My Three Wishes ...

Dear Genea-Santa,

Although there are many things that I wish that my ancestors had left behind for their descendants, here are three things I really wish I had:

1. A photograph of my Civil War ancestor, Adam Oswalt - Although I wish I had pictures of all of my ancestors, I really wish I had a picture of Adam in his Civil War uniform. I have always wondered what he looked like, and have wondered what his experiences were during the Civil War.
2. A memoir written by my grandfather of his service in World War Two and his early childhood. I never got a chance to ask him any questions about his service or his childhood, and thus, I do not very information on what he experienced.
3. A diary kept by one of my ancestors. I just wish one of my ancestors had kept a diary so that I could get an idea of what his or her life was like during the period the diary was kept. As far as I know, no one kept a diary, although that could change in the future by doing further research.

So, those are three items I wish my ancestors had handed down in the family. It would definitely be nice if I could uncover or find just one of those wishes. (Of course, wish number two is likely never going to happen.)

Another Shipwreck Found in Lake Ontario

I just happened to look on Fox News, and learned that another shipwreck has been found in Lake Ontario. You can read more about it here. Enjoy!

A Christmas Song ...

FootnoteMaven has challenged other genea-bloggers to post one of their favorite Christmas carols. So, here are the words to another one of my favorite Christmas carols, and to be honest, I did not even know all of the words to this song until I posted them now:

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen:

God rest ye merry, gentlemen
Let nothing you dismay
Remember, Christ, our Saviour
Was born on Christmas day
To save us all from Satan's power
When we were gone astray
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

In Bethlehem, in Israel,
This blessed Babe was born
And laid within a manger
Upon this blessed morn
The which His Mother Mary
Did nothing take in scorn
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

From God our Heavenly Father
A blessed Angel came;
And unto certain Shepherds
Brought tidings of the same:
How that in Bethlehem was born
The Son of God by Name.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

"Fear not then," said the Angel,"
Let nothing you affright,
This day is born a Saviour
Of a pure Virgin bright,
To free all those who trust in Him
From Satan's power and might."
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

The shepherds at those tidings
Rejoiced much in mind,
And left their flocks a-feeding
In tempest, storm and wind:
And went to Bethlehem straightway
The Son of God to find.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

And when they came to Bethlehem
Where our dear Saviour lay,
They found Him in a manger,
Where oxen feed on hay;
His Mother Mary kneeling down,
Unto the Lord did pray.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

Now to the Lord sing praises,
All you within this place,
And with true love and brotherhood
Each other now embrace;
This holy tide of Christmas
All other doth deface.
O tidings of comfort and joy,
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy
Lyrics courtesy of http://www.carols.org.uk/god_rest_ye_merry_gentlemen.htm

And More On That Mystery Court Case ...

As you may remember, I posted a few weeks ago on a mysterious newspaper article that mentioned that one of my ancestor's brothers was found guilty of assaulting a woman. Well, I decided to see if I could uncover an additional information in the newspapers, but unfortunately, there weren't any other articles on the case. I did notice though, that this newspaper only published the results of the court cases that were heard by that court. (I checked the newspaper for the whole year of 1845.) Apparently, there were other assault and battery cases heard by the court, and the newspaper only bothered to print what the outcome of each case was. So, it looks like the article on my brother's ancestor was typical for that newspaper.

Although I was unable to find any further information on the court case, I did decide to do some other digging to see if I could get an idea as to what the fine would be in today's dollars. In a previous post, I used the historical conversions site to covert prices from the past into today's dollars, and I did that again for the court fine. I discovered that a dollar in 1845 would be worth about $28.58 in today's dollars. Add on top of that, a week's worth of wages was lost as well, and I guess the conviction was quite costly for my ancestor's brother.

Of course, I won't know the details until I am able to obtain a transcript of the court case. Has anyone ever obtained court cases like this before? If so, how much did it cost to obtain a copy of the court's records? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

I Can Finally Start to Breathe ...

I am finally finished with the semester! I finished my last paper much earlier today and turned it in. (I took my last final exams yesterday.) Now I can start to relax, and so I will be getting back to posting new posts. Of course, that will be after I finish packing and go home ...

2nd Edition of the Canadian Genealogy Carnival Posted!

The second edition of the Canadian Genealogy Carnival has been posted! You can read the article here, and the topic for the next edition will be on:

"Around the Kitchen Table". Does your family have a favourite Canadian recipe? Or perhaps you have the recipe to your Canadian ancestor's favourite dish. Maybe you just like Canadian Maple syrup. Share with us your favourite Canadian recipe and/or food. Deadline is February 8, 2009. Please send your submissions to looking4ancestors@gmail.com

Enjoy!

Does Anyone Want To Host A Carnival?

I'm looking for people who would be willing to host a future edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy. Editions are held on a monthly basis, and at the moment, the editions from January 2009 to December 2009 are open for anyone who wants to host the edition on his or her blog. Hosts get to choose the topic of the edition, and the dates for the submission deadline and date the edition is published. If you are interested, please send me an e-mail at jess_history at yahoo dot com with "carnival host" in the subject line. Thanks.

Also, I just want to remind everyone that submissions for this month's edition are due on the 21st. You can read more about the topic here.

67 Years Ago: A Day of Infamy

Sixty-seven years ago today Pearl Harbor was attacked, and on the next day, the United States entered the Second World War. (Obviously, I was not alive at the time the attack occurred, but some of my ancestors were. I wrote about where they were here.) I just felt that I just had to post something to commemorate that day.