More Genealogy Blogs Added

I have added two more genealogy blogs today. Those blogs are:

• Lee Anders' The I Seek Dead People Blog
• Jim Panttaja's Genealogy Research

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

More History Blogs

Today I have added two more history blogs. The blogs added are:

• Mustaches of the Nineteenth Century
• WW1: Experiences of an English Soldier

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

My Halloween Personality ...

I said I wasn't going to post until Saturday, but I couldn't resist. Randy Seaver posted on his blog a challenge to take a personality quiz, and here is my personality:

What Your Halloween Habits Say About You

You're a friendly person, but not the life of the party. You like making someone else's day - and you'll dress up if you think of a really fun costume. You often feel invisible when you're in public. And it's a shame, because you're really quite a character. Your inner child is open minded, playful, and adventurous. You fear those closest to you finding out who you really are. You dread people discovering your secrets. You're logical, rational, and not easily effected. Not a lot scares you... especially when it comes to the paranormal. You are a total overachiever and workaholic. You're the type of person who plans their elaborate Halloween costume weeks in advance.

What's Your Halloween Personality?

Interesting Blog Articles Posted Recently

Several interesting genealogy articles have been posted over the last week or so, and I thought I would post some of the articles that I thought were interesting. The articles are:

• "More Online Michigan Resources - Clarke Historical Library" This article was posted today, but for those of us who have links to Michigan, this would be an article worth reading.


• "Primary Records are NOT Always Accurate" This article is posted at Olive Tree Genealogy Blog, and I believe there important points that should be taken in consideration.


• "Searching Siblings in Family Tree Research" Again this is another article from the blog above.


• "Why Review Old Genealogy Research?" Again this is another article from the blog above.


• "The Lithuanian State Historical Archives" This article was posted on Steve Danko's blog. I chose this article primarily because information on doing genealogy research in Eastern European countries is limited and also because I may have had ancestors that were from Lithuania when it was still a part of Imperial Russia.
• "Concerns in FamilySearch/NARA Partnership" I thought this article was interesting in light of the recent news on these two.

If anyone believes I have missed any articles please feel free to leave a comment. On a side note, I am not planning to post anything before Saturday because I am busy with schoolwork.

Another Legal Column Posted!

Another legal column has been posted on Craig Manson's blog. You can read it here. This time, the column has the answer to the quiz column that was posted a few days ago.

More Genealogy Blogs Added

As of yesterday, I have added several more genealogy blogs to the list. The blogs added are:

• Anna Dalhaimer Bartkowski's Value Meals on the Volga
• Brenda Joyce Jerome's Western Kentucky Genealogy
• FGS Conference Blog
• Terry Snyder's Desktop Genealogist
• Your Genealogy Search

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

Congrats!

I just want to say, "Congrats!" to Jasia. She has been blogging on her Creative Gene blog for two years now and she has posted over 500 articles. That is quite impressive. So, Congratulations Jasia!

Not Sure if DNA testing would help me ...

Before I begin with my question, I just want to say that I have not exhausted all of the records available to find an answer to my question. At the moment, I haven't been able to do very much research on this mysterious ancestor. Of course, of the little information I have found so far, the information about the year born and possible parents are conflicting.

Of course, I am wondering how feasible is DNA testing would be in determining the parents of my ancestor. My ancestor and his possible parents have been dead for several decades, but some of my ancestor's descendants are still alive. I do not know if there any male descendants of the possible father that are still alive. Would a y-DNA test be feasible to determine a possible paternal ancestor going back two or more generations?

Please forgive me if my question is unclear.

Some Other Articles ...

I just did a little surfing amongst the genealogy blogs, and I noticed some more interesting genealogy blogs. The articles that caught my interest are:

• "Law and Genealogy - A Quiz" on Craig Manson's blog
• "Are You Prepared? I'm Not." on Becky Wiseman's blog
• "Add Copyright Notice To Citation" on FootnoteMaven's blog

These articles were posted either today or yesterday, and they are just a few of the genealogy articles out there. I just picked a few that I thought might be of interest to others.

Genealogy News

I've noticed in the past couple of days that there have been some major announcements on genealogy news, and so, I decided to provide links to articles on topics.

To read about the announcement on Civil War Widow's Pensions, check out these articles:

• "National Archives and Genealogical Society of Utah Announce Digitizing Partnership" at Dear Myrtle's Blog
• "Civil War Widow's Pension Files to be Digitized" at Diane Haddad's Genealogy Insider Blog

To read about the announcement on the opening of Pre-1946 military records, check out these articles:

• "National Personnel Records Center Opens more than Six Million New Military Personnel Files" at Dear Myrtle's Blog
• "Dear Myrtle announces NARA Six Million New Military Records Before 1946" at Richard Hillenbrand's Upstate NY Genealogy Notes Blog

I have not included any links on the announcement of Ancestry.com's and the New England Historic Genealogical Society primarily because many other bloggers have already commented on this announcement. Either way, this has been a busy week so far for genealogy news, and as you can see, I haven't been able to keep up.

Another legal column posted

Another legal column has been posted on Craig Manson's blog. You can read it here.

Genealogy and History Thoughts - Column Five

Why is history important? To me, history is an important subject to study. I realize that is an understatement since I am majoring in history. On the other hand, though, I can't help but notice articles that mention the lack of knowledge of U. S. history by the peers of my generation, and I am disturbed by these reports.

And why should I care? I care not just because I might go into an occupation that deals with history but also because I am worried about whether the truth will be preserved. I'm worried about the preservation of the truth not just because people are forgetting their past, but also I notice that there are people who twist the facts to make it fit their political views. Politically, I am a conservative, but I'll admit, this occurs on both sides of the political spectrum. (Sorry. I didn't want to bring politics into this blog. I have another blog where I post my political beliefs, so I try to keep politics and genealogy as separate as much as I can.) I realize there are parts of U. S. history that are not pleasant, but those parts still have to be told. I want to the truth to be told, so that future generations won't make the same mistakes that have been made in the past. And I want the truth to be told because textbooks don't always include both sides of the story. Many times, historical events are portrayed in history textbooks in a simplified matter when in reality, the events were more complicated than portrayed. In case anyone is wondering, I mainly notice this in regards to with the more recent past. (Holocaust denial would fall into this category, even though most teachers teach that the Holocaust did occur. I still worry because someone in the future might be able to get away with teaching denial as fact in the future, and if the lack knowledge of history continues to occur in future generations, that might happen.) Among the twists that I have noticed:

• Apollo 11's landing on the moon. There are people who argue that this did not happen. (I'm serious. I had a high school teacher who believed this.)
• The Great Depression and FDR's New Deal. There are people who believe that the New Deal pulled us out of the Great Depression, when it was World War Two that actually finally pulled the U. S. out of it. (I've actually had a teacher and a high school student tell me it was FDR's policies, while I have read articles - and spoke to my grandparents - that stated that it was World War Two that pulled the economy out of the depression.)
• And some of the events of the last twenty or thirty years of U. S. history have been distorted in books according to the author's political bias.

When I speak of distortions of history, I am not talking about information that comes to light through the declassification of documents. I do not consider reanalyzing a historical event in the light of newly released documents a distortion of history. What I consider a distortion of history is when the the facts are incorrectly portrayed or when the facts presented are so slanted that only one side of history is presented. (This is where the political bias usually shines through.) There is almost always more than one perception of a historical event. Teaching history as just a bunch of facts or terms ignores the reality of history's complexity. (When it comes to the Holocaust, though, the evidence and facts do not support a holocaust denier's perspective. I am only talking about historical events where the general events are agreed upon by both sides.) Unfortunately, when it comes to how history is taught in public schools, the idea that there are other perceptions or interpretations of the same facts does not get mentioned. (Again, I notice this with the more recent history.) Historical controversies rarely get mentioned, and I think this is one of the reasons why history is viewed as dry and boring. Most people don't know that there are controversies unless they read about an event on their own. Or take a college history course that goes into depth on a certain era or topic. (The assassination of JFK, of course, is an exception.)

Of course, why should I worry about the bias of a teacher or author of a history book? I worry because at times the bias is taught as fact instead of the facts and people do not always spend the time to make sure that the facts are correct. I'm also worried because I notice many inaccuracies on the internet. I'm afraid that people will read these distortions and accept them as fact. I think there are times when people forget that not everything is true on the internet. ( I include Wikipedia in this category because anyone can post or edit an entry if they do not like what is posted.) When it comes to biases or distortions in history, there are people that want to make everyone feel guilty for what has happened in the past. There events that we should be ashamed of and acknowledge, but I don't believe that we should carry around a baggage of guilt for what has happened. We cannot change what has happened; all we can do is to insure that people are treated fairly and that the same mistakes are not repeated. History is to be studied to ensure that mistakes made in the past are not repeated.

So what do you think? I realize that I've touched upon a controversial topic and that not everyone will agree with me. Again, I apologize for letting my political bias seep into this column. As always, you can leave a comment.

New Poll Created!

I have posted a new poll to the blog. The question for this poll is "Where in Western Europe did your ancestors come from?" The choices are:

• Belgium
• France
• The Netherlands
• British Isles

You can choose more than one choice. I did not include Spain or Portugal in this poll even these countries could be considered part of Western Europe. I plan to include these two countries in the Southern Europe poll. I will also post a later poll that goes into more detail for the British Isles in a later poll.

A Glimpse of Autumn ...

I took some pictures earlier today, and this photo was one of them. You can view some my other pictures here. I did take some pictures a couple weeks ago, but they did not come out as well. You can view those pictures here.

Poll Results

The poll has official closed, and the results are in. The question of the poll was, "What Area of Europe Did Your Ancestors Come From?" A total of twelve votes were cast. The results are:

• Western - 9 votes
• Central - 3 votes
• Eastern/Russia - 2 votes
• Southern - 1 vote

To those that participated in this poll, thank you for participating.

Two More Legal Posts Posted

Craig Manson has posted two more legal lesson posts on his blog. You can read the one posted yesterday here and the one posted today here.

Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The latest edition of the Carnival of Genealogy has just been posted. You can find it here. The next topic is on using DNA to solve genealogy mysteries. Enjoy!

More Genealogy Blogs Added

I've added a few more blogs today. The blogs added are:

• Amy Kane's Atlantic Ave.
• Barbara Ainscough's Ainscough Family History - Mawdesley
• GeneaSofts

You can find these and other blogs on the lower left hand of this blog. Any suggestions for other genealogy and history blogs.

Another Law Column Posted

Craig Manson posted another law column last night. You can read it here.

More Genealogy Blogs Added

I've added several more genealogy blogs to the list today. These blogs are from Lynn Turner, and the blogs added are:

• Bradley D. Marchant's The Ancient Parish of Giggleswick
• Chelsea's Genealogy
• Dayna Fosson's Italian Genealogy
• Heather's Genealogy Joys
• Hendricks Family Searcher
• JaNean Frandsen's Genealogy Buzz
• Karina Morales' La Familia de Karina Eunice Morales Ovalle
• Malese's School Life
• Mary Beth Tolman's What's Your Line?
• My Scandinavian Family History
• Terry Jenson's West Carrol Parish, Louisiana Genealogy

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

You Know You Are a Michigander When ...

I noticed earlier today that Moultrie Creek had posted "You Know you're a Floridian if ..." a few days ago, and died laughing while reading the post. So, in light of that post, I felt I had to create my own list about Michigan.

You know you are a Michigander when ...

• You point on your hand to show where your hometown is.
• You are unfazed by the sudden change in weather or the inaccuracy of the weatherman's weather report.
• You refer to Windsor, Ontario as a sister city.
• You refer to the driving seasons as "Construction" and "Winter."
• You call the day before Halloween, Devil's Night.
• You call the people who live in the Upper Peninsula, "Youppers."
• UP means the Upper Peninsula.
• You visit another state and consider the car ahead of you, going the speed limit, too slow.
• You continue to drive in bad weather after all the other cars pull over.
• You know how to drive in bad weather.
• You think nothing of driving on a road covered by a couple of inches of snow.
• You think nothing of driving at 80 m.p.h. or more on the freeway.
• You are not surprised by a temperature drop of 4o degrees from the day before.
• You consider your winter warm when you have had very little snow.
• You associate the first couple of weeks in November with deer hunting.
• You hear, "Tri-County," and think Metro-Detroit.
• You take it for granted that the Lions will lose.
• You estimate the distance between two locations in minutes.
• You consider Hockeytown another name for Detroit.
• You refer to Detroit as "Motown."
• You call coke and Pepsi, "pop."
• You still go to school even though it snowed the night before.
• You are used to driving on bad roads.
• You know how to play euchre.
• You expect to drive the same distance to a place in the U. P. as you would in driving to Tennessee.
• You hear the term, "Inland Lake," but do not associate the Great Lakes with that term.
• You can go north or east and end up in Canada.
• You are used to cold weather.

This is all that I can think of when it comes to Michigan. I hope you found this funny. Any other additions are welcome. Enjoy.

Cemetery Thoughts ...

I have to admit; I'm not a fan of visiting cemeteries. I find cemeteries a little creepy, but I go to cemeteries because there might be some information on the tombstones of my ancestors or in the sexton's records. (And, to state the obvious, find out where my ancestors are buried.)

I think the main reason why I find cemeteries creepy - and this does not include national cemeteries like Arlington or Gettysburg - i s probably because the pervasiveness of death. I'm young, and I do not think about death very much. The unearthly stillness in a cemetery can be unnerving. The biggest difference between national cemeteries and the rural or local cemeteries is that the national cemeteries are, for me, a historical place and as such, there are always large groups of people walking around. It is less intimidating to walk around a cemetery when there are many people walking around or when one is visiting a cemetery because of the history that surrounds the place. Visiting a rural or local cemetery is, for me, a completely different experience than visiting a national cemetery.

Of course, I have never gone into a cemetery alone. (Having other people with when you go to a cemetery is good idea for safety reasons besides the other reason of helping to keep the fear away.) I have always visited a cemetery with family members, primarily with my grandparents and my brother. Most of the cemeteries I have visited are cemeteries where my ancestors and their siblings are buried, and most of those cemeteries are rural cemeteries in Michigan. Many of them have been alongside a two-lane road and the area is almost completely deserted (ie., few cars passing by on the road or no other living people in the cemetery.) Of course, at the same time, these cemeteries can be interesting as to the variety of the tombstones. If I could forget that the dead people are buried in cemeteries, I could easily mistake cemeteries for parks with magnificent stone sculptures. It would work, but only if I didn't notice the pervasive scent of decay. (I'm serious about this. It smells sweet but repugnant at the same time.) To be honest, I'm not exactly thinking this the whole time I'm in the cemetery. These thoughts are more subconscious, in the back of my mind, and they only last for few seconds or minutes. They go away only because I my main concern is to find where my ancestor is buried, take a picture (or pictures) and write down any information that I find, including where the grave is located. (As you can imagine, I want to get my research done as quickly as I can.)

So, what experiences have I had? It may sound like I've had a bad experience from what I have written up above, but I really haven't had any bad experiences (other than wasting time). I just have a minor phobia of cemeteries. A few of my experiences:

• A literal wild goose chase in searching for the burial site of my great-great-grandfather. (I won't write about that in this post as this story is a post in its self. Someday, I'll post about it in the future.)
• The accidental discovery of an ancestor's grave while searching for the graves of other ancestors. (I found those graves too, but I wasn't expecting to find my other ancestor's grave as well.)
• And the mistake I made the first time I went to do research in Saint Joseph County, Michigan. (It is much easier to go to the library first, find the transcriptions, and then go visit the cemetery. I don't think I need to say anymore about that one.)

I realize that these are not exactly thrilling experiences. These are just the more memorable experiences I have had in the past four years of doing genealogy. I will have to write on my other experiences on other posts otherwise this post will be extremely long.

So, what do you think about cemeteries? As always, you are more than welcome to leave a comment.

One Puzzle Piece I Would Like to Solve

I have only done research on my family history for the past four years, but I already have a couple of minor mysteries that I want to resolve.

One of those mysteries deals with one of my Stout ancestors and whether or not he went to California with his two older brothers. Joseph and Susannah Stout had seven children: William, Reuben, Peter, Edward, Margaret Ann, Sarah Ann and Alexander (based upon Reuben's biography and the censuses of 1850 and 1860). According to Reuben Stout's biography, Reuben and his brother William went to California in the mid-1850s. All that Reuben Stout's biography says about that trip is that he engaged in mining (which type, I'm not sure) and was successful. In addition, Reuben's biography mentions that his brother, William, was thirty-two when he died in California. Unfortunately, the biography does not give a date or place of death and neither states where Reuben engaged in mining. Although, I don't know exactly when William died, I'm guessing that he died sometime between 1860 and 1863 based upon his age in the 1850 census. In the 1850 census, William's age was given as twenty years old.

When I first read Reuben's biography, I believed that only Reuben and William went since they were not with the rest of the family in the 1860 Census. Peter, of course was listed as living at home with his parents, so I assumed that he had stayed in Michigan, that is until I started to do research in Saint Joseph County, Michigan's deed records. As I was going through the grantor and grantee indexes to the deeds (both grantors and grantees were listed in the same book index for that time period, which made looking for deeds even more difficult), I came across a deed made between a Charles A. Lawrence and Peter Stout. Obviously, it was not surprising to me that the land Peter Stout was buying was in Saint Joseph County; what was surprising to me, was that the deed had been written out in Nevada County, California and sent to the Saint Joseph County's Recorder Office. In addition, Peter Stout was listed as a resident of Orleans Flat, Nevada County, California. Up until that point, I had no idea that Peter might have gone to California or where the Stout brothers might have done mining in California. I forget when exactly the deed was created because I don't have it in front of me, but I do remember it being created somewhere between 1857 and 1859, since I was impressed by how close the time was to the 1860 Census.

Needless to say, this piece of information has left me in a little bit of a quandary, since Peter was back in Michigan by 1860 and the deed, as I mentioned before, was created only within a couple of years before the census. This has left me wondering: did my ancestor, Peter, go to California with his brothers? I did check the 1860 census to see if there were other Peter Stouts living; however, none of the Peter Stouts listed in the 1860 census resided close enough to California to rule out the possibility that my ancestor was the one who bought the land. At the moment, I believe that the Peter Stout on the deed is my ancestor since the deed was dealing with a parcel of land that was in the same area roughly where other family members lived. Other than that deed, I do not have any further proof that my ancestor was in California. His brother's biography does not mention who exactly went to California, other than to state that William died somewhere in California.

So far, what I have written about seems fairly straight-forward; however, there are some problems with a few of my sources that makes this mystery a little bit more complicated.

The first source that I have problems with is Reuben's biography. Many of the dates in his biography, especially the deaths of his parents, are incorrect when checked against sources that are more contemporary to the dates. For example, Joseph Stout's probate packet, his and Susannah's death records and the joint tombstone for Joseph and Susannah all confirm that both Joseph and Susannah died later than published in Reuben's biography. So, the problem for me is that I don't know how much I should believe Reuben's account. There is information in his biography that I have yet not confirmed or unconfirmed , but many of the dates in the biography do not add up. In addition, Reuben's biography incorrectly state when his father bought his land and the location of the land.

The second source I have problems with is the 1860 census. The problem that I have is that I have not been able to find William or Reuben in California or in the 1860 census. If I had been able to find either one of them, I would have a better idea of where to look for records in California. So far, I only have a deed that suggests a possible location and in my eyes, this information is weak at best.

A third source that I have problems is with two deeds that deal with land in Saint Joseph County, Michigan. I have already mentioned about the deed made out in California, but in 1864, Peter Stout sold a parcel of land that was in Saint Joseph County. At first it appears as though the two deeds are related, and they might be, except that the locations for the parcel are do not match with the older deed. It is very possible that the California office wrote down the lot number incorrectly and that this is the same lot of parcel; however, if this deed is for another parcel of land, I have not yet found a deed where Peter Stout bought this land. At the risk of appearing stupid, I definitely need to go back to the Saint Joseph County, Michigan's Recorder of Deeds office and go through the deeds again.

I have not yet done research into California records primarily because I'm not familiar with California records for this time period. I'm familiar with Michigan records for this time period, but in California, I don't know what type of records were made during the Gold Rush Era or around it, since the events in this mystery occur around that time. In addition, I don't know if the Stout brothers travelled overland or by boat to California. If they travelled overland, would any records exist as to whether or not lists were kept of those who came into California from the east?

While I was writing this post, several questions came to my mind. If Reuben was doing so well at mining in California, why did he return to Michigan? Did he leave California as a result of his brother's death. When and how did William die? Did William die in a mining accident? Was William involved in mining, and was he successful as well? I suspect I will find the answers to some of the questions as I do research into California records.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to where I need to look? Any advice or ideas is welcome. Thanks.
___________________________________________________________________

Sources

(Unfortunately, I don't have my sources with me at the moment, but I'll try to put down as much information as I can remember about my sources. I can't guarantee the complete accuracy because my sources are at home and not up at school with me.)

1. Lockport Township, St. Joseph County, Michigan, 1850 U. S. Federal Census
   
   
2. Florence Township, St. Joseph County, Michigan, 1860 U. S. Federal Census
   


3. "Reuben Stout," Portrait and Biographical Album of Saint Joseph County, Michigan. (Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1889), 347-348.



4. Probate Packet of Joseph Stout, Saint Joseph County, Michigan Probate Office



5. Deed record of Charles A. Lawrence to Peter Stout, Saint Joseph County, Michigan Recorder of Deeds Office.



6. Deed of Peter Stout selling a parcel of land, about 1864, Saint Joseph County, Michigan Recorder of Deeds Office.


7. Tombstone of Joseph and Susannah Stout, Calhoun Cemetery, Florence Township, Saint Joseph County, Michigan.


8. Death registrations of Joseph and Susannah Stout, Saint Joseph County, Michigan, Book One, page 85.

A Ghoulish Post ...

I noticed earlier today that Olive Tree Genealogy had posted information on the discovery of a medieval cemetery. I thought I would post a link to this post because it fits very well with this time of the year, since Halloween is only a couple of weeks away. You can read the post here.

Genealogy and History Thoughts - Column Four

"How did you get involved in genealogy?" I have been asked that question a couple of times. The short and simple answer would be that I had an interest in history and that led to wanting to find out the history of my family; however, over the past several days, I have reflected upon how I got into genealogy, and I realized that the full answer to that question was more much complex than the answer I usually give to other people.

Ever since I was a young child, I had an interest in history. At the age of five, I knew that I had grandfathers who were World War Two veterans. How did I know? My parents told me, even though I don't remember now exactly when they told me so. In addition, my grandfather began to tell me stories about our family's history around the time I was five. My grandparents also had a family tree that they showed to me as a young child. In addition I knew that my grandpa was a history buff. Of course I highly doubt that my grandparents knew that this exposure would have an impact on me, but either way, I believe that hearing stories about my family unconsciously influenced my interest in history.

I don't remember now if the history lessons in elementary school also added to my interest in history because I only remember history lessons being taught in class from the fifth grade and up. Before the fifth grade, I think the lessons were more social studies than history. Either way, I think the elementary lessons only had a small influence over me because by the time I entered the fifth grade, I was already reading about history on my own, and I know that my own personal reading had more of an influence on whether I would find history interesting or not. One the first eras of history that I had an interest in as a child was in World War Two, and that was probably as a result of knowing that my grandfathers had served in that war. At the same time, though, this interest wasn't consciously on my mind. What I mean is that, I wasn't actively thinking about the stories I heard when I decided to open a textbook and read the few paragraphs or pages on a historical topic. It was much more subtle.

Well, that is probably the most in depth reason that I have ever given on how I became interested in history and genealogy. How about you? How did you get interested in genealogy? I would love to hear other people's stories. Please feel free to either respond by a comment or a post on your blog. I look forward to hearing what others have to say.

More Genealogy Blogs Added

I have added a few more genealogy blogs to the blog. The blogs added are:

• Miriam's AnceStories2
• Family Tree's Blog
• Sue's Sues Genealogy

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

More Genealogy Blogs Added

I've just added a few more genealogy blogs today. The blogs added are:

• Boisvert History
• Echo Hill Ancestors
• Lynn Turner's Hispanic Genealogy

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

Haven't Posted In a While, and Articles of Note ...

I haven't posted in a few days because I've been busy mostly with schoolwork. It's midterm time at our school, so as you can imagine, my mind is focused on school.

On another note, there have been a few blog posts that I want to mention. First off, I want to thank Terry Thornton for adding me to his H. O. G. S. blogger. It is an honor, and you can read his post here. I also want to mention his article, "Don't Miss These...," and you can read it here. Jasia wrote a response to my third column, and you can read her post here. And last but not least, I want to mention that Craig Manson will be posting another legal post on his blog. You can read his post here.

Genealogy and History Thoughts - Column Three

Has anyone ever had an experience where history became something more than just a bunch of dry facts or something that happened to people in the past? What I mean when I say, "where history became something more," I mean, has anyone had an experience where history came alive and felt real for a moment or at least did not feel as distant as at other times?

During this past summer, I was browsing through an old newspaper from an ancestral county, when I came across a newspaper article on the Missouri Compromise. As I read the column, history suddenly came alive for me. It wasn't just a feeling where I thought, "Hey, I learned this in school," but it was also a sense of a close connection. It actually felt as though it had meaning for me. (I realize this sounds weird, but I can't explain this any better.)

After I stopped browsing the newspaper, I started to wonder if history could be made more interesting to people not interested in history. Would many more children find history more interesting if their teachers brought in some original documents or had them do their family history as a project? From my understanding, many students find history boring and I think part of the reason is as a result of how history is taught. Would a change in teaching style or presentation style make history more interesting? I'm not sure, but I am worried by the failure of many Americans to remember their country's history.

What do you think? Please feel free to leave a comment.

Just Wanted To Say Thank You ...

I just want to say thank you to Craig Manson, Jasia and Miriam for their kind comments that they left earlier today on my "Added a new post." I also want to say thank you to anyone who may leave any comments as well.

Update, 7 October: Miriam posted a congratulations post to me on Friday. You can view it here. Thank you Miriam.

Added A New Poll

After the results from the last poll indicated that most of the respondents' ancestors came from Europe, I decided to add a new poll. The question for this poll is: What Area of Europe Did Your Ancestors Come From? The choices are:

• Western
• Central
• Eastern/Russia
• Southern

You can choose more than one category.

I chose to divide Europe into four sections to keep the poll categories simple. I do plan on having polls on this blogs in the future that go more in detail as to which countries, but for the moment, I just want to keep it simple.

On a side note: This post happens to be my 100th post, and I have started posting on this blog since mid-March of this year. Can you imagine that?

More Genealogy Blogs Posted

Several more genealogy blogs have been added today. The blogs added today are:

• Allan Scahill's The Scahill Pages
• Karen Burney's Louisiana Lineage Legacies
• Paula Stuart-Warren's Paula's Genealogical Eclectica
• Peter Walker's Hollyer One-Name Study Blog
• The Mobile Genealogist

I learned about The Mobil Genealogist first from a post by Jasia, and I first learned about Karen Burney's Louisiana Lineage Legacies from a post by Craig Manson. You can find these blogs and others on the lower left hand of this page. Any suggestions for other genealogy or history blogs are welcome.

Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The Carnival of Genealogy has been posted on Jasia's Creative Gene. The next topic has to do with Halloween. Enjoy!

A Five Questions Challenge - School Memories

Juliana Smith over at Ancestry's blog, has posed a five question challange about school memories. I know Randy Seaver and Becky Wiseman have already posted their own answers to this challenge, but I decided to join this challenge, even though my public education school days are not that distant. At least, I don't think this question applies to college ...

1. What was your favorite subject in school?

My favorite subjects were German, history (not suprising, as that's my major), creative writing, anatomy and physiology, world religions and geography.

2. What extra-cirricular activities did you participate in?

In middle school, I participated in the school newspaper and student government. In high school, I participated in several clubs:

Freshman year: I did not participate in any clubs.

Sophomore year: I was in the Mock Trial Club, and I was in a literary club that put on a couple of skits for an open house.

Junior year (different high school): I was on the varsity quiz bowl team and I was on the make-up crew for my high school's theatre company/club.

Senior year: I was the captain of the quiz bowl team and I was again a member on the make-up crew for the school's theatre company. I was also a member of NHS.

3. Did I go on field trips, and if so, what was my most memorable trip?

I went on many field trips when I was in school. I went to places such as the Detroit Institute of Arts (or DIA as it is also known), the Detroit Science Center, Greenfield Village and Henry Ford Museum, the Jiffy plant in Chelsea, a YMCA camp in the sixth grade, and many more places that I have memories of but don't remember the names of the places. Again, I went on many field trips, several of them to the same places, that I don't believe there is one that sticks out in my mind.

4. What teacher influenced me the most?

I'm not sure I can pinpoint any specific teacher as having an influence over me, but I have had many memorable teachers. A few of my most memorable teachers are: my high school history and English teachers, my German teacher, my eighth-grade teacher and my world religions teacher. Many of those teachers, though, are now retired. I have also had teachers that I don't want to remember, but I don't want to write about them.

5. Did I buy lunch at school or did I bring my lunch from home?

I mainly brought lunch from home. The few times that I did buy lunch primarily occurred when I was in elementary and middle school. Most of the time, the food tasted terrible and wasn't very healthy, and I preferred to bring my lunch from home because the food tasted so bad.

As you can see, I still have many memories of my school days, some bad and some good. Of course, what I have posted here is only a slight fraction of what I do remember.

Genealogy and History Thoughts - Column Two

I've just started an internship at an archive and as a result, I finally have a better understanding and appreciation for why other genealogists write about being specific when it comes to sending a query to an archive or library. (No, this has nothing to do with reading a request written by a researcher; the amount and different types of records an archive may keep is what has made those lessons sink in.)

Since many archive keep thousands upon thousands of pages of documents, just mailing a request with a name would be difficult to research if a person does not give a date range. Unless the person who are researching was famous in the city or area, chances are, that any general request for information would be too time consuming. And more than likely, an archivist would not respond with information but a suggestion to come do your own research at the archive precisely for the reason that the archive staff does not have the time to do the research. (It is also possible that the only staff member is the archivist and the rest of the people who work there are volunteers.)

Archivists generally spend their time preserving, organizing and filling documents and other historical artifacts, and thus, they don't usually have the time to extensive research. In addition, the archive probably only has a couple of people working on the staff. If anything, they will be spending their time trying to organize artifacts so that they'll be easier to retrieve when someone comes in to do research. That information will also more than likely not be online because it is just for internal use and because the archive either doesn't have the staff, funding or technological know-how to put information online. And this lack of time, staff and money is precisely why I don't believe all records will be digitized and put online. More than likely, the information that has been put online has been the result of volunteers doing the work, and this work has probably taken those volunteers many years.

I don't mean to lecture, and this wasn't intended to be a lecture. I think, though, that many times, we as genealogists forget or don't know about the amount of work and effort that goes into preserving records so that they are available to be viewed in the future. I know I didn't realize the amount of work that went into archiving until I began my internship.

If you agree or disagree, please feel free to leave a comment.

Poll Results

The poll has officially closed, and now I'll bring you the results. The poll's question was "Where are your ancestors from?" A person could chose from any of the five categories offered and could vote more than once. Ten people voted, and the results are:

• Europe - 10 votes
• Asia - 0 votes
• Africa - 0 votes
• North or South America - 2 votes
• Australia - 0 votes

To those who voted, thank you for voting.

Added More Genealogy Blogs

I've just added a few genealogy blogs today. The blogs added are:

• Robert Stanley Orrell and Reverdy Lewin Orrell, III's Bob & Reb's Genealogy Blog
• George Geder's Genealogy~Photography~Restoration
• Ancestry. com Blog

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

Finally ...

I finally got my response to Mike Elgan's article posted today. I had been working on bit by bit since Saturday, and I was only able to get it finished today. If I had not been busy, I would have had it finished sooner and I would have posted more.

Either way, I hope you enjoy this first column of Genealogy and History Thoughts.

Genealogy and History Thoughts - Column One

This column was not exactly the one I originally planned on posting, but I could not pass up commenting on Mike Elgan's "Coming Soon: The Mother of All Genealogy Databases." I realize that Jasia, Randy Seaver and others have already posted their thoughts on this article, but I feel as though I need to add my two cents worth as well.

After reading this article, I believe Mr. Elgan's concept of genealogy is incorrect. I realize that Mr. Elgan is writing from the view of someone in the computer field, and that his interest in genealogy is only related to the networking that has been occurring in genealogy lately. The social networking with other genealogists over the internet is only a small part of genealogy. Most of a genealogist's research is done off the internet, in libraries or other repositories. Most of the records that genealogists use are not on the internet, and even with information found on the internet, that information has to be verified with information not on the internet. I know that not everyone believes spending time digging for old documents interesting.

Of course, I can't resist commenting on some of Mr. Elgan's remarks.

"Millions of people around the world spend hours tracing their 'roots' as far back as they can. I've always suspected that people are really searching for self-identity."

It is possible that some people who do genealogy are searching for an identity, but that is not the reason why I got interested in family history. I got into genealogy primarily because I was interested in the history of my family. Most of my relatives do not know much about the history of our family, and it was my Grandfather who originally began to do research on our family. I took over because I was curious.

"Unfortunately, many uncover unpleasant family secrets. Instead of finding aristocrats and royalty, people are likely to discover war deserters, criminals and illegitimate children. Even more common is to find family origins in countries not part of the family lore. Genealogy isn't for wimps."

This was precisely the reason why I got into genealogy. I wanted to find out the truth about the history of my family.

"Many Americans who consider themselves white or black are in fact both to one degree or another."

This doesn't shock me at all. Racial mixing between Europeans, Native Americans and Africans has occurred before. Quite a bit of racial mixing occurred as a result of slavery. I have to wonder, though, just how well known is this to most Americans. It does make me wonder how well history is being taught in schools.

"The biggest genealogy hobbyist site, Ancestry.com, claims to have 5 billion records collected globally, including census, immigration and military records; newspaper and magazine clippings; court, land and probate files and other records going back to the 16th century. The site enables its users to do the work of piecing together who's related to whom. It's an impressive database. You can simply enter names - your mother's maiden name, for example - and get back dozens or hundreds of possibilities, which you can then narrow down and use the result as the foundation for a new tracing."

Sometimes, I wish it was that easy. I must stress, though, that Ancestry is just a tool. I can't just use the internet to create my family tree. I have to find records offline, and most of the records are not online. I still have to do fact checking, and I can't assume that a John Smith in a database is my John Smith. It's more complicated than that.

In the next ten years, there will probably be more records online, but I do not believe tracing my family history will be as simple as typing in my name. I do not believe I would come up with an accurate tree. There any many trees with incorrect data online. I will still have to go to the places that my ancestors lived, as that is where the records will be. There will still be more records offline than online, especially when one thinks about all of the privacy concerns today. Also, I believe most of the world's records will still be offline because those repositories will not always have the funding to digitize records and put them online. It would be nice if all of the world's records were online, but the reality is that it takes many hours to transcribe and digitize records before those records can be put online. One cannot expect the records to be put online in weeks; the process of making a searchable database with records takes years to complete.

Well, that is my two cents on this issue. Does anyone agree or disagree with me? As always, you can leave your thoughts as a comment.

Things to Keep in Mind ... An Interesting Blog Article

This article was posted on the Olive Tree Genealogy Blog yesterday, and I thought I would add a link to the article. The article is short, but the argument that a name of an ancestor might be more common than thought is something that is worth remembering. You can read the article here.

Added A Few More Genealogy Blogs ... Again

I've added a couple more genealogy blogs to the list. The blogs added are:

• Searching for our Ancestors' Journal
• Miriam's Eastern Washington Genealogical Society Blog

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

More Genealogy Blogs Added

I've added more genealogy blogs today. The blogs added are:

• Amy Crooks' Untangled Family Roots
• Coffee/Coffey Call
• Midge Frazel's Granite in My Blood

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

Genealogy and History Thoughts - Coming Soon!

I have decided to start a column-like post on thoughts about genealogy and history. Hopefully, I'll be able to post this column once a week (or as close to weekly as I can). I hope everyone will enjoy this column. Either way, this column will be coming soon!

Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The Carnival of Genealogy was posted earlier today. You can read it here, at Susan Kitchen's blog.

I did not submit an article this time, primarily for several reasons. I've been busy with school work and thus, I have not had much time to write long posts. In addition, I primarily only have the basic details for most of my ancestor's war stories; there are still many holes in the details and facts in those stories. I still have more research to do. Plus, I'm a little hesitant to post stories in light of the recent Ancestry.com controversy. I'm still erring on the side of the caution.

Anyhow, the next Carnival of Genealogy topic is on weddings. Hopefully, I'll be able to contribute an article.

Speaking of weddings, a book you might want to read is All Dressed in White: The Irresistible Rise of the American Wedding by Carol McD. Wallace (New York: Penguin Books, 2004). I have not yet finished the book, but this book deals with history of weddings. In short, it is book on an aspect of U. S. social history.

Added A Book List

Earlier today, I added a list of history books that I am currently reading. Needless to say, I will be updating this list in the future. I also plan to add a list of history books that I have recently read. Hopefully, I'll have that set up in a couple of days.

You can find this book list at the bottom of the page, just under the copyright notice.

Another Source Where Information Can Be Found

If you're searching for more records for your family history and happen to have black sheep in the family, one record you might want to consider looking for is the fingerprint card of your relative.

Why consider this record?

Some possible genealogical information that you might glean from a card:

• Your relative's full name
• The Alias that your relative might have used
• Your relative's birthplace
• Your relative's nationality at that time period
• Possible physical description or a photo
• Your relative's signature
• Reason for your relative's arrest and whether or not they had a previous record of arrest
• Your relative's sentence
• And, of course, your relative's fingerprints

Of course, one must keep in mind that the fingerprint cards that might be available would be those of people who were born over a century ago. Of course, if you have a relative who disappeared in the early twentieth century, you might want to consider the possibility that he or she may have been in prison.

So, where can one find this record type?

If you know where a relative resided, I would contact the archives of the city or place where that person may have lived. You may possibly find the records stored there. Of course, there is a possibility that the old cards no longer exist, but it is still worth it to search and see if these cards still exist.

More Genealogy Blogs Added

Today, I have added several more genealogy blogs. The blogs that were added are:

• Neil Smith's Genealogy Blog
• Oxford County Genealogy Notebook
• Pasco Genealogical Society Blog

Any suggestions for other genealogy blogs or history blogs is welcome.

Added A New Poll

Today, I have added a new poll to this blog. This time, the question has to deal with where one's ancestors have originated. You can vote more than once.

The Fifth Part of the Legal Analysis is posted

Today, Craig Manson has posted the fifth part of his legal analysis column. You can read it here.

Part Four of the Legal Analysis is Posted

Yesterday, Craig Manson posted part four of his legal analysis. You can read the article here.

Part Three of the Legal Analysis Posted

Yesterday, Craig Manson posted the third part to his legal analysis of the IBC controversy. You can read the article here.

A Day to Remember ...

This is one of the pictures that I took earlier today. Flags were planted in the park of my college's campus and near the clock tower. I realize the quality of this picture is poor, but this is a memorial stone to the victims of September 11. I don't know when this memorial was erected, but it is located in the park on campus. I have posted more of the pictures I took on my daily blog.

Second Part of Legal Series Posted

On Sunday, Craig Manson posted the second part of his legal column. You can read it here.

Poll Results

The poll has officially closed and the results are in. The question was: How far back have you researched your family history?. Twenty-one people responded, and here are the results:

• Earlier than 1700 - 13 votes
• Early 1700s - 2 votes
• Mid 1700s - 1 vote
• Early 1800s - 3 votes
• Mid 1800s - 1
• Early 1900s - 1

I'm quite impressed by the results; many of the respondents reported that they had traced their family history to before 1700. As for me, I've only traced my family history back to the early and mid 1800s, depending upon which branch in my family.

Either way, thank you to all those who participated in this poll.

First Post over the Legality of Ancestry's Actions is Posted

Yesterday, Craig Manson, of GeneaBlogie, posted the first article in his column over the legality of Ancestry.com's actions on the Internet Biographical Collection. You can read the first article here.

More Genealogy Blogs Added

I've added a few more genealogy blogs today. Those blogs are:

• Patricia Craig Johnson's Genealogy Blog
• Anna-Karin's Genealogical Podcast
• Links to the Past
• P. T. Sherman's Genealogy Connections

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

Added Another Genealogy Blog

Earlier today, I added another genealogy blog. The blog I added is:

• John Newmark's Transylvanian Dutch

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

Added a Copyright Notice

Over this past few days and in light of the Ancestry controversy, I have added a copyright notice to the top left hand of the page and the bottom of this blog's page.

You can create links to my blog, but if want to copy an article I wrote, please:

• Leave a comment under the article with your e-mail address, so that I can contact you by e-mail.
• You are allowed to copy an article if you first get my permission and credit the copied portions to me.

Thanks, Jessica.

More Genealogy Blogs Added

Earlier today, I added three more genealogy blogs to the list. The blogs added are:

• Lee Drew's FamHist (I learned about his blog from Randy Seaver's article.)
• Leland Meitzler's Everton Publishers Genealogy Blog
• Nikki's Genealogy Journal

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

Another Chapter...

Yesterday afternoon, an letter by Kendall Hulet (a manager at Ancestry.com) responding to the uproar over Ancestry's Internet Biographical Collection, was posted on Ancestry's blog. You can read the letter here.

I don't think I need to post anything further on this issue as other genealogy bloggers have commented on this letter. Among those are:

• Jasia's "Now That's What I Wanted to Hear!"
• Becky Wiseman's "Some Final (?) Thoughts on the Ancestry Fiasco"

I do not doubt that there are other genealogy bloggers who have commented on this letter; I just haven't had the time to read all of the blogs. I am sorry if I have not mentioned anyone.

Well, Believe This Or Not

I just checked Ancestry.com's blog and found out that Ancestry has decided to take off the internet its Internet Biography Database. You can read the rest of the article here.

What I find interesting is that Ancestry has labeled the uproar over its behavior as "concerns about the collection." If a person has not already read about the issue on other genealogy blogs, that person might get the impression that it was not an uproar, when in fact it really was. In short, if a person just happened to only see Ancestry's latest blog article, they would not be aware that many genealogists/family historians were angry and outraged over what Ancestry did.

This blog article also states, "We have decided to remove this collection and search engine from Ancestry.com for the time being." Interesting. Does Ancestry intend to only remove this database temporarily and repost it when the uproar has died down? I guess that means that the genealogy community needs to stay on the alert when it comes to new databases that Ancestry posts.

If you want to read my post on the database issue, click here.

My Two Cents on Ancestry's Internet Biography Database

Throughout this evening, I have read several blog articles about Ancestry's Internet Biography database, and I couldn't help but add my two cents to this issue.

Originally, Ancestry required a paying membership in order to view this database, but the database was turned into a free database earlier today because of the uproar over Ancestry's actions.

Personally, what Ancestry did was ethically and morally wrong. I don't know if Ancestry could be held legally liable for its behavior because I am not a lawyer. I don't have that answer, but what I do know is that it is unethical to take information off the internet and put into a database without the author or owner's consent. According to other bloggers, their information was obtained without their consent, and they did not give Ancestry their consent. (To me, it appears to be plagiarism, but I don't believe that Ancestry's behavior technically would fall under that category.) And Ancestry did not pay those people any money for the use of their information. Even though it is now a free database, technically, one could argue that they did make some money off of it when a person was still required to pay to access this database. But, again, I don't know if Ancestry could face legal repercussions for this or not because I'm not a lawyer. What I do know, though, is that Ancestry's behavior is blatantly dishonest from a moral standpoint. People try to teach their children to be honest, but when children see companies behave dishonestly, I don't believe they walk away with the idea that honesty is right, especially when they see dishonest companies profit.

Of course, other bloggers have written much more eloquently than I on this subject, and some of those articles are:

• Randy Seaver's "Ancestry.com is caching some web site data"
• Jasia's "Greedy Ancestry.com Stabs Friends in the Back"
• Becky Wiseman's "Is this Fair Use?"
• Miriam's "Ancestry.com: Copyright Violations?"
• Janice Brown's "Ancestry.com Hijacks Cow Hampshire"
• Susan's "Ancestry.com Scrapes Websites; Places Harvested Content Behind Membership Wall"

This list is not comprehensive; I've only linked to a few of the blog articles, and I have no doubt that there are more.

I will have to say, though, that I will be much more careful in the future with whatever I post, and from now on, I will not name any of my ancestors, if I even decide to write about my research at all.

A Little Movie I Created...

I just created this little movie earlier today. It is a movie about the different stages of life, and it showcases different times in one man's life. It's just supposed to be a fun, little movie.




Update at 8:40 p.m.: In case anyone is curious as to where I obtained the graphics, my post on my daily blog explains where they came from.

Added a Poll

I just added a poll to see how far back other people have researched their family history. It is just for fun, and I will write about the results after the poll closes in the next two weeks.

Classes Begin

Today, classes begin at my university, and that has led me to think about our ancestors and what school was like for them. That is, if they went to school at all. In our world, today, children are required by law to go to school up to a certain age, but laws requiring attendance did not always exist. Or if our ancestors went to school, they may have only gone to school for a few years, especially if they lived on a farm. I don't know how many years my great-grandfather went to school, but according to my grandfather, his education amounted to the equivalent of a fourth grade reading level. As for my great-great-grandfather, I don't even know how long he went to school or if he did go to school.

Of course, if our ancestors went to school there should be some evidence that they did. These are a few record types where one might find evidence for an ancestor's education:

• Yearbooks (I realize this one is an obvious one, but these books might not necessarily be high school yearbooks. My middle school also had yearbooks.)
• Biographies (Biographies of prominent members of an area may indicate whether an ancestor went to school or not.)
• Family Stories or Traditions (I know you still must verify your information, but you might be able to obtain accurate information on how much of an education that your grandparents or your great-grandparents obtained, from those who remember past generations.)
• Legal documents (These might not be necessarily be documents that state how much of an education a person obtained, but documents such as wills, deeds or pension files can indicate whether or not a person went to school through that person's signature or lack of one.)
• School pictures (Again, I realize this is an obvious source, but finding an ancestor in an old school picture will indicate that that ancestor did attend school at one point. My grandma still has a photo of her class in elementary school.)
• Census Records (Some censuses will indicate if an ancestor is in school and possibly hint at when an ancestor was in school and not.)
• Old licenses (Primarily of professions, such as medicine or law, might indicate whether a person had a formal education or not.)

There are probably many more sources that one can find that would indicate whether or not a person obtained an education, but most of the sources I have listed above are sources that are part of the public record. Some school districts probably had their own censuses or cards with a student's information; however, a person may not be able to obtain those records for legal reasons. (I do have one old school district card, that I found in some family papers, that lists information on a student's family and which school that student attended.) Even though I just listed some records, there are other genealogists who have written articles on where one could find records. Other articles on school records include:

• Ancestry's Tips from the Pros: School Records
• Ancestry's 27 August 2006 Tips from the pros: School Records

These are just two articles that I quickly found. I don't doubt that there are others. If anyone else knows about other school records, please feel free to leave a comment. I can always add an update listing other people's suggestions. Thanks.

An Interesting Picture ...

I took a walk around my campus earlier today, and took some pictures. This is one of the pictures, and it is of a historical marker that I found on my campus. I realize the quality of this picture is poor, but I did read the marker. According to this marker, this area of my college's campus used to be a settlement. This settlement was involved in Michigan's lumbering industry over a hundred and fifty years ago. (For those who don't know, lumbering was a major industry in Michigan, especially northern Michigan, in the nineteenth century). I don't think most people would care or expect to find a historical marker on their campus. I guess this just goes to show you that you can find history where ever you go or look for it. Even if your college is fairly young compared to other college campuses.

To see other pictures I took and posted to another one of my blogs, click here.

Added Another History Blog

Today I found another history blog and added it to my history blog list. The history blog added is:

• Maggie's History of American Women

You can find this blog on the lower left hand of this page. Any other suggestions for history blogs are welcome.

Three Interesting Olive Tree Genealogy Blog Posts

I just recently noticed these three posts that I thought might of some interest to other genealogists:

• "Philadelphia Pennsylvania Baggage Lists"
• "Fort Ville-Marie, French Settlement in Montreal in 1642 found!"
• "Palatine History"

All three of the articles appear to be very interesting from a genealogical and historical view.

Birthdays ... and Genealogy

Today is my birthday, and earlier today I started to wonder about birthday celebrations in the past. I mean, how did our ancestors' celebrate their birthdays? Did they celebrate with parties and gift-giving? When did gift-giving start to become a tradition?

I don't have the answer to any of these questions. I just started to wonder about it. Hm .... I smell a research project! It looks as though I need to do research on these questions.

Anyhow, besides wondering how birthdays are celebrated, I started thinking about when people come of age. Not all too long ago, the age when a person legally came of age was twenty-one in this country and in other countries. I don't know if the legal age for adulthood is twenty-one is in other countries, but I do know that culturally, in the United Kingdom, twenty-one was once the age associated with coming of age. When my Mom turned twenty-one, her relatives sent her money because that was they age that they associated with coming of age. I don't know if that is still the case, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was.

Of course, I wonder why twenty-one was chosen as the age when a person became an adult. I guess I'll just have to research it.

That's just my thoughts. Does anyone else have thoughts about birthdays and genealogy?

Two More History Blogs Added

Over the past few days, I have added two more history blogs. Those blogs are:

• Mass Moments (I first learned about this blog from Randy Seaver's post.)
• Roy Booth's Early Modern Whale

You can find the links to these two blogs on the lower left hand of the page. Any suggestions for other blogs are welcome.

Update at 9:oo p.m.: I should have said that I'm interested in genealogy or history blogs. I deleted the first two comments to this post because the blog suggestion was not to a history or genealogy blog. I'm sorry for any confusion that this might have generated.

Family Myths and Traditions - Confirmed, Disproved or Unconfirmed

Very few family myths or legends have been passed down in my family, so I haven't had many stories to investigate or confirm. I have, though, been able to confirm a few stories or at least confirm some of the facts in the few stories that my family has.

On my father's side, there was a story that one of our ancestors had served in the Civil War. I was able to confirm that this story was true and in addition to my ancestor, his brother-in-laws , his wife's uncle and possible at least two possible brothers also served. (I haven't been able to completely verify yet that these two other men living in the same county are my ancestor's brothers. I'm still doing research on whether are his brothers.)

Another story from my father's side claims that someone in the family became a cattle-rustler, but I haven't proven that story yet.

On my mother's side, one family story claims that my great-grandfather was the youngest of thirteen children and that he went to live with a married siblings after his parents died. This older sibling mistreated him to the point that he ran away at thirteen and joined the crew of a ship. I've been able to confirm that he ended up living in the household of his older, married brother, but I haven't been able to confirm the part about working on a ship. I don't know how true that portion is. Also, I've only been able to find about ten other siblings, so it may be possible that he was the youngest to thirteen.

These are just a couple of the few stories that were passed down. For most of the few family traditions that my family has, I have not yet confirmed or disproved them. I'm still searching.

Haven't Posted In a While

I've been busy lately and haven't had time to post anything, so I apologize to those who were wondering why I haven't posted lately. Now that I am back at school, the focus of my posting will be on history, but I might still write posts for the Carnival of Genealogy.

Added Two More Genealogy blogs

I just recently added two genealogy blogs. Those blogs are:

• Radixlog's Hungarian Genealogy News blog
• Family Connections

If anyone has any other suggestions for genealogy or history blogs, please feel free to leave a comment with a suggestion. Thanks.

Update at 7:20 am: I forgot to mention that you can find the link to these and other blogs on the lower left side of this blog. I'm sorry for any of the confusion.

Next Edition of Carnival of Genealogy Posted

I just wanted to let everyone know that the latest edition of the Carnival of Genealogy has been posted at footnote Maven's blog.

Library of Michigan Program

I just noticed on Ancestry's blog that the Library of Michigan has set up a class for kids on how to do genealogy. You can read Ancestry's article here. I would also read the article that Ancestry's blog provides a link to, and you can read that article here.

The title of the post, though, is a bit misleading because it states "Michigan State Library." When I first read the title, I thought the library at Michigan State University (MSU) was hosting the program. As a person from Michigan, whenever I see the phrase "Michigan State," I think of the university first. I guess I'm just too conditioned to think that way.

An Interesting Book

A few weeks ago, I went to one of the local libraries in the area that I live in, and found this book: Cripple Creek Days by Mabel Barbee Lee (Doubleday & Company, Inc.: Garden City, New York, 1958). (Okay, the library was giving away books it had decided to discard, and I got it for free.) I have not yet read this book, but it appears to be the author's memoir of Cripple Creek, Colorado's heyday.

So, if anyone is interested in the history of Cripple Creek, this probably would be a good book to read.

Another More Genealogy Blogs Posted Post

Today, I have just added several more genealogy posts. The posts added are:

• Dick Eastman's Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter
• Bogus Corners
• Family History Quest
• World Vital Records blog
• Sandra Rothman's Forgotten Ancestors: A Journey to Western Ukraine
• Pat's a Journey into the Past
• Genealogy Dribs and Drabs

If anyone else has any ideas or suggestions for other genealogy or history blogs, you are more than welcome to leave a comment with your suggestions.

Looking for Muskegon County, Michigan Family Histories

To be honest, I'm not looking for the family histories, but the Muskegon County Genealogical Society is. I only found out about this today from reading Miriam, of AncesStories, and Dear Myrtle's posts.

From what I have read, the society is planning to publish a book on family histories from Muskegon County.

Unfortunately, I don't have any roots in Muskegon County. Now, if a book for Saint Joseph County were to come out, I might be interested in sending a family history . . .

Tombstone Maker Website

I just learned about this website from reading Randy Seaver's post. On this website, you can create your own tombstone epitaph.

I thought it was an interesting site, so I decided to create a tombstone marker. Here is mine:









Update: July 30, 2007:





I also created a tombstone for one of my ancestors. I know where he is buried (now, after a wild goose chase), but he doesn't have a grave marker. So, I made him one. Here it is:





Okay, I know the epitaph is not the most original, but this was the best I could think of. Maybe someday I will tell the story of how I found his grave, but it won't be today.

Ancestry News - More Databases

In case you haven't noticed, Ancestry has added several databases for Australian genealogy. The link to the information can be found here: http://blogs.ancestry.com/circle/?p=1672.

Also, Ancestry has updated the British World War One Pension records. You can read about it here: http://blogs.ancestry.com/circle/?p=1673.