Beneath the Wraps

Billion Graves is a website that encourages volunteers to take pictures at cemeteries to post online and also volunteers to transcribe information from the pictures (once they are online).  I have personally known a few genealogical nuts that have found ancestors through these gravesites – usually missing spouses or children that have been buried along side of the names they already have. For those who are really into family history, it does seem convenient to have this site, as they are able to visit many cemeteries from around the world without the expense of actually having to physically travel.  But only the recorded sites may provide the needed information.  There are a number of graves that have yet to be photographed and transcribed. Last night the girls and young women of my new ward had the opportunity to take pictures to load to the app. of said website. One of the leaders referred to Riddle Cemetery as a virgin cemetery – meaning it has...

          I really enjoyed Robert Sharenow’s “The Girl in the Torch”.   The story is about a girl named Sarah who has traveled to North America i(the United States) n early 1900’s.              The crime activity is high in the country where they are from.   A relative sends a postcard with the statue of liberty and Sarah's father starts setting money aside hoping that one day they will make the voyage to the promised land.           When Sarah’s father is killed, she and her mom get on a boat by themselves and leave their country behind – hopefully never to return.             The Statue of Liberty is a sign of hope, and they are happy to see it.     When they arrive in New York, Sarah is forced to part company with her mother who had gotten si...