Yes, today is "Election Day" around the country, but there is voting here in the blogosphere as well. Have you voted for your favorite genealogy blog? The genealogy blog that inspires you, educates you, makes you laugh, makes you want to blog. I have!Good luck to all the blogs that have been nominated. We who blog know blogging is hard work. Now, let's take another look at the blogs that have been nominated in the Family Tree Magazine 40 Best Genealogy Blogs. Family Tree 40 Voting! Congratulations to all the blogs that have been nominated. Voting ends Nov. 5.The 40 Best Genealogy Blogs will…
Genealogy
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footnoteMaven
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Have You Voted?
3 Nov 2009 | 7:41 am -
I Once Was The Great Pumpkin
31 Oct 2009 | 1:33 amIt was a dark and snow stormy night. The witching hour had finally come to pass. I gazed at myself in the mirror - the "Great Pumpkin" look was me all over.The trip in this blizzard would be a long one and I had to arrive at my destination in time for Halloween. As we drove, I hung my head out the passenger door window to help the driver follow the lines painted on the road. I couldn't see my hand in front of my face. I was developing freezer burn, but that was the least of my worries. I kept yelling "hurry" but thanks to the weather there was no hurry this Halloween.At last, the lights of my… -
A Hunter Update
27 Oct 2009 | 8:00 pmLove this Nellie McKay song. And that's just what I've been doing - walking my dog. I don't want to say it too loudly, the gods may hear and take it away from me, but Hunter is much improved.He is almost back to his old self. Tail wagging, trash investigating, soap opera watching best friend. Now don't tell my husband that his fierce hunting dog is becoming accustomed to my lap and the lap of luxury. Not yet anyway.With special thanks to Wonders Never Cease for steering me to Nellie. -
Show and Tell
26 Oct 2009 | 1:34 amI received an email that left a lump in my throat. I have done several articles on Grace Mathewson and her collection of postcards on Shades; to her from friends and parents as they traveled the world. I'm sure you can all empathize with me; that as a researcher you find the ephemera and photographs, you trace the life stories, and you always want more. Today, I was honored to have more.Another branch of Grace's family found the homage to her on Shades. I have received several wonderful emails from Kathie Stafford, Grace Mathewson's Granddaughter.I asked if Kathie had a photograph she would… -
An Accent - Have You Got One?
24 Oct 2009 | 12:36 pmOver a year ago, I wrote the article below. I was reminded of this post by the following commercial. A commercial I always stop and watch. Don't miss the young woman at the end of the post, she's killa. So, what is home to your ear? Can you find it in the video?We have the same biological parents. We were both raised by those parents. We shared the same room in the same house for seventeen years. So how is it that my sister sounds as if she's been drinking out of a Dixie cup all her life and I have no accent?I lay this anomaly directly at the good intentions of our Mother. Mother was a New…
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DearMYRTLE's Genealogy Blog
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Getting there
5 Nov 2009 | 8:02 amDearREADERS,How's the research coming along? Got your ox in a ditch? Are you stuck in the doldrums? Let's take a moment to reflect on matters.Do you think in our frantic search for ancestors, we miss the mark because we fail to plan from a logistical or financial point of view? If so, how very like our ancestors we've become. Indeed, perhaps history DOES repeat itself, with a new twist for each generation.OUR ANCESTORSBy handcart, Conestoga wagon, stage coach or train -- it didn't seem to matter. Folks interested in adventure and the hope of a better world moved west in the American colonies,… -
IGHR Scholarship for librarians
2 Nov 2009 | 9:06 amNOTE from DearMYRTLE: The Institute for Genealogy and History Research at Samford provides a scholarly, in-depth week of studies. Please share this information with your favorite genealogy librarian.Applications for the Jean Thomason Scholarship for IGHR are due by December 1, 2009 and will be reviewed by a Samford University Library committee. The winner will be announced in January.Please include the following in your application: * Name * Address * Email * Phone * The name of the Library where you are employed * The length of time you have worked in a library * The average number of hours… -
NGS 2010 Conference: registraton now open
2 Nov 2009 | 9:00 amNOTE from DearMYRTLE: The following was just received from our friends at NGSgenealogy.org. Please address all inquiries as indicated below: Mark your Calendar for the 2010 Family History Conference, “Follow Your Ancestral Trail”, which will be held 28 April—1 May 2010, in Salt Lake City, Utah. Whether your family helped settle the nation, migrated across the country, stayed in the same place, or recently arrived in America, this conference has much to offer. A few examples of the Family History Conference’s diverse program offerings include the International Workshops which will… -
Tom Jones :quick notes from his presentations today
31 Oct 2009 | 10:41 amDearREADERS,Today, in all the excitement of attending the Fairfax Genealogical Society's fall conference featuring Thomas W. Jones, Ph. D., CG, CGL, FASG, FUGA Ol' Myrt here learned a great deal. His three presentations were titled:Inferential Genealogy:Deducing Ancestors' Identities IndirectlyGoing Beyond the Bare Bones:Reconstructing Your Ancestors' LivesMethods of Proving ParentageThis last presentation provided 15 combinations of relevant sources and potential parents. Dr. Jones encouraged us to think outside the realm of the usual and customary types of evidence when attempting to prove… -
Footnote.com: Entire US census now available
31 Oct 2009 | 8:03 amNOTE from DearMYRTLE: The following was just received from our friends at Footnote.com. Please note Ol' Myrt's added emphasis with the red text below. Please address all inquiries to: Justin@footnote.com. ENTIRE U.S. CENSUS GOES INTERACTIVE WITH FOOTNOTE.COM -Footnote.com to feature original documents from every publicly available U.S. Federal Census from 1790 to 1930 Lindon, UT – October 29, 2009 – Today Footnote.com (http://www.footnote.com) announced it will digitize and create a searchable database for all publicly available U.S. Federal Censuses ranging from the first U.S. Census…
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Genea-Musings
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Checking out ourFamily*ology - Post 2
6 Nov 2009 | 4:20 pmI signed up for the ourFamily*ology family tree web site earlier this week, but ran into a snag, as reported in the first post of this series. They apparently solved my snag problem, and now the site works well for me. In this post, I want to go explore the Tree features of the web site. I uploaded a 38,420 person family tree the other day, and all of the information seems to be in their system. I did have one problem - my #1 person has the name "(Unknown)" and is the third wife of Robert Seaver (1608-1683). I figured out how to navigate to more recent people but every time I click on "Home… -
Three APG/PMC Presentations Available to View
6 Nov 2009 | 12:39 pmDo you want a peek at some of the presentations made at the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) Professional Management Conference (PMC) in September 2009 at the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) conference in Little Rock?Check out the PMC Webcast page on the APG site. The site says:"As a result of a trial partnership with FamilySearch APG is making available three presentations from the 2009 APG Professional Management Conference, which took place on September 2 at the FGS Conference in Little Rock, Arkansas."Lectures by Heather Henderson, Mary Penner, and Elissa Scalise… -
Follow Friday - Shades of the Departed - WOW!!
6 Nov 2009 | 8:12 amMy selection of footnoteMaven's Shades of the Departed blog for Follow Friday is a no-brainer - especially today!What is Shades of the Departed? It's all about images, especially of those that have passed away. Over the past two years, footnoteMaven (we who love her call her fM) has published her own posts about photographs, and has hosted regular monthly columns written by other notable genealogy bloggers, including Craig Manson, Donna Pointkouski, Jasia, Sheri Fenley, George Geder, Rebecca Fenning, Denise Levenick, Denise Olson, and several others that I cannot recall. In addition, the… -
More San Francisco Treats
5 Nov 2009 | 12:25 pmMy recent post on "San Francisco Funeral Home Records," caused Kathryn Doyle, of the California Genealogical Society and Library, to comment:"So glad you found some information but I'm distressed to realize that you have never searched the Names Index database on the California Genealogical Society website. If you had you would have already known about the IOOF records for Dora and Frederick. We have records for the four surnames you mentioned. We need to get you up here to Oakland for a day of digging!"I don't recall visiting the CGSL website before, so I took the opportunity to do that and… -
Are census records reliable for genealogy research?
5 Nov 2009 | 8:18 amMichael Hait asks the question "Are census records reliable for genealogy research?" in his 3 November African-American Genealogy Examiner column. In addition to links to previous articles that examine the 1870, 1880 and 1900 to 1930 US Federal Census records, this article analyzes the reliability of census records by asking the question if it meets the test for being "primary information" - that is, was it provided by someone with direct knowledge of the events described. We all have the experience that the names, ages, birthplaces, occupations, etc. of the persons in a household in a census…
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kinexxions
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John Caspar Stoever and Hebron Lutheran Church
4 Nov 2009 | 5:00 amThe charming little town of Madison, Virginia lies on U.S. Route 29 about 10 miles south of Culpeper and 25 miles north of Charlottesville. A few miles north of Madison there is a small church that is significant for several reasons. The Hebron Lutheran Church is the oldest Lutheran Church in continuous use in the United States. Built in 1740, it is one of the few wooden churches surviving Virginia's colonial times. The first pastor of the congregation was my 6th great-grandfather, Johann Kasper Stöver aka John Caspar Stoever, in my father's lineage, on his mother's side.Baptized January 18,… -
Tombstone Tuesday :: Marjorie Quillen
3 Nov 2009 | 5:00 amSeptember 11, 2009 - Since it was dark the previous day when I went through the charming community of Overbrook, Kansas and because I was now back in the area to photograph tombstones from another nearby cemetery, I decided to see if I could locate the grave of little Marjorie Quillen.According to an entry on Interment.net, Marjorie died on January 20, 1903 at the age of 14 days. Her parents were Mandella “Della” Joslin and James Downey “J. D.” Quillen. Della was was a sister of my 2nd great-grandmother, Malissa (Joslin) Brubaker. They lived in Overbrook for a few years before moving… -
Greetings from... Virginia!
2 Nov 2009 | 5:00 amThere were really only two directions to go when I left Assateague Island. I could have gone south, crossing the Chesapeake Bay on the 17-mile long Bay Bridge-Tunnel into Norfolk, but instead chose to travel north on U.S. Route 50, crossing the bay at Stevensville and passing by Annapolis.My first destination was the small town of Madison in northwest Virginia, and second was Shenandoah National Park. To avoid most of the traffic in the Washington, D. C. area I took U.S. 301 south through Maryland and across the Potomac River, then Virginia Route 3 through Fredericksburg.It had been a nice… -
Assateague Island :: Adieu
1 Nov 2009 | 1:10 pmIt was with some degree of sadness that I bid farewell to Assateague on Saturday morning (October 24th). It had been so peaceful and quiet the previous four days but when Friday evening arrived so did more people. The campground loop where I was staying, which had been nearly vacant, was now filled with weekend visitors. The spell was broken, it was time to go. Besides, rain was in the forecast for the next few days!The golden glow of the sunset over the marsh. My last night at Assateague.Not as colorful as the morning's sunrise had been, but quite lovely. Indeed.Copyright © 2009 Rebeckah R. -
Assateague Island :: Sunrise
31 Oct 2009 | 5:00 amOne of the things I had promised myself that I would do while at Assateague was to get up early enough to watch the sunrise over the marsh. The first three mornings had already gone by and I hadn't gotten up in time but when Friday morning (October 23rd) rolled around, I awoke before the sun was over the horizon. The clouds in the sky were bathed in streaks of orange and pink. It turned out to be a spectacular sunrise. One of the best. Ever. Mother Nature outdid herself that morning.7:00 a. m. Walking over to the marsh boardwalk.It was cold. And Dark.But I just knew it would be worth the…
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The Virtual Dime Museum
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Amazing Inventions From 1909
6 Nov 2009 | 8:16 amThis has nothing to do with Brooklyn or mysteries. There will be more of that next week but too much of the same thing makes even someone very interested in, just for example, Brooklyn and mysteries (i.e. me) just a little bit - bored! And it's Friday, which means it is time for something fun and amusing. So here is something fun from the April 1909 issue of Popular Mechanics. Take a look at some of the cutting-edge inventions that were in the news! (You can see the big version of the inventions page over here at Google Books, bu the way). For example: -The Dog Sweater - I had no idea it was… -
The Coney Island Bowery
4 Nov 2009 | 7:37 amThe Bowery at Coney Island was a plank street laid out in 1882 by George C. Tilyou, one of the pioneer developers of Coney Island as a summer resort and amusement complex. It was named for the Bowery, the oldest street in Manhattan - which by the 1880s had a reputation as a rather shady place lined with cheap amusements, saloons and flophouses. Originally a little alleyway between larger streets running down to the sea, the Coney Island Bowery was enhanced by the wooden planking and gave it a new importance. Tilyou's idea was to give people a quick route past the amusement places which… -
Justus For Hair
2 Nov 2009 | 5:59 amDr. Justus August - who may or may not be the splendidly bearded man in this advertisement from 1901 (Brooklyn Daily Eagle, April 15, 1901, p. 31) - shows us that even over 100 years ago (and much earlier than this, too), people were concerned about going grey. The Hair Rejuvenator was a device "applied with electricity" and was supposed to stimulate regrowth and prevent greying. Dr. August's Hair Coloring, advertised in small print at the bottom, was of course for dealing with the grey hair you already had. It had no "sugar of lead" in it - which sounds like a good thing. -
I Lift My Lamp Beside the Laundry Soap
30 Oct 2009 | 12:20 pmThis cartoon is from an 1884 issue of Life (Vol. 3, p.326): commentary on the plastering of ads everywhere in New York City which is relevant today, too. The ad on Liberty's arm looks like a tattoo, doesn't it? Of course Lungoria and Snook's Laundry Soap were not real products, but the names are close enough to what actual soap and medicines were called. As some of you may know, November 1 starts National Novel Writing Month and therefore until December 1 I will be (in theory) writing at least 1700 words a day in order to make a 50,000 word first draft appear in my hard drive. So by necessity… -
The Haunted Reptile House
28 Oct 2009 | 11:42 amCharley Snyder was the head keeper of the New York Zoological Society - also known as the Bronx Zoo - in 1915. And he had a huge problem on his hands that summer: all the keepers of the reptile house were convinced that it was haunted by an unknown ghost. This ghost whistled every morning, around opening time, from a window at the southeast corner of the reptile house. At first, of course, some of the men thought that it was a practical joke. For two weeks everyone checked the window several times a day, trying to catch the culprit. But there was no whistler there. Some thought it might…
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What's Past is Prologue
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A Sweeter “Sweet Sixteen”
25 Oct 2009 | 8:51 amIn August, Randy Seaver created an informative Saturday Night Genealogical Fun (SNGF) challenge to name our sixteen great-great grandparents, provide their pertinent dates and locations, and calculate one’s ethnic background. My response to his challenge was a post called Sweet Sixteen: My Great-Great Grandparents. But I couldn’t name all sixteen. In my post, I lamented the fact that certain branches on my family tree were little more than twigs. In particular, my patrilineal line had three unknowns and a maybe. Today, I know their names. Thanks to my Piontkowski… -
Surname Saturday: SLESINSKI – ŚLESIŃSKI
24 Oct 2009 | 4:00 amSurname – SLESINSKI or ŚLESIŃSKI Meaning/Origin – The name SLESINSKI or ŚLESIŃSKI is derived from the place name Ślesin, a town in central Poland near Konin founded in 1231. The suffix -ski is usually added to a person or place name to indicate a relationship such as “son of” or “from”. (Source: Polish Surnames: Origins and Meanings, Second Edition by William F. Hoffman) Countries of Origin – The surnames of SLESINSKI and ŚLESIŃSKI are Polish. According to the World Names Profiler, Poland has the highest frequency per million residents with… -
Remembering the Dog Days of Summer
19 Oct 2009 | 4:11 amThe theme to this month’s Festival of Postcards is “quadrupeds”. Once again I have managed to find a unique example that meets the theme and also has a connection to my family history. Here’s a great card that shows a couple of quadrupeds all decked out to celebrate the dog days of summer! The text of the postcard reads: Dear Donna, As you can see from the picture, we’re not the only brother-sister team that can party Hawaiian-style! Even if the other sisters are cool – they’re not as nice (and kind & intelligent & loving) as you! … -
SNGF: My Family’s Increase
18 Oct 2009 | 7:15 amThis week’s Saturday Night Genealogy Fun (SNGF) by Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings asks 1) Pick one of your four great-grandparents – if possible, the one with the most descendants. 2) Create a descendants list for those great-grandparents either by hand or in your software program. 3) Tell us how many descendants, living or dead, are in each generation from those great-grandparents. 4) How many are still living? Of those, how many have you met and exchanged family information with? Are there any that you should make contact with ASAP? Please don’t use last names of living… -
Surname Saturday: ECHERER
17 Oct 2009 | 4:00 amSurname – ECHERER Meaning/Origin – I have not found a definitive answer on the origin of the ECHERER name, but it may be related to ECKER or EGGER. According to the Dictionary of German Names, Second Edition by Hans Bahlow, these names are found frequently near Munich and they mean “from the dwelling place on the corner (uff der Egg)”. The name may also be derived from the place name Eger or Egerer. Countries of Origin – The surname Echerer is German. According to the World Names Profiler, the countries with the highest frequency per million residents are…
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The Photo Detective
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Queries and Answers: Caring for Fragile Books
6 Nov 2009 | 5:00 amJoyce asked, "I have a very old genealogy book that is falling apart. How can I preserve it? Someone suggested laminating the pages." Gosh...lamination is one of the deadliest sins of preserving items. It literally destroys materials. The combination of poor quality plastic, heat and adhesive speed deterioration. As for caring for a crumbling book, library suppliers sell an acid and lignin free enclosures like these sold by Hollinger Corp. Your local library will have product catalogs that contain other types of protective enclosures. Just make sure you buy something acid and lignin free. -
Missing Pictures: Rebecca Mayo, Revolutionary War Widow
4 Nov 2009 | 8:13 amSometimes the hunt for a photograph is so frustrating! One of the more than 6,000 Revolutionary War widows collecting a pension was Rebecca Mayo of Newbern, Pulaski County, Virginia. She married Stephen Mayo in 1834 when she was just a young woman and Mayo was 77. The Boston Daily Globe ran a story about her on July 6, 1904 (page 6), "Mrs. Mayo of Virginia is a Revolutionary Widow." There were only two widows left at that point, Rebecca Mayo and Esther Damon. Damon's photo and story appear in my book, The Last Muster (Kent State University Press, June 2010). In the Globe article were two… -
1835 Photograph on Display
2 Nov 2009 | 9:51 amI've repeatedly written that photography begins in 1839 with Louis Mande Daguerre's shiny metal photograph called the daguerreotype and William Fox Talbot's paper images. However, that isn't one hundred percent true. These two men produced commercially successful processes, but before that there were men who experimented with chemicals, light and materials to produce images. The Hans P. Kraus Jr. Fine Photographs Gallery at 962 Park Ave., in New York has a new show. Silver Anniversary: 25 Photographs, 1835-1914 features one of the earliest paper photographs, "Tripod in the Cloisters of Lacock… -
Weekend at the Museum: Halloween Fun
31 Oct 2009 | 5:00 amHere's a double-treat for Halloween weekend. First have you viewed the Halloween Costume Clues in my new video on Vimeo. It'll make you relive your own trick or treat memories. One year I went as a Crayola crayon in a handmade costume. It was a big hit at the neighborhood party, but it had one small problem. I couldn't sit down in it! For our museum visit this week, check out the Castle Halloween Museum. It's run by none other than the Halloween Queen. Located in Benwood, West Virginia this museum features 250 years of Halloween history and more than 35,000 artifacts. Take the online tour. -
Queries and Answers: Ambrotypes
30 Oct 2009 | 5:00 amHere's another question from an attendee at one of my workshops. "If a daguerreotype is named for Louis Daguerre, then what's the origin of the term ambrotype?" Good question. I have to admit it caught me off-guard. An ambrotype is an image on glass backed with a dark material or varnish. It's named for J. Ambrose Cutting who promoted the process.
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Little Bytes of Life
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Early Christmas Present from FTDNA
3 Nov 2009 | 4:47 pmAs the Group Administrator for the Swanay/Swaney DNA Surname Project, I am pleased to tell you about the Holiday promotion announced today by FamilyTree DNA: 2009 is coming to a close and we're finishing it off with an end-of-the-year promotion! Our Holiday Season promotion will bring back the discount that we offered this summer for the Y-DNA37, since this has been requested by many of our project administrators. Y-DNA37 – promotional price $119 (reg. price $149) Y-DNA67 – promotional price $209 (reg. price $239) mtDNAPlus – promotional price $139 (reg. price $149)… -
Tombstone Tuesday: Thomas MCGRAW
27 Oct 2009 | 1:46 pmMy great-grandfather, Thomas MCGRAW, was born on July 1, 1889, in Ohiowa, Fillmore County, Nebraska. He was the fifth of eight children of John and Mary Jane (Grogan) MCGRAW. Thomas married Elizabeth Marie "Bess" DELANEY some time before 1917. Children of Thomas and Bess were: Mary Margaret "Maura" MCGRAW (my grandmother), born on May 9, 1917 in Stanton, Fillmore Co. Nebraska; died on February 24, 2004 in Hemet, Riverside Co, California. Thomas R. MCGRAW, born on January 19, 1919 in Geneva, Fillmore Co., Nebraska; died on February 26, 1984 in Tigard, Washington Co., Oregon. Deloris Katherine… -
Because Mommies Worry
21 Oct 2009 | 5:30 amMy little girl is having surgery to remove her tonsils and adenoids this morning. If you would be so kind as to remember her in your thoughts and prayers today, I would be most grateful. -
Wordless Wednesday: Scenes from the Chumash Pow Wow
21 Oct 2009 | 2:27 am"Scenes from the 14th Annual Chumash Inter-Tribal Pow Wow" (Santa Ynez, Santa Barbara Co., California). All images © Elizabeth O'Neal, October 18, 2009. About Wordless Wednesday. Copyright © by Elizabeth O'Neal -
I Think He Had Them at Hello
20 Oct 2009 | 10:57 amOn Saturday, October 17, I attended the meeting of the Santa Barbara County Genealogical Society (SBCGS). The special guest speaker was Stephen J. Danko, who authors Steve’s Genealogy Blog. To say that Steve gave an outstanding presentation would not be telling you anything new. Those of you who know Steve or have heard him speak would expect nothing less. But as the ladies who sat next to me put it, he was able to take a difficult topic and bring it down to the level of the average person. I thought that was an excellent description. *** The first part of Steve's talk was entitled,…
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AnceStories: The Stories of My Ancestors
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November 2009 Calendar of Events
1 Nov 2009 | 2:00 amDull November brings the blast;Then the leaves are whirling fast.--from "The Garden Year" by Sara ColeridgeHolidays, History, and HeritageAmerican Indian Heritage Month (United States)Black Catholic History Month (worldwide)New York State History Month (United States)Family Stories Month(Check out Passing It On; a great site dedicated to preserving, celebrating and sharing family and personal history.)National Adoption Month (United States)November 1: All Saints' Day (Christianity)Daylight Saving Time EndsNovember 2: All Souls' Day (Christianity)Día de los Muertos (Mexico)November 3:… -
Happy Hallowe'en!
31 Oct 2009 | 8:45 pmIt's still Hallowe'en on the West Coast as I write this. The following photo is of the very first time I celebrated the holiday...I was 4 1/2 years old and remember it being taken. I had a clown mask, too, but didn't wear it when our picture was taken. The little girl on my left was our neighbor girl and it was taken in their home at that time; an Airstream travel trailer parked across the street from our mobile home. A few years later, both our fathers build homes outside of the little village of Klawock, Alaska on adjoining properties.Miriam Robbins and neighbor girl [name withheld for… -
Surname Saturday: BARBER
31 Oct 2009 | 2:00 amThe BARBER surname belongs to my maternal grandmother's biological mother. My grandmother was an adoptee, and I will be highlighting both her biological and her adoptive families' surnames in my Surname Saturday posts.The BARBER name is an very old one. Barbers in the medieval times were not just haircutters; they were also surgeons and dentists. The root word "barb" means to cut. In the days before the common man was literate, barbers would place a red and white striped pole outside their establishment to mark their business. The colors were representative of white surgical cloths stained… -
Major Announcement from Footnote
29 Oct 2009 | 7:03 amENTIRE U.S. CENSUS GOES INTERACTIVE WITH FOOTNOTE.COM-Footnote.com to feature original documents from every publicly available U.S. Federal Census from 1790 to 1930-Lindon, UT – October 29, 2009 – Today Footnote.com (http://www.footnote.com) announced it will digitize and create a searchable database for all publicly available U.S. Federal Censuses ranging from the first U.S. Census taken in 1790 to the most current public census from 1930. Through its partnership with The National Archives, Footnote.com will add more than 9.5 million images featuring over a half a billion names to its… -
Wordless Wednesday: My New Hobby
28 Oct 2009 | 12:13 am© Miriam Robbins Midkiff, 2009
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Family Matters
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Lulu Adds E-Books
3 Nov 2009 | 7:55 pmIn addition to publishing printed books in any number of sizes and bindings, Lulu has always included a PDF download option. Now, you can also offer your publications in e-book format which offers both multi-device support (iPhone using Stanza, Sony, PC, Mac and more) and digital rights management (copy protection). You can still publish electronic documents for free, but if you decide to sell your e-book, Lulu will charge a $1.49 fee to cover their credit card processing and hosting costs and an additional $.99 if you wish to add digital rights management (DRM) to your publication. Although… -
Surfing the Wave
3 Nov 2009 | 2:20 pmGoogle Wave is making waves (I couldn’t resist that) in the technology community – with good reason. It’s revolutionizing how we communicate online. One problem. Like many new technologies, it’s difficult to understand the concept. And, until you understand that, it’s even more difficult to learn how it works. Enter Gina Trapani, the creator of Lifehacker and a driving force in making tech easy to understand. She has written The Complete Guide to Google Wave and it’s awesome. She’s used a wiki format for this guide which I find very interesting. Not… -
Making Lemonade
1 Nov 2009 | 2:59 pmLately, I’ve been experimenting with some ideas for presenting family stories in a hybrid format – part family history and part scrapbook. While looking for inspiration, I stumbled on DesignerDigitals and Katie Pertiet’s wonderful compositions. Her use of brushes, layer modes and opacity settings – not to mention some of her delicious design elements – helped me turn some worse-for-wear slides into interesting art. In the example below, the faded image of my father and brother at the bottom of the page is the slide that was in such bad shape. It looks like I… -
Help Us Help Our Wounded Heroes
25 Oct 2009 | 4:13 amIt’s that time again – the annual fundraiser for Project VALOUR-IT to raise money for technology that reconnects wounded warriors with the wider world and supports their recovery. The fundraiser runs from Monday, October 26th, until Veterans Day, November 11th. Of course, this wouldn’t be a military event if there wasn’t a bit of service rivalry to keep things lively. Each year teams representing each branch compete to see who will raise the most money. I’m supporting the Air Force team. Project VALOUR-IT provides voice-controlled laptops, Wii gaming systems and… -
Dumping Photoshop Elements
23 Oct 2009 | 1:18 pmEver since I upgraded to Snow Leopard, the latest version of the Mac operating system, Photoshop Elements 6 has been giving me a fit. It’s constantly crashing at the most inconvenient times. Today, I thought I’d try the recently released upgrade to see if it solved these issues. I downloaded the trial and as I’m installing it I notice that it’s adding all kinds of additional applications. At that point I said enough and uninstalled the Photoshop Elements files and all the other Adobe stuff it added. Fortunately there are some very good alternatives on the Mac side.
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Creative Gene
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A New Magazine With A Shady Past
6 Nov 2009 | 5:22 pmI just love it when I have good news to share. I am delighted to share with you a new online magazine created by my dear friend, footnoteMaven. Her wonderful blog Shades of the Departed has become a magazine... and what a lovely magazine it is! Anyone with an interest in photography and family history will find this magazine helpful and delightful. There's a wonderful collection of articles that will teach you how, amuse you, educate you, and leave you wanting more, more, more!Click the image to go to the magazine on the Shades blog! -
Carnival of Genealogy, 83rd Edition
5 Nov 2009 | 6:28 amThe 83rd edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is posted! The topic for this edition is: Musical Instruments. Janet Iles, of Janet the Researcher, is the hostess this time around and she did a super job with this edition (thank you Janet!!!). The topic was very popular and there are many submissions, all heartfelt stories of music, instruments, and family. Pour yourself a mug of hot cider and head on over for a good read. Your toe will be tapping before you're through!I've made a change in topic for the next edition of the COG over what was listed on my side bar for most of this year, so pay… -
PBS Documentary on the Polar Bears of WWI
5 Nov 2009 | 6:07 amA documentary on the Polar Bears of WWI will air this Sunday, November 8 at 3pm on Detroit's public television station. The "Polar Bears" were a group of Michigan WWI soldiers who fought against the Russians in frigid conditions near the arctic circle. The movie was filmed last January in Michigan's upper peninsula where frigid conditions resembled those experienced in Russia during WWI.You can read more about the movie making and the actors involved in the project here. The documentary, Voices of a Never Ending Dawn, has it's own web site here. -
Wypominki at St. Hedwig Cemetery
2 Nov 2009 | 4:18 pmYesterday, Nov. 1, was the Wypominki held at St. Hedwig Cemetery in Dearborn Heights, MI. It was co-sponsored by the WSDPAHS and the PGSM. The prayer service was held at the mausoleum and there were over 70 people in attendance. Among those participating were my friends Valerie, who made the yummy "soul cakes", and Ceil, who gave a very heartfelt plea to those in attendance to record what we know about the Polish immigrants in our families. She reminded us that we need to record what we remember about them so that they will live on not only in our hearts and minds but in the minds of younger… -
The Magic in Grandma's Parlor
31 Oct 2009 | 5:43 pmMy 5 year old brain could not process what my eyes were seeing and my ears were hearing. "It's magic", my brother told me, and I had to believe it. I stared and stared, fascinated as only a curious child can be. It didn't make sense but then magic never does, does it? I remember thinking my grandma was the luckiest person ever to have something so magical in her home. Boy, wouldn't I like to have one of those for my very own. Imagine, a piano that plays all by itself!Even at the age of 5 I knew you had to use your fingers to play a piano. But right before my eyes was evidence to the contrary.
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About.com Genealogy
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Scan Those Slides!
3 Nov 2009 | 3:39 amIf you're like many of us, you (or your parents or grandparents) probably have stacks of old slide carousels loaded up with family memories. Unfortunately, the precious images on those slides are deteriorating with each passing day. Here are several options for converting those pictures to digital format. Once you've scanned your old family photos or slides into digital format, try these tips for digitally cleaning up those tears, stains, creases and faded images. As a bonus for your hard work, the digital pictures you've created from those old family slides can now be used in all sorts of… -
Entire U.S. Census to be Added to Footnote
29 Oct 2009 | 2:56 amFootnote announced today that it will digitize and place online all publicly available U.S. Federal Censuses from 1790 to the most current public census from 1930. The 1860 and 1930 censuses are already online, with digitization of 1900, 1910 and 1920 just getting underway. So why use the census on Footnote when it is available elsewhere on the Web? Footnote does do it a little differently - offering interactive census pages for each individual which allow users to add comments and insight about that person, upload and attach scanned photos and documents, and identify relatives found in the… -
Locating Historical U.S. Deeds Online
25 Oct 2009 | 5:04 amThe Bureau of Land Management's General Land Office records are a great online resource for U.S. genealogists researching ancestors in the thirty federal or public land states. As far as online land records go, however, the GLO is not the only game in town. Many U.S. counties, especially in the eastern part of the country, have started putting their historical deed records online. You might be surprised what you can find! Most of you probably know that I have a lot of North Carolina ancestors. As a result, I've been very happy with the recent trend of North Carolina counties to place their… -
Common English Surnames & Their Meanings
17 Oct 2009 | 4:30 amHereditary surnames, the family names passed down from father to son, came much later to England than many other parts of Europe. It was not until almost the 16th century before surnames were in common, everyday use by almost everyone. What's interesting is that the most common surnames in use in England today (according to ONS data) are not all of English origin. Their are several Arabic names in the top 100, along with name of more expected Welsh or Scottish origins. Is your name one of the most common in use in England today? Do you know what it may mean or where it derives from? While it… -
Tracing Your Hispanic Heritage
12 Oct 2009 | 2:48 amIn the United States, this Thursday marks the end of National Hispanic Heritage Month, a month set aside to celebrate the culture and traditions of U.S. residents who trace their roots to Spain, Mexico and the Spanish-speaking nations of Central America, South America and the Caribbean. Ironically, Hispanic Heritage Month doesn't follow the calendar, instead running from September 15 - October 15 each year, because September 15th marks the anniversary of independence of five Latin American countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico and Chile…
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Genealogy News Center
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Web-based genealogy software program offers 15-day FREE trial for amateur and professional genealogists.
ourFamily•ology today announced that, in celebration of the official launch of its website, it is offering a 15-day free trial to all visitors. -
Familyrelatives is proud to announce the addition of 1,000,000 New Military Records spanning over 100 years.
This autumn marks the 201st anniversary of the beginning of the Peninsular War and to commemorate, the event Familyrelatives.com has added over 1 million army records covering a broad range from 1808 through to De Ruvigny's biographical record of World War I soldiers. -
Hey genealogists, let's start Celebrating America
Beginning next month, I want to take a look, state by state, at the resources available today for genealogists. I'm going to follow the order by which the states joined the union, highlight their major starting points for genealogical information, but I also hope to uncover some hidden gems along the way. -
The Triumvirate of Sources
Whether you've been tracking your family's genealogy for a while or are just starting, you'll soon find three sources that will give you a wealth of information. Birth, marriage, and death certificates are the primary sources for all genealogists–the primary colors of genealogy. It's the information contained in them that will enable you to begin your genealogical quest. -
Entire U.S. Census Goes Interactive With Footnote.com
Footnote.com to feature original documents from every publicly available U.S. Federal Census from 1790 to 1930
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Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter
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(+) How to Charge for Your Content on the Web
6 Nov 2009 | 5:32 pmThe following is a Plus Edition article, written by and copyright by Dick Eastman. Do you, your employer, or your local genealogy society have information that you would like to offer to others online for a fee? Do you have questions about how to do that or how to charge money or how to handle credit cards? Do you want to know how to control access to the information? If you would like to save some time, money, and frustration with these tasks, this article can help! I have decided to share with you some of my own “lessons learned” in finding and implementing a solution that has worked… -
Wanted: A Home for the Tulare (California) Genealogy Records
6 Nov 2009 | 5:31 pmTulare City Manager Darrel Pyle said he and his staff are working to find a new home for the Sequoia Genealogical Society's records collection, which won't make the crosstown trip to the new library building."We're fully engaged, working to deliver a win-win resolution," he said. "It's our goal to deliver a solution that'll satisfy everyone." Tulare Library Director Michael Stowell announced the genealogy collection won't be housed at the new library building, scheduled to open next year. The collection has been housed at the library for more than… -
David Ferriero Confirmed by U.S. Senate as 10th Archivist of the United States
6 Nov 2009 | 2:01 pmThe following announcement was written by the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration: WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 -- Today, the United States Senate voted to confirm David Ferriero as the 10th Archivist of the United States. Mr. Ferriero was the Andrew W. Mellon Director of the New York Public Libraries and is a leader in the field of library science. Mr. Ferriero, who was nominated by President Obama on July 28, 2009, will succeed Professor Allen Weinstein who resigned as Archivist in December 2008 for health reasons. Deputy Archivist Adrienne Thomas is serving as the Acting Archivist… -
An Interesting NASCAR Tombstone
5 Nov 2009 | 3:23 pmThe "My Good Life" blog is written by Mark Aubrey. He has posted some pictures from the Greenwood Cemetery in Greenwood, Johnson County, Indiana and one of them caught my eye. I collect pictures of unusual tombstones so I had to save this one. Perhaps you will also.This tombstone shows a picture of a Mr. and Mrs. Davis with what probably was a major item in their lives: a stock car. Having the race car also pictured on the tombstone is a nice touch, in my opinion. However, if it was my tombstone, I think I would have left off the logo of one of the commercial sponsors. What do you… -
FamilySearch Record Search Update: Brazil, Indiana Marriages, Italy, Netherlands, and 1920 U.S. Census
5 Nov 2009 | 3:22 pmThe following announcement was written by FamilySearch:5 November 2009 The Indiana marriages, Netherlands, 1920 U.S. Census, Brazil, and Italy collections were recently added or updated in FamilySearch’s Record Search pilot. FamilySearch applauds members of the Indiana Genealogical Society and FamilySearch volunteers for the great work done on the Indiana Marriages collection. Volunteers are indexing marriage records from 1811 to 1959. The recent update will surely be attractive to those with Indiana roots. The new Brazil Catholic Church Records and Naples, Italy, Civil…
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The Newberry Library Genealogy News
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More Census Options from Footnote.com
4 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pmFootnote.com, a partner with the National Archives, announced that it will digitize and create a searchable database for all publicly available U.S. Federal Censuses (1790 to 1930). In addition to making these records more accessible, Footnote.com is allowing its members to add their own contributions. Users can: * Add comments or stories about a person * Upload and attach photos or documents related to that person * Generate a Footnote Page for any individual that features stories, a photo gallery, timeline and map * Identify relatives found in the census by clicking the "I'm Related"… -
Genealogy Orientation this Saturday, November 7th
3 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pmInterested in learning how to research your family history?Visit the Newberry Library this Saturday to get started. At 9:30 a.m. on November 7th, Matt Rutherford, Curator of Genealogy and Local History, will introduce novices to the basics of research with an informal orientation. No reservations are necessary. The session will meet in the Towner Fellows' Lounge on the second floor of the Newberry Library. -
Halloween and Heritage Societies
30 Oct 2009 | 11:00 pmHappy Halloween! As you roast pumpkin seeds and await your trick-or-treaters, you might enjoy this Chicago Tribune article featuring Halloween and heritage societies. The article focuses on Dr. Kimberly Nagy, whose genealogy research led her to a position as an officer in the heritage society Associated Daughters of Early American Witches. -
Finding Your Chicago Ancestors: Strategies for Every Stage of Life
30 Oct 2009 | 11:00 pmSaturday, November 14, from 10am - 4:00pmArlington Heights Memorial Library500 N. Dunton Ave.Arlington Heights Free - Registration required Grace Dumelle and Ginger Frere will co-present four sessions during a free full day on Chicago genealogy. Session 1, "The Early Years", will cover the records generated in our early years - birth, baptismal and school records, for starters. Session 2, "Adult Years", will center on marriage, divorce, property and occupational records. Session 3, "End of Life", will include discussion of death, cemetery, probate and inquest records. The last session of the… -
Matt Rutherford to Speak in Elgin about Nonpopulation Census Schedules
30 Oct 2009 | 11:00 pmWere your ancestors farmers or manufacturers? Might they have died in a census year? Were they ever confined to an asylum? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you need to be using the federal census nonpopulation schedules. Come join Matt Rutherford, Curator of Genealogy and Local History, on Tuesday, November 3rd, at 9:30 am, when he describes the value of nonpopulation census schedules to your research. The talk will be held at the Gail Borden Public Library District, 270 N. Grove Ave., in Elgin. For further information contact the Elgin Genealogical Society.
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Shades Of The Departed
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I Can't Thank You Enough
6 Nov 2009 | 3:52 pmShades Of The Departed Magazine is now a reality and things are beginning to calm down. Anyone who knows anything about a project of this magnitude realizes it wasn't done by one person, it took an online village.So I want to take this opportunity to publicly thank the finest writers and best friends Shades and I could ask for in working toward building an online community dedicated to old photographs and the part they play in our family history.Thank you to those friends who willingly jumped off the cliff with me when I shouted MAGAZINE! Those friends who met deadlines with fantastic work… -
Shades Of The Departed - The Magazine
5 Nov 2009 | 11:56 pmThe Wait Is Over!Welcome To The Premier Issue ofShades - The Digital MagazineWhat's a digital magazine you ask? Why describe it when you can experience it? Where we're going and the reasons for the move are all revealed in the magazine.Enough talking, let's go! Read over the minimal instructions and give us a whirl. (For the best viewing experience please select Full Screen Mode.)Some additional viewing notes. Selecting the page rather than the arrows to turn the pages enables the zoom function. Full screen using the arrows is optimum viewing. Download the document in PDF form here by… -
Before Digital - A Short History of Photography
4 Nov 2009 | 8:08 amCreativeTechs of Seattle is conducting a webinar on the History of Photography this Friday; a 3-week look at what photography was like in the early days before digital. Over the next three Fridays, photo historian Carla Fraga will take you on a brief, fascinating, walk through the early history of photography. I have attended several of CreativeTech's webinars and enjoy them while always learning a great deal from them. This class can only enhance your ability to date old photographs.The class information is below and you can register here. Enjoy and see you there!Recommended (but not… -
Are We There Yet?
3 Nov 2009 | 7:34 amIt won't be long. You've been very patient. You've endured the "Test Pattern" Countdown and the Outer Limits references. This Friday the wait will be over.Shades will unveil its surprise; a surprise that we hope will challenge the outer limits of what Shades has come to represent in the online world.A lot has gone on behind the scenes; great work by a group of dedicated contributors. Stay tuned! -
More From Shades
1 Nov 2009 | 7:58 pmCaroline Pointer IN2GENEALOGYShades Of The Departed is adding another column in the month of November; a purely genealogical column called In2Genealogy. To date an old photograph you often need the tools familiar to most genealogists and family historians. This article will help use those tools and sources in dating those photographs.The first article in this series will be the product of the research of Caroline Pointer. Caroline is the author of three genealogical-related blogs that all focus on family stories: Family Stories, Family Stories in Stone, and Texas Family Stories. She graduated…
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Genealogy News
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Genealogy Query - AYLETT : JACKSON
6 Nov 2009 | 5:30 pmLooking for family of Esther Elenor and Louis George Jackson married 1922- I am currently residing in the states and will be visiting Australia next month and would like to make contact. -
Genealogy Query - DAVIS
5 Nov 2009 | 5:11 pmLooking for Percival Alfred Davis son of Joseph Davis and Sarah Sharam. Born Penola South Australia 1884 Associated Regions: Australia Cross Search on other websites: View all matching genealogy records for the following surnames: Footnote.com - DAVIS View images of documents including naturalizations, birth and death records, and military records ... -
Genealogy Query - William Connelly
4 Nov 2009 | 4:55 pmLooking for birth mother who gave birth to a male born in Hazel Crest, Illinois on January 10, 1991. -
Ancestry.com Hopes to Raise $100 Million in IPO
4 Nov 2009 | 8:47 amGenealogy Web site Ancestry.com hopes to raise about $100 million when it goes public this week. -
ourFamilya ology Web-Based Genealogy Software Program
4 Nov 2009 | 2:18 amThe DAILY newsletter for genealogy consumers, packed with straight talk - hold the sugar coating - whether the vendors like it or not! Click here to read the Plus Edition newsletter November 04, 2009 ourFamily - ology Web-Based Genealogy Software Program I have only looked at this web site for a few minutes but it does look interesting.
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The Genealogue
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New Way to Find Dead People on the Highway
2 Nov 2009 | 7:22 pmA funeral home in Des Moines is displaying obituaries on billboards around the city.The digital announcements, which have appeared on five billboards around Des Moines for a few months, last about 8 seconds. Announcements can flash the person's name, picture and service details as well as the funeral home's Web site.The announcement rotates with other ads and there is no additional cost to the family.Koth acknowledged concerns that the billboards could be a distraction, particularly if someone spots the name of a friend or acquaintance without knowing about it beforehand. [Link, via Passing… -
Q: Was He a Member? A: Never My Love
30 Oct 2009 | 9:41 pmAn obituary appeared in the New York Times last spring for Richard Blue.BLUE--Richard, September 18, 1946 - May 16, 2009. Beloved husband to Amanda and wonderful father to Kathleen, Rich was a remarkable human being, loved by all. A great contributor to the music world, Rich had early success as a member of the Association (as Ted Bluechel Jr.) and progressed to write many great songs. [Link]This came as a great surprise to Ted Bluechel, Jr., formerly of The Association.Earlier this week, it was reported that [Ted Bluechel, Jr.] had died — but, according to the daughter of [Association]… -
Maybe He's Just Impersonating Elvis's DNA
27 Oct 2009 | 12:29 amEliza Presley claims that she is the half-sister of Elvis. Oh, and that Elvis is still alive.Eliza Presley, born Alice Elizabeth Tiffin, grew up in an adoptive family. When as an adult she sought out her birth mother, she found that her mother had lived near Graceland in Memphis, and had at times been a part of Elvis' coterie. For a time, Presley, 47, believed she was Elvis' daughter. But according to DNA tests -- she claims to have tested her DNA with both sides of Elvis' family -- the true match for her father was not Elvis himself but his father, Vernon.Presley is suing Elvis Presley… -
How I Have Longed for the Hills of Longoria Parker
26 Oct 2009 | 11:28 pmWhat an incredible coincidence that Eva Longoria Parker's ancestral village in Spain bears both her maiden name and married name.More than 400 years after her ancestors left for the Americas, "Desperate Housewives" star Eva Longoria Parker can expect a joyous welcome when she visits the remote northern Spain village that bears her name.The village of Longoria Parker, home to around 60 people whose average age is 70, lies in the green hills of the Asturias region. [Link] -
Now That Takes Some Chutzpah
26 Oct 2009 | 1:26 amA grandson of Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Hoess has offered to sell some of the murderer's personal effects to Yad Vashem.The letter to the museum, which was sent several months ago and entitled “Rare objects, Auschwitz, Commander Hoess,” was short and succinct, saying: “These are several objects from the estate of Rudolf Hoess, the commander of Auschwitz: A massive, fireproof box with official insignia – a gift from Henrich Himmler, the commander of the SS, weighing 50 kilograms, a letter opener and folders, slides from Auschwitz that have never been seen publicly, letters from his…
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California Genealogical Society and Library blog
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Wordless Wednesday
4 Nov 2009 | 3:00 amCGS member volunteer Judy Zelver Photograph courtesy of Jane Knowles Lindsey, 10/3/2009, Oakland, California Copyright 2009, Kathryn M. Doyle -
CGS e-News, November 1, 2009
2 Nov 2009 | 3:00 amThe November 1, 2009 issue of the CGS e-News, volume 3, number 11 has been published and emailed to members and friends. As always, the e-News features timely information about the California Genealogical Society and our upcoming events. Each edition also includes Suggested Links From the Blogosphere and a photo feature: CGS Ancestors. This month's photograph is of the Turtle Mountain Hotel in Dakota Territory taken by well-known frontier photographer, George F. Blackburn. Be sure to read how the hotel figured into member Mary Mettler's family. All past issues of the CGS e-News are available… -
CGS and NGS in SLC in 2010
30 Oct 2009 | 9:00 amIn celebration of the tenth annual CGS Research Tour to Salt Lake City, the dates of the 2010 trip have been set to conveniently precede the start of the National Genealogical Society Family History Conference. The 2010 theme is Follow Your Ancestral Trail. The spring tour will begin mid-week on April 21, 2009, and run Wednesday to Wednesday. Those interested in staying for the NGS conference (April 28 - May 1, 2010) can extend their stay at the Shilo Inn, located across the street from the Salt Palace, site of the NGS Conference. The block of rooms reserved by CGS for the NGS conference are… -
San Francisco Pioneer Cemeteries
29 Oct 2009 | 7:30 amThis week the co-founder of SFgenealogy.com (and CGS member) Ron Filion turned a media double-play just in time for Halloween. Last night KPIX anchor Ken Bastida asked another Good Question of Ron, this time: Are There Any Unmarked Graves in San Francisco? Be sure to watch the footage and learn the fascinating history of the burials at the Lincoln Park Golf Course. http://cbs5.com/video/?id=57299@kpix.dayport.com You can hear more from Ron, in person, this weekend at the San Francisco Main Library. Today's 96 Hours section of the San Francisco Chronicle features 'S.F. Pioneer Cemeteries':… -
Wordless Wednesday
28 Oct 2009 | 3:00 amNEHGS Comes West: 2009 Edition Dinner, Holiday Inn & Suites, Oakland, California Friday, October 23, 2009 All photographs used with permission: Copyright 2009 by Stephen J. Danko. (Thanks, Steve!) Copyright 2009, Kathryn M. Doyle
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Crowe's Nest by Elizabeth Powell Crowe
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New FamilySearch indexes
2 Nov 2009 | 7:30 amNew indexing projects added this week are: · Argentina, Buenos Aires—1855 Censo [Parte 2] · Canada, Ontario, Toronto—Trust Cemeteries, 1826–1935(Partnered with Ontario Genealogical Society—Toronto Branch) · U.S., Maine—1920 Federal Census · U.S., New York—1920 Federal Census Volunteers can help with these projects at FamilySearchIndexing.org. (See the chart [...] -
National Archives Helps Founding Fathers Go Online
29 Oct 2009 | 5:51 amWashington, DC…The National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), the grant making arm of the National Archives, in partnership with Documents Compass at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, is pleased to announce 5,000 previously unpublished documents from our nation’s founders are now online through Rotunda, the digital imprint of The University of Virginia Press.The [...] -
Wordless Wednesday: My friend’s house
28 Oct 2009 | 10:36 amhttp://www.facebook.com/privacy/?view=feeds&tab=ads#/photo.php?pid=3822184&id=776407192 -
Ancestry.com Posts De-Classified Records on Amelia Earhart’s Disappearance, Now Online for the First Time
27 Oct 2009 | 5:59 amAncestry.com Allows Americans to Investigate for Themselves, ‘What Really Happened to Amelia Earhart’PROVO, UT–(Marketwire - October 23, 2009) - There are multiple theories surrounding the mysterious disappearance of iconic aviator Amelia Earhart in 1937, but a unique case file published online for the first time ever by Ancestry.com reveals more details. Ancestry.com, the world’s largest online [...] -
National Archives Statement on Improving Services to Researchers at the National Archives Building in Washington, DC
26 Oct 2009 | 12:37 pm// Function that generates date string on client side function dispDate(dateVal) { DaystoAdd=dateVal TodaysDate = new Date(); TodaysDay = new Array(\'Sunday\', \'Monday\', \'Tuesday\',\'Wednesday\', \'Thursday\', \'Friday\', \'Saturday\'); TodaysMonth = new Array(\'January\', \'February\', \'March\',\'April\', \'May\',\'June\', \'July\', \'August\', \'September\',\'October\', \'November\', \'December\'); DaysinMonth = new Array(\'31\', \'28\', [...]
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FamHist
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History of the Dutch Oven
2 Nov 2009 | 10:16 pmI've always enjoyed eating superior food cooked in a Dutch Oven. My father used it as his only cooking pot whenever he was outdoors and frequently at home. I used to almost pray that mom would be gone for an evening so he could cook ‘trail fare’ for dinner. Don’t get me wrong. Mom was an excellent cook and loved preparing meals for the family, but Dad – well, Dad cooked ‘Man’ food in the Dutch oven or cast iron pans. Even today, the whiff of cooking onions or garlic immediately restores a scene in my mind of a six-year-old young man, salivating at the smells and staring… -
Good Morning! Who Died?
21 Oct 2009 | 10:44 amI may be unique, but I doubt it. Every morning I arise, mumble “goo morgan” to my wife and then stumble off to glance at the front page of the newspaper. My real goal is to read the obituary page however. Did any of my extended cousins or their spouses die? Unfortunately, too many of them seem to be doing it now. Also unfortunately, I’ve read the obituaries of too many younger folks and acquaintances in the last few months. Frequently, the names on the obituary page are familiar but I can’t remember exactly how I know their name. I dutifully… -
Find-a-grave Comes of Age
15 Oct 2009 | 10:37 pmWhen I started posting tombstone photos and histories on the Find-a-grave website over nine years ago, the site content was still fairly small. On rare occasion, I’d find a photo of the marker of an extended family member, but that was enough to encourage me to continue posting. Eventually, I posted a request for the photo of my 4th great grandfathers tombstone in Massachusetts and a wonderful volunteer quickly responded and posted it on the Find-a-grave site. I couldn’t travel there and felt the way people who had thanked me for posting tombstone photos from my area of the… -
Watching Over My Shoulder
4 Oct 2009 | 1:07 pmLike many of you, I spend considerable time doing genealogical research on my family lines. My forays into the past often overtake my perception of where and when I am. My mind and efforts constrict to a fine focus on the quest to find records, proofs, information and details about my ancestors lives. I put headphones on, start the music or video library playing in a small window on my left screen for background ‘noise’ and leave the world to fend for itself. Frequently, I don’t remember eating, drinking or involvement in any other activity until I… -
Just Try Another Window
20 Sep 2009 | 3:49 pmWhile trying to help one of my wife’s cousins find a remarkably hard to find Utah Death Certificate online today, I noted a new feature that has been added to the Utah Death Certificate Index. We know that census records often contain spellings that are a best effort by the census taker, either because they couldn't spell, didn't hear the name clearly or wrote exactly what was said in the brogue of the speaker. Unfortunately, that same rule also applies to some degree with early death certificates. In this case, my wife’s 4th great grandfathers name is Lars Mouritsen. I finally found his…
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Family Research - English, Scottish and Irish Genealogy
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Susanna-Countess of Eglinton
6 Nov 2009 | 4:00 pmSource-Old and New Edinburgh -
Glamorgan, Wales, Extracted Parish Records
6 Nov 2009 | 4:00 pmncestry.com. Glamorgan, Wales, Extracted Parish Records [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2001. Original data: Electronic databases created from various publications of parish and probate records. About Glamorgan, Wales, Extracted Parish Records This database is a collection of historical parish registers from the county of Glamorgan, Wales. The records in this collection can range in [...] -
Directory of Scottish Settlers in North America, 1625-1825. Vol. I
6 Nov 2009 | 4:00 pmDirectory of Scottish Settlers in North America, 1625-1825. Vol. I. for more click here -
British Naval Biographical Dictionary, 1849
6 Nov 2009 | 4:00 pmAncestry.com. British Naval Biographical Dictionary, 1849 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2004. Original data: O’Byrne, William R.. A Naval Biographical Dictionary: Comprising the Life and Services of Every Living Officer in Her Majesty’s Navy, from the Rank of Admiral of the Fleet to that of Lieutenant, Inclusive. London, England: John Murray, [...] -
Advocates Close-19th century, Edinburgh
6 Nov 2009 | 4:00 pmSource-Old and New Edinburgh
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Genealogy Canada
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How Will You Remember?
4 Nov 2009 | 3:38 pmThe theme of this year's Veterans Week (Nov 5th to Nov 11th) is "How will you remember?"The Library and Archives Canada has put on their website "Welcome to Canada at War: a Guide to Library and Archives Canada Recalling the Canadian War Experience".This year marks the 65th anniversary of both D-Day and the Battle of Normandy, and the 70th anniversary of the beginning of the Second World War.For information on the role that the Canadian military played during the Second World War, please go to the virtual exhibit called Faces of War at . -
Grosse Île Quarantine Station - Thematic Guide
27 Oct 2009 | 4:05 pmThe Thematic Guide to Sources Relating to the Grosse Île Quarantine Station was published on the Library and Archives Canada website Friday.Some of these records contain genealogical information — e.g. Immigrants at Grosse Île (1885-1937) — about people who passed through or died at Grosse Île.Go to .If you are planning a trip to the LAC in the near future, please check with them first to see if they are open.They are presently closed due to a lack of heat and water caused by the shutdown last week of a heating plant caused by a boiler explosion in which one worker died, and several… -
"Disease & Distress!" Workshop
22 Oct 2009 | 4:52 pmOn Saturday, 28 November, the Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society and the Canadiana Department of the North York Central Library have joined together to sponsor "Disease & Distress!", an all-day workshop on how our ancestors handled adversity.With expert speakers from Ontario and the United States, this event will offer a window on our ancestors' struggles with hardships and devastation - from the "white plague" to life on the WWI home front - and the footprints they left behind.The workshop will be held in the Auditorium of the North York Central Library, 5120 Yonge Street, at… -
Ryan Taylor Memorial Lecture
21 Oct 2009 | 5:08 pmDue to the closure of Library and Archives Canada facilities until at least Sunday, the Ryan Taylor Memorial Lecture scheduled for this Saturday, October 24th has been cancelled.Mike MoreChair, Ottawa Branch OGS -
Helpful Tips....
19 Oct 2009 | 5:04 pmSome helpful research tips were in the fall edition of the Quebec Family History Society's newsletter, Connections, which I received the other day.The first one was Quebec Newspapers Search on page 11, where you can check for BMDs in selected newspapers.You are required to have a membership to the Bibliotheque at Archives nationales du Quebec , and then you can search online.The membership is free, but you have to register.The membership is only open to Quebec residents at present. The newspapers to check are the Montreal Gazette, The Quebec City Chronicle Telegraph, the Sherbrooke Record and…
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Genealogy Insider
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Genealogy News Corral: November 2-6
6 Nov 2009 | 9:24 amHere's what's in this week's roundup: Databases recently updated or added in FamilySearch’s free Record Search pilot include the Indiana marriage index, Netherlands parish registers (images only so far), 1920 US Census index, Brazil Catholic church records (images only so far), and Italy municipal records (images only so far). To see details of each addition, click the relevant region on the Record Search Pilot map. Then click the title of the collection in the alphabetical list. (Look for more FamilySearch search tips in the January 2010 Family Tree Magazine, on newsstands Dec. 15.) Dick… -
Editors Pick: Wish Lists in ShopFamilyTree.com
5 Nov 2009 | 6:39 amGot your eye on a few how-to genealogy books, CDs, digital downloads or other helps in ShopFamilyTree.com? Now you can keep track of those wanted items—and, if you choose, communicate your hankering to those whose gift lists you’re on—by creating a wish list. Here’s how: 1. Go to ShopFamilyTree.com. Click My Wish List in the top right corner of any page.2. If you’ve ordered something before, you might already have an account, and you can log in here. If you don’t have an account, click the “Not Registered? Click Here” link to create a user name and password (you don’t have… -
Now's the Time to Start on Family History Gifts
5 Nov 2009 | 6:07 amWe don’t mean to rush you into the winter holidays—it was just Halloween—but if you’re thinking of giving family history-related gifts this year, now’s the time to start. Many such gifts require prep work: For example, you’ll need to gather, scan, digitally touch up and label photos for a photo CD; start laying out an online photo book or calendar; or collect and transcribe family stories. Maybe you want to check another record or two before finalizing a compiled family history. And by starting early, you can watch for coupon codes and sales; and make sure anything you order… -
FamilyRelatives Adds A Million British Military Records
5 Nov 2009 | 5:36 amBritish subscription and pay-per-view site FamilyRelatives is adding a million new military records spanning from 1808 to World War 1. They include: The Peninsular Medal Roll (1808-1814), naming some who fought in the Peninsular Wars against Napoleon from 1808 to 1813. De Ruvigny's Roll of Honour (1914-1918), a two-volume set with biographies of 25,000 men. The site currently has 12,500 of the biographies—those of men who lost their lives in the Great War. Harts Army Lists for several years. The lists were published regularly between 1839 and 1915, and give details of war service. See the… -
Massachusetts State Library in Danger?
4 Nov 2009 | 10:47 amFirst it was the Library of Michigan. Now the State Library of Massachusetts is reporting on its blog that the Massachusetts governor’s office announced during an Oct. 29 press conference that the governor is considering closing the State Library of Massachusetts to cut expenses. A press release about the state's budget gap, which the governor issued the same day, doesn’t specifically mention the library, but it says state agencies have been asked to prepare for additional cuts. The state library's blog post links to a petition you can sign, and to contact information for the governor’s…
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Mac Genealogy Software
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Reunion for Mac 9.0b Released
14 Oct 2009 | 4:12 amReunion for Mac has been updated to fix the GEDCOM import problem that was introduced in the 9.0a release, a cosmetic issue with some lists when using Mac OS 10.6 (Snow Leopard), and display and printing issues with images in charts. Download a copy from here. -
Reunion for Mac 9.0a Release Fixes Snow Leopard Incompatibility
7 Oct 2009 | 4:30 pmI noticed that Reunion for Mac has been updated to fix issues with the newest Mac OS, so I thought I’d mention it here. Here is the change list: Snow Leopard (Mac OS 10.6) – fixed an incompatibility with Reunion and Snow Leopard where family files would not open if they had source citations visible on the family card. Also fixed the display of source citations in note fields. Snow Leopard (Mac OS 10.6) – fixed an incompatibility with Reunion and Snow Leopard when compacting family files while displaying children and parents in the list format. iDisk/MobileMe – fixed… -
MobileFamilyTree Version 2.0 Released
29 Sep 2009 | 4:08 pmSynium Software’s iPhone application has been updated to version 2.0 and is available in iTunes. Here’s what they’re saying is changed in this release: Completely rewritten from the ground up 3D virtual tree added Map chart available Ancestor and descendant charts Family quiz Media browser added Take photos with your iPhone camera Performance enhanced There is a $4.99 price to buy this new; the upgrade from 1.x is free. You’ll need to be running version 5.6.3 of MacFamilyTree to use this iPhone application. -
New Index of MacGenealogist.com Screencasts
9 Sep 2009 | 7:19 amI created a PDF that lists the screencasts I’ve released on CD. This should help you determine which CD contains the video for which you’re looking. Download the MacGenealogist Screencast Index. -
Adding Coordinates to Multiple Events in MacFamilyTree
26 Jul 2009 | 9:07 amGenealogists using the software MacFamilyTree have the ability to add geographic coordinates, expressed as latitude and longitude, for places in their family database. This is a process known as geocoding. The information can be added on an place-by-place basis by entering it in the edit place windows. If you have many places that are not geocoded it can be a pain to locate and add them individually. Fortunately, Synium included a feature that locates place records that are not geocoded and presents them in a list, where you can geocode them one after another. In this video: Mass Geocoding in…
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PC Genealogy Software
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RootsMagic Updated to 4.0.4.0
In case you missed it (because the RootsMagic News screen is disabled), an update to RootsMagic was released on July 10th. This brings the version number of this leading PC genealogy software to 4.0.4.0. The update includes some new features and some fixes. New Added a feature to fix broken media / image ... -
Legacy Family Tree Updated to 7.0.0.100
The folks at Millenia released an update to their PC genealogy software, Legacy Family Tree last week. This one adds fields to prepare the software for upcoming integration with FamilySearch. There's a GEDCOM export change that you can use to prevent British Quarter dates from being converted to date ranges. A new ... -
Family Tree Maker 2009 Service Pack 1 Bug Fix Release
The Generations Network Released a bug fix update to their PC genealogy software Family Tree Maker 2009. This update fixes issues reported in service pack 1. The fixes identified in the update are: Task category creation and use in Person view. Calendars fail to display when showing February 29th. Memory usage ... -
Family Historian 4 Officially Released Today
While Calico Pie actually made it available for purchase at the end of April, they officially annouced version 4 today. Some of the interface has been completely rewritten to make it easier to use. New features in version 4 include: A new hub component window called the Focus Window, with views ... -
Here’s a Quick Way to See Relationships in Legacy Family Tree
It's often helpful, when viewing the data in our genealogy software, to see at a glance what relationship one person has to another. In this video: Viewing Relationships in the Legacy Family Tree Family View, I show you how, click-by-click, to display the relationships of the people on the Legacy ...
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Genealogy Simple & Fun
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Genealogy Simple & Fun has to be put on hold!
18 Oct 2009 | 9:44 amAs you can see I haven't posted in a while. The time seems to fly by with well intentions of keeping up with this blog but time just doesn't permit me to do that so I have to put this genealogy blog on hold. Genealogy is my passion and will never give it up but with all that is going on and so many things happening right now I have to say good-by for at least a while. I just can't keep up and that's not fare to my readers. I'm hoping in the near future I will be able to come back and resume my work. Please take the time to check out the blog, it has many great articles. If you have any… -
Moved Daughter to UNA
26 Aug 2009 | 9:17 amAfter catching up on emails and find the surprise about the award, I have finally have time to let all of you in on what has been happening around my house. Last weekend we moved our daughter up to Florence, Alabama to attend the University of North Alabama. This is her 1st year so was a new experience for her and for us.You don't realize what all is evolved until you have to do it. There was so much we had to buy and then when we were actually moving her in, making the bed up, arranging things you come across things you have to go get. I think we were at WalMart 3 or 4 times but it was all… -
Daily Reviewer Award
26 Aug 2009 | 9:10 amWOW! I got a surprise today. Opened my email and received a very surprising award: "Top 100 Blogs" award from The Daily Reviewer. What a nice honor to see that my genealogy blog has been recognized. It's always a good feeling when you are just a normal person blogging, not a big company, to find out that others really enjoy reading what you have posted.I would like to thank The Daily Reviewer for their recognition, "Thank You!"You can see my award in the left-hand column. -
Alabama Department of Archives and History
19 Aug 2009 | 3:00 pmThe Alabama Department of Archives and History has finally finished the Alabama Civil War Service Cards File and is available for search A-Z online."This database was created from an 8 x 5 card file maintained by the Alabama Department of Archives and History from the early 1900s until 1982. As staff came across information related to Alabama individuals during the American Civil War, a card was created. Information on individuals exempted from military service, or who served in the militia or home guard, is included. Soldiers from other states that have some connection to Alabama are also… -
Been Around But!
6 Aug 2009 | 11:55 amAs you can see I haven't been around much. Time has gotten away from me and posting has just been put on the back burner. Life has been pretty busy lately so not much time for genealogy. I'm hoping after we get our daughter to the University of North Alabama and our son in Jefferson State, I will have more time for genealogy and posting to this blog, which I love to do!In the mean time you will see something new every now and then but not as often as I would like. So please take some time and look over the other 102 posted articles within my blog and enjoy! See you around!
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Your Family Tree
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Familyrelatives adds one million military records!
6 Nov 2009 | 8:07 amTo commemorate Remembrance Day next Wednesday, Familyrelatives had added one million new military records, including Du Ruvigny's Roll of Honour 1914-1918.The roll has the names and photos of over 25,000 men who served and died in World War I, with biographical details including rank, battalion, date of birth and details of service. The site has uploaded half of these to its collection at the time of press.For those of you looking for forebears who fought Napoleon a century before, the site has also added The Peninsular Medal Roll 1808-1815. This includes details on thousands of troops who… -
Tree inspiration
3 Nov 2009 | 6:07 amWe've just found some great-looking family trees online at:http://www.designspongeonline.com/2009/11/jen-oneills-modern-genealogy-charts.htmlMaybe you can take some inspiration for them when creating yours? They would certainly make excellent Christmas presents. -
YFT 84 on sale 12 November
29 Oct 2009 | 7:12 am -
Trafalgar Day
21 Oct 2009 | 7:03 amToday is Trafalgar Day, marking the anniversary of the famous battle where Lord Nelson led the Royal Navy to victory over the French and Spanish fleets.To mark the occasion we've decided to wear our best naval attire in the YFT office and give you the chance to relive a recent case study. Discover how our reader Laura Brown tracked down her ancestor who fought aboard HMS Defiance during the 1805 battle here.Enjoy. -
Free Battlefield Tour Guide with YFT 83
20 Oct 2009 | 5:51 amThis month we've teamed up with battlefield tour specialist Poppy Travel to give you a free guide to the theatres of the World Wars, and show you how you can visit them in person. The commemorative Battlefield Tour Guide comes free with every issue of YFT 83, and includes histories of the main conflicts of World War I and II. Discover everything from the sacrifices made at Ypres and the Somme to the Nazi occupation of Poland and the heroics that brought an end to Hitler’s tyranny. You’ll also discover the tours and pilgrimages Poppy Travel offers to…
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WorldVitalRecords Blog
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WorldVitalRecords Database in Review: Sims Index
28 Oct 2009 | 2:36 pmSims Index to Land Grants in West Virginia (http://www.worldvitalrecords.com/indexinfo.aspx?ix=gpc0806317140_simsindex) Land records comprise one of the most important sources for early American genealogical research, since sometimes they are the only records that can place an individual in a particular place at a particular time. For this reason Sims Index to Land Grants in West Virginia is an essential resource for anyone researching their early Virginia/West Virginia ancestors. A comprehensive guide to pre-1900 land records in West Virginia (which until 1863 was part of the Commonwealth of… -
Correction to Reading the Blogs
16 Oct 2009 | 8:38 am**Editor’s note: In this week’s newsletter the following GenTip appeared. Samuel, a newsletter reader was kind enough to email me and point out the the url for George Morgan’s blog was outdated. My apologies to George and newsletter readers for this mistake. A corrected version of the GenTip appears below.** Reading the Blogs by Gena Philibert Ortega Blogs are a great way to stay informed about the world of genealogy and to learn about documents, repositories and research techniques. The following are just a few of the genealogy blogs you might be interested in. Dick… -
Places to Research
14 Oct 2009 | 1:01 pmby Gena Philibert Ortega The following list is adapted from the book, The Weekend Genealogist: Timesaving Techniques for Effective Research. By Marcia Yannizze Melnyk. Ohio:BetterwayBooks, 2000. It can be found on page 108. I have included website links to some of the resources on the list. Groups of Societies that May Already Have the Information You Need: • National Archives and Records Administration • Family History Library and local Family History Center • Vital Records Offices- State, County, or Town • State Archives • Daughters of the American Revolution • Historical… -
Using Google Scholar
5 Oct 2009 | 12:14 pmBy Gena Philibert Ortega Google Scholar, http://scholar.google.com, is a specialty search engine powered by Google that you can use to find scholarly type articles and books on topics related to history and genealogy. While you are less likely to find an article or book about your particular ancestor, you may just find an article about the place, era, occupation, or religion of your ancestor which can then help you learn more about their life. According to Google Scholar’s about page,”you can search across many disciplines and sources: peer-reviewed papers, thesis, books, abstracts… -
Genealogy Gift Giving Ideas
23 Sep 2009 | 4:34 pmAlthough it seems like the Holiday Season is far enough away, it will be here before you know it. Now, while many of those on your list might not be thrilled to hear about your genealogical research, they may be delighted to receive a gift that is the result of your research. The following ideas use photos that you may have taken or scanned from other family members. Many of these gift ideas do not need to take you very long at all and may just require you to gather some photos or documents and head to your computer or to your nearby copy shop. The Gift of Photos Photos of family members…
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The Ancestry Insider
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Tim Sullivan Rings Opening Bell
5 Nov 2009 | 11:05 pmThursday morning, Tim Sullivan, the CEO of Ancestry.com, rang the opening bell to start trading on the NASDAQ stock exchange. See a video of the event. (You must be a member of Facebook to view the video.) Here's a few shots from the video: And here are some more photographs celebrating the occasion: (L-R) Bruce Aust (Executive Vice President of NASDAQ), Tim Sullivan (President and Chief Executive Officer of Ancestry.com Inc., ACOM), and the unidentified guy in a green tie celebrate Ancestry.com’s initial public offering at The NASDAQ Stock Market. (© 2009, The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc.)… -
News Ketchup: Today's the Day
4 Nov 2009 | 11:05 pmModification of an image © 2005, The Facey Family Some rights reserved. It’s time for a little news ketchup! Today’s the Ancestry.com IPO Yesterday, Ancestry.com announced the pricing of its IPO at $13.50 per share. And today is the day that Ancestry.com goes public! They began trading on the NASDAQ this morning under the symbol ACOM. You can read the announcement in the new Investor Relations section of the Ancestry.com corporate website. The Ancestry.com Investor Relations section includes a page for your smart phone with up to the minute news and stock quotes, no doubt delayed… -
NFS Rollout News for Election Day 2009
3 Nov 2009 | 11:05 pmWe are down to just one red temple district before the rollout of New FamilySearch (NFS) is complete for all members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (outside the Orient). All too soon the rollout of New FamilySearch will begin to genealogists outside the Church. What is the Genealogical Maturity Level (GML) of the data in New FamilySearch (NFS)? Would you be comfortable showing off what is in there today? Does it reflect your personal Genealogical Maturity Level? Make this the day you elect to start adding high quality sources for correct information in New FamilySearch… -
Ancestry.com Goes Public This Week
2 Nov 2009 | 11:05 pmPlans seem to be proceeding for Ancestry.com to go public this week. Renaissance Capital has selected Ancestry.com as its featured IPO for the week. You can read more here and here. Yesterday Ancestry.com filed a Form 8-A which I assume officially registered their stock for sale on the Nasdaq stock exchange. They also filed an amended S-1 statement reflecting a reverse 1-for-2 stock split that took place last Friday. This is a common step taken just before an IPO when the value of each share is too low to fall within the desired price range. Ancestry.com is targeting a price between $12.50… -
The Genealogical Maturity Model
1 Nov 2009 | 10:05 pmThis is what the Genealogical Maturity Model would look like if implemented in chocolate. © 2008, Jimmy McDonald. Used with permission. Cross-pollination from one field of knowledge to another is a common source of innovation. Today, I’d like to introduce a concept to the genealogy world that I learned from the software world: maturity models. Carnegie Mellon University studied software companies’ ability to successfully complete projects. Experts noticed that companies typically matured their software development capabilities in a specific order. They constructed a five level framework…
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Tracing the Tribe: The Jewish Genealogy Blog
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France: Issue 99, Revue du Cercle de Genealogie Juive
6 Nov 2009 | 11:21 pmThe newest issue of Revue du Cercle de Genealogie Juive (Paris, France) is available.Issue 99 contains the following articles:-- The descendants of Raphael Vorms from Bionville (Moselle).Louis Vorms and Guy Worms, descendants of Raphael Vorms (d. 1763) and his two sons Hayman and Salomon, trace the family. The article offers copies of the documents used to accomplish their research.-- How to find and obtain vital records in Poland and Galicia.Basile Ginger and Daniel Vangheluwe provide a step-by-step "how-to" manual for genealogists in France who speak no Polish, but some English. This… -
Technology: Breeding isolation or interaction?
6 Nov 2009 | 11:00 pmFor several years, cyberspace has been full of articles indicating that technology makes us into social hermits sitting at home in pajamas and losing contact with the outside world, and that the cause is the Internet and cellphones.Tracing the Tribe has seen cartoons of people physically sitting around a table and communicating via texting on their cellphones, instead of audibly talking to each other.The New York Times technology column "Bits" has a story by Stefanie Olsen on a new study that shows just the opposite.Writes Olsen:Hundreds of daily updates come from friends on Facebook and… -
Modern trees: Designing your family
6 Nov 2009 | 4:00 amEver look at what's available for family tree art?There are an infinite number of companies offering different styles, sizes, colors. Many are traditional. But if you are looking for something different, here they are.Tracing the Tribe can see these as delightful baby gifts and for any gift-giving occasion. All items in this post are very contemporary designs from Jen O'Neill, who lives in Vermont.This tip comes from my daughter in New York who found "My Tree and Me" noted on DesignerSpongeOnline.com, a site launched in 2004, dedicated to home and product design run by Grace Bonney, of… -
NewspaperArchive.com: Now access it for less
6 Nov 2009 | 3:10 amIf you are a member of GenealogyWise - part of World Vital Records - you can receive a 40% discount from the regular annual cost of a NewspaperArchive.com subscription.Billed as the world's largest online newspaper archive, it claims more than 95 million pages, from 1759-present. Find historical articles, obituaries, social announcements, historic advertisements and much more.Tracing the Tribe has been very successful using NewspaperArchive.com in my search for relatives, and was able to construct a very detailed picture of our TOLLIN family in Chester, Pennsylvania, as well as fascinating… -
Poland: Sopot Jewish cemetery desecrated
6 Nov 2009 | 3:09 amAccording to the Jerusalem Post, vandals have desecrated a Jewish cemetery near Gdansk in northern Poland.Scrawled on graves and the surrounding wall in the seaside Sopot Jewish cemetery were anti-Israel and anti-Jewish messages.The desecration took place October 31, the eve of All Saints' Day when Polish Catholics visit the graves of deceased relatives.The local Jewish community head told the Jerusalem Post that it was a "really bad incident." Authorities reacted immediately promised to do more to protect the cemetery, which is owned by the municipality."We are terribly sorry this act of…
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The Geni Blog
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October's Most Popular Profiles
2 Nov 2009 | 9:06 pmThe list of the most popular Geni profiles for the month of October is now available. The top ten includes the current US President, a former US President, a Queen, five celebrities, and two Biblical figures. Can you guess who they are from their profile photos? View any of these profiles to see if you're related. And don't forget you can use the "Send this profile" link to post interesting profiles to Facebook, Twitter, or dozens of other services.View October's 100 popular profiles -
New Feature: Family Address Book
1 Nov 2009 | 8:38 amThe new family address book gathers all of your family's contact information into one handy list: email addresses, phone numbers, and addresses. Use the last name index to jump directly to relatives with last names that start with a specific letter.There are two ways to add more data to your address book. Use the quick edit link in the actions column to quickly add details to one person. If you'd like to quickly add details to more than one person use the add information tab at the top of the list. This puts the list into edit more. Once you are done adding information to that page, use the… -
Horizontal Tree and Advanced Add Node
1 Nov 2009 | 8:36 amWe’ve added two new features to the tree: a five-generation horizontal tree and an advanced add node form. The horizontal view is an easy way to see a profile’s ancestry in a compact format and it makes tree building much faster. You should not have to wait for a tree redraw after adding a node. The advanced add node form, which replaces the "more" version of the add node form, allows you to add a node with almost all of the standard profile attributes, including middle name, occupation, place and date of birth/death/burial, and cause of death. You can also add a birth order (this is… -
Popular Profiles Enhancements
1 Nov 2009 | 8:35 amNow you can view your 100 most popular ancestors and blood relatives, sorted by popularity. This is a great way to find interesting new relatives. Who knows, you may find that you're related to royalty or someone famous! Also look for the new Top 100 badge. This indicates that the profile is one of the most popular of all Geni profiles. Click the badge to view all popular profiles. View Popular Profiles -
More Enhancements
1 Nov 2009 | 8:30 amList FiltersNow you can hide profiles in lists that don't have a Photo, Child, Spouse, Sibling, or Parent. Click twice for the red x and those profiles will be excluded from your list. Resolve DuplicatesIf you find a person in the tree with duplicates in their immediate family, use the resolve duplicates option in their more menu. This will open a mini-tree where you can drag the duplicates on each other to merge them. Improved Hot MatchesWe've added some intelligence to hot matches to reduce the number of false positives. We no longer include matches born after your profile died, or matched…
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We Tree
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Book Review of The Family Tree Problem Solver
5 Nov 2009 | 8:54 amThe Family Tree Problem Solver provides “proven methods for scaling the inevitable brick wall.” Author Marsha Hoffman Rising CG, FASG is a professional genealogist who specializes in problem-solving in the nineteenth century. In this book, she draws on her experience to highlight certain common genealogical problems and provides the steps to solve them. There are 11 chapters in the book, each -
Wordless Wednesday: Summer Camp Edition
4 Nov 2009 | 6:43 amLate 1920's. My grandfather is on the left. -
Where Did You Get the Microfilm?
3 Nov 2009 | 6:38 amYesterday, in my Don't Forget the Spinster Aunt post, I wrote about the will of an unmarried aunt. Marti of The Next Fifty Years blog asked a great question: "how did you get the microfilm that held the will?" Instead of replying in the comments section, I decided the question and answer were worthy of their own post.I accessed the microfilm at my local Family History Center. You can find the one -
Don't Forget the Spinster Aunt
2 Nov 2009 | 7:51 amI'm looking for the will of my great-great-great grandfather, John Laurens Williamson. I've rented several films from the Family History Library in my search. So far, I haven't found it, but there are plenty of records I still need to inspect.What I did find was a will for Bettie Williamson (1856-1908). She was the fourth child of John Williamson and Susan Quesenberry. Bettie never married, which -
Texas Genealogy Events: Week of November 2-8, 2009
1 Nov 2009 | 5:32 amStraight from the Texas Genealogy Events calendar, here's what's happening in Texas for the week of November 2-8, 2009:Monday, November 2:Montgomery County Genealogical & Historical Society, Inc. Monthly Meeting, 6:30pmMontgomery County Memorial Library, 104 I-45 N, 1st floor meeting roomConroe, Texas. Amarillo Genealogical Society MeetingAmarillo Public Library, 7pmEllis County Genealogical
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DNA - Genealem's Genetic Genealogy
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18 Oct 2009 | 5:00 pm
18 Oct 2009 | 5:00 pmGreetings!I'm excited to mention that Family Tree DNA has reduced the upgrades for the mtDNA (mitochondrial DNA) until October 30th, 2009. In the month of November they will be announcing a price reduction for new testers who order the mtDNA. This one is for anyone who has previously ordered either the HVR1 or HVR2 and wish to upgrade to the full sequence.Please see the archives of this blog for information on using the full sequence for genealogy purposes before ordering. Email me at aulicino@hevanet.com if you have any questions.The announcement appears below and was sent to administrators… -
Ireland: A Focus on Genetic Genealogy
26 Jul 2009 | 7:47 pmGenetic Genealogy, the use of DNA testing to aid traditional genealogical research, is the most accurate tool a genealogist has. it can prove or disprove a lineage, help genealogists pass through brick walls, assist in locating lost relatives, and aid an adopted person in finding family.A short history of Genetic GenealogyOver the last nine years DNA Testing for genealogy has developed from one man's quest to find his ancestors to a world-wide interest for modern genealogists. That one man is Bennett Greenspan, a genealogist, who in 2000 established Family Tree DNA, the largest company… -
Will Genetic Genealogy Lose Its Place?
9 Jul 2009 | 12:14 pmCurrently legislation is being passed that will curtail the use of DNA testing for genealogy and cause it to be more expensive. Some states have already passed laws controlling companies who market DNA tests to the public and more laws are being established.As this is a very important topic, I felt it is necessary to share an article written by Doris Wheeler with you so that everyone knows and understands how DNA testing may be jeopardized. Being that DNA testing is the most accurate tool a genealogist has, it is important that all of us understand the impact a few can have on many. There are… -
FTDNA -- July Sale!!!
3 Jul 2009 | 12:44 pmWOW....FTDNA is offering a sale for the MONTH of July! Read the msg below I received today! Remember, a person must join a project to get these prices, but I have two that anyone can join (male or female) any time and then move to a more appropriate project (or not) at a later date at no cost. There's never any cost to move to different projects. Email me if you need help with this or need to know about the two projects anyone can join. (Not every surname has a project AND...females CANNOT join a surname project.) The email sent from FTDNA...Dear Group Administrator (That's me! LOL) This… -
Family Tree DNA Sale Extended!
23 Jun 2009 | 3:26 pmGreetings!The following Family Tree DNA sale has been extended to Jun 30th with payment due by July 7th. This sale is only for new male testers getting the 37 marker with the HVR1 (mtDNA). The 37 marker test is wonderful for genealogy. The price is $119 plus $4 shipping. Usually the 37 marker alone is $149 plus shipping and the HVR1 is $99. So that is a very good savings. We may not see this sale again. FTDNA just sent this message to all the Administrators, so I'm passing it to you. You can pass the word around the Internet and within your family. FTDNA wrote: In the last few days we have…
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Itawamba History Review: The Itawamba Historical Society
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In the Woods...
2 Nov 2009 | 3:50 amThe recent dry weather with clear skies and beautiful sunshine has been a welcome addition to Itawamba County after the wettest October ever recorded. Sunday was the perfect time for a walk in the woods as the Autumn leaves in Itawamba County are at their peak now painting the hills and valleys with vivid hues of red, orange and yellow. -
Pass the Peas..... Please
31 Oct 2009 | 3:40 pmThe Columbus Decorative Arts Preservation Forum and Antiques Show and Sale will be held November 5-8 in Columbus, Mississippi. On the Tombigbee River, downriver from Itawamba County, Columbus is known for its many antebellum structures. Events at the forum and antiques show include:Gala Preview Opening: Thursday, November 5 from 7 p.m. until 9 p.m. at the Trotter Convention Center located at 123 5th Street North. The Antiques Show and Sale will be Friday and Saturday, November 6-7 from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. at the Trotter Convention Center.The Decorative Arts and Preservation Forum begins on… -
National Day of Listening is November 27
30 Oct 2009 | 4:48 amStoryCorps, the most ambitious oral history project ever undertaken, has announced the second annual National Day of Listening, to take place on November 27,2009. The National Day of Listening is an effort to encourage all Americans to honor a friend, a loved one, or a member of their community by interviewing them about their lives. The interview process takes less than an hour and offers a meaningful alternative to holiday consumerism.Participants are encouraged to record their National Day of Listening interviews using equipment that is readily available in most homes – from cell phones… -
An Autumn Afternoon
27 Oct 2009 | 4:35 amYesterday afternoon I couldn't resist photographing the giant sugar maple tree on Fulton's West Main Street just off the town square. Not long after the Cotswold cottage style home was built during the late 1930's on the site of an old antebellum home lot, this tree was planted and for generations, has been probably the most photographed tree in Itawamba County. Every autumn the tree bursts into vivid hues of yellow and orange greeting visitors driving up the hill into downtown Fulton. -
Headed South
26 Oct 2009 | 4:03 amA sign of the colder season coming, this flock of geese was seen headed south over Itawamba County along the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway last week.
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Appalachian History
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'On the Banks of the Ohio'---an old murder ballad
6 Nov 2009 | 2:00 amRebecca Dart, a Vancouver comic book artist and animator, is turning heads this week with her fresh visualization of the old-time tune "On the Banks of the Ohio." Click on each panel to see her wonderful linework enlarged.Says Wikipedia of this tune: "Banks of the Ohio is a 19th century murder ballad, written by unknown authors, in which 'Willie' invites his young lover for a walk during which she rejects his marriage proposal. Once they are alone on the river bank, he murders the young woman."The first recording of the song was by Red Patterson's Piedmont Log Rollers on August 12, 1927. The… -
The year with two Thanksgivings
5 Nov 2009 | 2:00 am"I, Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate Thursday, the twenty-third of November 1939, as a day of general thanksgiving." How appropriate that Roosevelt's proclamation was issued on Halloween, the day for tricks or treats. The average citizen was irritated and confused; big business was delighted. In the end, Thanksgiving was celebrated on two different dates that year.At the beginning of Roosevelt's presidency, Thanksgiving was not a fixed holiday; it was up to the President to issue a Thanksgiving Proclamation to announce what date the holiday… -
Wait until the first frost has kissed the persimmons
4 Nov 2009 | 2:00 amFall means that the persimmons are getting ripe and it's time to gather the sweet, pulpy fruit. But you'd better try to get to them before the woodland critters beat you to it. Raccoons, foxes, squirrels, wild turkeys, bob white quail, possums, coyotes, and even deer feast on it. Numerous birds also relish persimmons. The common persimmon, Diospyros virginiana, is a Native American tree in the southeastern United States. Diospyros is from the Greek, and means "fruit of the gods," and many country people would agree with the meaning. The Algonquin Indians called the fruit "pessamin," or… -
The largest grading project on a commercial airport ever attempted
3 Nov 2009 | 2:00 amDuring World War II while the Army, Navy and Civil Aeronautics Agency were constructing airports for the war effort, attempts were made to have the agencies approve a field in Kanawha County, WV. All requests were turned down because of the large amount of grading that would have to be done. The county then went ahead and undertook the largest grading project on a commercial airport ever attempted. In October 1944, in Charleston, W. Va., the contract for the nation's heaviest airport grading job was awarded to Harrison Construction Company of Pittsburgh, PA by the Kanawha County Court. The… -
Albert Hash ain't a bit shy with a fiddle
2 Nov 2009 | 2:00 amcompiled from My Ashe County Home column by Muncy Gaultney in Ashe County NC newspaper “The Plow” (1960s-1980s)"I like to forgot I was supposed to talk about old time music and I guess Albert Hash and the Whitetop Mountain boys are next on the list. Albert is known far and wide for his woodworking and instrument making. He is a shy retiring kind of feller, but let the boys and girls get together and he ain’t a bit shy with a fiddle. He is known all over, so I’ll put him head of the class, even if he don’t’ play 'The Walls of Jericho' or 'Granny, Will Your Dog bite?'"I could talk…
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Smoky Mountain Family Historian
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SNGF: Most Memorable Halloween
31 Oct 2009 | 1:14 pmTonight's Saturday night genealogy fun question is to tell about a memorable Halloween. I'm going to attempt to do that and am hoping that I'm not mixing more than one year in my memory, but I think I am not. My most memorable Halloween would have been the year that all of us neighborhood kids actually managed to con enough parents into taking us out trick or treating that we spent most of the night engaged in Halloween activities. We started out in our own neighborhood. We went house to house up and down the streets of the Love Subdivision. Love Subdivision was so-named because it was built… -
Music, Music, Music
31 Oct 2009 | 8:44 amThe theme for the Carnival of Genealogy is Musical Instruments. Musical Instruments! Do you play a musical instrument or did one of your family members? What instrument did you or they play? If no one in the family played an instrument, tell what is your favorite instrument or band and what is your least favorite one.I do play several instruments. I began playing the piano when I was in the second grade. My first piano teacher was a lady named Mrs. Price. I really don't remember much about her. I only took from her one or two years. I later took piano lessons from Margaret Oliver who had been… -
Odds & Ends
31 Oct 2009 | 8:11 amAbout a week and a half ago as I was working on FGS stuff during fall break, my computer suddenly "turned off." It appeared to be a power issue, and when I couldn't get it to come back on after about an hour, I decided that I'd better try to go to Knoxville and get a new power cord. I wasn't sure it was the power cord, and I certainly had no previous symptoms to indicate that I'd had an issue with it. When I got to Best Buy, I decided to go to the Geek Squad counter just to get them to check to see if another power cord would work before I purchased a new one. The "geek" looked and said he… -
Blowing Off Steam
18 Oct 2009 | 11:46 amRecently I've been attempting to follow a discussion that has been occurring among members of a professional organization to which I belong. It's a trend that I've seen in other professional organizations to which I belong when voting migrates from a paper ballot that is mailed out to an electronic ballot. For years, members have been content with the brief sketches provided in a publication about each candidate. When the balloting moves to an online situation, those persons are no longer content with basic candidate information. They want to know more -- including the position each candidate… -
Has it been 6 weeks?
18 Oct 2009 | 11:04 amI just noticed that it has been six weeks since I've posted anything here. My apologies to my readers. Sometimes life just gets busy! I managed to say "yes" to something that has taken most of my free time during that period. Things will get slower in about another month, but in the meantime, I'm afraid my posting will continue to be erratic as I compile some information needed soon and attend to a couple of other duties with this new responsibility.
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West in New England
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THIS DAY IN MY FAMILY HISTORY: 5NOV
4 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pmThe anniversaries of two of my direct ancestors fall on November 5th:Amos Hastings Barker (my great great grandfather) died on 5Nov 1907.He was 79 years old.Philip Jonathan West (my great grandfather) died on 5Nov 1954.He was 86 years old.I've posted pictures of both men in previous posts and you can see them byclicking on their names in the labels below this post. -
MY ANCESTOR THE KNAVE 5 ?
2 Nov 2009 | 11:01 pmOne morning in March,1668, Thomas Chandler went to court once more aboutJob Tyler. It was probably late in the month given the date of Job Tyler’s reply.But this time Chandler was not there to press his case against his foe.This time, apparently tired of Tyler’s verbal attacks, Thomas Chandler hadcome to throw in the towel. I’ve boldfaced the last two words:“Thomas Chandler of Andover came into court and offered Job Tyler 20li to settleand also to remit his son's bond of 100li. Otherwise that the court might allow himwhat they thought meet provided he might be quiet.”Job might have… -
EASY FOR YOU TO SAY 2
2 Nov 2009 | 8:43 pmAlright. John from TransylvanianDutch has submitted a guess on theWelsh phrase in "Easy For You To Say" and you can check it out inthe comments on that post.The actual meaning is "Excuse me, do you know where the books onfamily trees are?" (from the books "Beginner's Welsh") I'd have let itgo longer but if my computer goes completely I didn't want to leave youfolks waiting for an answer! -
EASY FOR YOU TO SAY!
31 Oct 2009 | 10:07 pmSo, you're a genealogist abroad. What language is this and what areyou asking?"Esgusodwch fi,ydych chi'n gwybodble mae llyfrau ar achau'r tealu?"UPDATE: Jessica and then Karen Packard Rhodes correctly identifiedthe language as Welsh. So now, what are you asking someone to helpyou find? -
49 GENEALOGICAL USES FOR FLUTAPHONES: THE COMPLETE LIST!
31 Oct 2009 | 6:24 pmI don’t play any musical instruments and I can’t carry a tune in agedcom file. When I lamented on Facebook about the fact that Ihad no post for the next Carnival of Genealogy, some of my geneabloggerfriends suggested I post about the “49 Genealogical Uses for a Flutaphone.”This series started as a humorous challenge from Janice Brown of“Cow Hampshire.” She posted her dream genealogy blog complete withsessions hosted by her fellow geneabloggers on topics she assigned. We inturn were supposed to post something for those “sessions” on our own blogs.Finding 49 Genealogical Uses…
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A light that shines again
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For the love of history: Save the Massachusetts state library!
5 Nov 2009 | 2:46 amThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is at the heart of America's history, not to mention my personal family history and that of many other Americans. It is unreal to think that its state library may be in danger of closing, but that is the concern in the news this week.According to Dick Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter, "At a press conference on Thursday, October 29, the Governor's Office announced that Governor Patrick is considering closing the State Library of Massachusetts as a cost-saving measure. This closure will have a monumental impact on the cultural heritage of the… -
A new little light shining in the world
26 Aug 2009 | 11:38 pmThere's a new little light in the world that's recently been warmly welcomed into my family!Visit 100 Years in America to learn more about why I've been away from blogging lately. -
A light shining for two years... and more!
2 Jun 2009 | 2:34 amThat is my hope for this humble little blog about the Boston-Irish side of my family tree. Begun two years ago tomorrow, it has been and continues to be the "shy younger sibling" to my other two more active and better known blogs 100 Years in America and Small-leaved Shamrock.A heartfelt thanks to all of those that have read, commented, offered assistance in my research, or otherwise supported my efforts here at A light that shines again. The humble, long-suffering lives of my famine-immigrant, hard-working Boston Irish laborer ancestors have begun to be memorialized here, where I hope their… -
Irish names carnival submissions due this weekend
19 May 2009 | 5:09 pmIf you have an Irish name or surname in your family tree, or a good story about one in someone else's, come join us for the 13th edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage & Culture. It will feature Irish names: both surnames and given names.Share with us the surnames in your Irish family tree, but don't just stop there. Do a little research and tell us the origin of one or more of those surnames, the stories of how they might have changed over the years, or tales of how they've been mixed up and mispelled, etc.Want to focus on your family's given names instead? Share with us the story of… -
Wordless Wednesday: Quincy, Massachusetts Railroad Station
13 May 2009 | 2:20 amThis Quincy station photograph is posted in memory of George William McCue, one-time station master in Quincy.Image of the postcard courtesy of USGenWeb's Penny Postcards website
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All My Ancestors
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Tricking the Tallyman
24 Oct 2009 | 7:52 amHave you seen this book? Tricking the Tallyman author Jacqueline Davies and illustrated by S. D. Schindler. It’s meant for children but most genealogists I know would love this story of the first census in the new United States of America. It’s the story of Phineas Bump who is assigned to deliver a “fair and true” count of every citizen in his territory, which is Tunbridge, Vermont. But the citizens of Tunbridge don’t want to be counted. At least initially. It’s the first census in the new nation, and it’s interesting to see the response of the… -
Mac
22 Oct 2009 | 7:09 pmI went looking for the daily blogging theme for Friday and apparently there are no prompts for Friday and Saturday. Wouldn’t you know? So I’ve had to come up with my own. A few weeks ago my husband insisted on buying me a MacBook Pro. I am conflicted. I have been a PC user since the beginning–we had a personal computer very early. I remember one I had had two pop-up disk drives on top. All of my files, including my considerable genealogical materials, are all on my PC–both desktop and laptop. I bought Office for Mac since that will evidently allow me to use… -
A Cemetery in the Ozarks
17 Oct 2009 | 2:33 pmHubbo had a conference to attend in Rogers, Arkansas over Fall Break. Knowing that I can always use an opportunity to prowl around ancestral remains in Benton and Washington Counties, I tagged along. On Thursday, we drove out to Butler Creek Cemetery in Sulphur Springs, AR. To get there, we had to go through Missouri. Actually, as our pal at the hotel said, “Why would you do that?” We evidently didn’t have to go that way, but it’s what all our various mapping programs said. And it was scenic. There was this barn, that I initially thought was built of logs,… -
Wordless Wednesday
14 Oct 2009 | 9:26 amMy great-grandfather George Charley Cooper 1859 TX – 1935 TX clipping contains no date or place probably from the Lubbock Avalanche -
John Mitchell and the Mexican War
10 Oct 2009 | 1:39 pmMilitary records scare me. There. I said it. I am finally somewhat comfortable with Civil War service records–more comfortable with Confederate ones than Union, probably because of the number of Rebels I have in my own family than Feds. I’ve worked more with Civil War records–many of them are now available on Footnote.com and I ordered many of them from NARA before that kind of access was available. But then comes John Mitchell, born about 1790, probably in Orange County, North Carolina. His family moves to Tennessee, and I believe to Mississippi, and in May 1847, at…
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All My Branches Genealogy
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Reference Number Fun
5 Nov 2009 | 7:26 amMost genealogy programs include reference numbers – either pre-programmed or entered manually. Today I decided to look up all those in my family file with reference #’s that include numbers that correspond to today’s date. Dorcas Elizabeth Stropel - born Unknown (around 1800-1813) and died Unknown. Wife of David Bushong, Jr. Mother of Jacob, George Emmanuel, (twins) David III & Joseph, John and three daughters. Dorcas is the wife of my 2nd cousin 6 times removed. Reference #: 1105 Oliver P. Bookless – born Jan. 15, 1820 in Coshocton County, Ohio and died… -
457 and Counting!
18 Oct 2009 | 7:17 pmI’m a day late with Saturday Night Genealogy Fun that Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings posted last night. The challenge was to list the number of descendents of one of the four sets of great-grandparents, how many are living or deceased, and how many we’ve met. Reunion of the Amore – Werts Family 1924 My paternal great-grandparents, William Henry Amore (“Henry”) and Mary Angelina Werts (Annie) have over 457 descendents! They had: Children: 7 (Clemmie, Zade, Rollo, Clarence, Lloyd – my grandfather, Bert, and Roy) – all deceased Back: Bert, Rollo, Zade,… -
Mingling of Families and Murder
17 Oct 2009 | 10:18 amA wealthy man and a postmaster An argument over a ditch A revolver came out and several shots fired Some of them never hit A shed to hide A suicide The story of the attempted murder of John James Johnson by Coleman Hawkins in a nutshell. Just who were these men? Were they more than just neighbors? John James Johnson John J. Johnson, oldest son and third child of Jacob and Ann (Shields) Johnson, was born on October 8, 1821 in Byrd Township, Brown County, Ohio. He moved with his parents and siblings to Rush County, Indiana by 1840 and married Dolly Mullis on March 4, 1848 in Union… -
October 16 Stats
16 Oct 2009 | 6:45 amBorn on this day: Catherine Madison Nelson, 1816, in Mason County, Virginia (now West Virginia) and died June 11, 1893 (my 3rd great-grandaunt) Died on this date: Catherine Brown Arbuckle in 1859. She was born July 11, 1793 in Kanawha County, Virginia. (my 4th great-grandaunt) No one married on this date. -
Thrilling Moments in My Genealogy Research
11 Oct 2009 | 6:46 amRandy Seaver of Genea-Musings, who took an idea from Leland Metzler of Genealogy Blog, posted his Saturday Night Fun yesterday and it is about Satisfying Genealogy Moments. The most thrilling parts of researching my ancestry are hearing and/or finding distant cousins – especially those whom I didn’t even know existed. Case in point – a child put up for adoption by a great-aunt, an uncle’s child that no one ever knew about, children of a woman I thought had lived as a nun her entire life (but didn’t!), and descendents of my maternal great-grandmother’s…
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AnceStories: The Stories of My Ancestors
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November 2009 Calendar of Events
1 Nov 2009 | 2:00 amDull November brings the blast;Then the leaves are whirling fast.--from "The Garden Year" by Sara ColeridgeHolidays, History, and HeritageAmerican Indian Heritage Month (United States)Black Catholic History Month (worldwide)New York State History Month (United States)Family Stories Month(Check out Passing It On; a great site dedicated to preserving, celebrating and sharing family and personal history.)National Adoption Month (United States)November 1: All Saints' Day (Christianity)Daylight Saving Time EndsNovember 2: All Souls' Day (Christianity)Día de los Muertos (Mexico)November 3:… -
Happy Hallowe'en!
31 Oct 2009 | 8:45 pmIt's still Hallowe'en on the West Coast as I write this. The following photo is of the very first time I celebrated the holiday...I was 4 1/2 years old and remember it being taken. I had a clown mask, too, but didn't wear it when our picture was taken. The little girl on my left was our neighbor girl and it was taken in their home at that time; an Airstream travel trailer parked across the street from our mobile home. A few years later, both our fathers build homes outside of the little village of Klawock, Alaska on adjoining properties.Miriam Robbins and neighbor girl [name withheld for… -
Surname Saturday: BARBER
31 Oct 2009 | 2:00 amThe BARBER surname belongs to my maternal grandmother's biological mother. My grandmother was an adoptee, and I will be highlighting both her biological and her adoptive families' surnames in my Surname Saturday posts.The BARBER name is an very old one. Barbers in the medieval times were not just haircutters; they were also surgeons and dentists. The root word "barb" means to cut. In the days before the common man was literate, barbers would place a red and white striped pole outside their establishment to mark their business. The colors were representative of white surgical cloths stained… -
Major Announcement from Footnote
29 Oct 2009 | 7:03 amENTIRE U.S. CENSUS GOES INTERACTIVE WITH FOOTNOTE.COM-Footnote.com to feature original documents from every publicly available U.S. Federal Census from 1790 to 1930-Lindon, UT – October 29, 2009 – Today Footnote.com (http://www.footnote.com) announced it will digitize and create a searchable database for all publicly available U.S. Federal Censuses ranging from the first U.S. Census taken in 1790 to the most current public census from 1930. Through its partnership with The National Archives, Footnote.com will add more than 9.5 million images featuring over a half a billion names to its… -
Wordless Wednesday: My New Hobby
28 Oct 2009 | 12:13 am© Miriam Robbins Midkiff, 2009
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Beloved Eleanor
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Knitted News
30 Oct 2009 | 2:50 pmTime for another knitted update from the Mum’s latest creations. The Mum has been busy this year, not only with her own creations, but with some commissions. First up was a request to provide bats for sale at some bat walks in August: She also was in a witchy mood: and then decided to mix the bats up a little bit and go funky with different colours: But, as they say in infomercials – that’s not all…she has been hard at work with two sets of Christmassy creatures, and two further commissions. Watch this space when all is revealed! If you’ve missed the other… -
Bletchley Park
26 Oct 2009 | 2:16 pmSome of you will already of heard of Bletchley. World War II Codebreakers Spies Some simply because the Victorian house is amazing also. Or maybe even because you saw the film Enigma, and wanted to know more about the codebreakers. Truth is, Bletchley needs our help. It is a charity and relies on donations to keep going. Not only that you can help by visiting and perhaps even volunteering for them. Why not get behind Bletchley today? You can visit the Bletchley Park website, and also follow them on Twitter @bletchleypark -
The Cameo, Plus Other Pictorial News
22 Oct 2009 | 12:53 pmAs promised in my previous post, here amongst other things is the early plastic (probably early twentieth century) cameo brooch I bought at the antiques/collectibles shop at Haddo. It is dark brown, detailed and gorgeous! Didn’t hurt that it only cost a few pounds too In other pictorial news, a few months ago I tracked down a children’s story book by Lavinia Smiley, also signed by her. For those of you who don’t know, it was Mrs Smiley and her husband that donated the castle to the nation. Another nice bonus was a little book about Sir Thomas Lawrence the artist (bit of… -
Christmas Events At Castle Fraser
21 Oct 2009 | 12:32 pmYes, it’s that time of the year again where I give you the details of our Christmas events at the castle. This year we will be having our traditional carols week, plus a family fun weekend. Please see poster with all events. Are ye coming?! I’ll be there… Talking of Christmas, I will also be going to the Haddo House Christmas Fair on the 7-8 November, and to those of you that haven’t been recently, there is a new antiques/collectables shop that has opened in the old stable block, to the right of the cafe as you walk up the path from the car park. At the moment… -
(Near) End of Season Castle Update
19 Oct 2009 | 1:16 pmI can’t believe how fast the year has gone – and it’s that time again, when the end of castle season looms. Hmm, update, well… The Castle Fraser Restaurant has been up and running since August, and I’m told is doing well and has gorgeous food. Ilyria came to perform the Mowgli Stories from the Jungle book. Gnasher from the Beano has been lurking in our corridors (in fact, still is). We’ve had lots of cool Ranger walks around the grounds this year, and the Mum was actually comissioned to make woolly bats for the children’s bat walk! Great garden open…
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CanadaGenealogy, or, 'Jane's Your Aunt'
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Wordless Wednesday - Janet CARMICHAEL - Victoria County Ontario Canada
28 Oct 2009 | 10:54 amJanet CARMICHAEL, born 1851, Victoria County, Ontario, Canada. Married William IRWIN in 1876. -
Treasure Chest Thursday - Sweet Memories
22 Oct 2009 | 5:12 pmThis was all my Mum's. She loved costume jewellery and had colourful sets of bracelets, earrings and necklaces to match many of her best outfits. I remember as a little girl watching her get 'all dressed up' to go out. She'd make sure I had some powder on my face too.Both of us wore pins a lot at one time, so I did keep a few of hers. Mine are mostly cat pins, but she loved frogs - and this glittery frog is one that I gave her.The necklace though was from 'the olden days'. I only remember her wearing things like this when I was little. I think it must be from the 1930s or 40s. My mother… -
Saddle Horse Party on the Sourdough Trail - A Festival of Postcards
20 Oct 2009 | 7:05 pmFront - 8 - Saddle Horse Party on the Sourdough Trail - 4A-H828; Back - Rainer National Park Co., Tacoma, Wash. Made in U.S.A. "C.T. Art. Colortone" Reg. U.S. Pat. Off. C.P. Johnston Co. , Seattle, Washington. Postmarked: Jun 20. 2 PM 1946 Seattle, Wash. Over at A Canadian Family, Evelyn Yvonne Theriault is hosting a new Festival of Postcards - dedicated this time to QUADRUPEDS. Almost immediately I thought of the horses shown on the card above and with this one I'm showing another postcard from, I believe, the same person - a 'Louise H'. Both cards were sent to my mother, the one below in… -
Why I Belong - 82nd Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy - Breaking Into Society.
20 Oct 2009 | 10:15 amRed Hat group at the BCGS Walter Draycott Library, 2009.The 82nd Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy - Breaking Into Society is already up at the California Genealogical Society and Library Blog.The questions asked for this Carnival were:What's your favorite genealogical society?Do you belong to a society?Tell us why!Or if not, why not?I accidentally missed the deadline, but since I feel this is an important subject, I wanted to add my point of view to the rest.There’s no doubt about it, my favourite genealogical society is the British Columbia Genealogical Society (BCGS). While it’s not… -
Women & Sports History Conference - October 23-24 - Vancouver BC
19 Oct 2009 | 9:35 amWHN/BC - Women’s History Network of BC“Women, Sports and Physical Recreation”Vancouver, 23-24th October, 2009Conference Registration Form You may register at the door if your form is not already mailed. WHN/BC Blog: http://www.whnbc.blogspot.com/E-mail: whnbc@shaw.caor call 604 724 8744Friday, 23 October 2009 – Registration begins at 7:00 pm in the Salmonberry Room, Stanley Park Dining Pavilion, Vancouver. See the WHN/BC blog for details/map.(link above)7:00 pm Registration7:30 pm – 9 pm RECEPTIONSaturday, 24 October 2009 – Registration begins 9:30 am10 am – 4 pm at the British…
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Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe
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Genealogy Days in Chula Vista - November 2009
2 Nov 2009 | 10:01 pmThe Chula Vista Genealogical Society events for November 2009 include:** Thursday, November 12, 12 noon to 2 pm, Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library (365 F Street) -- CVGS Research Group meets in the Library Conference Room. We will review the latest genealogy news, share success stories and information, and discuss members research problems, and potential solutions, based on the collective knowledge and wisdom of the group.PLEASE NOTE THE DATE CHANGE for the Research Group meeting - the library will be closed on 11 November for Veterans Day.** Wednesday, November 18, 12 noon to 2 pm,… -
CVGS Program Summary - "Genealogy Vacations"
29 Oct 2009 | 10:19 amRandy Seaver presented "Genealogy Vacations" to 30 attendees at the Chula Vista Genealogical Society meeting on Wednesday, 28 October. The talk started with a review of what a National Lampoon's Genealogy Vacation movie might look like - the Griswolds take off for Salt Lake City with the kids and grandma, but not her dog. Mr. G. finds generations of ancestors at the Family History Library, and the rest of the family is really bored at the motel ... but Mr. G. insists on a side trip to Phoenix AZ where grandma keels over and dies when Mr. G. discovers, and then tells her, that her mother was… -
CVGS Program on 10/28 - "Genealogy Vacations"
26 Oct 2009 | 7:47 amWhat is the best way to plan and enjoy Genealogy Vacations? Is it to visit five libraries and ten cemeteries in three days and then attend a genealogy conference, dragging your spouse along the way? Or is it to combine genealogy research with family visits and sightseeing? When you visit a repository or a cemetery, how do you prepare for the visit?The October 28th program meeting of the Chula Vista Genealogical Society features Randy Seaver discussing Genealogy Vacations. The meeting will start at 12 noon in the Auditorium of the Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library (at 365 F Street in… -
"Every Life Has a Story" Seminar Summary
25 Oct 2009 | 9:45 am"Who would want to know about my life? I haven't done anything."We often hear this lament when we encourage people to talk or write about their life stories, yet every person has a unique story - one that belongs only to them, and that, in most cases, has not been told to anyone. The stories can include the life events, the hardships, the joys, the experiences, the loves, the people they've met, the places they've been.The Chula Vista Genealogical Society (CVGS) seminar on Saturday, 24 October at Fredericka Manor (a Chula Vista retirement community), was designed to encourage CVGS members,… -
CVGS Fall Seminar on Saturday, 24 October
21 Oct 2009 | 1:34 pmThe CVGS Fall Seminar will be Saturday, 24 October, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Fredericka Manor (183 Third Avenue, Chula Vista). The program will feature Every Life Is a Story by Susan Walter. Reservations are required by 10/19 – Contact Betsy Keller at (619) 205-4116.The morning will begin with introductions and door prizes in the Auditorium, followed by Susan Walter’s presentation. After Susan’s talk, we will adjourn to the Dining Room for a sumptuous lunch. CVGS members are encouraged to talk about their own memories and to encourage Fredericka residents to share their memories.There…
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DearMYRTLE's Genealogy Blog
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Getting there
5 Nov 2009 | 8:02 amDearREADERS,How's the research coming along? Got your ox in a ditch? Are you stuck in the doldrums? Let's take a moment to reflect on matters.Do you think in our frantic search for ancestors, we miss the mark because we fail to plan from a logistical or financial point of view? If so, how very like our ancestors we've become. Indeed, perhaps history DOES repeat itself, with a new twist for each generation.OUR ANCESTORSBy handcart, Conestoga wagon, stage coach or train -- it didn't seem to matter. Folks interested in adventure and the hope of a better world moved west in the American colonies,… -
IGHR Scholarship for librarians
2 Nov 2009 | 9:06 amNOTE from DearMYRTLE: The Institute for Genealogy and History Research at Samford provides a scholarly, in-depth week of studies. Please share this information with your favorite genealogy librarian.Applications for the Jean Thomason Scholarship for IGHR are due by December 1, 2009 and will be reviewed by a Samford University Library committee. The winner will be announced in January.Please include the following in your application: * Name * Address * Email * Phone * The name of the Library where you are employed * The length of time you have worked in a library * The average number of hours… -
NGS 2010 Conference: registraton now open
2 Nov 2009 | 9:00 amNOTE from DearMYRTLE: The following was just received from our friends at NGSgenealogy.org. Please address all inquiries as indicated below: Mark your Calendar for the 2010 Family History Conference, “Follow Your Ancestral Trail”, which will be held 28 April—1 May 2010, in Salt Lake City, Utah. Whether your family helped settle the nation, migrated across the country, stayed in the same place, or recently arrived in America, this conference has much to offer. A few examples of the Family History Conference’s diverse program offerings include the International Workshops which will… -
Tom Jones :quick notes from his presentations today
31 Oct 2009 | 10:41 amDearREADERS,Today, in all the excitement of attending the Fairfax Genealogical Society's fall conference featuring Thomas W. Jones, Ph. D., CG, CGL, FASG, FUGA Ol' Myrt here learned a great deal. His three presentations were titled:Inferential Genealogy:Deducing Ancestors' Identities IndirectlyGoing Beyond the Bare Bones:Reconstructing Your Ancestors' LivesMethods of Proving ParentageThis last presentation provided 15 combinations of relevant sources and potential parents. Dr. Jones encouraged us to think outside the realm of the usual and customary types of evidence when attempting to prove… -
Footnote.com: Entire US census now available
31 Oct 2009 | 8:03 amNOTE from DearMYRTLE: The following was just received from our friends at Footnote.com. Please note Ol' Myrt's added emphasis with the red text below. Please address all inquiries to: Justin@footnote.com. ENTIRE U.S. CENSUS GOES INTERACTIVE WITH FOOTNOTE.COM -Footnote.com to feature original documents from every publicly available U.S. Federal Census from 1790 to 1930 Lindon, UT – October 29, 2009 – Today Footnote.com (http://www.footnote.com) announced it will digitize and create a searchable database for all publicly available U.S. Federal Censuses ranging from the first U.S. Census…
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Donna’s Genealogy Blog
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Deeds
2 Nov 2009 | 12:42 pmOver the past few weeks I’ve discussed the differences in land descriptions between the State Land States and the Federal (or Public Domain) Land States. Since as genealogists we are normally working backwards you’re likely to be working on individual land transfers before you get back to the original transfer from the government. Transferring land from one individual to another is accomplished by a Deed and this is the record you’ll be collecting on your ancestors. Remember the majority of males over 21 owned land prior to the 20th century. Some of the important information you will… -
Federal Land States
26 Oct 2009 | 4:52 pmLast week I wrote about State Land States, those states where the original transfer of land was done by the states. After the Revolution, the federal government owed all the open land (the Public Domain) previously claimed by England. Because the Continental Congress ran out of money during the War, they promised to compensate servicemen by providing land in lieu of cash. After the War, because they had land, but little money, the government sold land to raise cash (Federal Lands States also called Public Domain States). Since land was to be auctioned off, it needed to be surveyed and a new… -
State Land States
19 Oct 2009 | 5:01 pmThere are two different surveying systems that have been used in the United States. We refer to them as “metes and bounds,” which is used in State Land States, and the “rectangular survey” which is used in Federal Land or Public Domain States. Prior to the Revolution, land was distributed by the states (State Lands States) and these states surveyed the land using the metes and bounds system. An initial point was stated and then a direction and distance was given to the next point. This continued until the resolution to the starting point. In the process, neighbors are identified and… -
Breaking Through a Brick Wall with Land Records
5 Oct 2009 | 8:19 amPrior to the 20th century, most Americans owned land...remember the availability of land was one of the reasons our ancestors emigrated. So why don’t more genealogists use these records? They aren’t difficult to find, however, they can be difficult to read and understand. They are an important source as they can sometimes solve long standing brick walls, placing our ancestors in a specific place at a specific time, identifying relationships as well as possibly telling us where our ancestors came from or where they went. When I was starting out, I didn’t even think of using land records. -
Public Records Office of Northern Ireland
28 Sep 2009 | 6:49 amCan you tell that I’m still trying to get back in the routine. I’m working on a couple of projects, still trying to finish the reports from my trip and writing two new lectures. Hopefully next week I’ll be far enough into my lecture that I’ll be able to share some thoughts. In the meantime, I came across a number of interesting bits and pieces this week that I’d like to share. If you are planning a research trip to Ireland in 2010 and wish to visit The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) in Belfast, you should know that they are currently working to relocate the…
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From Axer to Ziegler
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Why I’ve Been a Fan of the Yankees
28 Oct 2009 | 12:12 pmin 1955 the New York Yankees took a six week tour playing exhibition games in Hawaii, Guam and Japan. Any of my readers remember that? or ever heard of it? I have never forgotten it. I was 12 years old and lived on Guam. We looked forward to this game and seeing the World Famous [...] -
Family Reunions?
1 Sep 2009 | 7:29 pmThe word “Family” can be either all encompassing as in all your relatives that share the same surname and same set of ancestors, or it can mean the family unit which nurtured you, the people you shared a home with. I was born and raised overseas. My father was a Civil Service employee and his employment [...] -
Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way . . .
21 Jul 2009 | 6:08 amThe word “WILL,” as defined by Dictionary.com As a verb: to give or dispose of (property) by a will or testament, bequeath or devise. to influence by exerting power to wish, desire or like and as a noun: the act or process of using or asserting one’s choice; volition a legal declaration of a person’s wishes as to the disposition of his [...] -
Day Trippin’ Through Central Pennsylvania
1 Jul 2009 | 7:31 pmWe , being a spontaneous duo, decided to take off for parts unknown on Wednesday. We had no idea where we were heading or where we would end up, but knew we’d start at Woodward Hill Cemetery where I had to check some very hard to read inscriptions. After checking this headstone, I still only know [...] -
Lancaster’s New Convention Center!
21 Jun 2009 | 6:39 pmYes! After many, many years of hearing about it, reading about it, and finally watching it rise, floor by floor, it is open for business! Lancaster County Convention Center and Lancaster Marriott at Penn Square had it’s open house for the community today and we were there! The facade of the old Watt and Shand department store was saved [...]
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Genealogy Reviews Online
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I Own Ancestry.com
5 Nov 2009 | 8:22 amWell, to be more precise, I own a little piece of Ancestry.com (ACOM). I decided to make an investment today into Ancestry.com for a number of reasons, but unfortunately none of them have anything to do with in-depth stock market research. On of the reasons was I'm always looking for a cheap gimmick to base a post on, and this gives me something interesting to write about (this is the first fresh idea I've had in a long time). Being a stock owner also gives me a good reason to visit Salt Lake City every year to attend the annual shareholder's meeting (I guess I should say Provo). … -
But We Thought You Were Dead
5 Nov 2009 | 5:59 amGoing out drinking with the boys and crashing your own funeral actually sounds like a good time. After a night of drinking, a Brazilian man was surprised to learn family and friends were mourning him at his funeral. I don't know, but either the family was trying to get him into the ground as fast as they could, or his "night" of drinking was actually a 3-4 day binge...If I were this guy I would watch my back...and check my bank accounts... Click here to subscribe to Genealogy Reviews Online -
Easy Genealogy
5 Nov 2009 | 2:06 amHaving a relative like this lady almost doesn't seem fair. She's lived in the same house for 100 years - the thought boggles my mind. Should I have any decedents who catch the genealogy bug I know they will be cursing me constantly. I've moved so much that just when they think they've found me I will disappear into thin air. Click here to subscribe to Genealogy Reviews Online -
3 Years of Blogging
1 Nov 2009 | 12:28 pmWell, I hit the 3 year blogging mark last week. Although I haven't been blogging much lately, or really this year, it still counts as 3 years. Hopefully my 4th year will have more posts. -
World Vital Records Offer
21 Oct 2009 | 1:56 pmI received an email from WVR today saying they really really want me back. The offer was personalized to me in the email (in a form letter kind of way), but here is the online offer (minus my name of course). It appears I have until tomorrow to respond to this "incredible offer" that includes a World Collection Membership for $99.95 $59.95 or a US collection Membership for $39.95 $19.95. But that's not all, if I respond to either offer by 22 October I will also get a free gift! I never renewed my subscription when it came due a long time ago because I found very little use for…
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The Chart Chick
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What have we been working on?
27 Oct 2009 | 12:53 pmWe have been doing fun photo charts for Christmas already and I got brave yesterday and asked a few of the customers I've been working with if I could show you some thumbnails. I'm always to shy to ask because I know these are so personal. So if you ever have a chart we've created for you that you are willing to share, let me know. Here are some recent comments we've received.You are the master. It looks perfect.WOW!! and Fantastic!! Somehow these don’t even seem to express how great this is turning out to be. Your creativity and talent are amazing. (Plus your patience with all of our many… -
Three Generation Road Trip
16 Oct 2009 | 4:57 pmWe have been swamped lately with Christmas orders already so I have been somewhat quiet. But I wanted to get this blog post up. If you were watching facebook a couple of weeks ago, you know that we went to the Redding California Family History Expo. I took my mother and my daughter with me and we had the best time. I'm usually very protective about talking about my children much, but I just have to tell you about how much fun the three of us had.In case you missed them, here are the facebook statuses:Day 2 of roadtrip with Mom and Daughter: Apparently nagging about the speed limit skips a… -
Broken Branches
12 Oct 2009 | 4:59 pmWow. Lisa Louise Cooke just sent me an anouncement for an amazing interview. It is called Broken Branches in Your Family Tree. Here is what Lisa said:As I typed the title for this blog post, I visualized nearly every reader's hand. I have yet to meet anyone who has not had sad and painful stories surface during their research...relatives who committed crimes, were institutionalized, or ended their own lives. In the case of one of my listener's, the broken branch was very close to home - her parents. And more specifically the mother who left her and her sister on a street corner one day, never… -
Holiday Order Deadlines
2 Oct 2009 | 9:26 amTo avoid extra rush and shipping charges you might want to stay aware of our drop dead dates this holiday season. For Decorative charts, any orders need to be placed by December 5th to arrive in time for Christmas. For Working charts, Canvas Giclees, or Gift Cards, orders will need to be placed by December 15th. More at www.thechartchick.com or go to www.generationmaps.com -
Early Bird Holiday Sale
2 Oct 2009 | 9:22 amWe have a great offer for you this year to help you get going on holiday gifts and get all organized early so that you can relax and enjoy the season knowing the gifts are taken care of. 20% off any order from October 1st to the 15th. And 10% off any order from October 16th to the 31st. Any rolled or framed pieces are included in the offer. Just use the promotional code below when you check out on the website, or mention it in any e-mails or free consults and the discount will be automatically deducted from your order. Promotional Code: GM20PercentExpires October 15th 2009Promotional Code:…
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George Geder
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Shades of the Departed - The Magazine! It's Live!
6 Nov 2009 | 1:36 pmCreated by the footnoteMaven, this is absolutely one Online Magazine you don't want to miss.Beautifully designed; this publication has the most interesting articles.I'll say no more. Go check this fantastic Premier Issue out and let me know what you think! ~~~Peace,"Guided by the Ancestors" -
Black Faces pt3 Variations of a Global People
31 Oct 2009 | 12:42 pm3rd in series, enjoy! ~~~Peace,"Guided by the Ancestors" -
Black Faces pt2 Children of the Light
31 Oct 2009 | 12:31 pmEnjoy! ~~~Peace,"Guided by the Ancestors" -
Black Faces- Tribute 2 the First Earths
29 Oct 2009 | 7:35 pmFrom Slowalker700; 1st in a series of vids showing the genetic variations of black people around the world.The music is "Spirits In Transit" by 4heroBeautiful! ~~~Peace,"Guided by the Ancestors" -
Our 1st Snow in Santa Fe Our Winter has begun!
26 Oct 2009 | 8:10 amOh well, let's think winter!~~~Peace,"Guided by the Ancestors"
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Granite in My Blood
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Phebe Greene Burrrows
6 Nov 2009 | 7:30 amDSC03025Originally uploaded by midgefrazelSecond Row, Left Side [Grave #16 Photo #3035]Thia gravestone is the reason I went in search of this private graveyard.Phebe was someone I knew as she was a friend of my grandmother. Because of her, I listened to the family history story that a Denison woman had married a Burrows man and raised his children which made them "family" to my Denison line.Phebe's husband William Elijah BURROWS is buried with his parents in Pocasset Cemetery in Cranston, RI as he chose to bury his wife with her family here in the Burrows Cemetery and as he lived to be 95, it… -
In the News
6 Nov 2009 | 5:30 amGraveyard Rabbits: In the News [December 2009]Article in local newspaper about a woman, a "ghost hunter", in East Bridgewater, MA leads me to another gravestone photographer. Who knew? I hope that she and I can get together and compare notes on local cemeteries. I located her on Face book and we have been exchanging a few messages.Westerly's Villages are a Window to the Past [Boston.com] mentions the fine monuments in the River Bend Cemetery in Westerly, RI where many generations of my family are buried. It even mentions the tiny village of Bradford where my paternal grandparents lived. Since… -
William Burrows Allen
5 Nov 2009 | 5:00 amWilliam Burrows Allen and his wife AgnesOriginally uploaded by midgefrazelSecond Row, Left Side [Grave #15 Photo # 3024]William Burrows ALLEN was the most recent person buried in this private cemetery. His family has not put his death year on the stone but it will read 2009.Mr. Allen bore the name of his Burrows ancestors as he was the only child of William Elijah ALLEN and Phebe GREENE. His mother Phebe is buried beside him but his father, William Elijah BURROWS died first and he is buried with his parents in the Pocasset Cemetery in Warwick, RI. I used Find a Grave to locate that… -
The Sarcophagus
4 Nov 2009 | 3:00 amThe SarcophagusOriginally uploaded by midgefrazelBones of the Forefathers (Pilgrims) that were buried on the hill in Plymouth the first two winters washed down the hill in a storm in 1735 into the street.They were placed in a metal box and set to rest in another location (Do you know where?) before being placed inside this stone sarcophagus. -
William Williams
3 Nov 2009 | 12:19 pmAs part of my extensive Williams family, I discovered a Tombstone Tuesday post about the grave of William Williams. Great job!
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huffenglish.com
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Catching Up: Folger Education
14 Oct 2009 | 7:50 pmI have been trying all week to finish the last English Journal so I can gush about all the Folger goodness, but I haven’t had a chance. Lest I let too much more time slip by, I’ll discuss the articles I have had a chance to read. Mike LoMonico, as usual, is on target with his suggestions for teaching Shakespeare in his editorial. The Shakespeare Set Free series taught me a great deal about how to teach Shakespeare, but participating in the the Folger Teaching Shakespeare Institute in Decatur last year transformed how I approach not just Shakespeare, but everything I do. I also… -
Interactive Notebooks: Professional Development Goal
1 Oct 2009 | 8:31 pmMy school has an interesting professional development program. The first year of the program involves exploration of a topic, and choices include educational research and reflection, general teaching practices, and career and leadership development. During the second year of the program, we can either 1) write one or two goals based on Charlotte Danielson’s domains as described in Enhancing Professional Practice: A Framework for Teaching or 2) work on a project that relates directly to an improvement in instruction of our students. In year three, the focus is on teacher observation and… -
Rethinking Heroes
27 Sep 2009 | 6:29 pmLast year was the first year I taught my Hero with a Thousand Faces course, which is based upon Joseph Campbell’s monomyth. The course, by the way, begins with a study of the monomyth, followed by study of several works of literature and films that exhibit the hero’s journey. I wanted to start the year with a classic text, and students had read The Odyssey in 9th grade, so I settled on The Iliad. I had not read The Iliad until the summer before, as I was preparing for the course. Last year I felt that the size and sheer weight of the storyline stopped the forward motion of the… -
Teachers and Facebook
22 Sep 2009 | 2:29 pmSeveral colleagues at work and I had a discussion today about whether it is acceptable to be friends with students on Facebook. I held the minority opinion that it was fine, but my colleagues’ fear is that being friends with students will potentially expose teachers to illegal or just plain stupid behavior on the part of students. What is the legal responsibility of a teacher who sees a photo of a student drinking on Facebook? I think it’s a murky area that hasn’t been tested well, and until a precedent-setting case is tried, I’m not sure there’s a clear answer. -
Macbeth Unit Plan
21 Sep 2009 | 7:58 pmI have not been happy with my Macbeth unit for some time. I sat down with my department chair today and brainstormed, and I have come up with a new plan that includes some serious tweaking and a performance task that I’m in love with (I only hope the students will be, too). I have left my old unit plan up for comparison. I spent most of the evening reading through Shakespeare Set Free: Teaching A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo and Juliet, and Macbeth, and I have decided that most of the unit will consist of lesson plans from this text. Even if you decide not to use all the lessons…
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I Dream of Genea(logy)
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SNGF - Unique Ancestral Name
24 Oct 2009 | 8:50 pmOnce again a fun genea-challenge from Randy Seaver:What is the most unique, strangest or funniest combination of given name and last name in your ancestry? Not in your database - in your ancestry.Well, I don't have any unique ancestral names. My pedigree is full of Sarahs, Jacobs, Abrahams, Moshes and so on. You could say that my great-grandfather Ze'ev Arieh Kielczewski is an unusual name since in English it mean Wolf Lion Kielczewski (in Yiddish it is Wolf Leib).So as usual I turn to my wife's side and since she has mostly Irish and English ancestry, nothing jumped at me right away. But… -
People of the Book Review, um... Book Review, um...
23 Oct 2009 | 7:47 pmI just finished reading a great fiction book called "People of the Book" by Geraldine Brooks, who won a Pulitzer prize in 2006 for a previous book, her second novel, "March", a retelling of Louisa May Alcott’s classic "Little Women" from the point of view of Mr. March, the absent father.Ms. Brooks likes to write historical fiction and I have to say she did a great job with "People of the Book" which deals with the famous Sarajevo Haggadah. This piece of history is truly amazing and I have to admit I had never heard of it before. Here's what Wikipedia says about this amazing codex:The… -
SNGF - A Family's Increase
17 Oct 2009 | 5:48 pmAs usual Randy Seaver comes up with great genea-challenges. This time we're finding descendants of one of our great-grandparents:1) Pick one of your four great-grandparents - if possible, the one with the most descendants.2) Create a descendants list for those great-grandparents either by hand or in your software program.3) Tell us how many descendants, living or dead, are in each generation from those great-grandparents.4) How many are still living? Of those, how many have you met and exchanged family information with? Are there any that you should make contact with ASAP? Please don't use… -
2010 Census Cautions
8 Oct 2009 | 9:38 amI got this in an email today. I think it is good advice so wanted to pass it along to my readers:WARNING: 2010 Census Cautions from the Better Business Bureau Be Cautious About Giving Info to Census WorkersWith the U.S. Census process beginning, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) advises people to be cooperative, but cautious, so as not to become a victim of fraud or identity theft. The first phase of the 2010 U.S. Census is under way as workers have begun verifying the addresses of households across the country. Eventually, more than 140,000 U.S. Census workers will count every person in the… -
UN Speech
25 Sep 2009 | 8:09 pmI try not to get political on this blog, but once in a while something comes up that is relevant and to the point. While I don't always agree with his views and his tactics, I think Prime Minister Netanyahu is an amazing public speaker. His speech at the UN this week touched so many important subjects that I felt compelled to post it here on my genealogy blog. The topics of Holocaust denial and the threat of global terrorism need to be talked about at every opportunity.The text of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to the UN General AssemblySept. 24, 2009Mr. President, Ladies and…
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In My Life
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Wordless Wednesday: Sisters 1960s
4 Nov 2009 | 7:24 amMy sister Lisa and I spending part of our summer at our maternal grandparents. Today, my husband and I own the land and within the family we continue to call it simply "the farm." Our cabin sits beyond the maple tree, near the oak tree you can see in the background.Copyright 2009 Cindy Bergeron Scherwinski -
Tombstone Tuesday: Goldrick - Little
3 Nov 2009 | 6:49 amTo continue the celebration of my Irish/English heritage, this edition of Tombstone Tuesday features my Great Grand Aunt and Uncle, George H. and Elizabeth Little Goldrick. The couple are buried in the Aniwa Cemetery, Aniwa Township, Shawano Co, Wisconsin.Elizabeth Little was born 20 Aug 1856 in Pickering, Ontario, Canada, the youngest daughter of Andrew and Mary Ann Gallagher Little. Elizabeth married George H. Goldrick on 29 March 1879 in Port Huron, St Clair Co, Michigan. Elizabeth died at her home in Aniwa on 6 March 1927.George H. Goldrick was born 9 Jun 1851 in Michigan to Edward and… -
Carnival of Irish Heritage Irish Portraits: Little/Lytle
1 Nov 2009 | 6:43 amBurton Wellington Facer and Mary Ann LittleOf the many "ism's" handed down through my Dad's family was a favorite of his Great Uncle Robert Edward Little uttered in response to a reference to the families Irish roots: Just because you are born in barn doesn't mean you're a horse.Well! In addition to giving one the impression that Uncle Robert was opinionated it is a reminder to family historians that sometimes there are nuggets of truth hidden in family lore and legend.My Irish roots are found within my father's family line, descending from his mother's father's line.Information taken from… -
Surname Saturday: Space and Armstrong Research
1 Nov 2009 | 4:31 amAs any family historian will tell you, locating our elusive female ancestors presents a number of unique challenges which is why, after much debate, have decided to highlight my 3rd Great Grandmother Katherine Armstrong Space.According to census records, Katherine/Catherine Armstrong was born circa 1793 in Pennsylvania. It is believed that her father's name was John Armstrong as this name appears in several families in the Space family. Family legend states that John Armstrong was among the early Scottish settlers of the Wyoming Valley, Luzerne County, PA. Legend also goes on to state that… -
Saturday Night Genealogy Fun
1 Nov 2009 | 3:39 amMr. Saturday Night has issued the latest Saturday Night Genealogy Fun challenge, to post our most memorable Halloween memory. I so enjoyed reading the posts (especially Midge's post complete with photo!) it's hard not to join in on the fun.My favorite memory surrounding Halloween, isn't so much one memory in particular as it is about 'the bunny costume.'While I never had the pleasure of wearing the costume, complete with a hat that tied under the chin and a set of floppy bunny ears, my three younger sisters did. Reminiscent of Ralphie in Christmas Story, except for the fact they also have…
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Janet the researcher
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Carnival of Genealogy - 83rd edition - Musical Instruments
1 Nov 2009 | 6:29 pmMusic is the way our memories sing to us across time. --Lance Morrow Thanks to the footnoteMaven for this attractive poster. Welcome to the 83rd Carnival of Genealogy. Thank you to everyone who participated. Do you play a musical instrument or did one of your family members? What instrument do you play or did they play? If no one in the family played an instrument, what is your favorite instrument and what is your least favorite one? Nature or nurture? Do you inherit the musical gene so that you are inclined to be a singer or play one or more musical instruments? Perhaps, these postings will… -
La Messe Québecoise
1 Nov 2009 | 6:28 amLa Messe Québecoise - I remember Two weeks ago at church, we sang one of our hymns in both English and French: I'll Praise Eternal God (Je louerai l'Éternel) The French words and music were by Claude Fraysse and translated and arranged in 2002 by John L. Bell. A very simple hymn of praise, but for me very meaningful in both languages. This got me to thinking. During the summers of 1968, 1969 and 1983, I attended the University of Western Ontario's French summer school at Trois Pistoles Québec. During six weeks, we were fully immersed in the life and culture of this small community as we… -
Wordless Wednesday - Scarecrow Invasion
28 Oct 2009 | 5:55 amIn honour of Halloween this Saturday, I have done something spooky with the photos I took. © 2009 Janet Iles -
COG 83 - Play me your favorite instrument.
25 Oct 2009 | 6:12 amposter by fM Musical Instruments Do you play a musical instrument or did one of your family members? What instrument do you play or did they play? If no one in the family played an instrument, what is your favorite instrument and what is your least favorite one? Submissions are due November 1. Include a brief description of your article. Click here to go to the form. © 2009 Janet Iles -
Brass bands - how I love them
24 Oct 2009 | 5:16 pmIt's easy to play any musical instrument: all you have to do is touch the right key at the right time and the instrument will play itself. --Johann Sebastian Bach Well, Johann Sebastian Bach makes it sound like it is quite simple to play a musical instrument. Oh yes, you might make a sound but is it pleasing to the ear? To play an instrument well takes skill and practice. You also have to enjoy it too. I took piano lessons for a few years. My brother and I took lessons with a woman who lived near our school. I must admit I was not one to practice a lot but I did learn to play. I…
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Jessica's Genejournal
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Shades Of The Departed Has A Magazine!
6 Nov 2009 | 1:24 pmI just happened to take a look at footnoteMaven's blog, Shades Of The Departed, and learned that footnoteMaven has created a magazine from her blog. November 2009 is the first edition, and you can read more about it here. Enjoy! -
British World War One Records Updated!
4 Nov 2009 | 6:14 pmI just happened to see John's article on Ancestry's updating of World War One records. I've done a little searching with the records so far today, and I might have found a relative. I'm not sure, but if I have, I will write more about the research later. Enjoy! -
16th Edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture Posted!
4 Nov 2009 | 6:00 pmThe 16th edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition will be on "Irish genealogy show and tell," and you can read more about it here. Enjoy! -
Update: Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy Submissions Deadline Extended
3 Nov 2009 | 11:05 pmI just want to let everyone know that the deadline for submitting articles to the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy has been extended. The new deadline for submissions is now November 15th, and the edition will be published on the 20th at Al's Polish-American Genealogy Research. Enjoy! -
83rd Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted!
3 Nov 2009 | 10:55 pmThe 83rd edition of the Carnival of Genealogy has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition will be on"What the Carnival of Genealogy has meant to you.The COG has been published twice a month for over three years now, 83 editions thus far! It's covered a wide variety of topics and introduced many, many new bloggers and even a new carnival. Here's an opportunity to look back and reflect on when you first discovered the COG and when you first participated in it. What was your favorite topic to write about? Have you guest hosted the COG? Is there an article you've read in…
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LOOKING4ANCESTORS
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Wordless Wednesday: Hallowe'en Flashback 1971
28 Oct 2009 | 9:02 amThe Princes and The Cat, Hallowe'en 1971. Digital copy of photograph. Original held by K. Lake, 2005. -
Tuesday Teachings: Kill'em Off!
27 Oct 2009 | 6:56 amHave you killed off your ancestors? One of the more important things to do in your research is to "kill off" your ancestors by finding a death registration or burial record for them. The first rule in family history is to work from what you do know to what you don't know. Start with yourself and then move backwards chronologically generation by generation. When researching each individual start with the most recent event and then move backwards chronologically through the person's life. This means you start researching the death of your… -
Canadian Genealogy Carnival 6th Edition - Home Sweet Home
16 Sep 2009 | 8:39 pmWelcome to the 6th Edition of Canadian Genealogy Carnival. T. Casteel at Tangled Trees presents Our Canadian Ancestor's Home. Check out this lovely photograph of a beautiful ancestral home. Evelyn Yvonne Theriault presents Lagace Homestead in 1950s Bathurst, New Brunswick: Home Sweet Home posted at A Canadian Family, saying, "Move over Duggars! Big families were the norm in 1950s Bathurst, New Brunswick." Janet Iles presents Home Sweet Home - home of my great grandparents Love posted at Janet the researcher, saying, "I have visited the home of my great grandparents, James and… -
422 Foch Avenue
16 Sep 2009 | 4:10 pmAs a child I spent a lot of time at 4-22 Foch (pronounced F-ahh-sh). Yep, that's how we referred to it: 4-22 Foch. It was the home of my grandparents, Joseph Brinley GEORGE and Dorothy May (EVANS) GEORGE. I inherited a box full of treasures that once belonged to my Grandma George. Inside the box was an envelope which contained all of the papers with regards to this house at 422 Foch Avenue. Now, I have not gone to the land records office to check when the house was originally built. However, I have in my possession mortgages, deeds and a quit claim… -
My Welsh Surnames
15 Aug 2009 | 8:40 amI'm participating in Surname Saturday today by posting my Welsh surnames. Here they are: GEORGE, DAVIES, NICHOLAS, JOHN, MATHIAS Joseph GEORGEwas born 4 February 1854 in St. Dogwells, Pembrokeshire, Wales. He was married toAnne DAVIES on 17 September 1881 in Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales. Joseph died 7 December 1932 in Llandstadwell, Pembrokeshire, Wales. He was the son of Jonathan GEORGE and Martha NICHOLAS. He had one sister named Ann, born in 1856. Jonathan GEORGEwas born about 1826 in Llangoedmore, Cardiganshire, Wales. He was married to Martha NICHOLAS in…
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Orations of OMcHodoy
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Shoo-be-doo-be-doo ... be-doo
1 Nov 2009 | 9:29 amSome people strive to be singers and start out as Backup Singers. Genealogists strive to have backed-up data (soured and cited) and know the first step is to have Backup Data. Today is Data Back Up Day. It is one thing to have a wealth of data of any type; it is quite another to lose all that data because of a system failure, natural disaster, or other catastrophic event affecting your computer. Potential loss of data can be avoided simply by having a back-up of your computer. It isn't enough, either, to back up your computer once and forget about it. Any new data introduced since the backup… -
Save the Date
18 Oct 2009 | 3:30 pmJanuary 22-23, 2010 at the Mesa Convention Center. This is the date of the 2nd Annual Mesa Arizona Family History Expo. I attended last year's Expo and had a fabulous time! I will definitely be there for this next one, too.This year I will have the honor of being a presenter for this Expo! My topic is "When the Past Meets the Present to Change the Future: Using Geneograms in Genealogical Research". It will be held on Saturday, 23 Jan 2010 at 1:00 p.m. in the room Palo Verde II. The presentation will be part lecture, part hands-on activity so attendees can learn by doing! I hope to see you… -
Congratulations Marianne
20 Sep 2009 | 2:17 pmThe time has finally arrived. The post that brought Marianne McHugh to the attention of the publishers and writers of "Encyclopedia of American Disability History" has come full circle.This volume is now available at Amazon.com, and in this volume you will find an article on "Daily Life" of people with disabilities. In this article you will find my father's oldest surviving sibling, Marianne McHugh:Thanks aplenty go out to Penny L. Richards, who "found" Marianne on the March 9, 2008 edition of the Carnival of Genealogy and passed my article on. Thanks also to Susan Burch, the editor of this… -
Ancestral Roulette
19 Sep 2009 | 7:34 pmRandy Seaver has done it again. He's created another Saturday Night Fun activity to spur us on in our research. The instructions are:1) How old is your father now, or how old would he be if he had lived? Divide this number by 4 and round the number off to a whole number. This is your "roulette number."2) Use your pedigree charts or your family tree genealogy software program to find the person with that number in your ahnentafel. Who is that person?3) Tell us three facts about that person with the "roulette number."4) Write about it in a blog post on your own blog, in a Facebook note or… -
You've Probably Seen this by Now
25 Jul 2009 | 7:47 amBut THIS is the way to start a new branch!
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Photo-Sleuth
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Whistling Bird, the Arizona Cowboy and the Disappearing Lady
31 Oct 2009 | 5:19 pmThe 83rd Carnival of Genealogy, hosted by Janet Isles at her blog Janet the Researcher, is entitled Play Me, and encourages Geneabloggers to write about a musical instrument that they or other family members have played. Apart from my youngest daughter and aunt who both, like the elegantly coiffured and dressed lady in the footnoteMaven's inviting COG poster above, have learned to play the piano during their school years, very few of my family members have progressed much beyond the recorder in their early grades. However, my great-grandfather Charles Vincent Payne (1868-1941) did have… -
Digging for gold on the wild West Coast
29 Oct 2009 | 9:49 pmNola Sinclair recently sent me scans of a couple of engaging cartes de visite by H.H. Vorley of Westport, Charleston and Reefton, on the West Coast of New Zealand, who I have featured in a previous Photo-Sleuth article. She explained that "the subjects in the photo are likely to be a family of my husband's Shetland Island forebears who came to Charleston in 1876 to mine the sands at Nine Mile Beach for gold. We have been trying to get a fairly exact date so we can work out who the children are likely to be, in order to make sure that it is indeed the family we think it is."This challenge… -
Have space suit - Will travel
18 Oct 2009 | 3:42 pmAlmost a year ago I posted this image of a rather bizarre transportation device in an article on Photo-Sleuth in the hope that readers would be able to help solve the mystery of what exactly it was, and why it appears in my aunt's collection of old family photographs. The footnoteMaven's 18th Smile for the Camera Carnival has the theme of "Travel" and seems an opportune moment to revisit the subject, summarizing what I've learnt.Transport contraption, St Malo, FranceCarte de visite by unknown photographerImage © and courtesy of Barbara EllisonThe carte de visite is part of the Payne family… -
All lined up in the school playground in their Sunday best
17 Oct 2009 | 8:44 pmI have wondered, when looking at old school photographs from the Victorian period, whether the children are wearing their ordinary everyday school clothes, or if an impending visit from the photographer was enough of an occasion for their parents to dress them in their Sunday best. I found mention of poor attendance on school photos day in 1881 recorded in a school log book from the Talgarth district of Powys, Wales (Victorian Powys), ascribing the childrens' absence to their not possessing decent clothes for the special day:At 11 a Photographer came to take a view of the buildings. A very… -
Musing in Manhattan
1 Oct 2009 | 6:09 pmChrysler Building, New York City, 1931Platinum print by Margaret Bourke-WhiteImage © Time-Life & courtesy of Gallery MMotivated - perhaps inspired would be a better word - by Colleen Fitzpatrick's Forensic Genealogy mystery photo contest this week (Contest #226), I've been thinking art deco (or should that be Art Deco). I hope I'm not giving too much of the game away to say that I've always thought of New York's Chrysler Building as one of the more breathtakingly spectacular and visually effective examples, perhaps even the epitome, of this style of architecture. Although I've never visited…
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Small-leaved Shamrock
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Irish portraits: An "album" of stories
4 Nov 2009 | 5:44 pmWelcome to the 16th edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage & Culture. This is a special week for the carnival as we celebrate both our 16th edition and our second anniversary on the web. A special thanks to all of our readers, our commenters, and especially our talented contributors (Irish or not) who have supported the carnival throughout the past two years!In this Irish Portraits edition, we've chosen to focus on Irish men and women and their personal stories. Some stories include photographs; others paint only a verbal picture of part of a person's life.Records with names, dates and… -
Death comes in threes: The sorrows of Margaret Foley Cowhey, 1891-1895
1 Nov 2009 | 6:55 pmMargaret Foley Cowhey was surely no stranger to the trials of motherhood. She and her husband had ten children. Before she gave birth to those children, she had become mother to at least four children from her husband's previous marriage.Nothing, however, could have prepared this young woman, already such a seasoned mother at age 36, for the sorrows that faced her in three and half years during the early 1890s.Margaret and her husband William Cowhey faced the loss of their youngest child Lena, age nine months, on October 7, 1891. The Pottsville Republican told the story the next day:It… -
Wisdom of the past: The rite of "churching" new mothers
27 Oct 2009 | 5:04 amIt was with great interest that I read the article in Rachel Murphy's Irish Family History blog about the rite of churching. "Churching" refers to the visit to the church and corresponding priestly blessing conferred upon a married woman after the birth of her child. It seems that this was a religious tradition carried on in past centuries. A beautiful idea, yet unfortunately it may have collected some superstitious beliefs along the way.I revisited this article recently after the birth of my baby. It read:‘Churching’ refers to a blessing that mothers were given following recovery from… -
Join us in creating an "album" of stories
25 Oct 2009 | 6:15 pmThe deadline for the upcoming 16th edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage & Culture, entitled Irish Portraits, is coming up on Sunday, November 1. Hope you'll join us in creating an "album" of stories about individuals with Irish heritage, photo or no photo. Here are the details:Share with us a story about an Irishman or Irishwoman within your family tree. If you have a photograph of the ancestor, share it along with the story of their life (or a small and interesting portion of their life story). If you don't have a family member to write about, choose someone with Irish heritage and… -
Got a "weird and wonderful" Irish story in your family?
14 Oct 2009 | 9:13 amHere's a last minute project for you writers out there...Eneclann is running a competition and has requested entrants to submit a short "weird and wonderful" Irish story that has been passed down through the generations. If you are interested in participating, check out the Folklore contest webpage and submit your entry by tomorrow, October 15. Nothing like a swiftly approaching deadline to get the creative juices flowing, don't you think?
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The Educated Genealogist
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Do You Know What Time It Is?
6 Nov 2009 | 8:07 amThat's right it is time once again to take a walk on the wild side. Time to let your hair down and get your groove on. Time to. . . er, wait a minute. What day is today? Friday you say?Well put your groove back in the box and save it for Saturday Night Genealogy Fun.TODAY is a very special day! Follow me back in time to when "The Year Was 1867". HOWEVER get your shades on because when you see -
The Grandmother I Never Knew
5 Nov 2009 | 5:20 amMyrtle Mae Borgstadter Beffort 1918 - 2009I had some news a couple of days ago. My Grandmother, Myrtle Mae Borgstadter Beffort passed away in Salina, Kansas. She was 91 years old. She was the only grandparent on either side that was still living. Well , not really living - I was told that she had been in a nursing home for the last 10 years suffering from Alzheimer's Disease.I never knew my -
Family Tree Magazine's Top 40
2 Nov 2009 | 12:17 amThe polls over at Family Tree Magazine are open 4 more days to vote for your favorite genealogy blogs. Your participation gives all genealogy blogs the recognition they deserve. So take a few minutes and VOTE today, tomorrow - as many times as you want until November 5th . -
Halloween Memories or Just Evil and Wicked Thoughts?
31 Oct 2009 | 3:47 pmWhile I was at Samford attending the Institute for Genealogical and Historical Research in June, my instructor, Lloyd Bockstruck revealed to the class that "he had evil thoughts" [note - this quote is taken way, way, far away out of context, but I needed an opening for this article and it's all I got right now] Well, I have to tell you that I was certainly relieved to hear that I wasn't the only -
Online Land Records In North Carolina - I Found A Goldmine!
28 Oct 2009 | 9:11 pmI have just spent the last couple of hours in Land Record Heaven. Surry County and Yadkin County, both in North Carolina have Grantor/Grantee indexes online. Once I had a book and page number, I emailed the clerk in the office of the Register of Deeds for each county and ordered copies of the deeds. The cost? 25 cents per page plus postage. Hip hip hooray for me and if you have ancestors in
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The Genetic Genealogist
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Relative Finder Now in Open Beta
28 Oct 2009 | 5:06 amI’ve been playing with 23andMe’s Relative Finder this week, since it’s now in open beta. It’s been interesting hearing from 6th to 10th cousins from around the world, and we’re working to find ancestors in common. I’m looking forward to identifying - for the first time - a piece of autosomal DNA that came from a specific ancestor. While in the beta period, the number of relatives is limited to 1000 (I currently have 173 with only 5 in the 3rd to 7th cousin range), and you can only contact other people who have opted in for the beta test. So if… -
Michelle Obama’s Slave Ancestry Video Via Genealogy Insider
14 Oct 2009 | 5:16 amMegan Smolenyak has been very busy the past couple of weeks sharing her research of Michelle Obama’s genealogy. Genealogy Insider posted this video of Megan on the CBS Early Show on October 8th. The YouTube video is described as: “The New York Times traced Michelle Obama’s five generation path from slavery to the White House. Harry Smith spoke to Megan Smoleyak the genealogist who uncovered the first lady’s family tree.” A much more in-depth video is available from the always interesting RootsTelevision at “Michelle Obama’s Roots.”… -
23andMe’s Relative Finder Success Stories at ISOGG
12 Oct 2009 | 12:00 amISOGG, the International Society of Genetic Genealogy, has a “Success Stories” page where it posts short summaries of just a few the many successes that genetic genealogy has helped people achieve. Today I noticed that there are several new summaries regarding “Autosomal DNA Successes,” both of which were the result of 23andMe’s new Relative Finder (currently still in beta testing). Relative Finder As I recently wrote, Relative Finder is a feature at 23andMe that allows users to compare their autosomal DNA to the autosomal DNA of others to potentially find cousins. This has long… -
The Genetic Genealogist Nominated for Best Genealogy Blog – Please Vote!
5 Oct 2009 | 6:32 pmIn the May 2010 issue of Family Tree Magazine, the editors will name the 40 Best Genealogy Blogs. Last month many of my readers nominated this blog for the list, which I appreciate greatly! As of today you can vote to narrow down the top 130 nominated blogs to about 80 blogs, which the editors will then reduce to 40. The blogs have been placed into 10 different categories. There is more information about the categories and blogs here. If you have a moment, please feel free to vote for The Genetic Genealogist in the genetic genealogy category! Voting takes place from October 5th… -
A New Tool For Genetic Genealogists: 23andMe’s Relative Finder
4 Oct 2009 | 7:19 am23andMe has been beta testing a new tool for comparing autosomal DNA results called “Relative Finder.” Although I was not one of the beta testers, it seems that this new tool will be of great use to genealogists. Roberta Estes has posted a nice summary of the Relative Finder tool at the “Searching for the Lost Colony DNA Blog.” 90% of Customers Likely to Find a Match! Relative Finder compares your autosomal SNP results to the results of others in the 23andMe database to determine matches. While developing the tool, 23andMe discovered that in their dataset of “more than 5000…
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TransylvanianDutch
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Missouri's Blue Books go Online
6 Nov 2009 | 8:25 pmThe St. Louis Post Dispatch reports that Missouri's Secretary of State has begun adding Missouri's Blue Books to Missouri Digital Heritage.The "Blue Books" are Missouri's Official State Manual, which since 1878 has been printed every other year. 1889-1972 are currently online, and searchable, with the rest to come.It lists government officials, election results and various other facts and figures about the state. My first thought was that I don't have any Missouri government officials in my family tree, so I likely wouldn't find anything, but still...I knew well enough to at least plug in a… -
Poetry: Julian Ursin Niemcewicz - America and General Washington
5 Nov 2009 | 10:01 pmMy third and final entry for the Great American Local Poem Genealogy ChallengeThe challenge is to:Find a poem by a local poet, famous or obscure, from the region one of your ancestors lived in. It can be about an historical event, a legend, a person, or even about some place (like a river) or a local animal. [follow link for complete rules]To recap:I have found a poem by a Hungarian from Kolosvar, nearby where my maternal grandfather was born, describing a local forest.I have also found a poem which references St. Louis, by a St. Louisan who became an expatriate to England. Half of my… -
Historical Society of Missouri Reduces Hours
4 Nov 2009 | 2:13 pmBack on October 17 in my weekend review of links, I mentioned Science Fiction author John Scalzi's post about his local library reducing hours due to budget cutbacks. I noted how genealogists depend on local libraries for their research. I knew how lucky I was that the St. Louis County Library is not only not reducing services, but they have the ability to purchase additional microfilm machines with digital scanners.Today it was announced that due to state budget cuts, the State Historical Society of Missouri is reducing the hours it will be open for research -- Eliminating both Friday and… -
Wordless Wednesday: Feb 6, 1982
3 Nov 2009 | 10:09 pm -
Tombstone Tuesday: Margaret Jane (Denyer) Van Every
2 Nov 2009 | 10:01 pmMy maternal great grandmother, Margaret Jane McAlpin Monteroy Denyer Van Every was born on September 1, 1868 in Kyle, Texas. The two middle names are both provided in her biographical entry from A Brief History of John and Christian Fretz and a Complete Genealogical Family Register With Biographies of their Descendants from the Earliest Available Records to the Present Time – by Rev A.J. Fretz of Milton N.J. copyright 1890. She is listed as McAlpin Denyer in the 1870 census, and as Margaret in the 1880 census.Does this mean I may have Scottish roots? Yes. I may. I may have Chinese roots. I…
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TwigTalk
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Looking Into the Eyes of Old Tom At Last!
30 Oct 2009 | 5:00 amLast Halloween I participated in a Carnival called "Fact or Fiction?" (Carnival of Genealogy -58th Edition / October 12, 2008) with an article called, "The Eyes of Old Tom" . In my article I wrote about George Thomas Jaynes, "Old Tom", my great-grandfather, and all the things attributed to him. I have so many interviews about him from people that knew him well, that I could not just dismiss the stories. There were 4 things that were in each, independant interview:1. He could make tables walk.2. He (and others in the room with him) could hear knocking.3. People wanted him to do these… -
Treasure Chest Thursday - Grandpa's Fountain Pen
29 Oct 2009 | 5:00 amJames "Jim" Jaynes was my grandfather. He was a plumber. He had his own plumbing business which he ran out of the house. As children my brother and I loved to go through the trash basket that he kept beside his desk. It was always filled with unopened mail full of wonderful things. Local businesses would send him ink pens, tablets, rulers, little pocket gadgets and other little things with their advertising on the items. It was a treasure chest to a child. He always made sure there was plenty to open when we visited.He often sat there doing his business which included a lot of paperwork. His… -
Tombstone Tuesday - Cora Hines Abbott Jaynes
27 Oct 2009 | 5:00 amBorn: March 8, 1870 Neoga, Cumberland County, IllinoisDied: December 21, 1948 Seymour, Jackson County, IndianaBuried: Chestnut Ridge Cemetery, Jackson County, Indiana -
Madness Monday - Abbott and Hines
26 Oct 2009 | 5:00 amI may have finally solved the Abbott mystery. Well, in reality, I may just be a little closer to the answer. This is not about ancestors suffering from madness, but the madness of trying to solve all the mysteries of this twig on my tree.First of all I went to the Health Department where the original death records are to see if the "infant" Abbott listed in the WPA was my little guy. It was not. I was pretty sure it couldn't be before, now I am sure. Now I am doubting that his name was Percy at all. I am certain that he lived, just re-examining his death and his name. First of all the story… -
Tombstone Tuesday - Dee and Lottie Jaynes
29 Sep 2009 | 3:00 amAs you can see from the dates on Dee, he lived to be 101. Dee was a Miller and worked and lived in Indianapolis for a time, working as head miller at a Acme-Evans Mill there. They are buried in Riverview Cemetery in Seymour, Jackson County, Indiana.
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ThinkGenealogy
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What are the Best Genealogy Tweets?
20 Oct 2009 | 8:14 amIn what ways have you seen genealogists use Twitter? Do you know of any great examples? It might be from someone doing personal family history research or from a professional genealogist. Maybe you came across a great tweet from a genealogy company, organization, or society. For this post, I am putting up the challenge but it is you that will provide the real value. Go back through your sent tweets, those sent by friends, the public timeline, or do a search. When you find a tweet that you think deserves to be on the list with the best, post a comment with the web address for that specific… -
Apple Jacks Family Tree
12 Aug 2009 | 8:12 amMy youngest son often plays with his breakfast cereal and this time it was Apple Jacks. Knowing my interest in genealogy, he created a family tree out of the cereal shapes. I just had to take a picture: Well, that is only part of the story. I had a birthday last week and his gift to me was a treasure hunt to find my present. Somewhere in the backyard he had dug a hole and buried my present then he created a map to the treasure. Notice how crumpled and “old” the map looks. When I dug it up, it was my very own Apple Jacks Family Tree. Thanks, son. I love it! -
BYUGEN Tweets
3 Aug 2009 | 6:08 pmHere is a collection of my tweets from the BYU Conference on Family History and Genealogy: Keynote by David Rencher, AG, CG, Chief Genealogical Officer, BYU grad, past Pres FGS, plus much more In overflow room. Too bad half of the slides are cut off. Hard to give up what we are used to. Card catalog to microfiche to computer. Goal of FamilySearch is to remove barriers to family history in their own products. FamilySearch Labs is a workshop. Good use and feedback might lead to a finished product. Updated Research Guidance will move to FamilySearch Wiki Silver microfilm for original capture is… -
Navigating Research with the GPS – July 2009 Update
28 Jul 2009 | 8:28 pmIn preparation for my presentation this Friday at the BYU Genealogy Conference, I updated my slides and posted them on SlideShare: Navigating Research with the Genealogical Proof Standard – July 2009 View more documents from Mark Tucker. This slide presentation goes with the syllabus material that I posted earlier. Hope to see some of you on Friday at 1:30pm. -
Puzzle the Past
27 Jul 2009 | 10:32 pmAs genealogists we spend many hours unpuzzling the past of our ancestors. Maybe we should spend some time puzzling it! A great way to share the past with the next generation of family historians is to create picture puzzles of ancestor photos. One tool that can do this is a web site called PuzzleTouch. After going to http://puzzletouch.com/ click the Create Puzzle button in the section on the right: The next screen asks you to upload a photo. This is a picture of my grandmother when she was a little girl in Largo, New Mexico. The family lovingly refers to her as the “Largo…
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Scottish Genealogy News and Events (SGNE)
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Footballers in War
6 Nov 2009 | 11:30 amThere's an interesting new addition to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website concerning the role of footballers during times of war. It's a short 9 minute film sponsored by the Daily Mirror. It includes the story of sixteen Heart of Midlothian players who signed up in 1914, with seven losing their lives in WW1.Glory Days - Football in Times of War from War Graves Commission on VimeoChriswww.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk Professional genealogical problem solving and researchhttp://twitter.com/ChrisMPatonFor all the latest Scottish genealogical news and events visit… -
RAF Museum - virtual exhibition
6 Nov 2009 | 11:20 amThe RAF Museum has launched an online virtual exhibition entitled Lest We Forget.From the site:In this online exhibition, Lest We Forget, we examine the sacrifices made during human conflict; inviting online visitors to reflect on the loss of the individual and the impact that their departure has on their families and loved ones.At the same time we also explore the invaluable work of the agencies and support networks that have emerged since the First World War to bring practical aid and comfort to those RAF families who have suffered bereavement and examine, through podcasts, the importance… -
First World War RAF officers' records online
6 Nov 2009 | 11:06 amAlmost 100,000 service records of officers who served with the Royal Air Force in the First World War have been made available by the National Archive's Documents Online service. The records, catalogued as AIR76 at TNA, can be searched by first name, surname and date of birth and downloaded at a cost £3.50 each. The website suggests however that many of the records do not record the officer’s date of birth, so it may be worth omitting that if no results are returned.The site notes that the records contain the following:At the top of the record are the officer's forename(s) or initial(s),… -
History of online family history
6 Nov 2009 | 3:05 amJohn Reid of the Anglo-Celtic Connections blog has an interesting history of the development of the internet for family history research, produced from a simple analysis of the UK's Family Tree Magazine over the last few years.It is an interesting read, available at http://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.com/2009/11/recent-family-history-history.html Chriswww.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk Professional genealogical problem solving and researchhttp://twitter.com/ChrisMPatonFor all the latest Scottish genealogical news and events visit www.ScottishAncestry.co.uk, and for all your genealogical… -
DOVE shot in mid-flight - welcome in DIP
6 Nov 2009 | 2:23 amA few days ago I blogged that the Digitisation of Vital Events (DOVE) project, designed to digitise the births, marriages and deaths for England and Wales from 1837, had been restarted. Roger Lewry from the Federation of Family History Societies has now provided an update and link to further news on this.First things first - DOVE is actually dead. The project finished half-completed last year, when the contract for Siemens, the company responsible, was not renewed. It has now been replaced by the blandly titled Digitisation and Indexing Project. The project has the following aims:* Completion…
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GenBlog
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Wordless Wednesday – 11/04/09
4 Nov 2009 | 3:01 amCopyright © 2009. All rights reserved. -
Finding Emil
3 Nov 2009 | 10:01 pmI’ve written about my Emil MILLER brick wall before (Brick Wall - Emil MILLER/MULLER and German Brick Walls). There are so many possibilities, as there are several variant spellings (Miller, Muller, Mueller, Moeller, Millar, etc.) and there happen to be many of them living in Chicago during the same time period. Background Emil MILLER was born about 1862-1864 in Germany. He married Hulda WACH on 8 August 1886 in Chicago. Together they had three children, all born in Chicago: Heinrich “Henry” Frederick (b. 1887), Emil Charles (b. 1889), and Ida (b. 1891). … -
Voting Still Open for Top 40 Blogs
31 Oct 2009 | 5:30 pmVoting for Family Tree Magazine’s 40 Best Genealogy Blogs is open until November 5th. If you haven’t already, head over and vote for your favorite blogs (be sure to vote for mine under the Personal/Families category). Copyright © 2009. All rights reserved. -
Finding Sarah Jane WARD’s Parents
31 Oct 2009 | 5:21 pmThe first clue to Sarah Jane WARD’s parents came from the 1910 US Federal Census. Sarah was listed with her husband and two children, living at 1252 Washburne Ave. in Chicago. Two additional females were listed as the head of household’s mother- and sister-in-law. The census breakdown is as follows: 1910 US Census Name Relation Age Birthplace Other Info McMahon, Timothy Head 36 IL McMahon, Sarah Wife 35 IL 2 children born/living McMahon, John Son 8 IL McMahon, Timothy G Son 6 IL Ward, Bridget Mother-in-law 69 Ireland -… -
That Reminds Me…
30 Oct 2009 | 2:59 pmData Backup Day is November 1st, and to celebrate, GeneaBloggers is giving away three copies of Handy Backup. The catch? You have to write a blog post about data backup. So yes, my motivation to write this article is to have a chance to win one of the Handy Backup copies, and here’s why… I currently do manual backups of my data to my 700GB external hard drive, usually after I add a large number of digital files for my genealogy research or enter a lot of data into my genealogy database. And nine times out of ten, I only back up my genealogy folder, since it’s the…
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Louisiana Genealogy Blog
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Family History Month, "Life at the Turn of the 19th Century in Shreveport."
16 Oct 2009 | 12:45 pmLibrary celebrates Family History Month October 14, 2009In celebration of Family History Month, the Genealogy Department at Shreve Memorial Library's Broadmoor branch will host Laura McLemore, an archivist from LSUS, at 3 p.m. Sunday.McLemore will speak on "Life at the Turn of the 19th Century in Shreveport."In conjunction with McLemore's talk, there will also be an open house in the Genealogy Department from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m.The library is located at 1212 Captain Shreve Drive, Shreveport.Also, Shreve Memorial Library has partnered with Shreveport Regional Arts Council's Triumph Over Tragedy… -
A historical account of 18th century mourning dress and funeral customs
16 Oct 2009 | 12:31 pmPASSING THROUGH THE VEIL: 10 a.m., Family History Center, 10335 Highland Road. A historical account of 18th century mourning dress and funeral customs presented by Pam Rabalais Vinci, Ryan Aldridge and Jenna Kuttruff. Sponsored by Baton Rouge Genealogical and Historical Society. Free. (225) 778-7366..."From: BR area for Oct. 16-22, 2009 2TheAdvocate - Baton Rouge,LA,USA Sponsored by Baton Rouge Genealogical and Historical Society. State Library, Louisiana State Capitol, Louisiana State Museum and other nearby locations ... http://www.2theadvocate.com/entertainment/64444922.html -
Algiers Historical Society Meeting - featuring "Cemetery Preservation in New Orleans"
16 Oct 2009 | 11:50 amHello Algerines and History Buffs!This coming Saturday (10/17) at 10am, in time for All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day, Daniel Hammer of the Historic New Orleans Collection will give a presentation on cemetery preservation in New Orleans, at Algiers Historical Society's monthly meeting. We meet in the Carriage House behind the Algiers Courthouse, 225 Morgan in Algiers Point.There will be coffee and goodies, thanks to our sponsor Dr. Gizelle Richard, who has also donated recording equipment to kick off our Algiers Oral History project!I hope to see you there.Take care,Amy504-322-7479Amy… -
Central Louisiana Jewish temple celebrating 150 years
16 Oct 2009 | 7:53 amOctober 2, 1859 marks the formal establishment of the Congregation Gemiluth Chassodim. "...the congregation will commemorate this history with a special service at 6:30 p.m. today, Oct. 16, in the sanctuary of the temple at 2021 Turner St...." You may read more at the URL. The Buffalo, N.Y.-based gypsy jazz group, Babik, will perform a free concert for the public at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Jewish Temple. Tours of the temple and its museum will be available on Friday and Sunday. "..."We're here to stay," Task said. "And to help continuing to build Central Louisiana." What: Babik (gypsy jazz band… -
USGenWeb site hacked?
16 Oct 2009 | 7:14 amAccording to lister noted here: URL there is a hacker running amuck! Read the disturbing message at that URL about the affected sites. The URL that I frequent for USGenWeb Louisiana Archives is the dot net domain and NOT the dot org domain so I don't see the sites as being affected. Most of the URL's for the dot org domain for the Louisiana Archives do not have the search engine running properly. I tend to stay away from the USGenWeb Louisiana Archives at the dot org domain for that reason. The Search link from some of the dot org domains have a BAD Search URL. There is a VERY subtle…
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Your Future, Your Past
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Lost Mad Men
27 Oct 2009 | 10:42 pmWhat do the two hit TV series Lost and Mad Men have in common? One answer is Dwayne Shattuck. The other answer is networked family ties in the new Family Forest® National Treasure Edition. Hollywood director and producer Dwayne Shattuck and his sister, Hollywood actress and best-selling author Shari Shattuck are first cousins once removed of a good friend of mine here on the Big Island, and they are related to the Angel of the Battlefield and founder of the American Red Cross (ARC), Clara Barton. They also all share Shattuck ancestors with famous Hollywood actor Matt Damon. A recent… -
Julie and Julia
24 Oct 2009 | 6:50 pmFrom the trailer I’ve seen, Julie and Julia looks like a fun movie. To add to the enjoyment, the Family Forest® Project has just posted some additional Ancestors-at-a-glance™ charts. One is for one of the main characters, Julia Child, and another is for the famous Hollywood actress who portrays her, Meryl Streep. According to the family history already mapped out in the new Family Forest® National Treasure Edition, I share an important to me 1600’s ancestor with Julia Child. He is Mayflower Pilgrim George Soule. Julia and I also share ancestor George Soule with Amelia co-star… -
“And that’s the way it is.”
19 Oct 2009 | 4:07 pmSome of the voices and faces of those celebrities who have brought us over a century of impactful news through radio and television are indelibly etched in our memories. Now millions of us can see that we have actual family ties to some of those voices and faces. Family Forest® Ancestors-at-a-glance™ charts from the new National Treasure Edition have just been posted for some of the instantly recognizable people from broadcasting. These new free charts are for Walter Cronkite, Lowell Thomas, Katie Couric, Anderson Cooper, Pat Buchanan, Pat Robertson, G. Gordon Liddy, Maria Shriver, Don… -
Amelia Earhart
14 Oct 2009 | 10:33 pmA new motion picture about America’s most beloved female aviator, Amelia, will be premiering at theatres on October 23, 2009. In advance of the release we have just posted a half-dozen related Ancestors-at-a-glance™ charts. One is for Amelia Earhart herself, one is for her husband, George “GP” Putnam, and one is for the famous Hollywood actor who will be portraying him, Richard Gere. In this role Richard will be portraying a cousin of California’s next Governor, Meg Whitman. Meg shares early New England Buckminster ancestors with “GP” Putnam. Another Buckminster cousin… -
Introducing Ancestors-at-a-glance™
13 Oct 2009 | 12:04 pmOne of the most exciting features of the new Family Forest® National Treasure Edition is the ability to generate visually engaging Ancestors-at-a-glance™ fan charts. The first of many of the free charts we will be posting to Ancestors-at-a-glance™ is for Prince William. There is a wealth of surprising knowledge on this one-page PDF. Simply use Adobe Acrobat Reader’s zoom and scroll features to explore it. As the name says, this is simply a glance at Prince William’s ancestry. For greater detail, dozens of centuries of his ancestry beyond ten generations, the source citations…
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Olga's Daughter
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Sydney comes to London -1939
5 Nov 2009 | 8:36 pm<—-Aunt Martha, Paddington When I asked my mother (Olga) how safe she felt in London during the first part of 1939, she said she wasn’t worried because people felt that war with Adolph Hitler had been averted. Maybe the previous war was still fresh in people’s minds (after all in 1939 it was less than 20 years since the end of WWI) and that was why they simply couldn’t believe that the world could go through all that devastation again. Personally, had I been in my mother’s shoes, I’d have headed straight back to the safety of… -
Aunt Martha, Chilworth Street, Paddington
24 Oct 2009 | 12:49 am<—A Change of Plan for Olga Sydney Comes to London 1939 —> My Great Aunt Martha was the oldest and not at all like her sisters, Becky and Lucy, either in temperament or looks. She was a short, stout woman with a badly pockmarked face – apparently the result of chicken pox. Every now and again nature produces an offspring that bears little resemblance to either its parents or siblings, well by all accounts, that was Martha Ross. My mother, Olga, told that in the early part of the 1930s Aunt Martha worked as a seamstress at the… -
A Change of Plan for Olga – London 1939
6 Oct 2009 | 1:59 am<—London 1939 Aunt Martha, Chilworth Street, Paddington—> Even after all these years I still struggle to understand how my grandmother, Becky, thought it was safe to send my mother, Olga, to London in April 1939. The threat of war between Britain and Germany had not receded in spite of Neville Chamberlain securing Adolf Hitler’s promise that he would not invade Europe further (Munich Agreement Newspapers in Great Britain and Jamaica constantly referred to the threat of war. Whenever any member of the Browney family travelled to… -
London 1939
6 Sep 2009 | 3:37 am<—-Kingston 1938 – A Dangerous Place A Change of Plan for Olga—-> My mother, Olga Browney, arrived in London from Kingston, Jamaica on 1st April 1939 intending to stay only a few months. The plan was that Olga would stay with her Aunt Martha in Paddington. Although in the months before there had been talk of a war between England and Germany, Olga’s mother, Becky, believed that war had been averted, thanks to the Munich Agreement. This was a Pact made between Adolph Hitler and the then British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain whereby Hitler had promised Chamberlain… -
Christmas in Jamaica with John Canoe
17 Aug 2009 | 8:44 pm<—-Kingston 1938 – A Dangerous Place to Live London 1939 —-> I couldn’t help but be amused when I discovered this Christmas card that my Uncle Sydney used to send to his customers in Jamaica. It depicts snow – in Jamaica!! Olga’s Diary (Continued) Dear Diary Christmas Eve: Ruby, Dolly, Pearl and me went to midnight mass at the Holy Trinity Cathedral. Mammie never forces us to go to church and we can choose whether we want to. I always want to go, I like the feeling of peace when I’m in Church. The…
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Genealogy Blog
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Collector Finds Unseen Charlie Chaplin Film In Tin Sold For £3.20 On eBay
6 Nov 2009 | 12:50 pmMorace Park was footling around on eBay looking for antiques when he stumbled on an item that was listed casually as an "old film" – and even then he was really more interested in the tin it was in. "It had a lovely look to it," said Park. But the contents of the battered container, which he bought for the princely sum of £3.20, have turned out to be a previously unknown film by Charlie Chaplin. Park – who, when he is not buying and selling antiques as a hobby, runs a company that develops products with inventors – bought the film "from someone else who deals in bits and bobs". When… -
UK Kids Think Hitler 'Was German Football Coach'
6 Nov 2009 | 12:33 pmOne in 20 British children think Adolf Hitler was Germany's national football coach, while six percent believe the Holocaust was a celebration at the end of World War II, according to a new poll. One in five also mixed up Hitler's propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels with Anne Frank, the young Jewish girl who wrote a diary of her time hiding from the Nazis in an attic. The results of the multiple choice poll, published by a war veterans' charity, reveal that while a majority of children have basic knowledge about the two world wars, a significant minority have no clue. The survey of 2,000… -
Face To Face With The 'Lost' 85 Diggers Of The French Battlefield Of Fromelles
6 Nov 2009 | 12:28 pmFor the first time two Australian researchers have painstakingly pieced together the stories of the dead from a French battlefield. Paola Totaro reports. He calls her Marples and she affectionately refers to him as Sherlock. He's a determined, quiet cop with a forensic background; she's a chatty grandmother with degrees in social research and 30 years' genealogy experience. They live vastly different lives but West Australian Sandra Playle and Victorian Tim Lycett are united by a singular passion: to give identities to the men buried in the shadow of Fromelles' tiny Pheasant Wood. These men,… -
Early English Laws
6 Nov 2009 | 8:53 amEarly English Laws is a project to publish online and in print new editions and translations of all English legal codes, edicts, and treatises produced up to the time of Magna Carta 1215. The research questions, problems, context, and method driving the project are discussed in Project Description. It is supported by a collaboration between the Institute of Historical Research at the University of London and the Centre for Computing in the Humanities at Kings College London. The AHRC has provided initial funding for the first three years of the project (2009–2011). -
UK: Digitisation Of GRO's Births, Marriages And Deaths Records
6 Nov 2009 | 8:49 amThe digitisation of GRO's births, marriages and deaths records is moving forward and a new project, called the Digitisation and Indexing (D&I) Project, has been initiated. The new project covers the digitisation of the records themselves together with indexing and upgrading the online certificate ordering process. Until such time as it is able to provide an online index, GRO will continue to make a full set of the GRO indexes freely available in microfiche format at several libraries and record offices across England and Wales. Further information on the current location of the microfiche…
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Granny's Genealogy
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Michigan Electronic Library and Michigan Electronic Catalog — A Survey
6 Nov 2009 | 4:50 amYou remember last summer, right? Members of two pretty main-stream groups, genealogists and librarians protested in support of the Library of Michigan when funding was threatened. The Department of History, Arts and Libraries was abolished, the Library of Michigan and the services it provides were moved to the Michigan Department of Education. Some subtle changes in the website indicate this, although every “History, Arts and Libraries” banner has not been replaced on the websites. Today’s topic is: Electronic services provided through the Library of Michigan (and Archives… -
Burdick Family Land Records, Wexford County, Michigan, Liber 4 Page 492
5 Nov 2009 | 3:00 amThis entry is part 4 of 4 in the series Deeds in the FamilyI am posting information gleaned from land records in the areas where our family’s ancestors resided. You can read more about this project in the overview. You may also check my deed record listing, which I will update with each post. I have elected to post all the deeds related to George W. Burdick and his family first. Date: 8 Nov 1876 Liber: 4 Page: 492 Location: Wexford Co. MI Grantor: William E. Gilbert & Maggie Gilbert his wife of Cedar Creek, Wexford, MI Grantee: George W. Burdick of the same place Witnesses: Ezra… -
Burdick Family Land Records, Wexford County, Michigan Liber 4 Page 491
4 Nov 2009 | 3:00 amThis entry is part 3 of 4 in the series Deeds in the FamilyI am posting information gleaned from land records in the areas where our family’s ancestors resided. You can read more about this project in the overview. You may also check my deed record listing, which I will update with each post. I have elected to post all the deeds related to George W. Burdick and his family first. Date: 28 Dec 1876 Liber: 4 Page: 491 Location: Wexford Co. MI Grantor: Warren Seaman & Mary Seaman his wife of Cedar Creek, Wexford, MI Grantee: George W. Burdick of the same place Witnesses: Ezra Harper,… -
Save a PDF Using Print
3 Nov 2009 | 3:00 amThis article describes how to save a PDF file created from a view of the Michigan Subdivision Maps site. I was able to save a copy by printing it to PDF. If you have a PDF writer of any kind installed on your computer you can do this with any printable display. These instructions are for a PC, and are specific to the subdivision plat maps, the procedure may differ on other sites, but I have successfully saved deeds, death certificates, obituaries and other images using this method. I have no information on how to use an Apple computer. Check your printers folder to be sure you have a PDF… -
Liber 3 Page 603 – George Burdick
2 Nov 2009 | 7:55 amThis entry is part 2 of 4 in the series Deeds in the FamilyI am posting information gleaned from land records in the areas where our family’s ancestors resided. You can read more about this project in the overview. You may also check my deed record listing, which I will update with each post. The names of members of George W. Burdick’s family appear quite often in the Wexford County, Michigan deeds. The next listing for George is recorded in Liber 3 on page 326. Date: 26 May 1876 Liber: 3 Page: 603 Location: Wexford County, MI Grantor: George Burdick & wife Grantee: George W.
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iPentimento | Genealogy and History
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Saturday Night Genealogy Fun – Tricks and Treats
31 Oct 2009 | 11:25 pmRoad Kill The trick or treaters have come and gone now, but Randy, at Genea-Musings - Saturday Night Genealogy Fun wants us to relate a story of our most memorable Halloween. My story goes back about... That's not all, read on! -
iPentimento Smile For The Camera – Oh Baby!
23 Oct 2009 | 9:39 pmKeyword for the 7th Edition of Smile For the Camera is “Oh Baby!” I have tons of baby pictures for many of my family members. Do you? Some, I find quite amusing, and some just terribly... That's not all, read on! -
A Wish List for Genealogists
23 Oct 2009 | 9:39 pmA Wish List for Genealogists As a genealogist, what kind of things would you most like to have? Do you know someone who is just beginning to research their family tree and you’d like to give... That's not all, read on! -
Tracing Our Roots: A Must Visit Genealogy Site
23 Oct 2009 | 9:39 pmIf you read newspapers in the north Texas area, you may have already read my friend Brenda Kellow’s genealogy columns. If you don’t live in that region of the United States, you can still... That's not all, read on! -
Using Ipsos I-Say Point Cards The Right Way
23 Oct 2009 | 9:39 pmI began doing surveys for Ipsos I-say many years ago as a way to make a few extra bucks. At first, many of the survey sites would pay actual money to complete a certain amount of opportunities, in... That's not all, read on!
