Celebrating FamilySearch Freedman's Bureau Indexing Achievement

Have you heard?  FamilySearch.org has recently placed Freedman's Bureau indexes and some images on their website, www.familysearch.org,  This has been a year's worth of work by so many volunteers, and the work continues.

Fannie, black lab mix and history and genealogy buff mutt.

Fannie has decided to focus her blog this week on publications dealing with African American history, genealogy and stories.  AncestorStuff.com has over 150 publications listed on our website. Fannie spent most of today browsing the long list of these resources.  She was so excited to see that so much has been written on this historical topic. In fact, there were so many titles to review that she had to take a nap in the afternoon to rest her eyes!

These are just a few  of the many books offered by AncestorStuff.com
Stop on in and take a look at our vast selection.  In celebration of the achievement of FamilySearch, we will offer FREE SHIPPING on your order of African American publications.  Just add the coupon, WELCOME, to your order, and enjoy the savings!

Help Fannie Find Her Hometown : Win a FREE MAP

Fannie, the smartest dog in the world of history and genealogy research

As you probably have guessed, Fannie is Adopted....Yes...she is...don't be shocked!

She was found with her young siblings at about the age of 4 weeks, wandering around the flooded areas of Kentucky in 2010.  No mamma was found, even though a long and exhaustive search was conducted by ASCPA members.  So the pups were gathered up and taken to a local shelter where they were cared for during the following week. Vet care followed, and the estimated date of birth for the bunch was set at Christmastime in 2010.  Calls were made to several animal shelters in the Midwest, until one was found to have room to take them in.  Fannie arrived in the Chicago suburbs in the dead of winter, and after a complete health checkup, she and her siblings were ready for adoption.

Our family took her in, and she blossomed under the watchful eye of Luigi, her adoptive older brother.  He was 7 years her senior, and he carefully showed her the ways of a suburban lifestyle.

Luigi has since passed on over the rainbow bridge.  Fannie has been left as the only canine in the family.  Having to be the center of attention is a harsh life, but she seemed to settle into that role just fine.  BUT....as a adoptive member of the family, she often wonders, "Where did I come from?"

That is where YOU can help!  She was born in Kentucky in the later part of 2010.  There were bad floods in the area of her birth.  That is all she knows.

Can YOU help Fannie find her ancestral Hometown?  All you have to do is research where she may have been from, using the information that has been given in this posting.  Meanwhile, we will contact the agency to find out exactly where her litter pack was found.  The person to find the exact town, or the person who finds the closest town of her family will receive a FREE MAP from our selections of maps on AncestorStuff.com.  No charges for purchase or shipping!

Interested?  It is time to test your research skills! Get started NOW.  Who wants to win a FREE MAP?  DO YOU? Submit your answers to info@ancestorstuff.com.

Indian Creek Massacre

Fannie is a Black Lab Mix, and History and Genealogy Buff Mutt

Like most young pups, Fannie is very excited about stories with lots of action.  She sat on the edge of her seat as she paged through this historical text about the Hall girls who were taken by the Indians!

Indian Creek Massacre and Captivity of Hall Girls, by Charles M. Scalan, Heritage Books, 1915

On May 21. 1832, Native Americans attacked white settlers in LaSalle County, Illinois.  The settlers built a dam that prevented fish from reaching the nearby Indian village. They needed it to power a sawmill along Indian Creek. The settlers refused to remove the dam when they were asked by the Indians. One of the tribesmen tried to dismantle the dam. He was attacked by the settlers. This did not prove to be a good decision, because members of the Sauk and Potawatomi tribes killed about 15 settlers, and kidnapped 2 girls, Sylvia and Rachel Hall, in retaliation. After several weeks, the settlers paid a ransom for the girls and they were released.  The deal was brokered by Chief White Crow.

The week before the attack, Chief Black Hawk, was trying to gain control of the area for his people of the Sauk tribe, and defeated the Illinois militia at the Battle of Stillman's Run on May 14, 1832. The Potawatomi tribe did not want the white settlers to blame them for the defeat of the militia.  They decided to warn the settlers that Black Hawk was not done with his plan.  Some of the settlers took refuge in the fort at Ottawa.  Twenty-three members of the families of Davis, Hall and Pettigrew, along with several other men decided to stay at their settlement where they had built the dam.

Fannie was fascinated by the fact that the two teenage girls were not hurt by the Native Americans while they were captured.  They reported that they had been treated very well. She really enjoyed this exciting and fast-pace story.  Her little heart kept beating while she turned the pages until the end of the story.

If you like exciting and true historical events, you will certainly like this book as much as Fannie does. She gave this book a rating of Two Paws UP and Two Woofs.  It was a bit too graphic, so she downgraded it on the Entertainment Value.

For future reference...Fannie's Rating System is as follows :

Engaging/Educational Factor......No Paws UP, One Paw UP, Two Paws UP

Entertainment Value.....No Woofs, One Woof, Two Woofs, Three Woofs