Blenheim Blog

The categories I have selected for my Omeka website pages are as follows:

Before the War:

        Early Life:  This section will include census records regarding his early childhood and what small info I have about his birth place/date etc.

     As a Young Adult:  Census records that show him working as a servant on a neighboring farm.  Maybe some info about serving life?

        Leaving Michigan for war:  here I will share my Ngram graphs and discussion of how this man who, other than the war, didn’t really travel more than a few miles from his place of birth, may have been swept up into the war.  This section will include some information about recruitment in Michigan and the numbers of men who served from there, as well as a picture of the importance of the war to the country as a whole.

    During the War

        Cavalry- info about the Michigan cavalry’s role in the war.  The lifestyle/work of the cavalry  vs infantry etc

        Blenheim House – His signature.  History of Blenheim and why he was there

        Gettysburg – Information about the battle and about the injuries Marvin sustained there.

         Map- Map of his years in the war.  Right now the map just has places where important things happened to Marvin, trying to decide how much of the regiment’s movements to add into that.

    Family Life

        Addie’s Story – Present his wife’s life story

        Children – a little about his children

    Marvin’s Farm

        Farm Life in Michigan- some info about his farm and about typical farms of the area

        Neighbors – I have several affidavits from Marvin’s neighbors, thought I’d present those and some brief info about those people

        Inheritance-  Marvin made some changes to his will near the end of his life, thought I’d discuss those here and also some of the tax issues Addie faced after his death

      Map- Here I thought I’d put the map that shows his birth place, childhood farm, postwar far, and place of marriage.  Remarkable mostly because they are clustered so close together.

  Marvin’s Health

        Injury at Gettysburg- description of his injury sustained at Gettysburg and how it might have been treated.

        Worsening effects – discussion of the many doctor’s reports and the deterioration of his health related to his injuries.  How it affected his work

        Marvin’s Death – Description of Marvin’s death.

It feels really good to have this outlined.  I kind of wish I had done this weeks ago.  I feel like I have a lot of work still to do, but this has helped me sort out where to narrow in my efforts.