This journey is going to lead me down the path of the Birch's and all those other names that have joined them. I know this will take me to England, Germany, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Illinois and elsewhere. The men in this family will be working as coalminers, railroad brakemen and Laborers in Saw Mills.

The common name "birch" is derived from an old Germanic root, birka, with the Proto-Indo-European root *bherəg, "white, bright; to shine."

Friday, June 15, 2012

James Birch Sr. ~ WWII Draft Registration ~ 1947

I love how draft registrations glean so much information on the person we are investigating.   

Here's James Birch, Sr  (little clue here ... for middle name "None") of Conehaugh Township in Somerset, Pennsylvania.  I've confirmed, via Ancestry.com records, that James Birch, Jr. is his son. 

James describes himself as "white, 5'11", 172 lbs, blue eyes, grey hair, ruddy complexion, with a Hernia - left side".

His Date of Birth: Oct 9, 1879

James was employed by "Bird Coal Co." and after doing a little checking around I discovered that company had three mines located on Tire Hill.

Bird No. 1 Mine, near Johnstown, Tire Hill, Conemaugh Twp., Somerset Co., PA
Bird No. 2 Mine, near Johnstown, Tire Hill, Conemaugh Twp., Somerset Co., PA
Bird No. 3 Mine, near Johnstown, Tire Hill, Conemaugh Twp., Somerset Co., PA

I need to do a little more researching on the coal mines in Pennsylvania

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Blog Beginning . . .

Now that I've begun blogging (something that I wasn't sure I'd enjoy) I find that it really helps me keep my family research a bit more organized and sort of a "holder" of information that is easy to get to. So this is my second blog and with this one I'll be focusing on another leg of the family (Birch)  and the offshoots it presents. I'm sure this will be a fun journey.