Saturday, February 2, 2008

How Addicted Am I?

Other genealogy bloggers have blogged about how addicted they are to blogging, and I thought I would take the test as well. So here are my results:


54%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

I thought I would be higher, but oh well, I guess it is high enough. Tim Agazio challenged other bloggers to take this test.

Friday, February 1, 2008

Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture Posted!

The third edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next carnival is on the heritage of Ireland, and will be presented in the form of a parade. The deadline for the articles are March 14. Enjoy!

Blue Eyes: Who Would Have Known?

Over the past several hours, genealogy blogs have been a buzz with the news that people with blue eyes have a common ancestor. You can read more about it here. I guess that's why the genes for blue eyes are considered recessive.

Thursday, January 31, 2008

More History Blogs Added!

Today I have added two more history blogs. The history blogs added are:
  • Walking the Berkshires
  • The Victorian Peeper

You can find these and other blogs on the lower left side of the page. Any suggestions for other history or genealogy blogs are welcome.

My Cloud of Words ...

Over the past couple of days, other bloggers have been posting clouds of words from their own blogs. I've decided to do so myself, and so here is my word cloud for my blog:


created at TagCrowd.com

More Genealogy Blogs Added!

Today I have added two more genealogy blogs. The blogs added are:
  • Harold Henderson's Midwest Microhistory: A Genealogy Blog
  • The Polish Genealogy Project

You can find these and other blogs on the lower left hand side of the page. Any suggestions for other history or genealogy blogs are welcome.

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

More on Pennsylvania Records ...

I've run across some other links on the drive to index Pennsylvanian vital records. One short article can be found in the Ancestry newsletter. The other link came from an e-mail that I received from a genealogy group.

Some Disturbing News ...

I just ran across this story a few minutes ago on yahoo, and I thought that maybe some of you would want to read this article. It is the actions of people like that who make me sick.

A TV Genealogy Show!

I just got my copy of the February edition of the Reader's Digest in the mail yesterday, and learned that the show African American Lives 2 will be put on the air by PBS on February 6 and 13. From the little blurb that I read, it appears that the show will be very interesting and exciting. I hope to find out what time it is to be shown on my local PBS channel. Enjoy!

Monday, January 28, 2008

3rd Edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy

It is time for the third edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern Genealogy. The topic for this carnival was stories. The stories could range from ancestral stories to folklore to history.

First off, we have 1775: Yemelyan Pugachev written by Jason of Executed Today. This article gives information and background on the man who led an uprising against Catherine the Great of Russia and also alludes to the uprising's impact upon Russian literature.

Next, we have two articles, Snapshot 1908, Galician Partition of Poland and Snapshot 1908, Russian Partition of Poland written by Jasia of Creative Gene. These articles deal with what Jasia's grandparents' lives would have been like in their ancestral villages in the year 1908.

Now, last but not least, we have Travel Writing Contest! written by Michael of Traveling Stories Magazine. As the title of the article suggests, this article is about a writing contest. Although this article does not relate to Central or Eastern Europe, I have included it as it still fits into the stories category.

And so that ends this carnival. The topic for the next carnival is a carousel. Article topics for this carnival can deal with stories, traditions, food, history, etc. of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The deadline for the next edition of the carnival will be February 18th. You can submit your article here.

A Family History Float ...

Earlier this month, Bill West put out a challenge for genealogy bloggers to come up with their own parade floats. Having just read Randy Seaver's post, I've decided to come up with my own float.

As to what I would have on my float, it is more difficult to decide. As I have mentioned before, I have ancestors from the U. K., Germany and early-1800s America, and as my ancestors come from a variety of areas, it would be difficult to adequately represent my heritage through scenes or images on my float. I think the best representation of my heritage would be to depict scenes from the history of Michigan that my ancestors would have experienced since I have ancestors who continuously lived in Michigan for the past 150 years.

So, what scenes would I depict? I probably would have a scene from the Civil War era, and the rest of the float would probably depict the major industries that Michigan has been known for in the past. Other than that, I can't think of what else I would put on my float as family has lived in Michigan for a long period of time.

Antrim County, Ireland

So far in my research, I have discovered that I have at least two ancestors who were born in Ireland. At the moment, I do not know where in Ireland they were born, I do know where and when they married. One piece of information that one can glean from a Scottish birth certificate is the date and place of the child's parents' marriage. As one of my great-grandfathers was born in Scotland, I have a date and place. According to this certificate, my great-great-grandparents were married in Ballymena, Antrim County, Ireland.

Antrim county happens to be in Northern Ireland. According to Ballymena's town council website, Ballymena has been settled for centuries. You can read more about the history of this town here and here. One of the attractions appears to be a mountain located north of the town of which more information can be found here. From looking at the official tourist site, I think I would be fascinated by the history and the old churches and buildings of the town.

Of course, I do not know if either of my ancestors were born there or lived there. All I know at the moment is that they got married there, and I do not know at which church they would have married. Hopefully, I will be able to find that answer in the near future.

New Poll Created!

I have created a new poll, and the question is "Should I continue the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy?" Your choices are:
  • Yes
  • No
  • I don't know.

The reason that I have posted this poll is that I have not gotten very much of a response since I started this carnival, and I am wondering if it is worth it to continue this carnival. I would appreciate any suggestions or advice.

Carnival Deadline Extended Again!

Again, I have decided to extend the deadline for the submission of entries of the next carnival. This time you have the opportunity to submit an article up until 9 p. m. eastern standard time on the 28th. The topic for this carnival is on stories. Entries can be on family stories, folklore or history as long as it relates somehow to Central and Eastern Europe. You can submit your entries here.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

A Family Dinner Affair?

If you could have dinner with four of your ancestors, who would you chose and why?

A difficult question to answer, if you ask me. So, who would I chose to have dinner with? Well, I would definitely invite my Civil War ancestor, Adam. Why? Well, I have a lot of questions to ask, especially questions about his children, siblings and parents. I'd want to confirm who his siblings were and the names of all the children. Also, I want to ask him about his service and his childhood. As you can see, I have a lot of questions to ask him. Plus, I want to see what he looks like as I don't have a picture of him and get an idea of what his personality was like.

And now for the difficult part: choosing the other three ancestors to invite. Do I split my invitation by gender or by the parental side that the ancestor came from? It is definitely a complex decision to make.

I definitely would like to invite one of my German - speaking ancestors, not only to ask him or her questions about his or her family, but also so that I could (technically speaking) practice speaking German. I realize that is an impossibility, but since it is an imaginary situation, it could be a hypothetical possibility. I am not sure, though, which German ancestor I would invite.

I suppose for the last two ancestors, I could invite Jacob and Barbara Detwiler. I definitely have questions to ask them about their parents and family members. Plus, I would like to know what convinced them to move to Michigan.

Of course I do have two other ancestors that I could invite. Again, I would be asking those two ancestors the same questions that I would be asking Jacob and Barbara.

As to whether I would want to want to eat a home cooked meal or a meal at a restaurant, I think I would prefer a home cooked meal as that meal would give me an idea of what my ancestors ate, the economic status of my ancestors and, of course, the ethnic heritage of my ancestors.

As to which era I would want to eat in, I would rather eat in the era of my ancestors because as a history major, I would find experiencing my ancestors' eras as exciting and adventurous, and because eating in their eras would give me an idea of what their lives were like. Plus, I believe it would be easier for me to experience their lives as I don't believe they would be able to handle the way of life in my era. I think it would be too overwhelming and shocking for them.