52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy: Organizational Tools

The prompt for Week 29 of 52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy, from Amy Coffin at We Tree, and hosted by Geneabloggers, is: Organizational Tools

Which organizational tool or tip is your favorite? How did you find it? How does this tool or tip assist in your family history research?

An organizational tool that I find helpful for storing my cemetery pictures that may appear on my blog is DropShots. The url for Dropshots is: www.dropshots.com.

With a free account, up to five hundred pictures and ten videos can be uploaded, at no cost. With a premium account, unlimited pictures, along with videos up to ten minutes in length may be uploaded.

As a rule, I take several cemetery pictures in one visit, when I have a free morning or afternoon. At home, I edit the pictures with Kodak EasyShare software and/or Windows Live. After editing the pictures, I use the "Drag-n-Drop" feature of DropShots to upload the images.

When I want to retrieve my cemetery pictures, I just log onto my DropShots account, where the images are stored by date. Pictured below are thumbnails from a photo shoot in the Spring of 2012.

My niece in Mississippi told my about DropShots. She enjoys using her DropShots account to share family pictures across the many miles with her relatives in Ohio and Michigan with ease! I hope you will check out the DropShots website, it you haven't already!

Mrs. Emily Sadler

The wife of Judge E. B. Sadler, Emily, died of cholera on July 14, 1849, at the age of 34. Her tombstone is found in the North Ridge section of Oakland Cemetery. From the book CHOLERA VICTIMS OF 1849, by Katharyn Wunderley, we read this passage about Judge and Mrs. Sadler:

"Our long known, highly esteemed and well-tried friend, Judge Sadler. He lost his wife and her young child on the 13th and 14th of July, and soon after left, in feeble health, in company with his deceased wife's friends for West Bloomfield, in the State of New York, for the recovery of his health, and to take his only remaining child to a place where it could receive the next best thing to a Mother's care."

Judge Ebenezer B. Sadler never re-married. It is said that he "lived without an enemy."

Wordless Wednesday: Floral Arrangment at Oakland Cemetery in July

Jerome R. Widmer

Jerome R. Widmer was a well known house mover in Sandusky,Ohio in the early part of the twentieth century. An advertisement in the June 17, 1911 issue of the Sandusky Register stated that he could move houses, barns, or heavy machinery. In 1903, Mr. Widmer served as the foreman of streets in Sandusky, Ohio. Sadly, Jerome R. Widmer took his own life on April 30, 1921. An article in the May 3, 1921 issue of the Sandusky Register reported that he had been despondent over ill health. He killed himself with a revolver, and his dead body was discovered by his brother in law, Sandusky City Commissioner Theodore Miller, in a cottage at Willow Beach, on the west side of Sandusky. Jerome R. Widmer was survived by three sisters and a brother. Funeral services were conducted by Rev. Theodore Stellhorn at the Miller residence. Jerome Widmer must have been dearly loved, as his tombstone was adorned with a picture of Mr. Widmer, which can still be seen at Oakland Cemetery today. Most likely his loved ones were comforted by seeing his likeness when they visted Jerome's tombstone.

David Orlando Steen

David Orlando Steen was the older brother of my Great Great Grandpa Charles F. Steen. David, sometimes known as Orlando, was born on March 9, 1845 to Charles A. and Lorinda/Lorenda Steen, in Berlin Heights, Erie County, Ohio. Sadly, David's father died when David was only a young teenager. In 1860, David was living in Florence Township, Erie County, Ohio with his mother, his maternal grandmother, and his three siblings.

Erie County Probate Court records show that Orlando Steen married Julia Minard at the bride's residence on September 12, 1868, by a Rev. William Bassett.

David and Julia Steen had a large family of six children. According to census records, Herbert and William were born in Ohio; Fred and Sadie were born in Nebraska; and Robert and Hattie were born in Iowa. By 1885, the David Steen family was residing in Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa. In 1880, when the family was still living in Merrick County, Nebraska, David Steen was working as a butcher. By 1900, David Steen had become a coal dealer. Below is a map which shows the three locations where the David Orlando Steen family lived. They seemed to move almost straight across the country, moving from Erie County, Ohio to Merrick County, Nebraska in the 1870s, and then backtracking to Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa by 1885.

(Google Maps and Kodak EasyShare Software were used to create the map above.)

Records at FindaGrave show that David O. Steen, Julia Steen, and their son Herbert Steen, all died in 1934. All three of these Steen family members were buried in Lot 16, Section 47, at Forest Cemetery in Oskaloosa, Iowa.

Thanks to a wonderful volunteer at the Oskaloosa Public Libray in Oskaloosa, Iowa, I now have an obituary for my ancestor David Orlando Steen. It is from the Oskaloosa Daily Herald, dated January 22, 1934. A transcription of the obituary reads:

OBITUARY
David Orlando Steen

David Orlando Steen was born March 9, 1845 in Sandusky, O., and died at his home in Oskaloosa, Ia., at 12:00 o'clock Tuesday afternoon, January 16, 1934, after a short illness, at the age off 88 years, 10 months and 7 days. He was married to Julia Minard of Florence, O., September 10, 1868. To this union six children were born. One son, Frederick, preceded him in death. He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Julia Steen, two daughters, Mrs. Guy Reynolds of Oskaloosa and Mrs. John I. Nelson of Ames; three sons, Herbert, William and Robert Steen of Oskaloosa; five grandchildren; one great grandchild; one sister, Mrs. Mary Hill of Berlin Heights, O., and a host of other relatives. He was a member of the First Baptist Church of Oskaloosa for over 50 years. Mr. Steen was a well informed man on the general topics of life. He kept himself posted through the reading of the daily papers which he enjoyed so much. Funeral services were held at the Wilcox-Garland chapel at 2:30 o'clock Thursday afternoon, with Rev. E. E. Hickox pastor of the First Baptist Church in charge. Burial was in Forest Cemetery.


I have never seen photographs of David and Julia Steen, but they truly had a pioneer spirit. They left family and friends in their home state; moved twice while they had young children; and they made a good life for themselves.

Note: In a previous blog post, I discussed an article which mentioned that my Great Great Grandpa, Charles F. Steen, had recently been living in Lone Tree, Nebraska. While researching the David Orlando Steen family, I learned that the David O. Steen family lived in Merrick County, Nebraska in the 1870s. Lone Tree, Nebraska is also in Merrick County, Nebraska. Great Great Grandpa Charlie must have gone to visit his older brother's family in Nebraska, and stayed there for a time. It is so much fun to put these pieces of the puzzle together!

Great Grandpa Roy was a Partner in the Concourse Amusement Company

According to an article in the February 27, 1925 issue of the Sandusky Register, my Great Great Grandpa Leroy J. Parker was one of the partners in the Concourse Amusement Company. The company was incorporated on February 25, 1925, for $100,000 by J.B. Sutton, David R. Steinemann, Gust Ebert, George A. Singler, and Leroy J. Parker. The purpose of the company was to be: the operation of amusement devices at resorts. To the best of my knowledge, the only resort with which the Concourse Amusement Company was associated was Cedar Point. From 1925 to 1955 the Concourse Amusement Company operated such attractions as Noah's Ark, the Cyclone, the Rockets, and the Caterpillar. Until the U.S. Government bought out Grandma and Grandpa's farm in Perkins Township in 1941, they would work on the farm, making sure to get the crops in, and the animals fed, but then they would go on over to Cedar Point to work at the attractions. The main ride that my mom spoke of was Noah's Ark. It was a fun house,with an uneven floor, and the back ends of the animals were moving, while their heads peeked out of the Ark. Grandma Ada often sold tickets outside Noah's Ark. I've been told that Grandpa Roy and his friends often played cards in a room in the lower level of Noah's Ark.

All the Parker grandchildren went to Cedar Point to have fun on the rides and the beach, and then at night they got to spend the night at Grandma and Grandpa's cottage. Many of the concessionaires had modest cottages on the Cedar Point peninsula at that time. There were plenty of trees and picnic grounds close by the cottages. The G.A. Boeckling steamer, named for the president of the Cedar Point Pleasure Company, picked the grandchildren up in downtown Sandusky. Besides having fun at Cedar Point, a ride on the Boeckling was a wonderful treat, and it helped to beat the heat on a hot summer day.

Pictured below are some snapshots of several members of the extended Parker family in 1954, towards the end of the existence of the Concourse Amusement Company. When relatives came to visit during the summer months, going to Cedar Point was a high point!

Note: This post was written for the 120th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy, hosted by Creative Gene. Some of the information and images have appeared in previous blog posts at the Graveyard Rabbit of Sandusky Bay.

Happy Birthday America!