Saturday, October 24, 2009

Saturday Night Fun - Unusual Ancestor's Name

For this Saturday Night Fun Randy has challenged other genealogy bloggers to post the weirdest name of one of their ancestors. I'll try to play along as best as I can.

At the moment, I cannot think of any ancestors with strange surnames, but I can think of a couple of unusual first names for a couple of my female ancestors. The two unusual first names that I can think of off the top of my head are Tryphena and Euphrosyne. The ancestor named Tryphena was from the U. K., and the ancestor with the name Euphrosyne was from Germany. Both names are quite unusual to me, and I've never heard of these names before discovering these ancestors. Does anyone else have female ancestors with either of these two first names? Thanks!

Looking for Hosts - 2010 and a Reminder

I realize that this probably a little early, but I wanted to start listing some of the months I am seeking a host for the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy. I will be hosting December's edition, but I don't know how many of 2010's editions I will be able to host. A few of the months that are open are:
  • January
  • February
  • March
  • April
I've just decided to list the first four months because it is still early. If anyone is interested in hosting an future edition, please contact me at jess_history at yahoo dot com. Thanks!

Also, I just want to remind everyone that the deadline for the November edition of submissions is November 8. Al will be hosting this edition, and his instructions for the edition are here. Enjoy!

Music in the Family ...

For this upcoming edition of the Carnival of Genealogy, I am supposed to write about musical instruments that I or family members might play. Instead of focusing only on musical instruments, I've decided to expand the idea to write not only about family members who play instruments but also about ancestors who were involved in music as well.

The members of my family who are primarily musically inclined are my mom and her brother, my uncle, and I believe they have been in involved in music in some way for most of their lives. My mom played the flute and piano from childhood through college, and she still plays the piano (as a member of our church's band). I grew up listening to my mom play the piano, and that is probably how I acquired a love for classical music. My mom was also active in her high school choir as well. I believe my uncle plays the saxophone, although I am not completely sure. Either way, he was involved in music as a child, and at one point, he served as the music director for the church he and his family attend.

Other members who have played an instrument, play an instrument or were involved in choir were my dad, grandma, brother and I. My dad sang in his high school choir, and my grandma also sang in the choir at the church she was a member. She also started to learn how to play the piano. My brother is learning how to play the guitar, and I've taken piano lessons at various times in my life. Of course, I'll probably never be as good as my mom, but I still enjoy learning how to play and playing the piano.

Outside of those family members, I cannot think of any other family members who are or were involved in music. I did have a couple of ancestors, as I learned earlier this year, who were musicians. Marianne Pyrker (or Anna Maria) was a famous Eighteenth Century Opera singer and her husband, Franz Joseph Karl Pyrker played the violin. I briefly wrote about Marianne Pyrker here, but I don't believe I mentioned that her husband was also a musician. Of course, at the moment, I only have secondary sources to prove my connection to them, but as I continue researching I hope to obtain primary documents as sources. As I continue my research, I'll probably uncover more information about them and maybe other ancestors who were musically inclined.

Outside of the people mentioned above, I cannot think of any other family members or ancestors at the moment who were involved in music. I hope, though, as I continue researching my ancestors that I will learn more about them. Enjoy!

Monday, October 19, 2009

82nd Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The 82nd edition of the Carnival of Genealogy has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition will be on:

"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. The deadline for submissions is November 1st. This edition of the COG will be guest hosted by Janet Iles who authors the blog, Janet the Researcher."


Enjoy!