Missouri State Genealogy Society Annual Conference

Just back from the MoSGA annual conference held in Jefferson City, MO.

Julie Miller, CG was the keynote speaker and had talks on several topics including search engines (more out there than just Google), military records and naturalization records. All were very informative and Julie is a great speaker!

My two favorite sessions were presented by the same person, Michael Strauss, AG. Michael talked about historical maps in one session and the CCC in another. In the historical map session Michael demonstrated how to use panoramic maps and Sanborn maps in conjunction to create an image of where our ancestors lived. The selection of historical maps is much larger than I expected, including draft registration maps and election maps. I can't wait to start using these resources!

The Civilian Conservation Corps has a wealth of detailed information available. The trick is getting it! Records are held by the National Archives, however, there is not an index. You must write to the National Personnel Record Center requesting information, they will get back to you on whether or not they have a file and what the cost will be (could be $60 - $100!). There are other records, besides the individual records, that can provide genealogical information such as camp inspection reports.

My father was in a CCC camp in Arkansas, I have a photo I will get scanned in and post. I'm looking forward to requesting his file (hopefully on the $60 end!) and see what they find!

I met several people at the conference that I really enjoyed visiting with. I will make this comment simply because it has been in the blog headlines lately...the youth movement was lacking at this conference! Keep in mind this was a small state conference but there were approximately a dozen in our 40's, and maybe a handful younger than that. One topic that was missing from the speaker line up was technology of any kind which was disappointing. MoSGA is having a call for speakers for their 2010 annual conference, I hope they will receive a response from some of the more techo/social media type speakers!

Tombstone Tuesday Susan Hart Allan

Susan Hart Allan
born in KY
died in MO
buried in Forest Hill Cemetery Kansas City, MO

WW II 1005th Signal Company

My father served in the Army from April 25, 1942 until September 14, 1945 in the 1005th Signal Company.

While going through paperwork, left behind by my father, I found his separation papers. I sent a copy of those to the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri requesting information on his service activities. I received a reply stating that due to the fire at the records center in 1973 the separation document I had provided more information than they could (and they were happy to have the copy I sent). Additionally, they forwarded my request for information to the Army with an Authorization for Issuance of Awards.

Reissued Medals

Imagine my excitement as I opened up an unexpected package containing the following reissued medals: The Good Conduct Medal, Victory Medal, World War II, and European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal. I was very excited to open that package and surprised how quickly I received the medals! From the time I sent my initial letter until I received the medals four months had passed. I thought that would be the only information I would receive. I was wrong. Ten months later I received another package from the Department of the Army Heritage and Education Center. My request for information on my father's military activity had been forwarded to them also. This is the request that keeps on giving.

Army Heritage and Education Center

 

Contained in the package from the Army Heritage and Education Center was historical data on the 1005th Signal Company that had been found on microfilm. While these documents do not mention my father specifically, they do track the movements of the 1005th from February 24, 1943 until June 12, 1946. This history has allowed me to put the army photos I have in a more correct chronological order. My father had written on the back of the some of the photos with the name of the place but not the date.

A simple request for information yielded me more than I expected to receive and it was certainly worth the wait!


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