Lesson 9 - History and Genealogy Resources

1.  I could not find myself in Ancestry.com, but I did find my husband.  He was first in a results list of over four and a half million.  His birthday was off by a couple years, but they did have our address.  He's lived there since 1976 and it said since 1985.

2.  This search was much more fun!  I put in my grandmother's name and that she had lived in Vermillion.  She was second on the results list and there was a link to an image of her marriage license from 1918.  I also found her birthdate of April, 1894 on the 1900 Census for Clay County.  I also looked up my grandpa on Dad's side and found the 1940 Census, when he was 46.  It listed his wife and 10 of their 13 children, including my dad who was 11 at the time.  There was also a map showing where their farm was located in Tripp County.

3.  What a great feature!  From the "Pictures" listings, I chose "U.S. Panoramic Photos" and found a wonderful picture of the South Dakota State House Grounds from 1913.  I was trying to figure out where my house would eventually be.  I lived about a block and a half from the Capitol.

4. I started out looking for information about Gregory and Tripp Counties in South Dakota, but didn't find anything.  This search lead me to the book section where I found an interesting family history, The Ancestors of Charles Wesley Clabaugh and Louise Zimmerman Clabaugh and their Descendants.  It appears to be a very thoroughly researched genealogy of a family from Illinois.  I skimmed the early pages looking for a branch of the family tree that may have made it to South Dakota, but didn't find any.

5.  I had a little trouble navigating the maps once I got them big enough to read.  I chose Yankton in 1883 and was surprised to learn how many businesses there were at the time.  There was a drug store, a book store, a jewelry store, a hardware story, a feed mill, and a cigar factory.  And that was all in a four block area!  There was a public school on Walnut Street just a couple blocks south of where the old middle school still stands.  It is apartments now.  Very interesting!