Lots of people don't understand why I want to scan their stuff, or why I'm so hard-core when it comes to high resolution scans.
Here is just one reason - without a high resolution scan you wouldn't be able to read the message under the school name and how important it "USED" to be to honor these words...


Our Liberties We Prize And Our Rights We Will Maintain


Even more people don't see any reason to send me their family/historical stuff because they have already scanned it, but most don't have the decades of experience I have or the professional equipment/software. So their low quality scans are generally useless.
Or they just don't want to bother and think that those original historical items will always be around and continue to be passed on down to the next generation.

But boy do I have one story after another how most of those people who say their history is well cared for and preserved in its original condition - until something occurs they never thought would happen.
Recently I had someone ask me if I had any pictures of their family member - specifically military pictures. I had one civilian picture and then asked why...
He told me one of the children threw away the military pictures and information of their parent.

I could write a book about the myriad of stories I've heard how/why family history is now gone.

This is why I'm constantly asking people to send me their stuff, so I can make high resolution scans and get it preserved and archived in my database - which someday will also be stored in the National Archives in DC - something I've already been in communication with.

Another item of history I'm always looking for are military/veteran related articles, and while searching for obits, my helpers and I found these 2 articles, one of which added to Manning's War of 1812 Veteran buried in the Manning Cemetery...you can read more about Oliver Williams and also Earl Martens who gave his life for all of us during WWII, by going to my military/veteran web page linked on the left side of this page.

Earl Martens of Manning reportedly Missing in Action.
Daily Times Herald October 7, 1944
Earl Martens, of the United States infantry, son of Emil Martens of Manning, is reported missing in action in France.
Word was received by the family this week.

Headstone for Veteran of 1812 War

Daily Times Herald May 28, 1969
To Americans, now embroiled in a conflict in Asia, the wars fought at home seem strangely remote. Yet, a veteran of one of those wars was remembered at the Manning cemetery, when a headstone was erected for Captain Oliver Williams, Veteran of the War of 1812. No one knows date of his birth, nor for that matter, of his death. There is only the Carroll County court house record that he is buried in Lot 88, Section 3 of the Manning Cemetery, and that his wife's name was Racial.

Record of the veteran was unearthed by William C. Schrum, who has been graves registration officer of the American Legion at Manning for more than 40 years. He has gone through court house records in all counties nearby, mainly for the purpose of finding data on Civil War Veterans. He has a complete file of the 112 veterans of eight wars who are buried in the Manning City Cemetery, the Sacred Heart Cemetery, and Iowa Township Cemetery west of Manning.

Captain Williams served in the New York Militia during the War of 1812. Mr. Schrum gave the information he had to Richard Crandall, service officer of Emil Ewoldt Post, who applied for the gravestone. It is a simple stone of marble, which stands out in the cemetery because of its absolute whiteness.

Veterans from wars listed in Mr. Schrum's record are from the War of 1812 to the Vietnam conflict, including the Civil War, the Indian Wars, Spanish-American War, World Wars I and II, and the Korean action.

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