assigned to it.  Now I just need to file them in there proper place.  I just received a pension file for one of my relatives and decided not to open it until I had my paper worked cleaned up.  I have about twenty more pieces of paper to process and then the file and I will be spending quality time together.