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Transcripts
§ Charles A. Spaulding
A History of Hartford
153 pg transcript

§ Katherine Minshall Early History of Hartford and Lawrence 12 pgs.
§ Eli Fayette Ruggles Recollections of A Busy Life circa 1904

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Frequently Asked Questions

Question:  I would like to pass this site information on to friends and classmates, but do not know how this is done.
From Wallace Haight  9/3/2002

Thank you for asking, Wally.  An easy way is to go up to the top row of icons (File    Edit    View    Insert   Format, etc).  Left click with your mouse to select FILE, then SEND, then PAGE BY EMAIL (to send the entire page you are on) or LINK BY EMAIL (to send only a link to the page).  When your email program opens up, the internet address will automatically appear in the body of your email.  Then,  select the names from your addressbook that you would like to send the page or site to.  

Another way is to go to the page you want to send, put your mouse up in the ADDRESS section (the long white horizontal internet address box near the top portion of the page) and copy the address, then paste it into your email program.  If the address is NOT already highlighted, put your mouse at the right end of the address, left click, hold and slide the mouse all the way to the left side of the address, which usually starts out http:// (make sure you highlight ALL of the address).  After the address is highlighted, right click and COPY it into your email message body.

Another way is by copying and pasting this web address www.hartfordmichigan.com into the body of an email.  After arriving at the site, clicking on the Hartford History icon  that appears on the left side of the screen for the Hartford Business Association website.  

You may also copy this icon
HartfordHistory Icon.  Put your mouse on the icon, right click, COPY, then open your email program, right click and paste the icon into the message body of your email to your friends.  The Hartford History icon contains a direct link to the web site is conveniently placed in the footing of every page so you’ll always know where to find it.  
Question:  When I print out a page from the website, the pictures on the right side of the paper are cut off.  How can I get the entire picture to print.      From Mary Thornburg 3-15-04
Answer:  Many (not all) pages on this site are wider than the normal size 8 1/2 x 11 paper.  Depress the print button to print the page you want, then select landscape mode, instead of portrait.  This turns your paper sideways and your entire page and photos should print out correctly.
Following are frequently asked questions about the creation of the History of Hartford website

1.  Where did you get the idea to start the History of Hartford website?   From one of my customers who was researching his grandfather back to the Civil War.  Although his information was not posted on the internet, he was documenting everything to be passed on to his family.  If he had not done this, his family history probably would have been lost when he died in 2001. 

I felt that gathering and posting Hartford’s history onto the internet would be an excellent way for everyone to learn about Hartford’s historic past and to make it accessible to the widest range of viewers, no matter their age nor where they lived.  Quite often, historic photos and documents are thrown out when a person dies.  If people and places in photos aren’t identified by some means, the younger generation doesn’t know who the people or places are and will most likely throw the photos away, as it has no meaning to them.  Thus, much of our history is lost.  If we teach our children about the people and impressive heights they achieved in the early days of our communities, they will appreciate our past.  If they have no knowledge of our beginnings, how can they truly understand that they can shape their own destiny in our history?

2.   Do you get paid for work on the website?
          No, I volunteer all my time and talents to this lifetime project.  

3.  Do you have any sponsors? 
          No – none.

4.  Are you affiliated with any historical or any other organization?  
          No, this is an independent endeavor.
 

5.  Do you have any help working on the site?   On the actual posting and creation of the website – NO.  However, I have several wonderful people in the community, as well as those who have accessed the site from long distances, who volunteer to share their gems or to track down information for the site.  That is of tremendous help to me, as quite often, the legwork of researching and flushing out the information takes a tremendous of time and that would severely limit the amount of information that could actually put on the site.  I wouldn’t physically have the time needed to research AND work on the website. 

6.  What computer education did you need to pursue before starting the website?    No formal training, just a desire to learn with hands-on trial and error experience…learn by doing is the best way for me.  

7.  What computer programs do you use to create the website?   Microsoft Front Page, Paint Shop Pro, Adobe Photo Dx-Business Edition (old program, but it has the best editing features for detailed modifications or restorations of photographs), Photo Studio 2000, and MS Outlook Express Email.  

8.  Why did you choose to highlight Hartford’s military?     I go to Ely Park to the Memorial Day service and read names on the military memorials, then I walk away knowing no more than when I started that day.  Each year is the same….I decided to learn more about the folks from our community who served in the military.   It bothered me that I didn’t learn of them during school.  I am thrilled at what I’ve found and wanted to share it with our community so they would see what heroes Hartford and Keeler produced through the years.

9.  What are your resources for creating the History of Hartford website?     Emails from former Hartfordites and Keeler folk who have heard about or visited the website and wanted to share their photo albums and scrapbook memories.  Plain, ordinary citizens who have turned out to be not-so-plain and not-so-ordinary, wonderful people who just wanted to reminisce and share what they remembered about their early days as youth in Hartford and Keeler.  Although many photos have been viewed by earlier generations, many never been seen by anyone else other than the family member who put them into their albums.  Our local historians have been wonderful to share their gems.
 
10. 
Why are you doing the business, or commercial, aspects of Hartford through the Hartford Chamber of Commerce?   Because I feel Hartford needs a central place to list business ventures, local events, and the talents of our local people that are available but not readily known.  It wasn’t being done in an easily accessible way and our community holds a lot of talent that is bypassed to other communities.  The website is not only available  to our community, but also to perspective visitors from across the US and throughout the world.  

11.  How long do you expect to be working on the website?   Most likely the rest of my life.  I love doing this and know that it will probably take that long to gather and publish the cherished treasures of Hartford’s past.  History is made every day in our local community by ordinary folks…much of which probably won’t be greatly appreciated until a few years down the road.  Everyone seems to enjoy coming back for a visit…now they can do it at any time, day or night and from their own home computer, at school, or the local library…no matter where they reside.  The website seems to have a way of connecting family and friends as they reminisce and share their past.

12.  Why aren’t all the links accessible on the left menu?
  Links that are not underlined are areas that I intend to cover sometime in the future.  Hartford has a lot of history and new items are added to the site frequently.  Since this is a lifetime project and will never be completely finished, information will be added as it becomes available or whenever someone submits historic information about Hartford.  Some topics will take more research than others, especially those with no previous newspaper documentation.  If there is a particular subject that is requested and someone submits information on that topic, it will be posted to the website quicker than a topic that requires more intense research. 

13.  What should I do if I find a link somewhere on the website that doesn’t work?   Some links may not have transferred over properly when I moved the website to it’s present location. I appreciate being told about broken links so I can correct them.  Click here to send me an email

14.  What if I find an error or something that is incorrect on the website?   I appreciate being told about errors or incorrect information so a correction can be made.   Click here to send me an email.


Emma Thornburg Sefcik
Webmaster
History of Hartford website
www.hartfordmichigan.com
HartfordHistory Icon  


Information for this web site was gathered from personal interviews, newspaper articles, scrapbooks, personal photo albums, and other documented materials - many available to the public at the Hartford Public Library or Van Buren County Historical Museum.  Please report any typographical errors, updated information, or incorrectly stated information to the webmaster for correction.  Reprinting for personal and instructional purposes is permitted, however, unauthorized commercial reprinting of this information or unauthorized linking to photos-pictures on this site is strictly prohibited without written permission from the webmaster. 



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Pearls In Our Past - Hartford Michigan
© 
A Pictorial History of Hartford Michigan
Emma Thornburg Sefcik
Webmaster
Competent Secretarial Service
History of Hartford Michigan
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Revised: March 23, 2009