I have been finding of late that most of the males in the Fenner famil y throughout the generations have served in the military at one time or another. Many during the World Wars.
The following is a current list:
Edwin Chester Fenner - drafted during World War I
Frank Montgomery Fenner - drafted during World War I
James Wilson Fenner - drafted during World War I
Donald Fenner (son of Frank) enlisted during World War II - Killed in Action - awarded Purple Heart
I was in the process of and actually did post a message on Afrigeneas message boards asking about how one goes about obtaining Military Service Records for WW1 when I figured it out (found it more likely) on my own.
Apparently there's privacy issues with those documents and most of that information is only available to next of kin. The gov't defines next of kin as mother or father, brother or sister, spouse, or a child or legal guardian.
If none of those applies to you, as a genealogical researcher, you have to send in an SF-180 form requesting information. Since there are several family members that served during WW1 and WW2 I will be needless to say, sending in a few of those forms soon. I am including also a link to the information regarding how to apply which can be found at this link: Military Personnel Records
I was hoping to get some information before I go back down to Halifax but not sure what the time frame will be on this but it won't hurt to cross my fingers and say a few prayers :-)
Not meant to be a thorough review of both software but more an observation on functionality based on my own needs. In addition to being able to record the information I also tend to like a program that has extended functionality and options with regards to building a website or internet pages based on the genealogy information. While I can say that I like the RootsMagic citation wizard, I definitely prefer the website builder that comes with Legacy. I currently have Legacy ver6 but plan to upgrade to 7 in the not too distant future.
I will try to do a more thorough review of both at some point.
Just to add - Legacy comes with a built in map generator that builds up a map based on the names and locations in your database and the map can be viewed as a conventional map or as a hybrid with a regular map overlay or it can actually show you the actual landscape(similar to that google map thing) and flags locations where ancestors lived that you can click on and get information on the ancestor.
Looking forward to playing around with it over the weekend
Haven't had much opportunity to write - been busy with work and am still waiting on the pictures to start coming in so I can begin to connect the faces with the names. In the meantime I have connected with the head of the genealogy society in Halifax and have invited her and the members of the society to visit/view this blog(which is still in its infancy). However I felt that since the bulk of my research is centered around the Halifax area that it would be a welcome resource for other researchers.
I actually have two family trees going one on Ancestry.com, and one in my family research software - RootsMagic. I plan on uploading that tree online hopefully by this weekend and will link to it from this blog. I have to say that having the software has made the research process go much more smoothly in that it is tons easier to document and track sources as well as compile family trees and miscellaneous reports.
it will be linked from this portion of my site which i know needs to be updated but there are only still 24 hours in a day
Have to install the software for updating those pages and im going to aim for doing that tonight but again its more likely to be done between now and this weekend.
Hand in hand with searching for information regarding one's ancestors, probably is the desire to "see" what people might look like or put a face to the name. The course of the research has come to that point now and I have already put out feelers about trying to obtain some photographs from the family to include and add into their family tree.
I have already received one pic that is recent but has some of the surviving Fenner family siblings and you can view it below:
This picture is fairly recent but its a start to hopefully being able to include photographs with the research that has already been done for the family.
One who is involved in genealogy research will appreciate the significance of the "Family bible". Oftentimes its the ONLY source of information on relatives especially for African Americans during the 1800's where the records for persons of color were often scarce or non-existent.
I had heard about the existence of a family bible for the Fenners but hadn't really had an opportunity to speak with the family member who has it in her possession until recently.
Upon finally getting the chance to speak to her a world of information came to light. family members who did not make the census, Lamon Fenner b. 1921 parents Major Fenner and Mattie Rofe-Fenner.
Wtih this find though comes more questions, Where were Fred and Mary prior to the 1880 census? What happened between the time their firstborn Major was born and the time Fred the next son was born there is a large windown for that time as people tended to have kids fairly regularlly. What are the circumstances surrounding Fred Fenner's death?
Unfortunately some of these questions may never be answered.
Finally found dates of birth and date of death for Fred Fenner who prior to all this had been somewhat of a mystery but the bible lists his date of death as June 7, 1898 the year of the WIllmington Massace
