Amanda's Excellent (Genealogical) Adventure (Day 2)

Last Thursday began in Buffalo, this time I was spending the day with my Grandmother. We headed out to Forest Lawn in between rain storms and hoped for the best. The man at the desk was tremendously helpful and found the location of Gottlieb Finck and Joseph and Sophia Gresz. We walked over to the Gresz stone first, as it was located right behind the office. It is a large, very nice stone. We then drove to the end of the cemetery and found Gottlieb's, which matches his wife Barbara's. We were trying to find Barbara's (we had found it on our last trip, it's in the same area). After a couple minutes of searching I returned to Gottlieb's, as in front of it I had seen a granite Mason symbol. Hoping it belonged to him (maybe there was an arrow...) I started pulling the grass and weeds away... and found another tombstone for him! This one was older and had the same dates, but had his last name as "Fink." Why does he have two stones? This is a mystery for another day...

After our adventure it was time for me to head back to Syracuse, as 3 of my FamilyHistory Center films had come in. I arrived before the volunteers and anxiously waited in my car. Upon the center opening I put in film one of Halstead, Kent, England parish records and hoped to find the baptismal record of Thomas Hayman. Much to my amazement, it was the first one! With that good omen, I kept reading the records, which are filled of my Hayman and Whitehead relatives! The man next to me was impressed by all the writing I was doing and I just said "He was the first one!!!" Small English CoE parish records are my new favorite genealogy records, as I have about 30 pages of written notes from the parish records and two bishop's transcripts for the area. I just finished the second microfilm as they closed. I can't wait to go back Wednesday to check out my Ontario land records and go over the parish films again.

Currently, I am trying to figure out how/if all of these people are related. The earlier records (early and mid 1700's) were really difficult to read, so I skipped over them to the early 1800's, and I have to feeling a lot of the answers I need lie in them. Following the lead of the man next to me on the microfilm reader I will be bringing a magnifying glass... I also have 2 more films that should be arriving soon, another of Halstead records and my Italy records, which will really be testing my skills.