Celebrating the Life of Margaret Elizabeth “Peg” Stull, 1924 - 2018

 
 I want to add my salute to the life of Margaret Elizabeth “Peg” (Weber) Stull.  Aunt Peg passed away on July 22, 2018, after visiting with all three of her children and several family members.  I was fortunate to be there for a time with her in those last hours.  Her eyes said “I know you.  Be strong.”
     Who was Peg Stull?  So many descriptions would fit!  To me, she was a vivacious, mischievous, loving Aunt.  Her zest for life, her independent and fun-loving attitude stand out when I reflect on her.  One prominent part of her being was how she was always ready to pass along her experience and help you to learn about anything she might be able to share.
 Of course, she was so prominently a loving daughter, sister, wife, mother, aunt and friend.  Her husband, Jim, left this life 28 years earlier.  Their home was always open to all members of the extended family.  Peg never missed a beat as a loving mother to Mary Anne, Rosie and Jimmy and also enjoying her life with all the spouses, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, siblings, neighbors and friends who were fortunate to gather happy memories that will last forever. 

     What a complete life she lived!  There were travels, building a family and home, a career as a bookkeeper, sewing projects, volunteer activities and all the fun times with friends and family that kept her involved and active.  She was ready at any time to give sewing instructions, to share a pattern or give pointers on quilting or crocheting.  She would gladly give out her cooking recipes or any other skill she possessed.  When Jerry and I traveled in our motorhome for several years and would visit her occasionally, she wanted to hear all about our latest adventure.  Her eyes would light up when we told her of the places we traveled.  When I wanted to know about crocheting she pulled out her stash of books and gave me not only her advice, but the written instructions and needles so that I could make some of the pieces she had enjoyed making herself.

    Of course, as most everyone knew, quilting was one of her obsessions for so many years.  She made them skillfully for friends, family and charity.  And there were also the curtains she sewed for the needy to be distributed through St. Vincent de Paul Society.  When they called to say there was a family in need, she responded by putting her sewing skills into gear to help the less fortunate. 

     After I retired  in 2000 Peg began to generously assist me with family history so that I could put together the pieces of the story.  She was always a willing source for me.  We would sit in her kitchen at 2424 Fairfax Road and talk about her younger years growing up on Singleton Street near Garfield Park in Indianapolis.  I could put together what I learned from my mom, Sis, and the other Weber brothers and sisters, Bob, Gin, Dolly and Harry.  Without Peg’s colorful and honest input the story would lack some of its luster.  And it was so much fun to have those visits with her.  For instance, one day Jerry and I went for lunch when she fixed beef stew.  He was getting interested in cooking and her stew was delicious.  She shared her personal hints and Jerry carried on using that knowledge to this day.  I’m thrilled to have had the opportunity to include some of her recipes in the section on this blog named, Family Recipe Friday. (See the list at left.)
     Another important facet of the family history writing is giving additional life through photos.  Aunt Peg immediately opened her albums and shared whatever I wanted to assist in that respect.   That’s when we were able to gather Uncle Shad’s WWII  Army history and mementos. Her memories of the war years were so interesting and personal.   She told of her experiences in following Shad to various training sites in California, Texas and Georgia before he was shipped overseas. And she generously included her feelings about the hardships of being married through those times.
      As we looked through her photos, Peg had sketches for me of years of experiences.  How she and my mother, Rose, shared certain traits.  How she enjoyed her job at Stokely Van Camp. How her sister, Dolly, shared quilting joys with her.  And on and on…..   She filled in the gaps in my knowledge of early years in her life, as well as sharing her joys with current grandchildren and great grandchildren. I gained valuable insights about our family and the happenings that make the story complete.

     I’m so happy that Peg chose to make these differences in my life and in all of our family.  I feel that she left a lasting mark.

Another Story You May Enjoy: Best Afternoon With Two Aunts
See Weber History in left column also.

Thanks for visiting Indiana Ties,
Nancy
© 2018 – Indianaties.com

(Throughout this post are photos that are a glimpse at the life of Peg Weber Stull.  They begin with her Weber family in the 1920s and 30s and continue through her life in the 1940s – 2018.   They include a mixture of photos of quilts she made, gatherings with siblings and nieces and nephews, and recent family reunions.)

Where I Receive A Virtual Family History Kick-In-The-Butt

    My ten week hiatus is withering.  My family history juices are flowing again. And I'm happy to have had motivators to get me on down the road.  During this break I've been energized by consuming my genealogy-related blog feeds.  These bloggers/history writers/researchers/distant online buddies have provided many super reads!  They have informed and inspired.

     As a result, I am ready for a somewhat revised strategy here at Indiana Ties.  My goals involve talking more about behind the scenes stuff, using specific research plans and sharing that process. I'll be talking about the steps, about successes and failures. I hope to use Indiana Ties more fruitfully,  to generate ideas and discover those ties.   
    Before I tackle that first timeline and research plan, I want to give a shout out to a few who've given me a boost recently.   There are several bloggers where I consistently look for relevant information, reliable guidance and/or stimulating topics.  Among the long list of fun and helpful genealogists are Judy Russell at The Legal Genealogist; Thomas MacEntee at Geneabloggers;  Michael Neill at Genealogy Tip  Of The Day; Jacqi Stevens at The Family Tapestry, Randy Seaver at GeneaMusings and Lisa Louise Cooke at Genealogy Gems.
    Also within that trusty group I recently received a kick-in-the-butt from three bloggers who seemed to be on a wave length I needed.  Their writings stirred some specific ideas and goals for me.  These ladies are: Lisa Alzo, The Accidental Genealogist;  Amy Johnson Crow, and Gena Philibert-Ortega, Gena's Genealogy.  Lisa Alzo is writing during Women's History Month on "Fearless Females."  Each one of her daily posts has brought to mind a lady in my past, such as her stories "Working Girl" and "Tragic Death."  Amy Johnson Crow's advice on "How To Build A Genealogy Research Plan" had some timely advice on building a framework and when not everything goes according to plan - adjust to conditions. She also raised my awareness to a couple of issues in "1 Reason You’re Not Seeing the Red Flags in Your Genealogy."    The other source of inspiration comes from Gena's Tips for Women's History Month 2016.  For instance, Tip #11 Phone A Friend, where she reminds us to pool our collective knowledge when we get stuck. It's something I'm reminding myself - Use the resources I have in organizations, social media and friends. Who can help me to brainstorm or make suggestions?
    I am grateful to all of the generous genealogists out there who share their knowledge, opinions and discoveries. If there is a way I can help others by sharing my research or resources, I am happy to do that.  Now, it's time for me to get on down that road.........

    Thanks for visiting Indiana Ties,
    Nancy

Note:  If you don't see the hyperlinks to the above websites, pass your cursor over the titles to see those links.  I'll have to work on this glitch!


Copyright (c) 2016, Nancy Niehaus Hurley

Five Family History Pointers I Gathered at NGS

     Last week at the National Genealogical Society Family History Conference in St. Charles, Missouri, was plentiful!  The selection of educational sessions was generous, the exhibit hall was bustling with the latest info and the attendees were friendly. Overall, I feel I came away a better researcher and enjoyed doing so. I wrote on our Hurley Travels blog about the personal interaction that I felt was a special ingredient.  (www.hurleytravels.blogspot.com). 
     The NGS conference overlapped with the annual celebration of  Lewis & Clarks Expedition up the Missouri River in 1804.  St. Charles is a lovely historic town and I enjoyed the brief time I had to explore there.
     Here at Indiana Ties I plan to share some of the techniques, websites and skills that I picked up during the conference.  I'm sure those new pieces of knowledge will continue to come forward in the next few weeks. In fact, a few are prominent in my mind already.  For now,  it occurred to me that I could share a few of these kernels of knowledge.  Here are Five Family History Pointers I Gathered at NGS:
1.  From Warren Bittner's program, "Pity the Poor Phul: Proving Immigrant Identities" --  He reminded us that a name you think is unusual may be very common in Europe.  We have to be sure to learn as much as possible in U.S. records so we  don’t misidentify someone in Europe as our ancestor.  Be sure to investigate all of the family members so that you know you are following the right person.  Don't be anxious to leave the country until you have found every record that completes the picture after they immigrated.
2. Also from the above Warren Bittner program: When using church records in Europe, he explained that confirmation and first communion records are often your best clue for people who were “from” a town, but not born there.  Meaning, if they are listed in the first communion and/or confirmation records of the church records that you are searching, but you don't find them in the baptisms, that might indicate  they weren't born there. You should continue searching for the birth in a neighboring town's church.  It's possible the family moved.  The birthplace may be lurking down the road.
3. From Anne Staley's program, " The Everyday Life of Your Ancestors" --  Anne covered the how's and whys of creating timelines to put your family members into context. What was going on in their lives?  She shared a long list of websites to help find research assistance and historical input.  For instance, under the category of Home life, Weather and the Farmer's Almanac, a website I've explored a little is Spiesonline.net.  There are links to sources from Bankruptcy Records to the Freedom of Information Act to a list of Telephone Directory Search Tools and Voter Registration Records. The link for Genealogy Resources led me to Refdesk.com, a source new to me.  If nothing else, there are fun links there.  It will be a place I'll save, along with many others that Anne included. 
4.  From Tom Jones' program, "Proven Techniques for Finding Your Ancestor's European Origin" -- Tom reminded us that ethnic newspapers are better than English language ones for finding our ancestors because they could relate more closely to the people.  Even though we may have a few challenges translating them, they contained the details about those particular ethnic people in the neighborhoods where they were living after immigrating to the U. S.  The local German newspaper could contain personal information about a family member that would help to find their origin in Europe.
5. From Lisa Louise Cooke's program, "Tech Tools that Catapult the Newspaper Research Process into the 21st Century" -- Lisa revealed a totally cool website called Stanford Newspaper Data Visualization.  All I can say is go there!  The historical map covering U. S. newspapers, including foreign language papers, is a super resource for finding publications from 1690 to 2011. And the visual is fantastic.   You  can play with the map and find lots of great tools.
      To keep our libraries and computers up to date, the 2100 registrants could roam in the large exhibit hall during breaks. After all, we just have to see what new software, services and other cool stuff's calling our names. And, of course, I had to make a few purchases to add to my library. Or maybe I'll create hangings for our walls in the new genea room. 
Hope  these family history pointers are helpful and entertaining.  Thanks for visiting Indiana Ties.
Nancy

Copyright 2015 © Nancy Niehaus Hurley

Geneabloggers

Well, I’m a Geneablogger!  Indiana Ties is growing.  I was notified that this blog is now on the blog roll at www.geneabloggers.com, a community of bloggers who share an interest in researching family history and in helping others in that endeavor. I am very pleased to be a part of this group.  I’m looking forward to branching out and making new friends.

First, I want to say that I’m grateful to Thomas MacEntee for the Geneabloggers.com website and to the many bloggers who have already provided me with genea-enjoyment.  I have actually felt that I was participating with the geneabloggers for the last two years or so by soaking up knowledge from many engaging and informative posts before I started this blog. In fact, I planned to have a list of the genealogy blogs that I read most often as a part of this site, to share the inspiration, research tips and family connections.  I think it’s time.

So, here we go.  My “Blog List” starts with ten of my favorites.  But there are definitely more to be added. I won’t try to explain each of these blogs, but I do say they are all good reading, no matter your level of family history sleuthing. They cover quite a variety of topics, each with a special slant.

I thank these bloggers for assisting me in moving along in this genealogy adventure. Watch for the link list to grow at the left over time:

DearMYRTLE's Genealogy Blog

Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

GeneaBloggers

Genealogy Tip of the Day

Genea-Musings

Gena's Genealogy

Indiana Genealogical Society Blog

IndyGenealogy

Midwestern Microhistory: A Genealogy Blog

Moultrie Creek Gazette

Thanks for visiting Indiana Ties.  I hope you find something of interest and come back often.

 Click here if you would like to go to the blog roll at the geneabloggers website.