Favorite Photo Everyone has a favorite photo. Sometimes it’s a recent family portrait and other times it’s a snapshot of your new car. For my mother, Jeanette (Jaeger) Zemanek, one of her favorites is that of her grandfather, Henry Jaeger Sr., sitting with his grandchildren on the front porch of the Jaeger home in Port …
Category: 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks
52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Tombstones
Tombstones For nearly 20 years I had been watching several tombstones in the lower section of the Jaeger Witte Cemetery become overgrown with lichens and moss. After hearing cemetery conservationist Lowell Herzog speak at a meeting of the Washington County Genealogical Society in October 2018, I decided to do something about it. I began with …
52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: The Long Line
The Long Line Some of you may know that Henry C. Jaeger Jr. ("Popo" to those of us in a certain generation) was a genealogy and history enthusiast. In addition to collecting and cataloging photographs and obituaries, he published two books which are available on this website as well as the Clayton Genealogy Library …
52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Same Name
Until about twenty years ago the gravel roads in Burton had simple names. The Jaegers lived on County Road 12. The Mayers lived on County Road 12. The Dubes did as well. But everyone knew where everyone else lived. My mother Jeanette Zemanek shared how she and a friend would write letters during the summer …
52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: New Beginnings
One of my resolutions this year is to participate in 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks. This activity, instituted by genealogist Amy Johnson Crow, is designed to give amateur genealogists like myself a way to share their research. Each week, participants are provided with a prompt to guide them in writing a biography or short story …