It is not my desire to keep any memorial from a family member that wants to manage it. Most often I'm quite happy to transfer to relatives. Please be aware though that I don't do "mass transfers" - please submit your request for each memorial on the "Edit" tab of the memorial. Do not send them via my posted email address.

I am researching several lines:

McGill, Van Valin, Verveelen, Riker, Haring, Chatfield, Ide, Wallack, Iverson, Phillips, Armstrong, Betcher, Norris, Miller, Lake (Leja), Huiras, Schumacher, Kohler, Moses, Hemmelgarn, Heckendorf, Regabski, and Burbidge.

The majority of the memorials that I maintain for those related to me (blood or marriage) list my familiar relationship in the comments. (Not all, but most.) I do this for several reasons - mainly as a way to pay my respect but also as "cousin bait" ... I would LOVE to share trees and photos with anyone having a connection. Feel free to contact me at [email protected].

Please feel free to use my images for your genealogy project - both online and off. Credit is expected and greatly appreciated.

If we are related, please say hi!

Your tombstone stands among the rest;
neglected and alone.
The name and date are chiseled out
on polished, marbled stone.
It reaches out to all who care,
It is too late to mourn.
You did not know that I'd exist,
You died and I was born.
Yet each of us are cells of you
in flesh, in blood, in bone.
Our blood contracts and beats a pulse
entirely not our own.
Dear Ancestor, the place you filled
one hundred years ago -
Spreads out among the ones you left
who would have loved you so.
I wonder if you lived and loved,
I wonder if you knew
That someday I would find this spot,
and come to visit you.
~Author Unknown

A few additional things about memorials I create and/or maintain:

* If I am in a cemetery photographing my family grave markers - as time allows, I often photograph other stones in the cemetery. This doesn't mean I have any further information on the person other than what is posted - but often I will look up that person on ancestry or footnote to verify a dob, dod or familiar connection. All the information I obtain will be posted - that is all I have, but hopefully it is useful to you. Again, I post everything I have at the time the memorial is entered. If I do not post a photo of a grave marker - it's simply because I don't have one.

* Sometimes I will post a photo of a grave that already has a photo posted - this isn't an error. It's usually because my photograph is clearer, has additional information or is what *I* deem more genealogically (is that even a word?) "worthy". Basically, it's just the photo I prefer. It's not done to offend the person who took the first photo - I assure you. Another reason I may add an additional photo in a memorial is because when a memorial starts to deteriorate - the entire look of the memorial can change very quickly - I think it's important to see an accurate representation of what a stone looks like "today" ... or as close to today as possible. I try very hard to get a good clean shots of a stone - sometimes this can be quite difficult, but I try. If I post photos from different angles - it's because sometimes multiple shots are needed to view all the engraving on the stone.

*When I photograph a cemetery - I will always do my best to find a transcribed roster or listing which I will post. This CAN and DOES lead to duplicates ... it happens, no one is perfect. If I've made a mistake, duplicate or omission - I can promise I didn't do so intentionally. Please let me know. Also, before you request that I delete a duplicate memorial - make sure MY memorial wasn't created first. I will not delete a duplicate memorial if mine was created first - regardless of the fact that the new memorial may have additional information or pictures. I would suggest submitting that additional information to the FIRST memorial through the "Edit" tab.

*If I post a name with no additional information or image, it's because I have no additional information or image. If I run across a cemetery listing or roster, I will post that information. *Some info* is better than "no info" ... a name is better than no name. Rest assured, I am not holding additional information hostage (yes, I was *actually* accused of that once! lol) - I post the information I have. Please don't email asking for additional information - if I had it, it would be posted. If a cemetery is local to me, I do try to get back there and photograph the names I've previously posted, but this is not always possible. If there isn't a photo posted on a memorial I created or maintain - you can request one by clicking on the "Request A Photo" link on the memorial.

"The history of the family is as important as the history of the world." Adalbert Stifter, 1862.

PS. If you leave me a message or send me an email, please don't be demanding and crabby. Actually, please don't be demanding OR crabby. I swiftly delete requests that are demanding, crabby and/or weird. I get a lot of them - they all get deleted, (except the weird ones ... those I post on facebook before I delete). I will *always* respond if you're nice, I promise. And I will try to do so on a timely basis. Please play nice and don't run with scissors.

It is not my desire to keep any memorial from a family member that wants to manage it. Most often I'm quite happy to transfer to relatives. Please be aware though that I don't do "mass transfers" - please submit your request for each memorial on the "Edit" tab of the memorial. Do not send them via my posted email address.

I am researching several lines:

McGill, Van Valin, Verveelen, Riker, Haring, Chatfield, Ide, Wallack, Iverson, Phillips, Armstrong, Betcher, Norris, Miller, Lake (Leja), Huiras, Schumacher, Kohler, Moses, Hemmelgarn, Heckendorf, Regabski, and Burbidge.

The majority of the memorials that I maintain for those related to me (blood or marriage) list my familiar relationship in the comments. (Not all, but most.) I do this for several reasons - mainly as a way to pay my respect but also as "cousin bait" ... I would LOVE to share trees and photos with anyone having a connection. Feel free to contact me at [email protected].

Please feel free to use my images for your genealogy project - both online and off. Credit is expected and greatly appreciated.

If we are related, please say hi!

Your tombstone stands among the rest;
neglected and alone.
The name and date are chiseled out
on polished, marbled stone.
It reaches out to all who care,
It is too late to mourn.
You did not know that I'd exist,
You died and I was born.
Yet each of us are cells of you
in flesh, in blood, in bone.
Our blood contracts and beats a pulse
entirely not our own.
Dear Ancestor, the place you filled
one hundred years ago -
Spreads out among the ones you left
who would have loved you so.
I wonder if you lived and loved,
I wonder if you knew
That someday I would find this spot,
and come to visit you.
~Author Unknown

A few additional things about memorials I create and/or maintain:

* If I am in a cemetery photographing my family grave markers - as time allows, I often photograph other stones in the cemetery. This doesn't mean I have any further information on the person other than what is posted - but often I will look up that person on ancestry or footnote to verify a dob, dod or familiar connection. All the information I obtain will be posted - that is all I have, but hopefully it is useful to you. Again, I post everything I have at the time the memorial is entered. If I do not post a photo of a grave marker - it's simply because I don't have one.

* Sometimes I will post a photo of a grave that already has a photo posted - this isn't an error. It's usually because my photograph is clearer, has additional information or is what *I* deem more genealogically (is that even a word?) "worthy". Basically, it's just the photo I prefer. It's not done to offend the person who took the first photo - I assure you. Another reason I may add an additional photo in a memorial is because when a memorial starts to deteriorate - the entire look of the memorial can change very quickly - I think it's important to see an accurate representation of what a stone looks like "today" ... or as close to today as possible. I try very hard to get a good clean shots of a stone - sometimes this can be quite difficult, but I try. If I post photos from different angles - it's because sometimes multiple shots are needed to view all the engraving on the stone.

*When I photograph a cemetery - I will always do my best to find a transcribed roster or listing which I will post. This CAN and DOES lead to duplicates ... it happens, no one is perfect. If I've made a mistake, duplicate or omission - I can promise I didn't do so intentionally. Please let me know. Also, before you request that I delete a duplicate memorial - make sure MY memorial wasn't created first. I will not delete a duplicate memorial if mine was created first - regardless of the fact that the new memorial may have additional information or pictures. I would suggest submitting that additional information to the FIRST memorial through the "Edit" tab.

*If I post a name with no additional information or image, it's because I have no additional information or image. If I run across a cemetery listing or roster, I will post that information. *Some info* is better than "no info" ... a name is better than no name. Rest assured, I am not holding additional information hostage (yes, I was *actually* accused of that once! lol) - I post the information I have. Please don't email asking for additional information - if I had it, it would be posted. If a cemetery is local to me, I do try to get back there and photograph the names I've previously posted, but this is not always possible. If there isn't a photo posted on a memorial I created or maintain - you can request one by clicking on the "Request A Photo" link on the memorial.

"The history of the family is as important as the history of the world." Adalbert Stifter, 1862.

PS. If you leave me a message or send me an email, please don't be demanding and crabby. Actually, please don't be demanding OR crabby. I swiftly delete requests that are demanding, crabby and/or weird. I get a lot of them - they all get deleted, (except the weird ones ... those I post on facebook before I delete). I will *always* respond if you're nice, I promise. And I will try to do so on a timely basis. Please play nice and don't run with scissors.