Many thanks to Evans Newstrom (Formerly of Amberg) for this great UP-TO-DATE listing of the Amberg Cemetery in Marinette County.  Civil records for this cemetery are sketchy at best so this is the most complete listing there is -- and Mr. Newstrom will be continuing to update this on a yearly basis.  Again, this is a great asset to researchers and since many of the Florence County residents have Amberg roots, we have posted it the Florence site.

OPPORTUNITY - INDEXING ONLINE - SIMPLE & EASY!!

(And yes, you can even do this at home in your fluffy slippers!)

Occasionally I get emails asking "HOW CAN I VOLUNTEER WHEN I LIVE OUTSIDE OF WISCONSIN???" -- here's an exciting new project that is ALL DONE ONLINE and is available to ANYONE!! -- you work at your own pace -- and this will be a great asset for all genealogists and researchers world-wide.  The project is FAMILYSEARCH INDEXING -- there are different projects they are working on, the largest being the 1900 Federal Census, and you can pick the state -- and yes, Wisconsin is available!  It's a very simple and straight-forward project.  You download a sheet at a time and work at your own pace.  When you get it finished, you click upload and it is sent in.  Then you are ready for your next page... and eventually, the 1900 census will be done, one sheet at a time!  Several years ago, I worked on the 1880 Federal Census and it was all done by hand and microfilm reader -- this is not anything like it!  THIS IS ACTUALLY FUN!!!!  The free software is easily and quickly installed and you are off and running in about 10 minutes.  The census sheets are viewable at the top of the page and the entrees are highlighted as you work them across the page -- you can't get lost!  And there is a magnifier on the page tool bar that allows you to make the page LARGE so even tired, older eyes can do this.  The fill-in-the-blank area is similar to Excel, meaning that you type the first letter in and it completes the entry from memory.  Super easy to use and once the project is completed, it will be available on the familysearch.org site FREE for everyone, just like the 1880 census is... If you have ANY questions, email me and I'll try to answer them!

How long does a census sheet take to do?  I just did two of them this evening and they take about 30 - 35 minutes and I am not the world's fastest typist!  The program makes this so simple and easy!!!

Is this project open to ANYONE?  Yes, ANYONE can be a volunteer to help with this project -- you do not need to be a member of any organization, etc.
 

Pat & Bob Sweet, Wisconsin Rapids sent in a marvelous photo of FLORENCE HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATING CLASS 1927 or 1928 --  they have identified their father, Fred Peerenboom but there are 9 more faces to identify!  Take a look at the pic and if you know the names, let me know!

And, we've added the 1905 Wisconsin State Census for Commonwealth.

Hope your summer is going great -- and stay cool!
Anne
 

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!  While the official start of summer and Opening Day with the BBQ Grill is important and let's not forget the Indy 500, let's take a few minutes to remember the real reason for Memorial Day.  Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day because it was a time set aside to honor the nation's Civil War dead by decorating their graves.   I just wanted to post a few good links to help bring Memorial Day back into this three day weekend.

• HELP RESTORE MEMORIAL DAY
• Veterans of Foreign Wars
• Wisconsin: Roster of Wisconsin Volunteers, War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865
• World War II Registry Online -- here you can view/search names and also add your WWII veteran's name and hometown, etc.
• THE POPPY STORY
• Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs Memorial Day Page

Kathy Patrick sent in two photos -- CAMPBELL'S ARMY was taken about 1908 in Florence, nine boys and their dog -- very cute picture!  And the second photo is of Ellen Derosier Godin and her children taken about 1930.

Added more obituaries to the OBITUARY PAGE.

Have a SAFE Memorial Day!

Added more obituaries to the OBITUARY PAGE.

Added additional maps to the 1925 Plat Map Pages...

Added to the Florence County Surname List:
 
YOUNGELL --- Immigrated from Finland and lived in Commonwealth 1892+. 

Diane Youngell [email protected] 

THANKS to Dorothy (Nichols) Rasmussen for sending in information she has written/compiled on the NICHOLS FAMILY in Tipler.  Also, there are two great newspaper items about the devastating Tipler Fire.  And check out the picture of the TIPLER GRADE SCHOOL in our photo section -- many thanks, Dorothy!

Created an SSDI page -- lists about 1300 names, including birth and death dates of deceased individuals who's LAST RESIDENCE is listed with Social Security as in Florence County.  The Last Residence is the place where the person was last known to be living when the benefit was applied for.   The list is as of 12/2006.

The Social Security Administration has a microfilmed copy of every individual's original Social Security application (known as the SS-5), as well as claims files. These documents contain additional information not available in the SSDI such as birth place, maiden name, and parents’ names.

More specifically, The application form (SS-5) contains the following information:

• Full name
• Full name at birth (including maiden name)
• Present mailing address
• Age at last birthday
• Date of birth
• Place of birth (city, county, state)
• Father's full name "regardless of whether living or dead"
• Mother's full name, including maiden name, "regardless of whether living or dead"
• Sex and race
• Ever applied for SS number/Railroad Retirement before? Yes/No
• Current employer's name and address
• Date signed
• Applicant's signature

For help with obtaining copies of the applicant's ORIGINAL SS-5 form.

WELCOME TO THE WHAT'S NEW PAGE -- I host another Wisconsin Gen Web Project and the WHAT'S NEW PAGE is a popular feature as it saves you time scrolling from page to page to see the LATEST UPDATES.. and we are ALWAYS looking for additional items to post to make FLORENCE GENWEB a success -- so if you have pictures, postcards, newspaper items, school items, church booklets, etc. we'll be happy to post them!! And they can all be transmitted via email...

• PRE-1907 BIRTH, DEATH & MARRIAGE INDEX online and complete
• 1925 PLAT MAPS for Florence County is an ongoing project -- I have about 4 up and running.. will be adding more as I get them done..

  PLAT MAPS are maps of a county, divided into townships that show property ownership, the locations of schools, cemeteries, churches and town halls, etc.  Each TOWNSHIP is assigned a TOWNSHIP and RANGE number, i.e. T.39N R.16E.  Each 36-square-mile parcel identified by a township and range number is further divided into 36 SECTIONS, each section theoretically being 1 square mile, or 640 acres. The cells are numbered "boustrophedonically", or "as the cow plows", which means that the numbers wrap around in an "s" shape. Such a numbering system was easier for the surveyors to use when they were doing the original surveying.

  And what if I find my ancestor's name on the plat map?  Since plat maps are lists of LAND OWNERSHIP, you then know that your ancestor OWNED PROPERTY in Florence County.  There will be a record of the DEED filed at the courthouse when the property was purchased, possibly a mortgage was filed when acquiring the property, records when the property was sold and if the ancestor died while owning the property, there will be a will or probate record explaining how the property was disposed of following his/her death.