 "Helping you connect with your heritage" Contact Mailing Addresses: STORY COUNTY GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY P.O. BOX 692 AMES, IA 50010 Interested in meeting with persons who share your interest in genealogy? Consider becoming a member of the Story County Genealogical Society. We meet Sept.-Nov., Jan.-May on the 2nd Monday of the month (7 p.m.) at the Ames Public Library, 515 Douglas, Ames, Iowa. Benefits include an opportunity to learn, hear knowledgeable speakers, get help with your family history brick walls, and help support the preservation of local records. AND, you'll also receive our newsletter, published eight times yearly. Annual dues are $10 for a single membership, or $15 for a family. To join, please send your name, address, email, and dues to the address listed above. REGULAR RESEARCH FEES Members of the Story County Genealogical Society are available to help with your research in Story County, Iowa. For a fee of $15, a researcher will offer an initial assessment and check readily-available, pertinent sources and indexes. Please be specific in your requests and tell us precisely what you are seeking. We will try to help. In the meantime, you might want to browse these Google search suggestions. Several patrons have asked about genealogy computer programs. Browse some of our software recommendations to them. Upcoming SCGS Meetings Meetings are held at the Ames Public Library, 515 Douglas, Ames, Iowa on the second Monday of the month at 7 p.m. We meet Sept.-Nov., Jan.-May. Annual membership dues are $10 per person, $15 per family and expire on Dec. 31 of the calendar year. Guests are welcome. Jan. 11, Amy "Stories in the Stones" 2010 Youkim Feb. 8, Carol "Women in the Wild West" 2010 Kenealy March 8, Mary Lohr "Google: Genealogy, Groenevelds, Gadgets and Gizmos" 2010 April 12, Susan "Connecting Generations: the State 2010 Jellinger Historical Society of Iowa Library and Archives" May 10, Theresa "Using Military Records for Genealogy" 2010 Liewer
New Hours at State of Iowa Historical Society and Library Reading Room The Reading Rooms at the State Historical Society will be cutting back hours beginning December 8. The Des Moines reading room is located at the State Historical Building, 600 E. Locust Street. "The Reading Rooms will be open to the public 12:30-4:30 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Saturday; closed Sunday, Monday and official state holidays. The new hours go into effect Dec. 8, 2009." Preserving Memories   Earlier SCGS projects In
the early 1990s the Story County Genealogical Society undertook a
massive cemetery transcription project early in the 1990s. Read more  Photo courtesy of Agneta Östemar. Kungsängslilja flower in a field called Kungsängen very near Uppsala, Sweden. | Two accounts of member activities City of Carroll and Its Cemetery Carroll, Iowa by Gretchen Triplett Much has been written about the history of Carroll by devoted loving citizens. Except for the cemetery. This is noteworthy because it is an exceptional cemetery, one of uncommon beauty and tranquility. Certainly one of Iowa’s most beautiful.
Perhaps more importantly for us oldtimers, it is one of the few landmarks in Carroll from mid-20th century. New schools have been built, and churches, hotels and power plants torn down. Probably most shocking was the loss of the old courthouse that was torn down in the late 1950s, even to leveling the site! The business district itself succumbed to the Urban Renewal Project in the early 1960s. No more Jung’s Bakery or Candy Kitchen. All in the name of progress. Thus, for many who called Carroll their home in their formative years, the only recognizable landmarks today would be the Carroll Cemetery. Yes, the cemetery! And what a Beauty she is! Surrounded by a extraordinary ‘fence’ that is actually a stone wall topped with a black wrought iron fence. Visitors enter through stunning gates, wind by an imposing rostrum and dais dominating a Civil War monument in the shape of an obelisk celebrating local veterans and eight handsome monuments set in a semi-circle. Then, to the south over the hill, is an American Legion monument with the American eagle, all constructed of beautiful large Iowa stone. At the entrance imbedded in the east main entrance pillar, a discrete bronze plaque -- ‘WPA 1936’. What did it mean, and why was this cemetery especially dignified, majestic, and serene? How did it come to be so special? Early Times Carroll City, its original name, incorporated in 1869. By the early 1870s, a cemetery area would have been designated by the city. The courthouse and business district were located north of the railroad. The cemetery lay to the southeast, south of the railroad, and, according to City Council minutes, was maintained by the local chapter of the Odd Fellows Society and a half-time city employee. That’s about all that is mentioned. No records have been kept by the cemetery, there are only City Council minutes to enlighten the curious. Postcards From Carroll, by local Carroll historian James F. Kerwin, pictures 1920s-era postcards of Carroll’s lovely large homes and wide streets. But no paving, no curb, no gutters. Even photos of Hwy 30, a major east/west trucking route, show it was a dirt road in the 1920s. Dusty in summer, and unbearable winters, mired up to the hubcaps in mud was the norm. It was finally paved about the time the Stock Market crashed. Major highways in Iowa were paved in places, but not others. The 1920s had witnessed unprecedented economic boom, followed by a downspin with the Crash of ’29. Nobody knew much how to correct the economic disaster, paving the way for a new administration. With the election of Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt in1932 came a series of aggressive measures, collectively known as the New Deal, under provisions of the National Recovery Act, designed to stimulate the economy. Unemployment bottomed out at 25.4 percent, about the same time Roosevelt took office on March 4, 1933. Although unemployment had peaked, it was still at nearly 15 percent by 1940. Takes a long time for things to stabilize. SCGS member reunites historical papers with family-- a research success story ...  Researching the K.P. Boyd family by Luanne Endreland The SCGS received a packet of papers from the 1920’s belonging to a Boyd
family that resided in Roland, Iowa.
They were an assortment of warranty deeds, mortgage and mortgage releases, land contract and miscellaneous bank papers. The papers belonged to the widow and heirs of Knud P. Boyd. Listed were
10 children and spouses of 5 of them. I was curious to look into them because we know a Boyd family from Roland, Iowa, and thought they might belong to them. It was
very helpful to have the spouses names included. This was where I found the connection. I did look through many census records on Heritage Quest and found many of the family but it didn’t lead me to the present. I also searched on Google using the
Boyd name or K.P. Boyd. This didn’t get me too far. Then one night I decided to
use the Yahoo search engine and a website came up with the right names mentioned. After looking at the census records and this website, I determined that it was not directly related to the Boyd’s that I know. I contacted the
person in charge of this website telling them about me and the papers that I had
been researching and they responded that she was indeed a descendant of one of the heirs listed. According to her, Anna Larson, of Thoreau, NM there are not too many family members left. She thanked me for getting in touch with her. I will be sending her these
records soon. It is so satisfying
to bring these papers to the rightful family members. Read more about the Boyd family and the papers involved in this story.
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