Overview & Purpose
We all love scavenger hunts, hunting for the clues and discovering new things. This scavenger hunt will occur daily during the month of June.
The clues will be posted each evening on the Indian River Genealogy Conference Facebook page (www.facebook.com/IRGConf), Friends of Vero Beach Family History Center Facebook group (www.facebook.com/159642411143167) and the genealogy blog at https://milesgenealogy.blogspot.com/.
The tasks will introduce you to a variety of online sources and help you learn new research sites and how to use them effectively to discover your ancestors.
Join in the fun, discover new sites, and learn how to research on sites that you may have never used before.
Answers will be submitted using a Google Form found at https://forms.gle/xbMskbi8bq3sZGTU9.
Today’s Challenge
Yesterday’s scavenger hunt was a bit more challenging than previous days. I wanted to give you a new resource but also demonstrate how different sites can be harder to navigate, especially foreign language sites. We are now on Day #23 of the Family History Scavenger Hunt. Today we are going to return to the US and look at veteran’s records. The US Department of Veterans Affairs maintains the National Gravesite Locator database (https://gravelocator.cem.va.gov/) where you can find the burial locations of your veteran ancestors.
Hint
The National Gravesite Locator (https://gravelocator.cem.va.gov/) database is updated daily. You can search for burial locations of veterans and their family members in VA National Cemeteries, state veterans cemeteries, various other military and Department of Interior cemeteries, and for veterans buried in private cemeteries when the grave is marked with a government grave marker.
Questions
Search for burials with the surname Westerheide. How many individuals with this last name are listed in the database?
Locate the burial information for Vernon J Westerheide. What branch of the military did he serve in?
What war was Vernon Westerheide a veteran of?
Search for William H Coker who died in 1861. Where is he buried?
Search for Estill Herbert Walker and click on the cemetery he is buried in. Read about the history of the cemetery. What was the battle that the original soldiers who were buried here fought in?
Bonus Points (Optional)
The American Battle Monuments Commission (https://www.abmc.gov/) provides information on service members buried in overseas cemeteries. Go to this website and search for Lexow. What was this individual’s name, rank and where was he interred?
Action
Answers will be submitted using a Google Form (https://forms.gle/xbMskbi8bq3sZGTU9). I will provide the answers to all who have completed the scavenger hunt by 8:00 pm EST on June 26. Even though we no longer have any prizes, I hope that you will continue to participate and invite your friends to join in the fun.
No comments:
Post a Comment