Massacre's Descendants Anxious For Skulls Test Results

"For decades it sat on a shelf in a brown cardboard box - a skull pierced in the back with an apparent bullet hole and linked by a typewritten note to a dark and violent chapter in Mormon church history. "

So begins the extensive report on the Arkansas Democrat Gazette.

Idaho state archaeologists intend to determine if the skull is indeed from the 1857 Utah massacre of Arkansas wagon-train individuals heading to the infamous Morman area. It is said the Mormon's themselves killed 120 men, women and children from the wagon-train. Descendants of the 17 survivors of the massacre are anxiously awaiting the results.

Jeff Webb discovered the skull on the shelves of a Salt Lake City pawnshop in 1982. A note in the box said the skull was from a female "victim of the famed Mountain Meadows massacre."

"Mountains Meadows marks a dark moment in the history of the Mormon church - one that has often been left out of history books.

On Sept. 11, 1857, the Baker-Fancher party was attacked by area church and militia leaders disguised as a local Indian tribe. After a five-day siege, the Arkansans forged what turned out to be a false truce with a local Mormon church leader, laid down their weapons and were slaughtered as they were being led out of the meadow on foot.

The church had historically denied or downplayed its role in the killings, but in 2007 expressed its regret. Today, two monuments in the meadows memorialize the victims and the church is seeking National Historic Landmark status for the site.

Historical accounts show that after the killings, the bodies of the victims were strewn across the 2,500-acre meadow and left unburied. Then in 1859, U.S. military contingents were sent to bury the dead. Among them was a doctor from Utah's Camp Floyd, who is known to have removed at least two skulls and possibly other bones from the site, Turley said.

It's not known what happened to the doctor's souvenirs and there's no way to know how many other bones or artifacts may have been removed from the massacre site, Turley said. "

Read the complete story here.

Free Downloadable Genealogy Charts and Forms

The following is taken from Dick Eastman's EOGN:

"Looking for some blank forms that you can fill in during your genealogy research? You can download free, high-quality blank forms online from several web sites and print them on your own printer.

Family Tree Magazine has a huge collection of downloadable forms on the company's web site. The forms include pedigree charts, research calendars, note-taking forms, deed indexes, research journal, correspondence logs, family group sheets and census extraction forms. You can see this impressive collection of forms at http://www.familytreemagazine.com/forms/download.html

Ancestry.com has downloadable forms that are as nice looking as the commercially available forms. You can obtain a pedigree chart (called an Ancestral Chart), Research Calendar, Research Extract, Correspondence Chart, Source Summary and Family Group Sheet. You can do all of this at: http://www.ancestry.com/save/charts/ancchart.htm

FamilySearch.org has a collection of online forms, including U.S., British, Irish and Canadian census extraction forms, family group sheets, blank timelines and more. The forms are available at http://www.familysearch.org/eng/Search/RG/frameset_rhelps.asp?Page=./research/type/Form.asp&ActiveTab=Type

About.com offers a number of downloadable genealogy forms, including family tree fan charts, pedigree charts, family group sheets and relationship charts. Take a look at http://genealogy.about.com/od/free_charts/

Canadian census forms for the 1851, 1901, 1906 and 1911 Canadian censuses may be downloaded from: http://www.ancestry.com/trees/charts/canadacensus.aspx.

Similar forms for the 1841 through 1901 decennial U.K. censuses may be obtained at http://www.ancestry.com/trees/charts/ukcensus.aspx.

All of the above are available free of charge. "


***NOTE: I personally use many of these free charts during my research both privately, and for my business, Mountain Genealogists". They are fantastic! - cbh

Traditional Methods of Research May Be Needed For Some Virginia Records

Arlene Eakle reminds us that not everything is found online when researching! Especially in the older colonies, like Virginia!

Arlene Eakle is also known as The Virginia Genealogist. Read her very interesting article here.

It Takes Details To Bring Your Ancestors To Life

Tampa Bay Online has an interesting article, written by Sharon Tate Moody, past president of the APG, that is a reflection of why so many of us get so involved with our genealogy research.

Read it now here.

The 3-Story Outhouse

Thanks to Dick Eastman at EOGN for the following:

"The Three-Story Outhouse

I grew up in a part of Maine where two-story interior privies were common. My grandmother's house had one that I remember well from my frequent visits as a child. However, I think three-story privies were rare. The Masonic Lodge in Bryant's Pond, Maine, still has one.
According to the "Cabinet of Curiosities" (available via Google Books), "this skyscraper privy is a simple pine board with a hole in it. Anything dropped through falls two complete stories till it smacks the earth. Venerated by some, abhorred by others, the three-holer was finally supplemented by real indoor plumbing in the year 2000 - a flush toilet and everything. But only on the ground floor; the second and third stories remain as they were."
You can read more about this bit of Americana at http://books.google.com/books?id=X3L-D9i9BOMC&pg=PA46&lpg=PA46.
My thanks to the "All Things Maine" blog at http://allthingsmaine.blogspot.com for this information.
I may be revealing my age, but I will say that I grew up in a farmhouse in Maine with no running water and with an interior privy. Sadly, my parents' house only had an unimaginative single-story privy. We had to visit my grandmother to see a real two-story privy. I remember it well; as a small child, I was always afraid that I would fall in!"

Crown To Reopen

Reporters get the first chance to preview the view from the crown of the Statue of Liberty, which will reopen to the public, for the first time since 9/11 on the 4th of July.

Be among the first to peek out!

Who Would Be King....

Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak takes us on a fascinating journey through the hypothetical situation of "Who would be King today if George Washington had been crowned King of America?"

Ancestry is the forum for Megan's wonderful research through the agnatic and cognatic hierarchy of possible Washington descendant candidates.

Read Megan's fascinating article here.