100th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The 100th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy has been posted! The edition is broken down into four parts, and you can read parts 1, 2 3 and 4 by clicking the numbers. The topic for the next edition will be posted next week. Enjoy!

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories Day Two: Holiday Foods

When I last participated in the Advent Calendar three years ago, the topic for day three was on holiday foods, but this year it is on day two. I always love the food around Christmas, and thus, I can't resist writing another post on this topic.

So, does my family have any traditional dishes that are served at Christmas? While I really can't think of any dishes that are unique to my family, per se, the main dish for dinner in past years has varied between turkey, prime rib, ham or a combination of the two. Many of the side dishes, such as mashed potatoes, salad or stuffing, are dishes that we also eat at Thanksgiving. (The dishes are freshly made for each holiday, of course.) So, I don't think our Christmas dinner is much different from other American families' Christmas dinners, but I could be wrong.

My most favorite part of the Christmas dinner, though, is the desserts. Usually we have different types of cookies (of which I'll write about in a future post) and pies. If the Christmas dinner is held by my parents, we either buy the cookies, make them or a combination of both, although it seems that in that past few years that we have bought the cookies.

As for breakfast on Christmas morning, my family doesn't have a traditional dish. In the past few years my mom has made a couple of different breakfast meals, but I wouldn't consider those dishes to be traditional because we have had different meals for breakfast in the past few years.

In short, my family doesn't have a dish that is unique or traditional when it comes to Christmas meals.

(Note: This post was finally published on December 15, 2010.)

Advent Calender of Christmas Memories Day One: Christmas Trees

When the Advent Calender Memories began three years ago, I wrote a brief article about Christmas trees in my family. In that article I mentioned the types of Christmas trees that my family usually puts up each year.

Traditionally, my grandparents would get a real Christmas tree, but in the past few years, I don't know if they've had a tree since I haven't over at their house during Christmas in the past few years. As for my family, we have always had a fake Christmas tree, and we put the same tree up every year. About ten years ago, we replace that tree with a newer tree, and since then I don't think that tree has been replaced.

Either way, I don't know anymore because I am usually away at school when the tree is put up by my parents. I don't know if the tree has been put up yet, but if it hasn't, I'm sure I'll helping putting up and taking down the tree this year.

A Belated Acknowledgement - The Ancestor Approved Award

Back in early April, Miriam awarded me the Ancestor Approved Award, but I wasn't able to acknowledge the award at the time because I was extremely busy with school work. Thank you, Miriam, for the award! (I am really sorry and embarrassed for the delay!)

The requirements for this award are that I list ten surprising, humbling or enlightening things that I've learned about my ancestors and that I then give this award to ten other people.

Here are ten things I have learned about my ancestors so far:

1. Surprising - Family tradition stated that my great-grandfather (the one who served in World War One) lost both of his parents at a young age; however, the tradition did not mention the names of his parents or how they died. Until I discovered the names of his parents in his birth record and the name of his father in his marriage record, I did not know anything about them other than what was passed down in the family, and with the information that I obtained, I discovered that someone had posted some information on my great-great-grandparents on the Family Search website. (Obviously, I've been confirming the information I found.) Once I had the death dates for my great-grandfather's parents, I was able to get someone to look up the records for me, and later I was able to view the documents for myself on Scotland's People. From the death record, I learned that my great-great-grandfather had died in a freak accident. Of course, that was quite shocking to me, especially since the death record gave some details as how my ancestor had died. (I haven't looked yet, but I think I should look and see if there was an inquest on his death as the death record was updated a year after the original entry. Does anyone know if inquest records from the 1890s in Scotland still exist?)
2. Surprising - Discovering that one of great-great-grandfathers had been married at least three times. When I first started my research, I learned that this ancestor had been married twice, but until I actually did research at the St. Joseph County, Michigan's Clerk office, neither my grandpa or I knew that he had been married to another woman prior to our female ancestor. Additionally, the discovery of that first wife's death after two months of marriage and the cause of death was a bit of shock as well. (Of course, I still haven't found the marriage record for the third marriage, although census records and family stories point to my ancestor's remarriage after his second wife's death.)
   
3. Surprising - Discovering that my ancestor, Christoph Friedrich Cotta (Jr.), participated in the French Revolution. The family tree that had been done on the Cotta line did not mention anything about the French Revolution, from what I can remember. Of course, the tree is in German, so I could have missed something, but I am still slowly confirming everything on that family tree.
4. Surprising - Learning from secondary sources, the names of Christoph Cotta's maternal grandparents, and that his maternal grandmother had been a famous opera singer in her time. Even more surprising, that she was thrown in jail for eight years by the Duke of Würrtemberg.
5. Surprising - Finding the World War One military records for another one of my great-grandfathers. Well, what was surprising was the information in the records, but I'll leave the findings for another post.
6. Humbling - Uncovering and learning about the hardships that some of my ancestors experienced in their lives.
7. Enlightening - Discovering that Gelnhausen, Germany's church records are online, and being able to find and confirm information that I have on my Kees ancestors.
8. Surprising and Enlightening - Ordering Benjamin Oswalt's Civil War Pension file, and reading some of the information in the testimonies.
9. Surprising - Finding a deed for a piece land in St. Joseph County, Michigan that my ancestor, Peter Stout, had bought while in California.
10. Surprising and Enlightening - Finding the naturalization records for one of my ancestor's brothers, and then finding the declaration of intention for his father, my ancestor. I wrote about those discoveries here.

Well, those are my ten surprising, humbling and enlightening things that I have learned about my ancestors over the course of my research. At this point, I am supposed to nominate ten other genealogy bloggers for this award, but since it has been several months since I was given this award, I've decided not to do that. Here is what I will do instead: If you haven't received this award before and are reading this post, I am awarding this award to you. Enjoy!

95th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The 95th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition will be on

"Scrapbooking Your Family History! Here's a real challenge for you... Who's up to the task? Create a scrapbook page on any theme that suits one or more of your vintage photos. If you don't feel very artistic, lay a few photos down on a piece of colored paper, add a few captions, take a snapshot of it, and voila! You have yourself a digital scrapbook page! If you enjoy creating traditional scrapbook pages, take a picture of one you've done, and that works too. If you're up for creating something more artsy, buy a kit or make your own. Go for it! If you've never done scrapbooking before, this is the opportunity you've been waiting for! If you're an experienced scrapbooker, dig in and enjoy the creative process! The deadline for submissions is August 1st."

Enjoy!

20th Edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture Posted!

The 20th edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition will be on Irish Stories, and you can read more about it here. Enjoy!

28th Edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genalogy Posted!

The 28th edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy has been posted! You can read it here. (Thank you Antra for hosting!) The topic for the next edition will be on religion, and will be hosted by J. M. of Tracing My Roots. Submissions are due May 14, and the edition will be posted on May 17. You can submit your articles here. Enjoy!

Don't Forget! Submissions Are Due Today!

I just want to remind everyone that submissions for the upcoming edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy are due today. The topic for this edition is war stories, and you can submit entries here. Enjoy!

27th Edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy Posted!

The 27th edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy has been posted! You can read it here. (Thank you, Al, for a wonderful edition!) The topic for the next edition will be on war stories, and the deadline for submissions will be April 25. The edition will be posted on April 28th, and you can submit your articles here. Enjoy!

A New Carnival!

Although I'm late in posting this, I still wanted to mention that a new carnival, the Carnival of Genealogy Societies, has been created! You can read more about the carnival here. The topic for the first edition will be on

"Doin' Things Right! Shine a spotlight on a specific program, project, or publication at a genealogical society and tell us why it worked. Tell an anecdote about how you benefited from a particular genealogical society service. Share a success story and be specific! The deadline for submissions is March 7, 2010."

Enjoy!

16th Edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture Posted!

The 16th edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition will be on "Irish genealogy show and tell," and you can read more about it here. Enjoy!

77th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The 77th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition will be on:

"Pony Pictures! This is your chance to show off those pony pictures in your family album. Did you ride your first pony at the state fair or on a farm? Did you have to sit on the back and hold on to your older brother? Was your pony real or a rocking horse? Got any pictures of other family members on ponies? Show us the cowboys and cowgirls in your family and tell us the stories to go along with them. Giddyup pony! The deadline for submissions is August 15."

Enjoy!

My German Ancestors and Their Summertime Experiences ...

For this edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern Europe, I'm supposed to write my ancestors' experiences with summers in America and Europe, and to be honest, I really do not know very much about what life was like for my ancestors in Europe or America. (Although when it comes to life in America, I can guess a little about what their summers might have been like.)

Most of my German ancestors settled in the Great Lakes area, primarily in Michigan and Ohio, and since I've grown up in the same region as they settled, I do know what summers are like for the area. Summers in Michigan tend to be hot (Temperatures can range from the 70s to 90s, and sometimes even higher.) and humid. This year the summer has been cooler than it usually is, but even so, I've still had to use the air conditioning because there have several days that were either humid, hot or both. Of course, my ancestors would not have had air conditioning, so they would have had to find other ways to stay cool. Although I'm not completely sure as what my ancestors might have done, I do know that a couple of my ancestors would leave Detroit, either to go to the cottage they owned or to a farm owned by other relatives. Of course, those probably were not the only things my ancestors did, but at the moment, I don't know what they might have done.

As for the weather in Europe, I do not believe I would be too far off to say that they might have had to make a little adjustment, but I cannot say for sure. I have been to Germany in the summer, and from what I remember, the weather was slightly warmer than what I was familiar. Although it was slightly warmer, I think the weather was quite comparable to the weather or the Great Lakes region, so I do not believe my ancestors would have been shocked by the weather in the summertime. As for the weather during wintertime, I think that is a completely different story.

Reminder: Submissions Are Due Today!

I just want to remind everyone that the submissions for this upcoming edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy are due today. You can read more about the topic here, and you can submit your articles here.

Also, I am still looking for hosts for these two months:

• October
• December

If you are interested in hosting either one of these months, please contact me at jess_history at yahoo dot com. Thanks!

Submission Deadline Update

I just want to let everyone know that the deadline for this upcoming edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy has been extended until the 24th of July. Thanks!

Is Anyone Planning To Submit Articles?

I'm just wondering: Is anyone still planning to submit an article for the upcoming edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy? The submission deadline is supposed to be today, but you need more time, please let me or Thomas know. Thanks!

76th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The 76th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition will be on "As human beings, our very existence is proof of the survival skills, faith, or just plain luck our ancestors possessed in order to persevere through millenia of disasters: epidemics, wars, pestilences, famines, accidents, and acts of nature.For the next Carnival of Genealogy, tell about a disaster that one or more of your ancestors lived through: Did they survive a hurricane, flood, tornado, train wreck, sinking ship, plague, genocide, explosion, mine collapse, or some other terrible event? How did they survive? Research the details of the disaster and explain how it affected your ancestor (guilt, fear, faith, gratitude, etc.), your family's history, and even yourself! Tip: Check out GenDisasters and historical newspapers to get more details about the event. The deadline for submissions for the next edition is August 1 and it will be hosted by Miriam at AnceStories." Enjoy!

Reminder: Submissions Are Due!

I just want to remind everyone that submissions for the upcoming edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy are due on the 20th. You can read more about the topic here.

20th Edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy

Welcome to the 20th edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern European Genealogy! The topic for this edition was a carousel, and that means that submitted articles could be on anything as long as they related to Central or Eastern Europe and genealogy. Although this edition is a small one, there are interesting articles in this edition. Here are the articles for this edition:

First off, we have two articles from Al of Polish-American Genealogy Research. In Index of Indexes, he writes about a website that lists indexing projects that are occurring Poland, and in Indexing Project - Geneteka Part One, he writes about how one can use the Polish website mentioned to research your ancestors.

Next, we have an article from Jen Bawden of Hills Hollows Valleys Plains, a first-time submitter. In Germany is Germane to the Situation?, she writes about how she had difficulty researching her German ancestors until she discovered a notebook that was compiled by her mother.

Last, but not least, we have an article from Jessica Oswalt of Jessica's Genejournal. In Looking For My German Ancestors, Part 7, she continues to write about her research into Anna's family.

Well, that is it for this edition. The next edition will be hosted by Thomas of Destination: Austin Family. The topic for that edition, as suggested by Thomas, will be on "How did your ancestors celebrate the glorious season of summer both back home in Europe and here in America? Did they need to make adjustments once here in America since the weather was different? Or summer customs were different? Include memories, photos, recipes – anything that helps tell summertime stories." The deadline for that edition will be July 20th, and the edition will be published on July 25th. You can submit your articles here.

As a side note, I am still looking for hosts these future months:

• August
• October
• November
• December

If you are interested in hosting the August edition, please contact me at jess_history at yahoo dot com by July 18. Thanks!

74th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Posted!

The 74th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy has been posted! You can read it here. The topic for the next edition will be on

“Justice and Independence. Since our beginnings as a nation, the United States
of America has seen changes with every year, every decade, and every century.
Each generation adds growth to our lives, our communities, and our nation. One
thing that has never changed, however, is our desire for Justice for those who
wrong us and Independence from those who try to oppress us. This month’s COG
asks you to relate to these concepts of Justice and Independence in one or all
of three ways: 1). Tell a story of an ancestor(s) who fought for freedom. 2).
Tell a story about how Independence Day was celebrated by your ancestors. Did
any of their celebratory traditions get passed down for your own family to
continue? Or 3). Post the lyrics of a song that exemplifies how Justice and
Independence have worked in the lives of your ancestors and/or family. Include
photos! This edition of the COG will be hosted by Colleen at OMcHodoy (thanks Colleen!). Deadline for submissions is July 1."

Enjoy!