I’ve started participating in geneabloggers. Sometimes I will be participating in the daily blog prompt. Today is “Follow Friday” where I get to recommend another genealogy blogger, a specific blog post, a genealogy website or a genealogy resource.
Today I would like to introduce my colleague Judy Nelson. She is a fellow Czech researcher, also located in Iowa. Czech out her website at www.oxfordjctgenealogy.com.
Here is her bio:
My name is Judy Nelson, and my field of expertise is Czech ancestry in the Trebon area of South Bohemia, Czech Republic.
Following a lifetime hobby of genealogy and local history related to my own Czech ancestry and Czech hometown in Iowa, I built SMALL TOWNS website about those subjects, http://www.oxfordjctgenealogy.com. The site promotes Czech heritage and genealogy, and assists viewers who pursue their own Czech interests. It contains several of the essays I have written: Trebon Area Resources, Vulgo Surnames, Freethinkers, Oxford Jct. Surnames, Jan Ciml & the Oxford Jct. Grapevines (includes Czech emigration), Divoky Prayer Book, Tallgrass Prairie, Glacial Rocks, and others. The site also features Trebon and Czech research.
Being a natural organizer, I started TAG, now 120 genealogists having lineage in the area around Trebon. I send a monthly informational newsletter, facilitate networking, and give general assistance and translations from Czech, German, and Latin to English. The constant activity regarding South Bohemia has increased my knowledge of it’s nature and history.
I have a large collection of maps, photos, area information, and genealogical data. I started the project of building a list of subjects (interviews and biographies) in Amerikan Narodni Kalendar with locations for ordering copies, 1500+ so far. Michelle Gobert will complete the project which will benefit the entire Czech genealogical community.
My many contacts in South Bohemia include the Rozmberk Society’s founders, Cerna and Dulfer. I contributed to the development of their Emigration & Peasant Museum, and serve on the board of directors of the Friends of the Rozmberk Society, their U.S. fund-raising arm. The affiliation has been fruitful — we forged a sister city association between Jilovice near Trebon and Oxford Junction, Iowa which received more than 30 emigrant families from the Trebon area in the 19th century.
Together we hosted a research tour to Trebon in 2011, my third trip to South Bohemia. Several genealogists have been assisted in Trebon with my arrangements. A document of travel advice is published on my website in the spirit of assistance to other genealogists.
I have worked extensively on the Trebon Archiv website and helped others to do so. For Oxford Jct., I help to organize genealogical seminars, add to their library and museum’s collections, and contribute to books on their pioneers, country schools, etc. In 2013 I completed a book about Bryan, Coon, and Walston, the founders of Oxford Jct., John Bryan, His Life, His Land, His Town, Oxford Junction, Iowa, distributed through the Oxford Jct. Heritage Museum.
In summary, the many activities that are my passion have given me the cumulative knowledge to serve as a Trebon area expert for other genealogists.
Email Judy Nelson