My Ancestors and Me

Happy Valentine's Day, Friends.

2012-02-14T00:01:00.002-05:00

Eureka! I Found Him!

2012-02-13T21:04:00.012-05:00

Or, better said, I found his name (misspelled!) in the online index to Pennsylvania Death Certificates. A few years ago I requested my great-grandfather Fred Gerner's death certificate from the Pennsylvania Department of Health. They took my $17.00 and returned a "No Record Certification" of death saying they couldn't find any record of him. I guessed Fred's surname name was probably misspelled in their indexes.

Tonight when I learned from Claudia's Genealogy Blog that the Pennsylvania Death Index was available online, I immediately went to the website and began searching name variations for Gerner. I was almost certain I would find him under "Garner" but he wasn't there. Then I began to think of misinterpretations of handwriting and continued down the pages to the names beginning with "Ge." Sure enough, there was "Gener, Fredrick K., Bruin, died March 26." His certificate number is not completely legible but I hope the employees at the public records office will be helpful.

Finding Fred's death certificate is important to me because I am optimistically hopeful that the names of his parents will be on it. From his youngest daughter I know that his parents' names were known to family members but when I asked her for information she was in her late 90s and couldn't remember their names.

Thank you, Claudia, for posting the link, and thank you, Governor Tom Corbett for approving PA Senate Bill 361.

I don't know how long it will take for a death certificate to arrive but perhaps I'll be writing about another named generation in the next month or so.

An additional note: I don't have a death certificate for my great-grandmother Tressa Rose Froman Doyle. I found her in the index, too. I will be sending two requests in the same envelope. I'll be looking forward to my colorful return-addressed envelope in the mail in coming weeks.

One more note: It looks like I'll be waiting longer than a few weeks. The website states, "Mail requests are processed in approximately sixteen to eighteen weeks from the date of receipt." I've been patient this long, I guess I can continue to be patient.

Family Heirlooms - Abundant Genealogy Week 6

2012-02-11T09:25:00.004-05:00

Sometimes I forget I have things that once belonged to and/or were made by my parents and other ancestors. I decided to make a list, as far as my memory takes me today, and make more additions later. Now that the list is made I should photograph these things and write about them.

It's hard to say for which I'm most grateful. Some of them in combination speak of one aspect of the life of a family member and are things that were a part of my childhood. Other treasures hold no actual memory of my ancestor and yet our hands meet across time as I touch the same thing he or she touched. Some are more present in my life and are in use often; others are seldom seen. Either way, I'm grateful for all of them.

Heirlooms in my possession either permanently or on temporary loan

my father's roll-top desk
several small chests of drawers that my father used for watch parts and other small items with drawers are about 1" high and from 18" to 22" wide (You can see two of them on top of the desk in the photo at the link above)
small parts, papers, containers, and tools from inside my father's desk
a mending basket and a button basket that belonged to my grandmother
a pink depression glass lidded jar that my mother used in the kitchen
my grandfather's fedora
a rocking chair that one of my great-grandfathers made for my mother when she was a child
a framed village scene that hung in my grandfather's barber shop (which my grandmother was going to throw it out and I rescued)
several journal books that my father kept to record the repairs he made and the cost of parts to make the repairs on houses he rented to others
two rectangular metal baskets my father used to carry tools to make the above repairs
my mother's photo album (on temporary loan, as I understand it)
my grandmother's photo album (also on temporary loan, as I understand it)
my grandmother's recipe box and a spelling tablet she used to copy recipes
several pieces of jewelry from my mother, father, and grandmother
a metal belt buckle with the letter "G" in its center which my mother once said belonged to my grandfather, Gust Doyle
one of my father's tobacco pouches
my mother's 1941 black Singer sewing machine (which I still use)
a double wedding ring quilt made by my great-grandmother (generously given to me by my brother)
a double- or queen-size Dresden Plate quilt top pieced by my mother
a single-size Dresden Plate quilt my mother pieced and she and my grandmother quilted
a set of hot-pads crocheted by my grandmother
linens embroidered by my grandmother
a family Bible that belonged to my great-grandparents (which doesn't have and never had family information pages)
ephemera and scrapbooks from my mother
more to remember

I have a post in progress about my mother's rocking chair.

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This post was written to participate in Amy Coffin's 52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy which is hosted on Geneabloggers. The theme will change weekly and may be posted any day of the week. This week's theme was family heirlooms. (For which family heirloom are you most thankful? How did you acquire this treasure and what does it mean to you and your family?) This challenge ran from Sunday, February 5, 2012 through Saturday, February 11, 2012. I invite you to participate if you'd like.

Grampa As a Young Man - Wordless Wednesday

2012-02-08T13:35:00.005-05:00

My grandfather William Carl Robert Meinzen's birthday is today. He was born on this day, February 8, in either 1891 or 1892. He became a barber, a husband, a father, an electrician, and a grandfather.

Happy Birthday, Grampa!

Claim for Disability Pension - Civil War Pension File

2012-02-08T01:03:00.027-05:00

Ellis Bickerstaff's effort to obtain a pension for his service in the Civil War began with this document, dated July 19, 1890. It appears to have been a two-sided document. In the transcription below, the words and numbers in italics indicate the handwritten responses on blank lines in the printed document. (You can click on the images to see them larger. The image will open in a new window. When you're done viewing it, click the back arrow on the upper left of your browser window.)

This document gives me Ellis's birthdate which, until I received this, I was only able to calculate to the year based on census records. It also gives me some information about his physical appearance.

Catarrah is a disease of the mucous membranes of the naval cavities. (The link sends you to a transcript of an article in the The New York Times dated March 3, 1865. No modern definitions here when we can find something closer to the time period!)

________________________________________________________________

[Transcription of front]
220848 [rubber stamped in upper left]
CLAIM FOR DISABILITY PENSION
SOLDIER.

E. H. Biggerstaff Applicant
Co. D , 157 Reg’t.,
Ohio Vols.
Enlisted 2nd May, 1864
Discharged 2nd Sept, 1864
Act approved June 27 , 1890

Filed by
McNEILL & BIRCH,
ATTORNEYS,
P.O. DRAWER 457 WASHINGTON, D. C.

[Transcription of inside]
Declaration of Soldier for a Disability Pension.

~~This must be executed before some officer of a court of record having custody of the seal.~~

State of Pennsylvania, County of Westmoreland SS.
On this 19 day of July, A.D., one thousand eight hundred and ninety ........... personally appeared before me a Notary Public of the County of Westmoreland a Court of record within and for the County and State aforesaid E. H. Biggerstaff aged 50 years, who being duly sworn according to law, declares that he is the identical E. H. Biggerstaff who was Enrolled on the 2nd day of May 1864, in Company D of the 157 Regiment of Ohio Vols., commanded by Captain Robert Bouls and was honorably Discharged at Camp Chase Ohio on the 2nd day of Sept 1864, and that he served for a period in excess of ninety days; That his personal description is as follows; Age 50 years; height 6 feet ...... inches; complexion Fair hair Brown; eyes Blue and was born at Steubenville Ohio on the 11th day of April 1840.
That he is now disabled for manual labor by reason of Catarrh and lung trouble and that said disability is in no respect due to any vicious habit on his part; and that he claims pension under the disability pension bill, being entitled thereto by reason of his inability to earn a support by manual labor.
That he has not applied for pension.
That he has not been employed in the military or naval services otherwise than as stated above
That he has not been in the military or naval service of the United States since the 2 day of Sep 1864
That since leaving the service this applicant has resided in the City of Steubenville Ohio in the State of Ohio and that his occupation has been that of a Carpenter
That prior to his entry into the service above named he was a man of good, sound, physical health, being when enrolled a Farmer. That he is now three fourths disabled from obtaining his subsistence by manual labor by reasons of his disabilities above described, and he therefore makes this declaration for the purpose of being placed on the pension roll of the United States, under the Act approved June 27 1890. He hereby appoints with full power of substitution and revocation McNEILL & BIRCH of Washington, D.C. his true and lawful attorneys to prosecute his claim; that his residence is No. ............, in ............................ street of Scottdale County of Westmoreland and State of Penna and his Post Office address is the same
Samuel B. McMillan [signature]
E. H. Biggerstaff [signature] Claimant's Signature.
Edward L. Rutherford [signature]
Attest--Two witnesses who can write

[Transcription of back side]
Also personally appeared Sam. B. McMillan residing at Scottdale State of Penna, and Edward L Rutherford residing at Scottdale, State of Penna, persons whom I certify to be respectable and entitled to credit, and who being by me duly sworn, say that they were present and saw E. H. Biggerstaff, the claimant, sign his name, (or make his mark) to the foregoing declaration; that they have every reason to believe, from the appearance of said claimant and their acquaintance with him, that he is the identical person he represents himself to be; that his condition is as stated and that they have no interest in the prosecution of this claim.

Samuel B. McMillan [signature]
Edward L. Rutherford [signature] signature of Affiants.

Sworn to and subscribed before me this 19th day of July A.D. 1890 and I hereby certify that the contents of the above declaration, &c., were fully made known and explained to the applicant and witnesses before swearing, including the words................ erased and the words ....................... added, and that I have no interest, direct or indirect in the prosecution of this claim.
John Rutherford [signature]
Clerk of the Notary Public

________________________________________________________________

Other posts concerning Ellis Bickerstaff's Civil War Records:
Ordering Civil War Compiled Military Service Records - posted on 10/20/11
Reviewing Civil War Compiled Military Service Records - posted on 11/14/11
Ordering a Civil War Pension File - posted on 12/3/11
His Civil War Pension File Arrived - posted on 12/15/11
Civil War Pension File: First View - posted on 1/4/12
Civil War Pension File: Inventory - posted on 1/5/12
Civil War Pension File: Chronological Overview of Papers Pertaining to Ellis - posted 1/16/12

The 50 Questions in the 1940 Census - Tuesday's Tip

2012-02-07T00:01:00.016-05:00

At The 1940 U.S. Census Community Project you can learn more about the 1940 Census and choose a state to help index (if you'd like) beginning on April 2, 2012.

Short and sweet: here's what you'll find when in the 1940 census (if the census taker followed the instructions, filled every box, and had legible handwriting).

--- Population Schedule ---

LOCATION
1 Street, avenue, road, etc.
2 House number

HOUSEHOLD DATA
3 Number of household in order of visitation
4 Home owned (O) or rented (R)
5 Value of home, if owned, or monthly rental, if rented
6 Does this household live on a farm? (Yes or No)

NAME
7 Name of each person whose usual place of residence on April 2, 1940, was in this household

RELATION
8 Relationship of person to the head of the household, as wife, daughter, father, mother-in-law, etc.

PERSONAL DESCRIPTION
9 Sex --Male (M), Female (F)
10 Color or race
11 Age at last birthday
12 Marital status

EDUCATION
13 Attended school or college any time since March 1, 1940? (Yes or No)
14 Highest grade of school completed

PLACE OF BIRTH. If born in the U.S., give State, Territory, or possession. If foreign born, give country in which birthplace was situation on January 1, 1937. Distinguish Canada-French from Canada-English and Irish Free State (Eire) from Northern Ireland
15

CITIZENSHIP
16 Citizenship of the foreign born

RESIDENCE, APRIL 1, 1935
17 City, town, or village having 2600 or more inhabitants. Enter "R" for all other places.
18 County
19 State (or Territory or foreign country)
20 On a farm? (Yes or No)

PERSONS 14 YEARS OLD AND OVER--EMPLOYMENT STATUS
21 Was this person at work for pay or profit in private or nonemergency Govt. work during week of March 24-30? (Yes or No)
22 If not, was he at work on, or assigned to, public EMERGENCY WORK (WPA, NYA, CCC, etc.) during week of March 24-30? (Yes or No)

23 Was this person SEEKING WORK? (Yes or No)
24 If not seeking work, did he HAVE A JOB, business, etc.? (Yes or No)
25 Indicate whether engaged in home housework (H), in school (S), unable to work (U), or other (Ot)
26 Number of hours worked during week of March 24-30, 1940
27 Duration of unemployment up to March 30, 1940--in weeks

OCCUPATION, INDUSTRY, and CLASS OF WORKER
28 Occupation. Trade, profession, or particular kind of work
29 Industry. Industry or business
30 Class of worker
31 Number of weeks worked in 1939 (Equivalent full-time weeks)
32 Amount of money wages or salary received (including commissions)
33 Did this person receive income of $50 or more from sources other than money wages or salary? (Yes or No)
34 Number of Farm Schedule

SUPPLEMENTARY QUESTIONS
35 Name

PLACE OF BIRTH OF FATHER AND MOTHER
If born in the United States, give State, Territory, or possession. If foreign born, give country in which birthplace was satuated on January 1, 1937. Distinguish Canada-French from Canada-English and Irish Free State (Eire) from Northern Ireland
36 Place of birth of Father
37 Place of birth of Mother

Mother Tongue (or Native Language)
38 Language spoke in home in earliest childhood

Veterans. Is this person a veteran of the U.S. military forces; or the wife, widow, or under-18-year-old child of a veteran?
39 If so, enter "Yes"
40 If child, is veteran-father dead? (Yes or No)
41 War or military service

Social Security
42 Does this person have a Federal Social Security Number? (Yes or No)
43 Were deductions for Federal Old-Age Insurance or Railroad Retirement made from this person's wages or salary in 1939? (Yes or No)
44 If so, were deductions made from (1) all, (2) one-half or more, (3) part but less than half, of wages or salary?

USUAL OCCUPATION, INDUSTRY, AND CLASS OF WORKER.
45 Occupation
46 Usual Industry
47 Usual class of worker

FOR ALL WOMEN WHO HAVE BEEN MARRIED
48 Has this woman been married more than once (Yes or No)
49 Age at first marriage
50 Number of children ever born (Do not include stillbirths)

This information comes from pp. 62-66 in Measuring America: The Decennial Census From 1790-2000, part 2. At this source you can read the census taker's instructions and you'll learn that that there were 3 parts to the census. The other two included a census of occupied buildings and a census of non-occupied buildings.

Are you looking forward to finding someone's name in the 1940 census? I am!

High Hopes for February: To Do List -- Motivation Monday

2012-02-06T19:06:00.012-05:00

Stephanie at Corn and Cotton: My Family’s Story has invited bloggers to share our goals (or in my case my "to dos") either each week or each month. Thank you, Stephanie. The idea is that making these public will help me feel more committed and sharing them among a group of other bloggers doing the same thing will increase motivation and mutual support.

Having not completed everything on my list in January, I have high hopes for February's list. I want to get "caught up," yet I don't want to overload my expectations to the point that I have to keep carrying over more and more each month. I guess I'll go easy on myself this month.

To Do in February:
● post my to do list and the beginning of the month and my successes (or lack thereof) at the end of the month
--- to do list posted on Monday, February 6

● watch one RootsMagic webinar and put what I learn to use (from January)

● transcribe at least one page of Ellis Bickerstaff's Civil War Pension File (from January)

● rename and organize at least one batch of photographs (20-50 images scanned on the same date)

● participate in Abundant Genealogy at least two weeks in the month

● share one Tuesday's Tip

● publish one Surname Saturday post. This will be an irregularly updated list of surnames and surname variations which will include where and when the variations appeared in documents

● continue my educational efforts
--- watched RootsTech live on Thursday, February 2, through Saturday, February 4
--- listened to DearMyrtle's RootsTech 2012 Review on Monday evening, February 6

That's enough for February.

I'm Not In It. Are You?

2012-02-05T00:45:00.001-05:00

Still Learning from RootsTech

2012-02-04T15:46:00.006-05:00

You say you missed RootsTech, the big genealogy and gen-technology conference in Salt Lake City this weekend? The conference is over now but the opportunity to learn from the presenters continues.

I'm not a tech person so those sessions weren't of interest to me. However, there were plenty of genealogy sessions that I would like to have attended. Not having been able to do so, the next best option is to read the syllabus and take out any information that is helpful to me.

RootsTech has made the syllabi for each session available whether you attended the conference or not. It's not the same as being there, not the same as listening to the presenter in person and asking questions at the end, but the syllabi offer some good information.

Go to the RootsTech Sessions Schedule and scroll down through the Thursday list or click the tab at the top to look at the Friday or Saturday sessions. When you find one that interests you, click on the session title. If a syllabus is available you'll see two options for downloading it. With 12-15 sessions per time period you're sure to find some content that interests you.

At RootsTech there's a tab, "Full Archives Coming Soon." Don't miss the keynote addresses from Thursday and Friday as well as the Saturday afternoon session, "Future of FamilySearch Family Tree." Excellent! And then choose from the other presentations. Enjoy, learn.

Life Experiences - Abundant Genealogy Week 5

2012-02-03T23:28:00.000-05:00

This week I'd like to share how other individuals I've met have added abundance to my genealogy and family history research.

The very first person who encouraged me to find my ancestors was a young man who attended church with our family 25 years ago. I was interested but had two young daughters, no car, and there was no internet at the time. I asked my mother for information about her family and my father's family and she shared what she knew. I had a few names and fewer dates. This young man was headed to Salt Lake City for a few weeks and asked about my family's names. I gave him the information my mom had give me. While he was there he spent time at the Family History Library on my behalf and brought home a folder with family group sheets and documents to support the names on the sheets. There were 3 generations on one of my family lines and odd pieces of information on some others. I was excited but limited in what I could do. The folder went into a file drawer and stayed there till 2006 when I learned that working on family history was to be a major effort in my life. At that time I was most grateful to this young man for having documented the sources of the information he'd collected. What a good example he was.

In 2006 another gentleman became instrumental in helping me learn how to find my ancestors. He worked at the nearby Family History Center. It was a time when the full Ancestry.com was available at the FHC. He taught me about online searching, about census research, how to find other sources for information, about scanning photos, about flash drives, and much, much more. He also reinforced the necessity of recording sources and mentored me through my early efforts with PAF. Not only was he a genealogy buff, he was also a computer expert. His encouragement and example were instrumental in helping me consider the importance of an earnest effort to find my ancestors.

There have been others who have encouraged me along the way but these people have been the most memorable. Sometimes it's not my own life experiences, or the experiences of my ancestors, or the challenges in finding ancestors that bring the abundance. Sometimes it's the people I meet and interact with who provide a bounty of blessings

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This post was written to participate in Amy Coffin's 52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy which is hosted on Geneabloggers. The theme will change weekly and may be posted any day of the week. This week's theme was life experiences. I invite you to join in if you'd like.

I Went to RootsTech - Virtually, That Is

2012-02-02T22:30:00.000-05:00

I just watched a rebroadcast of the opening keynote address for RootsTech. (I missed it this morning.) Wow! What the people at FamilySearch and other organizations imagine for the future of records access, use, and sharing is so much bigger and greater than what currently exists. Their foresight, thoughtfulness, and thoroughness are beyond anything I could have imagined. If you weren't able to watch, I hope you'll be able to see a rebroadcast. It's available now, this evening, Thursday, February 2, and will probably continue to be available until the live presentations begin again on Friday morning. FamilySearch seems to be a generous organization and I wouldn't be surprised if all the presentations that were broadcast live will be available later.

In other presentations I watched live, two speakers covered similar topics yet presented almost completely different information. Kory Meyerink's presentation was "Effective Database Search Tactics" and Barbara Renick shared "Eleven Layers of Online Searches." For me their presentations dovetailed and I learned plenty that I didn't know. Now I have some new ideas of ways to search for several of my elusive ancestors as well as collect further information about ancestors with sketchy information. I'm excited to have another go at some online databases.

Do you ever think, "Gosh, they had me in mind when...?" I suppose that's an egotistical viewpoint, yet sometimes in life I feel that way. My thoughts today were, "they must have had me in mind when they chose to broadcast two presentations on the same topic." They were just what I needed - further knowledge, encouragement, and motivation. Then I wondered how it was that I didn't already know much of what they presented: I use the internet all the time to search and research. I thought, "I'm really behind when it comes to technology." Suddenly I realized that the room was full of other people, probably in very similar circumstances to my own, watching the presentations. I suppose there are lots of us who can learn more about how to best use search engines to find information about our ancestors.

Here's a quote spoken by someone at the end of the Thursday keynote address. I don't know the name of the man who said it but I certainly appreciated the thought.

...family history is all about turning hearts because when you turn your heart to your family and your ancestors in the past, your heart turns in the present and you leave a legacy of a turned heart for the future.

Reviewing January

2012-01-31T00:20:00.010-05:00

I'm reviewing my January To Do List and evaluating my success (or lack thereof). We won't call it failure (because I hate to fail.) What I didn't get done in January I'll carry over to February's List. I hope I won't have to do that too often and what I especially hope is that I don't have to carry over the same thing more than once.

January has been a busy month in other areas of my life. There were some non-genealogy deadlines which couldn't be postponed and some activities that took longer than I anticipated. Family history didn't play as large a part of my life in January as I hope it will in February and the rest of the year.

That being said, here's my review for January:

Done! -- Organize Ellis Bickerstaff's pension file into chronological order

Undone. -- Transcribe one document in the pension file.

Done! -- Write and post about his pension file. The CWPF posts were Civil War Pension File: First View; Civil War Pension File: Inventory; and Civil War Pension File: Chronological Overview of Papers Pertaining to Ellis.

Undone. -- Watch one RootsMagic webinar and put what I learn to use in RM with my own information.

Done! -- Write and publish two Tuesday's Tip posts. These posts were U.S. Census Information: Sites for Details and Once a Miner, Twice a Breaker Boy.

Done! -- At FamilySearch, look for new Ohio resources; search any that look helpful.

Done! -- At FamilySearch, look for new Pennsylvania collections.

I'll post my February To Do List in a day or two.

A Poem for Sunday (or Any Day)

2012-01-29T00:05:00.002-05:00

I tremble with gratitude
for my children and their children
who take pleasure in one another.

At our dinner together, the dead
enter and pass among us
in living love and in memory.

And so the young are taught

by Wendell Berry

Free Offline Genealogy Tools - Abundant Genealogy Week 4

2012-01-25T23:12:00.001-05:00

I was putting the finishing touches on a post about several of the local libraries I use for genealogy purposes when it suddenly occurred to me that libraries are resources, not tools. (Why I didn't think of the difference between the two words last week when I wrote about online tools I have no idea. It would have been a different post!)

A free offline tool (an instrument of manual operation) is a bit more challenging to name than a free offline resource (any source of aid or support) but I think books fall into the category of tools (though they're probably also resources). Not many tools are free these days but at my local library I can borrow books without cost. I'll share a few of my favorite helpful genealogy and family history books. I know they can be purchased but chances are your local free public library has copies you could borrow.

The Source: a Guidebook to American Genealogy by Loretto D. Szucs and Sandra H. Luebking, editors.
When I was just beginning to search out my ancestors I was introduced to this book by the director of the local Family History Center. The newest edition had recently been published and he was enthusiastic about the quantity, quality, and scope of this book. It includes a ponderous annotated list of possible sources for you to search. I highly recommend it whether you're new to genealogy or are more experienced: either you will find places to look that you didn't know about or you will find places to look that you forgot about.

Bringing Your Family History to Life through Social History by Katherine Scott Sturdevant
This book offers excellent suggestions of ways to find out about the times in which our ancestors lived. Chapters include social history; home sources/artifacts; family photographs; oral history/tradition; correspondence; college libraries; writing your family history. Chapter bibliographies are long and become suggestions for resources to use next.

A Genealogist’s Guide to Discovering Your Female Ancestors. Special Strategies for uncovering hard-to-find information about your female lineage by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack

A Genealogist’s Guide to Discovering Your Immigrant and Ethnic Ancestors. How to Find and Record Your Unique Heritage by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack

Locating Your Roots. Discover Your Ancestors Using Land Records by Patricia Law Hatcher

All of these books have bibliographies. Bibliographies are excellent tools because they lead you to other sources.

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This post was written to participate in Amy Coffin's 52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy which is hosted on Geneabloggers. The theme will change weekly and may be posted any day of the week. This week's theme was free offline genealogy tools. I invite you to join in if you'd like.

Family History Humor

2012-01-23T15:44:00.008-05:00

I chuckled when I read this "family history" cartoon my aunt sent.

Not that carrier pigeons have anything to do with family history, really, but here's a link if you're interested in learning about them.

FamilySearch Tips

2012-01-22T00:01:00.003-05:00

FamilySearch Tips is a great 10-minute presentation which explains five techniques to help you find ancestors at FamilySearch. Who knew that you could omit your female ancestor's name and find more information about her?! (You'll have to click on the link to watch: I couldn't imbed the presentation.)

Leslie Lawson, Forensic Genealogist, posted the link on Google+ the other day. I found it helpful and thought you might, too. Thanks, Leslie.

Free Online Genealogy Tools - Abundant Genealogy Week 3

2012-01-19T20:03:00.006-05:00

I keep a list of useful free sites on this blog's sidebar. Some help me find ancestors. Others help understand the environment in which my ancestors lived, the language they used, the books and newspapers they might have read, and the things they might have seen.

One of my absolute favorite free sites is Linkpendium. I like it because it is locality specific. As you can see from the image above, you can choose a state in the U.S., choose the U.K. and Ireland, or choose surnames. I usually use the U.S. localities. If you choose a state, you'll arrive at a screen where you can choose a county in that state, which takes you to lists of online links of source. The Jefferson County, Ohio, page is pictured below.

You'll find the links arranged in categories. Not every county has the same links, of course, but most categories are the same. After the categories, there is either a list of links or, if there are too many links to have them all in a list, there is a number (in parentheses) which tells how many links there are for that category. Click on the title to see the list of links.

Often a source is named, such as "Genealogy Trails History Group," "USGenWeb," or "Explore Ancestry for Free." After any link that isn't free, there's a green $.

The category headings for Jefferson County, Ohio, are

Projects
Adjacent Counties - this lists all the counties surrounding the county of interest
Bible Records
Biographies, Oral Histories, Diaries, Memoirs, Genealogies, Correspondence
Cemeteries (27)
Census Records and Indexes (29)
Church Records (30)
Court and Legal Records
Directories
Estate Records
Ethnic
History (77)
Immigration and Naturalization
Introductions and Guides (12)
Land Records
Libraries, Museums, Archives
Look-ups
Mailing Lists
Maps and Gazetteers (31)
Military Records and Histories (these are sub-divided by war)
Miscellaneous Data (11)
Newspaper Records (15)
Obituaries and Funeral Home Records (10)
Photographs, Postcards, Historical Images (12)
School Records and Histories (34)
Societies
Surnames Web sites, obituaries, biographies, and other material specific to a surname (319)
Tax Lists
Transportation and Industry (13)
Vital Records (25)

Linkpendium has added some new features since I was last there and it continually adds new links as people recommend them. If you haven't used Linkpendium to search for your family, I highly recommend it.

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This post was written to participate in Amy Coffin's 52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy which is hosted on Geneabloggers. The theme will change weekly and may be posted any day of the week. This week's theme was free online genealogy tools. I invite you to join in if you'd like.

The Past Is Such a Safe Place

2012-01-17T20:01:00.002-05:00

I've been letting my mind wander today while I complete some necessary hand-stitching. I was thinking about my daughter whose apartment was destroyed by a fire a few days ago. She is in a difficult position, not just physically (without a home of her own) but also emotionally. (She was not home when the fire started. It's possible that she'd not be with us if she had been: the fire began near the door and window, the only escape routes. We are grateful for tender mercies.)

I was thinking about the challenges of her situation when Pandora played a song that I frequently heard a few years ago when she was at college across the country and I felt sad and lonely with her so far away. That was not an easy time but today I thought how "safe" it was compared to now and the challenges she faces. For a moment I wished to turn the clock back and return to that safe time.

I'm not romanticizing, not imagining that the past was easier, gentler, happier, etc. Just safe now that it's over. Perhaps looking at the past is like reading a novel. From the distance of time -- or fiction -- we have a safe view of events.

I think of ancestor mothers who lost children or nursed them through months of disease; of husbands who lost wives; of families who lost fathers to suicide or tragic accidents, and mothers to senility or illness; of fires, floods, other disasters. Living through those times would have been horrendous. Years after the events did my ancestors, like me, feel a safety in the past when viewed through the lens of time?

This impression has come to me before and I wonder how is it that the past seems safe when living through it there were times that felt like living in a hurricane, being at the bottom of a black pit, or in the ocean without a lifeboat? Is it because, having survived that past difficulty, one feels stronger? Is it because it's over and done that the past can be viewed as safe? Is it the idea that the past difficulty, safely maneuvered, is more comfortable than the present difficulty?

Safe or not, the past is gone. The safety is only in my mind.

Civil War Pension File: Chronological Overview of Papers Pertaining to Ellis

2012-01-16T00:37:00.000-05:00

When I typed the inventory of Ellis Bickerstaff's 79-page Civil War Pension File the papers were in no order and I wasn't sure which papers were part of the same document. I wasn't quite sure how to proceed. Since that post I've dated all the papers and put together the ones that I believe belong together. This is an overview post of the file's contents that related to Ellis, organized into chronological order.

Ellis served in the Civil War from May 2, 1864 until September 2, 1864. Nearly every document contains this information as well as his company. After his initial declaration form, the earliest documents have a claim number on them. Later documents have a certificate number.

Some forms have several different dates, as though they may have been kept at the front of the file for review and signed and dated during those reviews.

Nearly half the papers in the file pertain to Ellis's wife Lucy's attempt to continue receiving a pension. I will not include those papers in this post.

1890
Ellis's initial claim, "Declaration of Soldier for a Disability Pension," was filed on July 19. Additional evidence was filed on December 11 and December 26, 1890.

1891
Toward the end of January the War Department verified Ellis's Civil War service. In early February Ellis was examined by a physician. On April 5 a pension was granted for "Disease of Respiratory organs." In July he filed for an increase in disability.

1892
On October 18 Ellis was examined by a physician.

1893
Ellis filed for an increase of pension on February 21.

1894
One of the multi-dated papers was first dated April 5 (with a final date of April 1, 1895). On July 11, Ellis was again examined by a physician.

1895
Early in January a physician gave additional evidence.

1898
In July the Department of the Interior requested that Ellis complete a form stating marriage information and give names and birth dates of his children.

1899
In January Ellis requested an increase in his disability pension. In May the Department of the Interior completed a form stating that no medical record was found. In early June, Ellis was again examined by a physician.

1900
In June a response was sent regarding Ellis's January 1899 request for an increase.

1901
In December, Ellis again completed an application for a pension.

1902
Ellis was examined by a physician in early June. In October he completed an application for an increase.

1904
In November Ellis completed an application with the request for an increase in his pension.

1905
In early February Ellis was examined by a physician and filed for an increase in his pension. In March he sent a postcard with a change of address.

1907
Ellis completed a declaration for a pension in February. The file contains a copy of his death certificate dated June 30, 1907. He committed suicide on June 29.

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Other posts relating to Ellis Bickerstaff's Civil War Service and Pension File
Ordering Civil War Compiled Military Service Records
Reviewing Civil War Compiled Military Service Records
Ordering a Civil War Pension File
His Civil War Pension File Arrived
Civil War Pension File: First View
Civil War Pension File: Inventory

Indiana Genealogical Society and Allen County Public Library

2012-01-15T00:06:00.003-05:00

Curt Witcher, on the Allen County Public Library's collection, FamilySearch, FamilySearch wiki, indexing....

Through Four Generations

2012-01-14T00:05:00.002-05:00

Beulah had a son, Lee. Lee had a daughter, Marsha. Marsha had a son, Jeff.
Four generations, two sets of twins, and we think we see some familial similarities.

Beulah and Marsha,
grandmother & granddaughter.

Both had
fraternal twins.

Lee and Jeff,
grandfather & grandson.

Both were
fraternal twins.

What do you think?

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This is a Sepia Saturday post. You can go look for posts and photos about twins but I think it's more likely you'll see photos of people in hats this week. Join the fun and post some old photos if you'd like. Everyone's invited.

Paid Online Genealogy Tools - Abundant Genealogy Week 2

2012-01-12T21:15:00.003-05:00

I am a budget-conscious family historian on a budget. Paid genealogy sites don't fit into our budget, but they do fit into the budgets of our local library and our local Family History Center (FHC). (Click the link to find a location near you.) These organizations offer one or more paid online genealogy tools at no cost to their patrons.

When I began working on my family history in earnest I learned that our local FHC offered Ancestry.com. At the time, it was the only paid site the FHC offered and all Ancestry.com databases were available. For a time Ancestry.com was not available at any FHCs and now the Library Edition only is available.

Ancestry.com was my go-to site (as a beginner) for census records. Some newspapers, particularly several years of The Steubenville Herald-Star, were available and very helpful. The director of the FHC encouraged me to download the images I found. When I wondered aloud about the necessity of doing so he responded that things change and they might not always be available for free. He was right because it wasn't two years until Ancestry.com was gone.

Now the FHCs offer many paid databases free of charge to their patrons. They include Access Newspaper Archives; Alexander Street Press, American Civil War; Ancestry.com Library Edition; Find My Past; Fold3; Godfrey Memorial Library; World Vital Records; and others. Some larger FHCs which are open more hours offer access to more databases.

If you hesitate to go to a Family History Center because you're afraid you'll be bombarded with people trying to persuade you to join their church, not to worry. There is no proselyting at the FHCs.

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This post was written to participate in Amy Coffin's 52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy which is hosted on Geneabloggers. The theme will change weekly and may be posted any day of the week. This week's theme was paid online genealogy tools. I invite you to join in if you'd like.

Once a Miner, Twice a Breaker Boy - Tuesday's Tip

2012-01-10T00:07:00.009-05:00

A boy began coal mining as a breaker boy, outside the mine proper but inside the building that sheltered the breaker, where he sorted the coal and removed rocks and debris that had been extracted with the coal. As he grew older he began working down in the mine. At first he may have worked with the horses or opened and closed the doors for the coal cars. Eventually he graduated to digging coal. Too often men were harmed in the mine and even more often they grew old at the job. When they were unable to perform the labor required of coal mining proper, they returned to the breaker where they once again became breaker boys. Thus the saying, "Once a miner, twice a breaker boy."

If you have ancestors who mined coal in the 1800s and early 1900s and you would like to learn what their lives in the mine might have been like, one or several of these sites may be of interest to you.

Ohio State University's ehistory presentation, Coal Mining in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era offers links to several different articles, primarily from the 1870s and the early 1900s. I found the following ones especially worthwhile.

Work of a Coal Miner in the 1870s is a short piece illustrated with drawings and engravings of coal mining. The text comes from a book written in 1885.

In "In the Depths of a Coal Mine" (from McClure's Magazine, Vol. III, August 1894, No. 3) author Stephen Crane paints word pictures of the mines, both inside and out; of the coal mining process; the environment and atmosphere in the depths of the mines; the mules and stables; and interactions between miners. About the blackness of coal Crane paints a colorful portrait.

The Life of a Coal Miner... by Rev. John McDowell (1902). The subtitle of this article is "The Slow Progress of the Boy Who Starts in a Breaker, and Ends, An Old Man in the Breaker -- as Told by a Man Who Was Once a Miner." He tells the longing of breaker boys to become door boys, door boys to become drivers, and drivers to become miners; and then describes the work in the anthracite mines. Of miners he writes, "His dangers are many. He may be crushed to death at any time by the falling roof, burned to death by the exploding of gas, or blown to pieces by a premature blast."

Citizendium: The Citizens' Compendium presents an article about coal mining which discusses a variety of mining topics. For family historians the interest will be in the history section.

My particular interest in coal mining comes because of ancestors who mined in England, in southeastern Ohio, and in western Pennsylvania in the 1800s and early 1900s. I was pleased to find that Explore PA History offers Stories from PA History where you can read these two articles.

King Coal: Mining Bituminous focuses on the bituminous region of southwestern Pennsylvania. As far as I know my ancestors were not "owned" by the coal barons, not tied to coal towns, nor in debt to the company store. Yet aspects of this article describe the probable lives of my ancestors.

Mining Anthracite tells the history of the creation of coal in northeast Pennsylvania, its ties to the Industrial Revolution, and the resultant mining in the area.

One very last resource that I almost forgot to include will be helpful to those who have Pennsylvania coal miners who mined during the late 1800s and early 1900s. The introduction states that this is an "alphabetical index by miner's name for fatal and non-fatal mine accidents in Pennsylvania for the years 1869, 1871, 1872, 1875, 1877, 1879, 1880, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1887, 1888, 1890 through 1914, 1915 (Anthracite), and 1916. Given in the index is: the name of the miner, date of the accident, miner's age, colliery (mine name), whether fatal (F) or non-fatal (N), page and reference (a for Part I Anthracite and b for Part II Bituminous) from which the information was extracted." More information is available at the website. I was able to find several family members but no direct ancestors.

You can read more about my mining family in Coal Miners in My Family.

The image at the top of this post is a Library of Congress photo of breaker boys from from South Pittston, PA, taken circa 1910. It comes from Mining Anthracite at ExplorePAHistory. At the upper and lower far left of the photo you can see that some of the breaker boys are not boys at all, but men.

The Ohio Genealogical Society and Family Search

2012-01-08T00:05:00.001-05:00

The Ohio Genealogical Society and FamilySearch collaborate to make Ohio tax records from the early 1800s available and searchable online through FamilySearch indexing. Watch this brief video to learn a little more.

A Violin, a Guitar, and a Sweet Potato

2012-01-07T01:20:00.010-05:00

A violin and a guitar? My grandfather, William Carl Robert Meinzen, is on the left with bow to strings. The man beside him is his brother-in-law, George K. Harris.

Grampa was born in 1892, George in 1887. In 1910 George married Grampa's sister, Wilhelmina Elizabeth Meinzen. The photo is undated but I suspect it was taken in the early 1910s, probably at the Meinzen home in Steubenville, Ohio.

I never saw Grampa play an instrument during his lifetime. In the living room of my grandparents' home was a built-in, glass-fronted bookcase. Inside the bookcase were books and a sweet potato. Not the kind one eats, the kind one plays. The sweet potato was about the size, shape, and color of a regular sweet potato though perhaps just a little browner. It had holes. I think it was made of unglazed but polished (or burnished) clay.

Rumor was that Grampa could play the sweet potato. I don't know anyone who ever heard or saw him play it. Once, while I was there, the sweet potato was taken out and Grampa held it up to his mouth and blew through it but didn't play it. None of the living descendants know what happened to the sweet potato. We suspect that the aunt who disowned us either gave it away or sold it.

It is a change for my grandfather to have his sleeves rolled down. As a barber he usually had them rolled up to the inside. Grampa always seemed to wear this style of pants when he was young. They remind me of jodhpurs though Grampa was neither a horseman nor a baseball player. Had I seen this photo when I was a child I might have asked my grandmother about the pants, but it's too late to ask anyone.

Additional Note:
Tattered and Lost viewed this post and left a comment with a link to a post about an ocarina. It shows pages from and 1940s instruction book and a youtube clip of a Crosby/Hope movie in which they "play" an ocarina. As s/he points out, the sound is true ocarina but Crosby and Hope weren't the players.

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This is a Sepia Saturday. Click on the link to see who else is sharing old photos. Join in if you'd like. All you have to do is post an old photo and write some words about it.

Blogs - Abundant Genealogy Week 1

2012-01-06T22:29:00.018-05:00

Do you know about Genealogy Blog Finder? Many of you experienced bloggers may already have your blogs listed there, but perhaps some of you who are newer to blogging don't. At Genealogy Blog Finder you can ask to have your blog included by scrolling to the bottom of the screen and clicking on Suggest a Blog or Update Listing.

It offers more than listing your own blog, though. It offers the opportunity to view other people's blogs (more than 1700 other blogs) by category. Some of the categories include Genealogy News; Personal Research; Locality Specific; Tips, Resources & Reviews; Technology; Single Surname; GenWeb; Preservation; Photography; Cemeteries; Conferences; Podcasts; Libraries; Associations & Societies; Obituaries; some heritage-specific categories; plus others.

Genealogy Blog Finder also offers the opportunity for you to search for content in other people's blogs that are listed. In the search box at the top you can type the subject or surname, then click the circle for it to search the blog directory or to search specific posts. (It's very sad to type in a topic or surname and find that it lists only your own posts.)

Of course only blogs whose owners have asked to be included are available on this list. Maybe you'd like your blog to be listed on Genealogy Blog Finder?

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You know about Thomas McEntee's famous GeneaBloggers, don't you? Because of GeneaBloggers, genealogy bloggers throughout the world have become a community of bloggers who help and support each other; who share what they find and answer questions; give praise, encourage, and uplift; discuss challenges facing genealogists and family historians; and who step on each others' toes and then forgive; and so much more.

Thomas is the workhorse behind GeneaBloggers. When we go to the website we see posts about topics of interest; daily lists of posts for daily blogging themes; upcoming webinars; a healthy list of tags on the right sidebar; plus so much more.

One of the things that I have overlooked in the past are the links at the top of the page. There's a reason they're at the top: so we see them first thing! (Eager to see the newest content, I often scroll right past those links.)

The links are

About is where, if you're new to the site, you can learn the what and why of GeneaBloggers.

Genealogy Blog Listing offers a list of over 2,000 blogs whose owners participate as GeneaBloggers. There's a list and a link to every single one!

Upcoming Events has calendars for anniversaries; daily blogging themes; geneawebinars; conferences and expos; and genealogy speakers.

Blogs By Type is one of my favorite links because it lists categories, including a list of blogs by state and their recent posts. (Not to play favorites, but my favorites are Ohio and Pennsylvania blogs. I'm a born and raised Ohioan.)

At Suggest a Blog you can ask to have your blog included in the GeneaBloggers blog roll.

Search All Blogs is the place to search member blogs by subject, surname, or other words. I think this is the place to go if you remember reading a post about a particular topic but can't remember where. (It's sad how often I can't remember where these days.)

Blog Resources is the go-to list if you want to learn how to change a header; back up your data; edit a photograph; improve your blog; learn about copyrights; and myriad other things.

A huge Thank You to Thomas for all he does for the blogging community.

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My favorite blog? No, I don't have just one. To the left, about halfway down the page, you'll see a title, "About Other People's Ancestors." Under that title you'll see ten blogs listed. At the bottom of that list you'll see "Show All" in little letters. If you click on the "Show All," a long list of blogs I regularly enjoy will appear. I invite you to visit them. I've set the view so that you can see the title of the most recent post and so that the blogs with the newest posts rotate to the top of the list. I hope you'll find a blog or two that's new to you and will become one of your favorites.

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This post was written to participate in Amy Coffin's 52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy which is hosted on Geneabloggers. The theme will change weekly and may be posted any day of the week. This week's theme was blogs. I invite you to join in if you'd like.

Civil War Pension File: Inventory

2012-01-05T20:01:00.010-05:00

It will help me and it might interest some of you to see a list of the contents of the papers/documents in Ellis Bickerstaff's Civil War pension file. The list below records the papers in the order I found them when the file arrived.

Some forms have titles, some have only numbers, some have both. If you peruse the list you'll notice that some were filed more than once on different dates.

Ellis died on June 29, 1907. All forms after that date involve only his wife, Lucy, and her efforts to obtain/maintain Ellis's pension or refer to her death.

As I looked through the papers to identify their dates, it became obvious to me that Civil War veterans had to petition to receive pensions and that not all veterans qualified. If a veteran received a pension and after some years wanted to increase the amount, there was more paperwork to be done. There were fees involved with obtaining a pension: an attorney was involved with nearly a dozen of the forms; a notary was required for almost as many; Ellis was examined by physicians at least three times. Do you suppose they used the term "red tape" in the late 1800s and early 1900s?

I will put these papers in chronological order then transcribe, compare, and evaluate them. I'll continue to share what I find.

The List of Papers/Documents
Card (4" x 6") with Certificate Number and names of pensioner and veteran
Form 3-732 - Apr 15, 1910
Form 3-230 - Apr 25, 1891 (initial date) through Oct 30, 1902
Form 3-730 - Jul 12, 1907
Form 3-060a Military Service, Jan 21, 1891
Form 3-453 - Apr 11, 1900
Form 3-216a - Jul 26, 1890 (application filing date)
Form 3-1647 - Feb 27, 1907
Form 3-859 - Sep 6 & 13, 1907
Form 3-852 - Dec 14 & 18, 1909
Form 3-357 Increase Invalid Pension - Feb 1, 1905
Note from Ellis to attorneys with current address - Mar 6, 1905
Form 3-357 Increase Invalid Pension - Oct 15, 1902
Form AA Declaration for Invalid Pension, (filed by atty.) 2 pages - Dec 16, 1901
Form 3-145b Increase Invalid Pension - Jun 12, 1900
Form 3-127 History of Claim - Jul 26, 1890
Form 3-146b - Apr 5, 1894
Form 3-145b Increase Invalid Pension - Feb 21, 1893
Form 3-145a Invalid Pension - Jul 26, 1890
Claim for Disability Pension (filed by atty.), 2 pages - July 19, 1890
Declaration for Increase and Additional Disability (filed by atty.), 2 pages - Jan 20, 1899
Declaration for ~~Transfer~~ Increase & Additional Disability, 2 pages - Jul 18, 1891
General Affidavit (filed by atty.), 2 pages - Jan 2, 1895
Form 3-111 Surgeon's Certificate, 2 pages - Oct 19, 1892
Form 3-111c - Jul 11, 1894
Form 3-516 (from Medical Division) - Jun 14, 1899
Form 3-111 Surgeon's Certificate, 2 pages - Jun 5, 1899
Form 3-155 (old Form 3-111) Surgeon's Certificate, 2 pages - Jun 4, 1902
Form 3-156 Surgeon's Certificate, 2 pages - Jun 4, 1902
Form 3-111 (partial?) - Feb 4, 1891
Form 3-438 Accrued Pension - Apr 6, 1910
Notary Public Certificate - Nov 30, 1907
General Affidavit (filed by atty.), 2 pages - Feb 1, 1910
General Affidavit (filed by atty.), 2 pages - Jan 19, 1910
Form 3-361 Widow's Pension, 2 pages - Apr 11, 1910
Notary Public Certificate, 2 pages - Jan 4, 1908
Form 3-155 Surgeon's Certificate, 2 pages - Feb 1, 1905
Form 3-367 Widow's Pension - April 6, 1910
Form 3-202 Board of Review - Apr 13, 1910
Note from Lucy to attorneys - Feb 5, 1910
Note from Lucy with current address - Apr 5, 1910 (U.S. Pension Office stamp)
General Affidavit (filed by atty.), 2 pages - Mar 21, 1910
Letter to Commissioner of Pensions from attorneys filing power of attorney - Jul 30, 1909
Power of Attorney, 2 pages - Jul 29, 1909
Statement from Pastor - Feb 25, 1908 (U.S. Pension Office stamp)
Form 3-007 Declaration for Widow's Pension - Jul 27, 1907
Claim for Pension. Widow. - Jul 27, 1907
Declaration for Widow's Pension - Dec 11, 1909
Widow's Claim (filed by atty.) - Dec 11, 1909
Form 3-014 Declaration for Pension - Feb. 25, 1907
Statement of Marriage, Children - Jul 4, 1898
Certificate of Death for Ellis Bickerstaff - June 30, 1907
Form AA Declaration for Invalid Pension - Nov 30, 1904
Form AA Soldier's Application (filed by atty.) - Nov 30, 1904
Additional Evidence (filed by atty.), 2 pages - Dec 26, 1890
Additional Evidence (filed by atty.), 2 pages - Dec 11, 1890
Form 3-464aa - May 19, 1899
Form 3-798 Drop Order and Report - Jul 12, 1907
Form 1081 Pensioner Dropped - Jun 21, 1913
Statement of Pastor - Aug 17, 1909

Civil War Pension File: First View

2012-01-04T20:23:00.002-05:00

It was exciting to receive my first Civil War pension file in the mail from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). I didn't know what to expect: one doesn't know how many pages there will be until it arrives.

The file came in a 10" x 15" tyvek envelope. The original documents had been photocopied onto legal sized 8 1/2" x 14" paper. Enclosed with the papers were my original order form (printed by NARA from my internet order request) and a disclaimer stating that the copies were the best available and that it was a complete file. There were 79 pages.

The file arrived in December but I was only able to take the briefest look at it then. Now I'm ready to sort, organize, transcribe, and evaluate what I find. (Sort and organize are key words here!)

My initial observations:

Some of the original documents were double-sided as evidenced by bleed-through on the copies. The photocopies are single-sided. (You can see bleed-through on the image below.)
Some of the original documents appear to have been long sheets folded into fourths.
There were no paper clips on the papers to tell me which pages belong together. Bleed-through sometimes helps to indicate the front and back of one document; otherwise, it's hard to tell which pages go together.
Not all pages are numbered or dated.
The file may have been copied with the first page at the back or the first page at the front. I can only hope that the copies of individual documents are together.
Documents are not in chronological order.

All of that being said, this first overview gives me new information about Ellis:

His birthdate (not just the year of his birth)! April 11, 1840.
A physical description: he was 6' tall, had blue eyes, a fair complexion, and brown hair (when younger)
Addresses include 102 Grandview Avenue, McKeesport, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania; West Austintown, Ohio; and Scottsdale, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.

It's clear that Ellis was not granted a pension at his first request. It is also clear that his widow, Lucy, had to be diligent to continue receiving the pension after Ellis' death.

Ellis's signature. Interestingly, on official papers throughout his lifetime Ellis spelled his last name Biggerstaff. His death certificate gives the spelling Bickerstaff. Among his ancestors and descendants, Bickerstaff is the most common spelling.

There's more to come about Ellis Bickerstaff's Civil War Pension File. I'll post as I sort, organize, and scan. Maybe there are others of you who wonder what you might find if you order your own ancestor's pension file.

To Do List, January 2012

2012-01-03T19:57:00.008-05:00

Maybe writing down and publishing my to do list will help me stay on track and accomplish more.

Organize Ellis Bickerstaff's pension file into chronological order (as much as is possible).

Transcribe one document in the pension file.

Write and post about his pension file. (With 70+ pages in the file, this may become a brief series.)

Watch one RootsMagic webinar and put what I learn to use in RM with my own information.

Write and publish two Tuesday's Tip posts. (One is already done!)

At FamilySearch, look for new Ohio resources; search any that look helpful.

At FamilySearch, look for new Pennsylvania collections.

Too much to do in a month? We'll see.

Share your January, 2012, to do list/goals at Corn and Cotton: My Family's Story.

U. S. Census Information: Sites for Details - Tuesday's Tip

2012-01-03T00:16:00.004-05:00

The census is one of the genealogist's best friends. Sometimes, though, we see the forms on the screen or on microfilm and we're not quite sure what the headings are. Other times, we're not quite sure what information the enumerator was required to collect. Here are some resources that might be interesting and/or helpful to you.

● Enumeration Forms at The University of Minnesota's Population Center are a great resource for enumerator instructions because we can read a transcription of the actual instructions as the enumerators read and used them. The census questions are also available at this site. Dates available are 1850-2000. I found it interesting to compare the language in the enumerator instructions from early years to more recent years. Times change.

● A Century of Population Growth is a 1900 publication of the Bureau of the Census. It's a brief 2-page pdf image which discusses the value of and attitude toward censuses. The paper opens with "The results of a modern census have been accurately defined as a national account of stock. Early censuses were merely counts of inhabitants; additional facts relating to population were next secured; and the most recent step in census taking, especially in the United States, has been to include practically all lines of human activity. The modern census is thus the results of evolution."

● 200 Years of Census Taking: Population and Housing Questions, 1790-1990 is a 117-page publication from the U.S. Department of Congress, Bureau of the Census. It includes a table of contents; overviews of each census; images of the instructions to enumerators (as opposed to the transcriptions at the link above); some photographs; and a few cartoons. I believe that in this publication you will find the answer to any question you have about any U.S. census from 1790 to 1980 (excepting the agricultural census and unless it deals with handwriting and/or a particular name written on the census).

● The most recent publication is Measuring America: The Decennial Censuses from 1790 to 2000 which is available online in two parts. Part 1 includes title pages and table of contents. Part 2 includes information about each of the U.S. censuses, transcriptions of instructions to enumerators, and images of census pages. If you'd like to know what you'll find on the 1940 census, look at pages 62-66. Despite the title of this publication, information about the individual censuses ends with the 1990 census.

I think it's less than four months until the 1940 census will be available to the public. I probably won't find "new" ancestors in the 1940 census but it will be interesting to learn where my families lived, what their their employment was, who their neighbors were, etc.

The image above comes from the cover of Two Hundred Years of U.S. Census Taking.

No Goals for 2012

2012-01-02T20:31:00.022-05:00

I've been reading others' blog posts about their goals for 2012. It's made me want to go back to bed and cover my head with a pillow until the middle of January when that subject will have been overtaken by newer topics. (Except it won't because Stephanie of Corn and Cotton has invited bloggers to write monthly --monthly!-- goals and publish them as Motivation Monday posts.)

I know that for most people setting goals helps them accomplish objectives but my experience has generally been that when I set goals life gets in the way, the goals go out the window, and I feel like a failure. I do make daily "to-do" lists which I generally complete. And I do have ideas of things I'd like to accomplish. Instead of goals, I'm going with to-dos this year.

RootsMagic (RM). I bought RM when it was on sale a few months ago and received a free upgrade in December but didn't have time to install it. I want to learn more about the program and continue to enter data. James Tanner of Genealogy's Star has written numerous posts in which he encourages his readers to choose some other genealogy program than Personal Ancestral File (PAF). I'm comfortable with PAF but as I learn more about genealogy I realize that PAF's offerings are rudimentary and limited. RM was my program of choice because it syncs with NewFamilySearch and makes working with that website easier. I have a lot to learn about the program before it becomes comfortable. The RM website has a series of webinars where I can learn about specifics and I know Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings has written a series of posts about about various aspects of the program. Surely with those excellent guides I can make progress.
Organize my family history photos. Many are scanned and organized; just as many are still in the files the scanner puts them into when I save them. It makes it hard to find them. I've bookmarked several posts about organizing photos. I'll dig those out and read what others have found successful, unsuccessful, and what they recommend.

Continue learning. Brigham Young University offers free online courses, 10 of which are family history/genealogy courses. "German Research" looks like it could be helpful since I have ancestors from several areas in Germany.
I will investigate others opportunities to learn, including webinars, books, and online sources.

Continue searching for my ancestors, both online and at libraries, archives, and family history centers. I haven't been to FamilySearch for a while and I know they've added new records. The Family History Centers (FHC) also offer free access to some of the paid sites. And of course, their library catalog is online and I hope to find films that will be helpful and which I can rent copies to be sent to the local FHC.

Transcribe Ellis Bickerstaff's Civil War Pension File. This arrived in December, a month earlier than I anticipated. I perused it when it arrived and I'm looking forward to delving into it and learning more about Ellis and his situation toward the end of his life.

Continue blogging. I'm such a tiny minnow in a sea of whales, and yet I continue to enjoy the blogging experience, both writing and reading. I hope to keep that up this year.

Maybe (just maybe) I'll participate in Amy Coffin's meme, Abundant Genealogy. I'm not much of a memer (I may be a little too independent) but this looks helpful.

That's it. That's my big to-do list for the year. Now maybe I can break those down and consider monthly to-do lists to participate in Stephanie's Motivation Monday.

A Lucky Tradition?

2012-01-01T19:12:00.009-05:00

I have German ancestry on both sides of my family. Eating pork and sauerkraut on New Year's Day was one of the few traditions that had been carried on from previous generations. They say it brings good luck. I doubt my parents really believed that but, well, tradition is tradition and I suppose they weren't going to risk being unlucky.

Usually my mother made us eat a little of everything she fixed: 5 peas, 2 lima beans, a taste of any other unpalatable food on the table. The only exceptions were liver and onions, the oysters in oyster stew, sauerkraut. And tomatoes.

You'd think it would be in my genes to love pork and sauerkraut. Maybe the German genes were diluted by the time they got to me because I don't love sauerkraut. (I inherited chocolate-loving genes instead.) In fact, it's only been in recent years that I can stand the smell of sauerkraut and then only on a Reuben sandwich.

About the luck part. I didn't think it brought good luck, either, but at dinner tonight, eating my pork sans sauerkraut, I was thinking about all the little and large mishaps of my childhood and youth -- the broken front tooth; the foot caught in a bicycle wheel; the broken blackboard; the foot swollen to twice its size after slamming into a wall; the semi rear-ending me at the bottom of a mile-long hill while I was stopped to make a left turn; etc. And now I'm wondering if there is something to the tradition of pork and sauerkraut bringing good luck in the new year.

Maybe next year I'll eat sauerkraut along with the pork.

How about you? Do you have New Year's Day traditions?

The photo above is courtesy of Michael Dietsch at Flickr Commons.

A Bright New Year

2011-12-31T00:01:00.000-05:00

Best Wishes for a
Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous New Year
to you, my readers!

My Father's Memory of Childhood Christmases

2011-12-25T19:32:00.001-05:00

When I was a child I once asked my father about his childhood Christmases. I wanted to know about Santa and Christmas gifts, about food, and about family activities. Dad nearly never talked about his childhood so I didn't push by asking specific questions.

He told me that when he went to bed on Christmas Eve, there was no tree in the house nor any sign of a tree anywhere. On Christmas morning he awoke to a decorated Christmas tree which seemed to have magically appeared.

The only gifts he received were those in his stocking: an orange, some nuts in their shells, a candy cane, and perhaps a small toy.

His Christmases may have been typical of other farm families of the area at that time. Dad was born in 1913 and grew up on a farm in Stoneboro, Pennsylvania. He lived with his father and step-mother. His childhood Christmases may have been sparse but he provided abundant Christmases for his own children.

Merry Christmas to all of you who stop by to read my blog.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T16:25:00.000-05:00

I wish you and yours a memorable and merry Christmas.

A Centenary Celebration for Beulah and Gust Doyle

2011-12-19T23:12:00.012-05:00

This is the first centenary celebration of a birth or anniversary that I remember since I began working on my family history nearly six years ago. (And I've almost missed posting this one it on the actual day!)

My grandparents, Beulah Mae Gerner and Gust Doyle, were married a hundred years ago today, December 19th, 1911. Their marriage lasted less than two years, ending with Beulah's death after the birth of my father and his twin sister. I never knew either of these grandparents: Beulah died in 1912, Gust in 1933.

I count it a blessing that my father received two of Beulah's rings, the one above and another with an emerald in the center, both given to her by Gust. When I was a child my mother had them in her jewelry box. I loved this ring best. My mother always called it a ruby ring but I've since learned that it is not a real ruby. You can see that one of the small diamonds, if they are diamonds, is missing. Real ruby or not, three diamonds instead of four, I love it no less. The hands of my grandparents touched this ring.

Happy 100th Anniversary, Beulah and Gust!

Did you know...

2011-12-16T22:02:00.003-05:00

...that today, December 16, is National Chocolate Coated Anything Day?! I just learned that bit of information a few minutes ago and I'm sad I didn't know it this morning because I would have celebrated. In November and December this year I've been helping the owner of Colonial Candy Shoppe, a store we discovered in 1979 and immediately loved because they sold Ben Heggy's chocolates. I didn't work today but if I had, I certainly would have (unknowingly) celebrated National Chocolate Coated Anything Day by eating a chocolate coated marshmallow, peanuts, cookie, raisins, mint, malt ball, or some other delicious item(s). Some folks advocate celebrating the day by coating non-food items with chocolate. In my opinion that's a complete waste of chocolate (unless, of course, it's the nearly-non-edible, Palmer imitation chocolate).

This may not seem like a family history post but I can turn chocolate toward nearly any topic and it's especially easy to turn it toward family history. I'll share some chocolate memories. I always thought my mother did not like chocolate. Chocolate was visible in our house only on rare occasions:

if someone brought us a box as a gift
when my aunt brought home Heggy's chocolate from her visits to a friend's house
when my mom made chocolate chip cookies or chocolate cake
when my father walked to the drugstore and brought home a bag of chocolate candy bars (which I can remember happening exactly two times); or
if I bought it myself

When I was a kid M&Ms were probably my favorite candy. They cost 69¢/pound. The small bags near the cash registers cost 5¢. My mother dissuaded me from buying the small bags because they were much more expensive, comparatively, than buying a pound. So I saved my allowance of 25¢/week and bought a pound of M&Ms about once a month. If I earned money babysitting or cleaning my aunt's car I could buy a pound more often. Sometimes I ate them from the bag but it was more fun - because of their beautiful colors - to pour them into an open candy dish and take a handful. I especially liked them when they were just slightly warm. Not melted, just not cold. I still like M&Ms, but there are other chocolates I like more these days.

When my mother and I were older, when she was in her 70s or 80s, I learned that she really did like to eat chocolate and realized that she probably just didn't like her children to eat chocolate. Which makes me wonder if she had a secret stash somewhere during my childhood and ate it while I wasn't around. Hmmmm. My oldest daughter didn't know about chocolate until she was 5 or 6 because I kept my chocolate hidden and ate it surreptitiously.

My grandmother sometimes rewarded my good grades or other successes in school with a 6-pack of Hershey bars. I know I could have eaten them all in one day, even when I was six, but I'm sure my grandmother and mom warned me against such piggish behavior. Strange that I only remember receiving them, not eating them.

My brother makes delicious peanut clusters around Christmas time. They are a favorite of many, many people and I think he may make them by the 100-pound batch. Or maybe it's just a 25-pound batch. Whichever, I know he used to make a lot. They are delicious.

Those are my spur-of-the-moment chocolate memories to celebrate National Chocolate Coated Anything Day. Did you celebrate National Chocolate Coated Anything Day? Do you love chocolate? Do you have childhood memories of or family history associated with chocolate?

His Civil War Pension File Arrived!

2011-12-15T23:43:00.001-05:00

I ordered Ellis Bickerstaff's Civil War pension file on December 3. I anticipated a wait of at least a month but those employees at the National Archives are speedy: the file arrived today. All 77 pages of it. I perused it this evening but I won't be able to delve into its contents until after Christmas.

Some initial observations:

The handwriting of the doctors who examined Ellis is as illegible as the handwriting of most doctors these days.
Ellis had to hire an attorney to help him obtain a pension.
He filed for a pension many times over a period of 17 years.
The papers are not in chronological order and it's hard to tell which papers belong together. It's obvious from some of the copies that they are fronts and backs, but others aren't so obvious.
There was red tape in the late 1800s and early 1900s, too.
Ellis lived in at least three different places from 1890 to 1907.

I can hardly wait to dig into this file but circumstances prevent me from doing it now. In January!

On Christmas Night all Christians Sing

2011-12-11T23:55:00.007-05:00

With the lads of the Choir of King's College, Cambridge, I'm singing the "Sussex Carol," also known as "On Christmas Night All Christians Sing." This little choir of less than 30 boys sings so beautifully that they drown out my scratchy, out-of-tune notes, my non-melodic singing.

Again this December footnoteMaven has invited us to Blog Carol. Thank you, fM! Last year was the first time I participated. I hadn't thought about what my favorite carol was; I enjoy all the traditional ones and some of the newer ones. This year I realized that my favorite changes from year to year. The one whose tune dances in my mind or whose lyrics twirl in my brain becomes my favorite.

"The Sussex Carol" may have been composed as early as the late 1600s. Several variations of lyrics have been found. The ones below were collected by Ralph Vaughan Williams probably in the early 1900s. Below the lyrics is a video of the 2008 Choir of King's College singing. That presentation is very good but I enjoy the 1994 Choir video even more because the lads look more angelic, the choir director moves with greater enthusiasm, and there are beautiful views of the cathedral. (Embedding was disabled or I would have included it.) Whichever one you watch, I hope you enjoy.

On Christmas night all Christians sing
To hear the news the angels bring.
News of great joy, news of great mirth,
News of our merciful King's birth.

Then why should men on earth be so sad,
Since our Redeemer made us glad,
When from our sin he set us free,
All for to gain our liberty?

When sin departs before His grace,
Then life and health come in its place.
Angels and men with joy may sing
All for to see the new-born King.

All out of darkness we have light,
Which made the angels sing this night:
"Glory to God and peace to men,
Now and for evermore, Amen!"

Spritz Cookies for Christmas - Family Recipe Friday

2011-12-08T20:52:00.004-05:00

I was invited to an online Christmas cookie exchange by Lynn Palermo of The Armchair Genealogist. Thank you, Lynn. I love cookie exchanges.

I'm bringing Spritz Cookies to share. It simply wouldn't be Christmas at our house without these festive and delicious cookies. They are so delicious and so small and so easy to eat that unless we quickly pack them off to the homes of neighbors and friends they disappear (and reappear around our middles).

My mom first made these 50 or more years ago when she found the recipe in a booklet with her new cookie press. It's her recipe that I still use. It makes many dozen and they are easy and quick to make -- 18 or 24 can fit on a cookie sheet. Because they don't spread much you can place them close together. The hardest part is cutting the cherries (if you choose to use cherries). The second hardest part may be (depending on your cookie press and baking sheet) getting the dough to stick to the sheet when pressing them.

You can make these without a cookie press by making tiny balls about 1/4" in diameter and placing 8 of them in a circle with a hollow center on the cookie sheet. They will bake together and form a cookie. I often have to do that with the last of the dough. It's easier to use a cookie press. You can choose the shape that looks like a flower or any of the other shapes. We think this shape works best because some of the other shapes with narrow parts or sharp angles brown too quickly. I often find cookie presses at our local second hand store for a dollar or two. I buy them whenever I see complete sets because I know my daughters will want to make these when they have families of their own.

When I made these with my mom when I was a child we sometimes colored the dough; or used red hots or nuts in the centers; or put sprinkles on top which looked great when we pressed a Christmas tree (using green dough). But by far our favorite was and still is the cherry in the center.

Here's the recipe:

Cream:
1 cup shortening

Gradually add:
3/4 cup sugar

Add:
1 egg or 3 egg yolks, unbeaten. Beat well.

Sift and add:
2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
dash of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla (or almond extract)

Fill a cookie press and press onto ungreased cookie sheet (unless a greased cookie sheet holds them better). [I have no idea why but sometimes it works better one way and not the other.]

Cut maraschino cherries in halves or thirds and place in the center of each cookie.

Bake in 400-degree oven for 5 to 10 minutes or until set but not brown. They'll brown quickly so once you figure out the time to bake them, take them out immediately. In the photo above, the two in the center are about perfect. The ones at the top of the photo are just a tad overdone. Those ones will taste okay but not as good as the ones that aren't brown at the edges.

Enjoy!

Grandfather's Journal: Turning Hearts - a FamilySearch Video

2011-12-04T00:05:00.001-05:00

He said, "There's something about the voices down through the ages...." Oh, to have an ancestor's journal to hold in my hands, to read, to meet my ancestor through the pages and "hear" his or her voice!

Do you keep a journal? Your descendants will love you for it if you do!

Ordering a Civil War Pension File

2011-12-03T22:01:00.000-05:00

I assumed Ellis Bickerstaff, my great-great-grandfather, did not file for a Civil War pension. But after receiving and posting his Civil War Compiled Military Service Records, another blogger encouraged me to check.

I went to FamilySearch's Civil War site which offers various records including Civil War Pension Index Cards. Clicking on the link took me directly to "United States, Civil War and Later Pension Files, 1861-1917" where I was able to type in my great-great-grandfather's name.

I learned that Ellis does, indeed, have a Civil War pension file, or at least he filed an application for a pension. I decided to order the file.

I went to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) site for pre-World War II Veterans' Service Records and moved down to the section "Military Pension/Bounty Land Warrant Applications." I learned that I could order online or download a form and order by mail.

There are several categories of files available. The two that pertained to Ellis were either
1) A complete Civil War and later pension application file (up to 100 pages), based on Federal (not State or Confederate) military service during the Civil War or later (includes the Pension Documents Packet.) NARA calls this file NATF 85D.
or
2) A pension document packet that contains reproductions of eight documents containing genealogical information about the pension applicant, to the extent those documents are present in the file. NARA calls this file NATF 85B.

Which did I want? If I were solely interested in the genealogical information I would probably have chosen the Pension Documents Packet. But since I'm also interested in learning about Ellis' experiences in the war -- and I understand that experiences and injuries are sometimes described in the letters the veteran and his family wrote when filing for a pension -- I decided to order a complete pension application file.

If you are interested in viewing the files available to order along with descriptions, you can find those here. From that site I chose the file I wanted to order, clicked on the link and was taken to a screen that looks like the one at right. (That screen offered the option to view sample images of several kinds of files, including a pension file.)

From there I chose whether to order a paper copy or a CD. It tells me that the order will ship in 42 to 120 days. When I clicked the "Add to Cart" button, I was taken to the User Login Screen. If you've ordered from NARA before, you'll already have a User name and ID; if not, you can create one.

The next screen asked for the information I found at FamilySearch on Ellis' pension index card and some other vital information. NARA has fields for more information than is required. The required information fields are:
» Veteran's First Name
» Veteran's Last Name
» Branch of Service in Which he Served
» Kind of Service (Not Sure, Volunteer, Regular)
» War in Which He Served
» State from Which he Served

If you find that you don't have all the required information when you get to this screen you will be able to save the request and return later to continue the process without having to start from the beginning.

With all the boxes completed it was easy to click and pay (though not easy on my pocketbook!). And now the waiting begins. December's too busy a month for me to count the days but by the middle of January I'll start anticipating the arrival of Ellis Bickerstaff's Civil War pension file. I hope it will be a large file with plenty of information.

I happened upon this NARA video that describes the process of finding, copying, and mailing requests for military records. Considering how many records The National Archives has I will be patient while waiting for Ellis's pension file.

Time to Say Thank You

2011-12-01T14:37:00.012-05:00

Finding details about my ancestor's service in the Civil War is a new area of research for me. A month or so ago I ordered my great-grandfather Ellis Bickerstaff's C.W. Compiled Military Service Records. After they arrived I posted images of the pages along with some questions.

I wish to thank several helpful bloggers who responded to that post. They left comments with sources and links to sites where I could find information about the 157th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Those very helpful bloggers are

Leah from Leah's Family Tree. She learned that the 157th was assigned guard duty of POWS at Fort Delaware. She recommended that I visit the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System for more information about regiments.
Heather Kuhn Roelker from Leaves for Trees suggested I might find more information at the Fort Delaware site and gave me the link to the 157th, a garrison unit at the Fort. She also included a link to the book Hundred Day Wonders At Fort Delaware: The Story of the 157th Ohio Volunteer Infantry in the Civil War at Ohio Civil War. Wow! Though I don't think my Ellis was specifically mentioned in the book it will, nonetheless, give me an idea of his activities while serving.
Shelley Bishop of A Sense of Family said that there is a chapter on the 157th in Ohio in the War: Her Statesmen, Her Generals, and Soldiers. At worldcat she found that it's available on google books and at the Columbus Metropolitan Library. (The copy at CML is on reserve and only available for use inside the library.) Shelley also suggested that Ellis or a family member might have filed for a pension. I'd discounted the possibility earlier but decided to look when she suggested it. And finally,
Dee Burris of Shakin' the Family Tree suggested I go to The Civil War Archive and search for the 157th.

I'm on my way to discovering more about Ellis. I may have eventually happened onto these resources but having them suggested and having links given in the comments has made it so much easier. I'm grateful to fellow bloggers and family historians/genealogists who so willingly offer help and suggestions. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Leah, Heather, Shelley, and Dee.

An Ancestor's Example, a FamilySearch Video

2011-11-27T00:01:00.001-05:00

I continue to find examples in and from the lives of my ancestors. Do you, too?

Her Pecan Pie - Family Recipe Friday

2011-11-25T12:08:00.009-05:00

My daughter, home for Thanksgiving, suggested we bake pecan pie. Handily, I had pecans in the cupboard and, voilà, Thanksgiving Day dessert (in addition to the traditional pumpkin pie, of course).

Making, baking, and eating this pie sent me into reminiscences. When I was a child I wasn't a huge lover of tree nuts but pecans fell into favor in my taste buds when my dear grandmother began making this pie. Who could not love pecans when they are presented in this sweet, rich, flavorful filling, then baked to perfection? Not me.

Gramma probably clipped this recipe from a newspaper. Disappointingly, I didn't find the clipping - or a hand-written version of the recipe - in her recipe box. Perhaps she memorized it. In my childhood transcription of the recipe, I omitted the quantity of salt to include. We rectify the problem by adding a teaspoon (already included below). Here's the recipe for your baking (and eating) pleasure.
....................
Pecan Pie

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup dark corn syrup (light works fine)
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs
2 cups coarsely chopped pecans [but we enjoy them whole]

Allow the butter to stand in a covered medium mixing bowl at room temperature until it is extremely soft. Add sugar, corn syrup, salt, and vanilla; with a sturdy hand rotary beater or mixing spoon, beat until thoroughly blended.

Add eggs and beat gently just until blended.

Fold in pecans.

Pour into 9" pastry shell. Bake in moderate (370-degree) oven on the rack directly below the center rack until top is toasted brown and filling is set in center when pie is gently shaken, 40-50 minutes. Pastry edge should be browned and the bottom pastry a pale gold. If top of pie gets very dark toward end of baking time, place a tent of foil over it.

Cool on wire rack. If desired, serve with unsweetened whipped cream.
....................

In past years we've always had to put a tent around the crust toward the end of baking time. This year my daughter make an oil crust and no tenting was necessary. I suppose oil crusts will become a family tradition, too.

Happy eating.

Thanksgiving Greetings

2011-11-24T16:24:00.000-05:00

I wish for you, dear readers, the blessings of family, home, health, happiness, and gratitude on this Thanksgiving Day.

Happy Thanksgiving!

For the beauty of the earth, for the beauty of the skies,
For the love which from our birth over and around us lies,
Lord of all, to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.

For the beauty of each hour of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flow'r, sun and moon and stars of light,
Lord of all, to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.

For the joy of human love, brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth and friends above, for all gentle thoughts and mild,
Lord of all, to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.

Gust in Early Photobooth Photos?

2011-11-17T20:25:00.006-05:00

The question is not whether these are photos of Gust Doyle. We know for certain these are him. The question is whether or not they are photobooth photos. The original of these two photos (combined on the same paper) is about 2" by 3", which is about the size of old photobooth photos.

Gust was born on November 17, 1888. If he was about 14 or 15 in these photos, that puts the date at 1902-03. Wade's Photobooth Gallery offers a brief history of the development of the photobooth. The first patent for an automatic photography machine was filed in 1889, but it wasn't until 1925 that the idea took off and they became successful.

Or maybe these photos were taken by a photographer in a studio and these two, printed on the same sheet, were proofs.

Who knows. Photobooth photos or not, it's still the anniversary of the day my grandfather was born and I want to wish him a very Happy Birthday!

Reviewing Civil War Compiled Military Service Records

2011-11-14T20:37:00.006-05:00

Not long ago I wrote a post about ordering a Civil War Compiled Military Service Record from NARA for my great-great-grandfather, Ellis H. Bickerstaff. NARA said it could take four to six weeks for the file to arrive so I settled in for the wait, anticipating a nice, bulky bunch of photocopies. Surprise! The envelope arrived last Friday, just over three weeks from the date I ordered it. Surprise again! (And disappointment, too.) There were only 2 pages of records in it.

I had hoped these records might shed some light on events in Ellis's past that led him to commit suicide. They don't. But I did learn some things I didn't know.

Ellis enlisted in Steubenville, Ohio, and mustered in at Camp Chase in Columbus, Ohio, a (current) distance of about 150 miles.
He enlisted on Monday, May 2, 1864, to serve for a period of 100 days. He mustered in on Sunday, May 15, 1864 and mustered out on Friday, September 2, 1864. From muster in to muster out, he served for 110 days.
Ellis was 24 when he enlisted.
He had blue eyes, brown hair, a fair complexion, and was 6' tall.

Ellis left behind a wife, Emma Nelson Bickerstaff, and one daughter, Susan, who was not yet two years old. A son was born in 1864 but I don't know if it was before Ellis left or after he returned. Ellis and Emma married on September 1, 1861. He was discharged one day after their third anniversary.

________________________________________________________________________

The first page may be an index but to what I don't know. It doesn't correlate to the other pages that arrived.

Biggerstaff, Ellis H.
Co. D, 157 Ohio Infantry,
(National Guard.)

Private | Private
CARD NUMBERS.
1 - 26171747
2 - 26171830
3 - 26171812
4 [through 50 are blank]
Number of personal papers herein 0
Book Mark : [blank]
See also [blank]

________________________________________________________________________

The second paper in the envelope is divided into 3 columns. Two are Muster Rolls, the other is a Muster-out Roll. They are in reverse chronological order on the paper. I separated them when I scanned them and I've transcribed them below in chronological order.

B | 157 | Ohio N. G.
Ellis H. Biggerstaff
Pri., Co. D, 157 Reg't Ohio National Guard Inf.
Appears on
Company Muster and Descriptive Roll
of the organization named above. Roll dated
Camp Chase, O., May 15, 1864.
Where born Jefferson Co. O.
Age 24 y'rs; occupation Farmer
When enlisted May 2, 1864.*
Where enlisted Steubenville, O.*
For what period enlisted 100 days.*
Eyes Blue; hair Brown
Complexion Fair; Height 6 ft. ___ in.
When mustered in May 15 , 1864.
Muster-in to date May 15, 1864.
Where mustered in Camp Chase
Bounty paid $ [blank]; due $ [blank]
Where credited [blank]
Company to which assigned [blank]
*Muster and descriptive, muster and muster-out rolls show enrollment of all men of this company as of same date.
Book mark: [blank]
Owsley [?] [signature]
Copyist.

________________________________________________________________________

B. | 157 | Ohio N. G.
Ellis H. Biggerstaff
Pri., Co. D, 157 Reg't Ohio National Guard Inf.
Appears on
Company Muster Roll
for May 15, to June 30, 1864.
Present or absent Present
Stoppage $ [blank]
Due Gov't $ [blank]
Remarks: [blank]
Book mark: [blank]
W. T. Owsley [signature]
Copyist

_________________________________________________________________________

B | 157 | Ohio N. G.
Ellis H. Biggerstaff
Pri., Co. D, 157 Reg't Ohio National Guard Inf.
Age 24 years.
Appears on Co. Muster-out Roll, dated
Camp Chase, Sept. 2, 1864.
Muster-out to date Sept. 2, 1864.
Last paid to June 30, 1864.
Clothing account:
Last settled [blank]; drawn since $ [blank]
Due soldier $ [blank] due U. S. $ [blank]Amt. for cloth'g in kind or money adv'd $19 10/100
Due U.S. for arms, equipments, &c., $ [blank]Bounty paid $ [blank]
Remarks: [blank]
From Second Auditor's Roll [rubber stamped]
Book mark [blank]
W. T. Owsley [signature]
Copyist.

_____________________________________________________________________

If any of you readers have insights about these records that I may have missed, I'd be grateful to hear from you. With this information is there a way to tell where Ellis served and whether his company and/or regiment fought in any battles? Thanks.

Reasons to Cherish a Photograph

2011-11-12T01:05:00.001-05:00

Some photographs are so beautiful that one can't help but enjoy, appreciate, and cherish them. The view may be spectacular; the composition nearly perfect; the colors delightful....

I cherish this photo because it shows the faces of family members long since gone from this life. It contains the images of my great-grandparents, Henry and Elizabeth Meinzen, with two of their daughters, three sons-in-law, three grandchildren, and a lady (the tall one) who was probably a family friend.

I cherish this photo because it tells me some things about Henry and Elizabeth:
-- They were short. Their daughters (behind Elizabeth and between Elizabeth and Henry) were no more than 5'5". Henry and Elizabeth are shorter by at least an inch or two.
-- Henry smoked a pipe.
-- Elizabeth must not have been a vain person or she would have stayed away from public view after her face became disfigured with cancer.

I don't know where or why this photo was taken, nor do I know the location. Neither do I know the date, though I believe it was taken in the mid-1910s. I cherish it because in some small way it transports me to the life and times of these ancestors. When I look at this photo I wonder what brought the family together that day. Was it a Sunday afternoon picnic? A family reunion? A work party? Who was the photographer? Was it the wife of the third son-in-law? What did they do after they heard the click of the camera? Did the children run off to play with others? Did the men stand around and smoke their pipes while the women sat and visited? Were there other people around? Questions without answers, except in my imagination.

This post is a contribution to celebrate Sepia Saturday 100. Join the celebration!

A Hundred and Fifty Years

2011-11-11T00:01:00.013-05:00

I wanted to find information about wedding customs in 1861 to go along with this post about the marriage of (James) Andrew Doyle and Elizabeth Jane Laws. I was unsuccessful.

They were married in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Northumberland, England, on Monday, November 11, 1861.

He was a 25-year-old widower. She was 16. Her parents did not want her to marry him. She married him anyway. (My siblings and I get our strong wills (or is it stubbornness?) from every ancestral line.) He came to the U.S. in 1869. She and their first 4 children followed in October, 1870. They finally settled in Stoneboro, Mercer County, Pennsylvania.

They had 11 children who survived into adulthood. I haven't traced all of their children and their families but I think they may have more than a thousand descendants by now.

Their marriage lasted 46 years, until Andrew's death in July, 1908.

How grateful I am for Elizabeth's strong will -- or I wouldn't be here!

Happy Anniversary, Gramma and Grampa!

2011-11-10T22:15:00.004-05:00

To those who fought to preserve America's freedoms
-- because freedom has always been worth fighting for --
I say thank you for your service
in war and in peace,
at all times, and in all places.

And to family members who have served

-- Ellis H. Bickerstaff --
-- Andrew Bickerstaff --
-- Edward Bickerstaff
James Bickerstaff --
-- William Dray --
-- David Dray --
-- D. Todd Murdock --
-- David Pierce--

Thank You.

Forget Lightbox!

2011-11-09T21:00:00.013-05:00

If you want me to be able to see close-ups of your photos or documents, please turn Lightbox off. We geneabloggers sometimes ask our readers to enlarge posted images and look at details in documents to help us decipher words or look for something. Sometimes we post old photos and point out details or ask for help in identifying people. Lightbox is no help! It only enlarges once.

Look! Let me show you with two different images.

First, a census image:

Below is the census image as it appears in the blog post.

Now, without Lightbox, this is what I see when I click the image once:

Still without Lightbox, this is what I see when I click the image again.

Look at how large that is! Even though this is a screenshot, you can almost read it.
It's much larger when we post a copy of the original image.

Finally, with Lightbox -- and it's still too small to read:

Second, with a group photograph:

As it appears in the blog post:

Without Lightbox, after I clicked once on the photo:

Without Lightbox, after I clicked the photo again:

With Lightbox, enlarged to its largest.
It's not even as big as the first enlargement without lightbox!

Do you see what I mean? Lightbox doesn't let us enlarge enough to see real detail, especially if it's a document image or a group photograph. The only advantage to Lightbox (that I can see) is that we can click on the little thumbnail images at the bottom of the screen and see the images in sequence. Being able to click thumbnails (in my opinion) is not worth the trade-off of being able to see larger images.

To turn lightbox off, go to , then to and scroll 2/3 of the way down to where it says . There's a box that will say "yes" or "no." If it says "no," leave it. If it says "yes," click the down arrow and select "no." Scroll to the bottom of the page and click "save settings." Now we'll all be able to see your images.

For those of you who don't have blogs, this post probably won't mean much to you. But just so you know, I'm not using Lightbox which means you'll be able to see the images at their largest if you click once, and then again.

RootsMagic Webinar - Sources, Citations and Documentation

2011-11-08T13:59:00.000-05:00

One of my major concerns about changing genealogy programs was whether the new one would transfer and accept all my old source documentation from PAF (Personal Ancestral File). I know I have many fewer people in my program than many of you but I certainly did not want to retype and transcribe all the information. People I knew who used RootsMagic assured me that all the information would transfer. And it did! I was thrilled.

A few days ago I found another document for a family member and decided to add it to RootsMagic instead of PAF. But when I began entering the information, I wasn't sure how to do it. I decided to watch "Sources, Citations and Documentation with RootsMagic." I went to the list of RootsMagic webinars and clicked on the "watch" tab. When nothing happened I downloaded it and watched it without problem.

Bruce Buzbee, the founder of RootsMagic, gave the presentation. He began with the basics by explaining the difference between a source and a citation. This is an important difference that every family historian and genealogist needs to know, not just those who use RootsMagic. (A source is the physical document; a citation is the reference to the source and tells someone else how to find the same source.)

He explained how to use the Master Source and the Source Details (much better than I will do here). The Master Source could be a book, a census report, a birth certificate, an obituary, etc. It is that part of a citation that is reusable such as title, author, publisher, etc. The Source Details are the part of the citation that's different for each time it's used, such as for several different people. All of the Master Sources can be used for different people and events without having to retype all the citation information. PAF offered this option but in a slightly different format.

One function of RootsMagic that I think is excellent is the option to claim the value of each source used for an individual as original or derivative; to claim the information as primary or secondary; and to claim the evidence as direct, indirect, or negative; or don't know for any of those. The strength of this option is that the person entering the data has to carefully analyze and evaluate the data she's entering. Doing that will build a stronger case for each person in the program.

My first reaction to this option was negative: I envisioned all the work necessary to go back through all my sources to note every one of them (for every individual) in each category. Then I realized that it doesn't all have to be done immediately or in one sitting. I can add the quality information over time.

Another great thing about RootsMagic is that when one enters the source data, one can use a template to fill in the blanks and a citation is created that follows the criteria in Elizabeth Shown Mills's Evidence Explained. It's like magic! It's wonderful. From that citation, a footnote is created as well as a bibliographic entry. There is also the option to make your own "free form" citation in whatever format you choose.

Now, to the negative: At the beginning of this post I said that it was important to me that my sources moved from PAF to RootsMagic. They did. But alas, the sources that are transferred from PAF do not automatically transfer into the perfect source citation format. One either can either change them by hand, leave them, or wait until a program that's in the works behind the scenes at RootsMagic is finished and made available to the public. Since I'm not intending to publish my information anytime soon, I'll wait. Unless something pressing comes us.

The webinar was chock full of information and worth my time to watch it. One of the great things about RootsMagic's webinars is that they are free, whether or not you own and/or use the program. If you're considering purchasing the program, I'd encourage you to watch one or several webinars. It may help you decide whether to buy it or not. If you're new to family history and are uncertain about documenting your finds; about the difference between sources and citations; or want to know why they're important the introductory information in this webinar will be worth your time.

Maybe I can like RootsMagic.

The Girl with the Round Glasses

2011-11-07T01:00:00.000-05:00

Geraldine Mae was known to me as Aunt Jeree. She was my mother's next youngest sister, born to William Carl Robert and Emma (Bickerstaff) Meinzen on November 7, 1918. She passed away in the fall of 1984 at just 66 years of age.

Remembering you, Aunt Jeree, and wishing you a happy birthday.

One Lovely Blog Award

2011-11-06T16:40:00.004-05:00

In early March I received the One Lovely Blog Award from Julie at Anglers Rest and Yvonne at The Mashburn Collection. I thanked them both for the gracious gift but didn't fulfill the responsibilities which go with receipt of the award, namely, passing it on to recently discovered blogs. Since then I've been noticing new blogs that I particularly appreciate. It is with great pleasure that I pass on the One Lovely Blog Award to the blogs/bloggers listed below. I hope you'll go visit their blogs and give a few words of congratulations.

Frank's Daughter at The Tree Ward
Valerie at Family Cherished
Sierra at Up In The Tree
Liz at Attics and Old Lace
Kathy at Family Matters
Kathryn at Reflections
Jackie at Jackie's Obsessions/my sanity
Leah at Leah's Family Tree
Cathy at Is Meets Was
Becky at My Genealogy Pondering

For the recipients of One Lovely Blog Award, these are the expectations that go along with receipt of the award:

Accept the award and post it on your blog together with the name of the person who granted the award and their blog link.
Pass the award on to 10 other blogs that you've newly discovered.
Remember to contact the award recipients to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

Congratulations, bloggers!

The Activities and Expectations of a Bride in 1914

2011-10-31T00:01:00.022-04:00

What might have been the activities and expectations of a young woman in the summer of 1914 as she was planning and preparing for her September wedding and future married life to a young barber? My grandmother, Emma Bickerstaff, was a young woman in this circumstance. Was her heart aflutter? Did she agonize over her wedding dress or suit? Did her fingers fly as she pinned and stitched? Did her ankle become sore as she treadled her mother's sewing machine? Did she struggle to balance shopping, sewing, responsibilities at home, and time with her soon-to-be-husband?

In her 1914 book, Why Women Are So, Mary Roberts Coolidge gives some insights into the activities and emotions of a bride, as well as the preparations that would have taken place, during the days and months leading up to a wedding in 1914.

For months before the wedding-day [the bride] cut and fitted and sewed; crocheted and tatted and embroidered; in order that she might be able to exhibit to her female friends and, incidentally, to the bewildered lover, so many dozens of elaborate, hand-made chemises, nightgowns, petticoats; tablecloths, napkins, and towels. (p. 25)

...For the domestic woman the wedding-day was not only the first, but the sole time that she would ever be a person of public interest.... For a day of such importance nothing was quite good enough. The trousseau was... essential to the prospective bride...., it was like the equipment of a traveler who sets out for an unknown Oriental country--for who knew what might be needed and yet unattainable in the great adventure upon which she was about to embark! ...The trousseau, at the end of the first year, might be quite useless in view of prospective motherhood; and might be laid away in lavender, never to be resurrected, perhaps, except for some old-folks masquerade devised by her grown-up daughter. (p.26)

As the great day drew near the bride and her family were usually engaged in a whirl of feverish preparations; the house must be prepared for a wedding breakfast, supper, or reception, the church decorated for the ceremony.... Even for a "simple" wedding the fatigue and the expense were invariably greater than had been anticipated, and the higher emotions of all concerned were drowned in the effort to make as much 'splurge' as possible, and in anxiety about petty, material details. Thus the parents and the household went to bed on the bridal eve utterly exhausted, and with last admonitions to the young girl to sleep that her beauty might not be dimmed on the morrow. (p. 28)

Emma was the oldest daughter and second child in her family. Her father was a carpenter and contractor; her mother, a homemaker. Emma was the second of nine children in the family and the second to be married: her older brother, John, had married five years earlier.

As a bride on Tuesday, September 8, 1914, Emma's experience may, or may not, have mirrored the descriptions above; but I assume there would have been much activity to buy or make linens to start a new home and at least one piece of new clothing for the wedding day. There are no photographs of Emma in a wedding gown nor of her husband, William Carl Robert Meinzen, in a tuxedo. There are no written or oral memories handed down to record the day, nor even a newspaper clipping announcing their marriage. Nothing of her trousseau has survived.

All that remains is a civil marriage record and a few photographs that were probably taken around the time they were married. Carolyn Trowbridge Radnor-Lewis, in an article in the May, 1912, issue of Good Housekeeping, p. 658, "Her Wardrobe: The Trousseau," stated that "[some] brides prefer to be married in a good-looking traveling costume, with a stylish hat." I believe that may have been my grandmother's choice.

We don't know whether the transition to marriage was an easy adjustment or not. We do know that the couple's first child was born within a year of their marriage. Was it a happy marriage? Did all of Emma's hopes and dreams as a young bride come to pass? Unanswered questions, all. What we know is that Emma and her husband had 4 daughters, lived self-reliant lives, and that their marriage survived nearly 59 years, until Emma's death in 1973.

When I was a child my grandmother had an old trunk deep in her bedroom closet. In the trunk were some dark-colored clothes that seemed to me very old. Once or twice I saw her lift the lid and remove them. One of those times was when a cousin and I were looking for clothes for Halloween costumes. Perhaps what Coolridge said was true for my grandmother, that by the end of the first year of marriage, "the trousseau . . . might be laid away in lavender, never to be resurrected, perhaps, except for some old-folks masquerade devised by her grown-up daughter [or not-yet-grown-up granddaughters]."

This post is a contribution to the 111th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy: Autumn Weddings! which is hosted by Jasia at Creative Gene. Thank you, Jasia.

Your Name's Not Gonna Die

2011-10-30T00:05:00.000-04:00

This is an excerpt from Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts. It's a conversation between Novalee, 17 years old and pregnant, and Moses Whitecotton, an older gentleman. Moses begins.

"Name's important," he said. "Keeps track of who you are."

"I guess so."

"That's right. Name's an important thing. You picked a name for your baby yet?"

"No, but I got some I'm thinking about."

"Well, take your time. Can't rush a thing like that. Name's too important to hurry.... Get your baby a name that means something. A sturdy name. Strong name. Name that's gonna withstand a lot of bad times. A lot of hurt."

"I never thought of that."

"I used to be an engraver . . . trophies, plaques. Cut gravestones, too. You do a thing like that, you think about names."

"Yeah, I guess you would."

"See, the name you pick out is gonna be with your baby when nothing else is. When nobody is. 'Cause you ain't always gonna be there."

"Oh, I'm never gonna leave her. The way some people just leave, go right out of your life. I'm never gonna do that."

"But you're not gonna live forever. You're gonna die. We're all gonna die. Me. Her. You. . . . You're dying right now. Right this minute." He looked at his watch, said, "Right this second," then tapped it with his finger. "See there? That second passed. It's gone. Not gonna come again. And while I'm talking to you, every second I'm talking, a second is passing. Gone. Count them up. Count them down. They're gone. Each one bringing you closer to your dying time."

"I don't like to think about that."

"You ever think about this? Every year you live, you pass the anniversary of your death. Now, you don't know what day it is, of course. You follow what I'm saying?"

Novalee nodded, but just barely, as if too much movement might break her concentration.

"Look here. Say you're gonna die on December eighth. Course, you don't know the date because you're still alive. But every year you live, you pass December eighth without knowing it's the anniversary of your death. You see what I mean?"

"Yeah." Novalee was wide-eyed, stunned by this startling new idea. "I'd never thought of that."

"No, not a lot of folks do. But listen. You're gonna die. But your name's not. No. It's gonna be written in somebody's Bible, printed in some newspaper. Cut into your gravestone. See, that name has a history. . . . And that history is gonna be there when you're not."

A Birthday Greeting for Elizabeth Laws Doyle

2011-10-28T20:31:00.009-04:00

Elizabeth Laws Doyle is my g-g-grandmother. She was born on this date, October 28, in 1845 in Northumberland, England. I've been thinking about her today and wish to commemorate her day with this birthday postcard. It reads:

A Birthday Greeting
Of all the days of all the year
That bring their joys to you,
May this your Birthday bring you dear
The best you ever knew.

I hope you have a happy birthday, Gramma Doyle.

Orange Cake, Filling, Cupcakes -- Family Recipe Friday

2011-10-28T00:34:00.011-04:00

This is another of Gramma Meinzen's recipes, copied into the Webster's Spelling recipe book.

I was surprised to see "crisco" as an ingredient in the cupcakes. I had no idea Crisco's history and found that it was first available in 1911, at least a few years before my grandmother wrote her recipes. An excerpt from the Crisco website tells us that

Crisco was introduced by Procter & Gamble in 1911, to provide an economical alternative to animal fats and butter. To emphasize the purity of the product within, the Crisco can came inside an additional, removable over-wrap of white paper. Crisco, the first solidified shortening product made entirely of vegetable oil, was the result of hydrogenation, a new process that produced shortening that would stay in solid form year-round, regardless of temperature.

The first print advertisement for Crisco was released in popular women's magazines in January, 1912.

I also wondered about the "S. D. flour." I finally decided that it was Swans Down Cake Flour, "Americas #1 selling cake flour, [which] has set the standard for excellence in baking for more than 100 years." Who knew!

_____________________________________________________________________

Orange Cake
3 cups S. D. flour
3 level teas. Baking Powder.
1/2 cup butter.
1 1/4 " sugar
yolk 3 eggs well beaten
juice of one orange in
cup fill cup with water
making 1 full cup.
Rind of one whole orange
whites of 2 eggs.
Sift flour once measure
and add B. P. sift 3
times. cream butter and
sugar add grated rind
of orange and eggs yolks
well beaten now add flour
and water alternatley [sic]
beating long and hard.
Lastly add well beaten
whites of eggs.

_____________________________________________________________________

filling for cup cakes
hollow out centers
Mix crumbs with 1 cup
cream beaten stiff with
3 tablespoon powdered
sugar 1/2 cup diced
pineapple |drained|
refill cakes and replace tops
_____________________________
cup cakes
1 1/2 flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tea. B. powder
1/2 tea salt
1/4 cup crisco
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs.
flavoring

Orange cream filling
white of one large egg juice
of 1 orange 2 cup powdered
sugar. Put egg and
orange juice in deep
bowl. add sugar gradually
beating long and hard
until creamy and
consistency to spread
Spread on cake when cool

When She Turned 59

2011-10-26T01:16:00.013-04:00

Mary Thompson Bickerstaff turned 59 on Monday, October 26, 1931. She was living in Mineral Ridge, Ohio. All of her children were grown, though her youngest daughter, Cora, 19, still lived at home. The photograph at right was taken in the spring of 1931.

The U.S. was just two years into the Great Depression in 1931. No doubt times were as tight for Mary and her family as they were for nearly everyone else. Gramma's dress was probably more than a few years old considering that its very low waist and ankle length were very different styles from those popular in 1931.

What might Gramma Bickerstaff's concerns have been in 1931? I have no way of knowing her most personal concerns but the October 24th issue of a local newspaper, The Youngstown Vindicator, gave me an idea of news of the day and some community and worldly concerns.

In Chicago, the tax evasion trial of "gangster overlord" Al Capone ended and Federal Judge James A. Wilkerson passed sentence of 11 years in the penitentiary and a fine of $50,000. Additionally, he ordered Capone to pay court costs.

Double headlines went to Los Angeles "Trunk Slayer," Mrs. Winnie Ruth Judd, 20, wife of a physician and daughter of a minister. One set of headlines read, "Woman Gives Self Up in Trunk Killings. Says She Shot Two Victims in Self Defense. Claims Murders were Committed in Fight with Victims. Tells of Being Wounded. Says Fear of Lockjaw Made Her Surrender--Expresses No Regrets." I didn't follow this story but surely my grandmother must have read about and wondered at the motive of Winnie Judd. Perhaps she and her husband, Edward, debated about the circumstances preceding the killings and whether she was telling the truth.

Another topic of discussion might have been the elections. The pages of the paper had articles about who was running for which office and what the issues were. Voter fraud was a problem. It seems that more than a few people registered to vote giving addresses where foundations remained but where homes no longer existed.

Prohibition was a topic of discussion in the newspaper. The churches took a stand with an ad about Temperance Day.

The paper filled a page of church-related articles including an illustrated Bible lesson.

There were the requisite sports pages; society news; and stock market reports. Other market reports included livestock, poultry, oil, produce, metal, rubber, feed, and foreign markets. And of course there was a weather prediction: a high of 77 and a low of 50 degrees.

The Vindicator published news columns from towns around Youngstown and in Trumbull and Columbiana Counties, including Newton Falls, Evansville, Lowellville, Southington, Damascus, Girard, McDonald, Kinsman, and Sebring. (Unfortunately, Mineral Ridge was not included. If Mineral Ridge had had a suburb, Evansville, barely a crossroads, would have been it.) The news from these towns included sentences such as, "John I. Evans has gone to Ruskin, Fla., where he will spend the winter." "George, little son of Mr. and Mrs. Hayes Mayan, is very ill with bronchial pneumonia." And "Mrs. Margaret Williams spent the week-end with relatives in Salineville."

Did my grandmother go to the movies? Would she have gone to the theater to see The Beloved Bachelor, Platinum Blonde, or Honor of the Family? Would she have thought Susan Lenox a little too risque?

Gramma certainly would have listened to the radio. She may have already had the schedule memorized it if was the same from day to day but just in case it wasn't, she could have checked the radio broadcast schedules of all the local stations in The Vindicator and read a list of highly recommended broadcasts.

If her grandchildren came to visit, the newspaper could have helped her entertain them with a Thornton Burgess bedtime story, "Bugler Becomes Humble," which offered the admonition "Beware the arrogance of pride;/ An humble spirit be your guide."

One of Gramma's very real concerns was probably keeping her home warm during the coming winter months. There were any number of coal dealers in the Youngstown area. She may have ordered her coal deliveries from Youngstown or maybe there a more local supplier. No doubt once she found a reliable source, she was a repeat customer.

Whatever her cares and interests of the day were, I hope she was remembered and honored as wife, mother, grandmother, and friend. I hope she had a happy birthday that year -- and I hope she has a happy birthday this year.

All images are from The Youngstown Vindicator.

List of Old English Occupations - Tuesday's Tip

2011-10-25T19:25:00.019-04:00

If you have ancestors from England and you've found an occupation listed on the census but you're not quite sure you know what it means, you may find List of Old English Occupations helpful. Even if you think you know what your ancestor did based on the name of his occupation, you may not be correct. If you don't find your ancestor's occupation on the list at this site you may still find the site interesting or amusing. There are 40 screens of definitions listed.

These occupations and their definitions gave me a chuckle:

buss maker: maker of guns ("Buss" is an old English word meaning "kiss.")
funambulist: tightrope walker (Fun, that is, if you don't mind heights.)
honey dipper: one who extracted raw sewage from catch basins and out-houses (Some honey!)
secret springer: one who made watch springs (Yes, a watch spring is so small that it would seem like a secret.)
zythepsarist: brewer (I hope the brewer didn't sample his brew too often or he probably had trouble stating his occupation.)

In the 1841 England census the occupation of my great-great-grandfather, Abel Armitage, was noted as
I have trouble deciphering those words. Could it be "Hordes Keeper" or "Horses Keeper" or "Heorde Keeper" or . . . . Unfortunately, I didn't find anything similar in the occupations list above. That's why I say you may find the list helpful. (If you have an idea what those two words are, please leave a comment and tell me. Thanks!)

In the 1851 England Census, Abel was listed as a rail porter. From the list of occupations, a porter was a door or gate keeper. Was there some transition from his keeping responsibilities in 1841 to his rail porter (door keeper) responsibilities in 1851?

Michael and Janet Wood are the compilers, keepers, and copyright holders of Old English Census Occupations and host the list on their website, World Through the Lens. They also offer Genealogy Index and Family History Sources.

Learning to Like RootsMagic

2011-10-24T23:19:00.002-04:00

My responses to RootsMagic thus far:

excitement when I finally had time to open the package and install the program
surprise at its speed in transferring my family's names, dates, and sources from PAF
uncertainty -- why are there blank spaces when there were no blank spaces in PAF?
amazement at the variety of reports available for printing

I've found some good things about the program already.

I can see that RootsMagic offers more options for source documentation than PAF did, which is excellent. It's easy to add the kind of source (census, education, illness, occupation, will, etc.) from a drop-down list. I haven't yet added any documents yet. I want to learn more about the program before doing so. I don't want to have to go back and make corrections. It's easier to get it right from the beginning.

I like how the program suggests that we decide whether the source we're adding and transcribing is a primary document not. That will help with the credibility of my research.

The BEST thing to date is that I was able to change the color of the background. You can see it at the top of this post. Yes, I know that's a little thing. Really, it's a non-essential thing and if I couldn't have done it, I could have lived with the program the way it was. But you know how when you move to a new house with a new kitchen -- or for the guys, with a new garage or work area -- and you have to organize it before you can actually begin working there comfortably? Maybe you paint the walls or build some shelves or move things around? I have to get comfortable in my environment before I can do serious work. That comfort comes either with time, if I can't change things, or with being able to adjust the environment. The color was blue. Blue is my least favorite color. I was thrilled when I found green (though there are about 2 dozen other options, too). The font size on the screen was a whopping 14 point when 12 is plenty large (and still too large for notes). The program let me change that.

Renée TOMLINSON PETERSEN of Whispers from the Past/Tales Told, Jenny Lanctot of Are My Roots Showing?, and Amy Coffin of The We Tree Genealogy Blog all recommended that I watch the RootsMagic Webinars. I looked at the list of topics and will return when I have an hour and a half to concentrate. Soon! In the meantime, using Getting the Most Out of RootsMagic, a book which came with the program, and exploring the program are giving me plenty to do in small chunks of time.

It's Magic! was my first post about RootsMagic. I'm sure this one won't be my last one about the program.

Fourth Graders, Mineral Ridge School, 1924-25

2011-10-22T01:43:00.012-04:00

This is my mother's 4th grade class at Mineral Ridge School in Mineral Ridge, Ohio. You can see her photo -- but not her face. She's the child in the front row, 5th from the left who scraped off the paper where her face had been. She turned 10 in 1925. Enlarge the photo for a better, clearer view by clicking on it.

Some of my observations about this photo:

Most of the girls have their hair bobbed.
Only two children have glasses: both girls, both with round frames.
More than half the girls' dresses are sewn from gingham or plaid fabrics.
Nine of the boys are wearing coats with belts that button around the waist.
The boys whose legs we can see sport short pants.
There's no teacher standing with the children.
I want a sweater like the one the boy in the upper left corner is wearing.

It's hard to read the expressions of some of these children. Most look serious or angry. A few have smiles. It's interesting to think that I probably knew some of these children when they were adults and I was a child.

This is a Sepia Saturday post. Click on the link to find others posts with old photographs.

Ordering Civil War Compiled Military Service Records

2011-10-20T23:59:00.020-04:00

I've known for a few years that my great-great-grandfather, Ellis H. Bickerstaff, was a Civil War veteran who served in the 157th Regiment of the Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Company D. I soon learned that I could order information about his time in the Army from National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) but they'd just increased their fees and the charge for a Compiled Military Service Record (CMSR) was about $75.00. I just didn't have that much in my genealogy budget at the time so I laid that research aside until later.

Ellis was on mind today and I knew I needed to do something for him: find his Civil War service records. I pulled out my Bickerstaff file, found his Graves Registration Card, and headed to NARA's website, Civil War Records. It is an excellent resource detailing what records are available at NARA (though it didn't have a direct link to a site where I could order records). At this site I found

a good bibliography of other resources
details about the basic records including CMSR, pension records, and records of events of the companies
where these records can be found
links to Civil War photographs and maps
sources for photographs and maps that are not available online
information about the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) which is not affiliated with the U.S. Army
and sources for information about other Civil War records

My next step was to find how to order records from NARA. I searched again and found Civil War Service Records Research Guide. This site was focused on finding Compiled Military Service Records and offered

information about the records for Union and Confederate soldiers
finding aides and a list of the information required to order records
links to indexes where I could find regiment and company (if not yet known)
a direct link for ordering records online
a direct link to a site for printing mail order forms
the locations of microfilms containing CMSR
a link for information about ordering Union and Confederate pension records

I was surprised to learn that Fold3 has some records available online (but not Ohio) for both Union and Confederate soldiers.

I finally arrived at NARA's Veterans' Service Records where I ordered Ellis H. Bickerstaff's Compiled Military Service Records online. The fee was $25.00, about 60% less than I expected to pay. The cost is the same for either paper copies or a CD with the records. If you prefer to order the records by mail, you can print the form there. I ordered paper copies.

And now the waiting begins. Records may take 30 to 90 days to arrive.

A Change to My Blog Template

2011-10-19T18:50:00.002-04:00

It's an unnerving experience to change my blog's template and format, particularly because my technical abilities are limited. But it had to be done. The only way I can show you before and after views is with screenshots. What do you think? Which looks/looked better on your screen?

I originally chose the wider format because the art background in me says "fill the page" and that format did. But I realized while on a computer at the public library that the screen was filled with a messy jumble. I questioned a few other readers and realized that some of them sometimes saw a jumble, too. Honestly, I suspect that some readers left in disgust when they saw the mess. All that time so carefully arranging photographs was for naught.

Obviously the change was necessary. I hope you now see a narrower format that neatly fits on your screen without a jumble. I've changed altered some colors for the autumn season, too.

Please tell me what you see now when you look at this new format-- jumble or not? I'd appreciate the input.

Thanks to all of you who have continued to read my blog posts despite the mess. I appreciate it.

Helps for Translating the Old German Typeface - Tuesday's Tip

2011-10-18T00:07:00.004-04:00

As you search for your German ancestors there may be times when a search engine will find an ancestor's name in a newspaper which is printed in German. (Isn't OCR amazing?!) What happens when you know or suspect the article is about your ancestor but you can't read German? There's help if you're willing to patiently examine the letters and translate them.

I find the chart at right useful because it shows our Roman letters and both the old German type and the old German script. It will be helpful when translating newspapers as well as old German documents with mixed type and script. This is from KrauseHouse.

America Writes Home is another source showing Roman letters and both German type fonts and script letters. From all of these sources you can see variations of script, though the type fonts are essentially the same. If you are trying to translate a document with both type and script such as a church or civil record, it's helpful to have a variety of sources since you may need to determine which type of script was used. A previous post, Helps for Translating That Old German Handwriting, gives sources to aid in the translation of script lettering.

The chart at left, also from KrauseHouse, may be a bit better than the one above because it includes modified vowels and compound consonants, integral parts of the German language.

KrausHouse has another chart which shows Roman letters, German letters, German script letters, and approximate pronunciation in German. It could be helpful if you need to spell out a word to a German speaker.

After you've translated the old German font into Roman letters, you'll still need to translate from German to English unless you're already able to do that. If you can't, I find BeoLingus helpful for just such a situation.

Google News Archive has several German newspapers if you'd like to practice your translation skills. (You can look at this one if you like.) I tried it and decided it's not easy. Nor was there much incentive since I chose a large font advertisement (because I couldn't find a news article about my ancestor).

My motive for learning to translate old German into English is this: a year or so ago I learned that my great-grandfather, Henry Meinzen, may have served in the Civil War. Since he would have recently arrived from Germany, I thought perhaps his enlistment would have been mentioned in one of the local German newspapers. I thought it wouldn't be too hard to recognize at least his last name if I saw it. How wrong I was! German newspaper typefaces of the 1860s look as unlike Roman letters as possible. Armed with the aids I've shared in this post, I will make a second attempt at deciphering the local German newspaper of his day. I think I'll translate "enlistment," "Meinzen," "soldiers" and other words that may have been used to publish an enlistment announcement into German, then find the old German letters for the words. I am ever hopeful of finding more about Henry.

For readers hoping to translate old German script go to Helps for Translating That Old German Handwriting.

Copyright © 2010 by NDM for My Ancestors and Me.

It's Magic!

2011-10-17T22:12:00.003-04:00

RootsMagic, that is. It really did seem like magic as I saw the names from my old program appear on the RootsMagic screen.

I've been using PAF (Personal Ancestral File) since I began searching for my ancestors. I have been perfectly satisfied with it. It's easy to use and I can record all the information I've found that documents the lives of my ancestors. Keeping track of them has been easy as I click through the pedigree chart and change between that view and the family group screen. But I knew PAF was at a dead end. I knew there would be no more updates, no more improvements, and no easy connection between my database and new.FamilySearch.org to make finding duplicates of my ancestors easier. I knew it was time for a change.

When I talked to others about what program they used many of them not only recommended RootsMagic; they raved about it. When it went on sale a month or two ago, I bought it. (And have just now had time to install it.)

After installation this evening I viewed the brief tutorial and then created a file. The program asked me if I wanted to begin typing new information or import information from another program. I chose import and told it where to find my PAF file. Truly, it looked like magic as I saw my family's names appear in the RootsMagic screen between blinks. Fast and efficient.

All of this is not to say that I like RootsMagic. At least not yet. I may come to like it, maybe even love it. But at the moment it's too new for me to feel comfortable with it yet. I need to learn how to maneuver through it, explore it's capabilities, and learn how to best put it to use. I've already noticed several advantages but there are other aspects of it that seem cumbersome.

Change is sometimes hard. Blogger is making enough changes without my putting myself through the adjustment to a new genealogy program, but I knew it had to be done. At least I can rely on PAF while I learn the ins and outs of RootsMagic.

Do you use RootsMagic? What's great about it?

The New Mr. and Mrs.

2011-10-13T01:42:00.020-04:00

Presenting Natasha and Jesse, my daughter and her husband, who were married on Saturday, October 8, 2011.

Sometimes one searches for family history. Other times one is involved in making family history. I've been doing the latter these past few months as I've tailored Natasha's wedding dress (with the help of an expert seamstress) and prepared for a celebration following their sacred wedding ceremony.

Saturday's weather offered a clear, crisp, bright day as its gift to the couple. Inside, the temple presented them with refreshing peace and calm. Family and friends showered them with love as we gathered to support them in the beginning of their new life together.

My family and I wish them all the best!

Photograph is courtesy of Frozen in Time Photography.

Welcoming Jesse

2011-10-12T21:08:00.006-04:00

Jesse became our newest family member on Saturday, October 8, when he became my daughter Natasha's husband.

Perhaps you can guess from his photo that Jesse has a healthy sense of humor. He makes my daughter (and the rest of us) laugh. He is creative, not just in terms of the arts, but is also a creative thinker. He sees solutions to problems that others may not think of. He is a hard worker with a strong work ethic. And he is perceptive. When he sees that something needs done, he does it.

Best of all, I believe he will love and honor Natasha and do all within his power to bring her happiness.

Welcome, Jesse!

Marsha on Her Trike

2011-10-09T11:00:00.003-04:00

This photo was taken a while ago when my sister was 4 or 5 years old. Don't you love her neat little blouse tucked into her skirt with the tiny light-colored sweater? And notice the bow in her hair. It's surprising that she's so dressed up and Mom let her ride her trike. She was probably a very obedient child who stayed clean when Mom told her to.

I can't tell what's behind her trike but it almost looks like something is attached and she's pulling it.

This photo looks like it was taken in my grandparents' driveway. They had grape vines on fences making a border between their driveway and their back yard.

My sister Marsha's birthday is today, October 9. Happy Birthday, dear sister.

Fredrick K. Gerner

2011-09-29T19:20:00.003-04:00

This may be one of the poorest photographs I have in my collection. I can't make myself get rid of it because it's one of only two photographs I have with my great-grandfather, Fred Gerner, in them.

I don't know the date this photo was taken, nor the location. My best guess for date is about 1905; my best guess for location is one of Fred's farms, in either Butler or Mercer Counties, Pennsylvania. He and his family moved from one location to the other between 1900 and 1910. As for the children, if they're grandchildren, there are about six different little ones they could possibly be. There are several barely discernible young woman on the right side of the photo who I assume are the mothers of those little ones. I don't think anyone is alive who could positively -- or even guess -- the identify of either the babies or mothers.

Fredrick K. Gerner was born 163 years ago today. Happy Birthday, Grampa Gerner.

Wedding Musings on a Wedding Wednesday

2011-09-28T19:10:00.004-04:00

I've had to lay aside genealogy, family history, and most of my blogging (both writing and reading) while preparing for my daughter's wedding in another two weeks.

As I carefully (and oh-so-slowly) hand-stitch lace to the bottom of her wedding gown, I ponder the activities of previous generations of mothers (and daughters) as they planned and prepared for their daughters' weddings. These are a few of the things I wonder:

Were any of their wedding dresses white?
Were any of the dresses hand-stitched?
Did they sent out invitations?
Did many people, or few, attend their weddings?
Did they have receptions or celebrations of any kind?
Did they receive many wedding gifts?
Did they go on honeymoons?
Did they wear something old, something new, etc.?
Were any of them carried over the threshold by their new husbands?

There are so many aspects of wedding preparation. I wish I could time travel back and be an observer for the preparation of and at each of my fore-mothers' weddings.

If I had more time I'd search HEARTH to see what I could find about the activities of brides and their mothers in times past. My research into that topic will have to wait until after October 8!

Letters from Estonia - A FamilySearch Video

2011-09-18T12:01:00.001-04:00

There are several aspects of this video that particularly impress me:

I appreciate how the video presents a visual depiction to enhance and more fully tell the story, narrated with so few words. Someone did more research to help us see what the ancestor's life might have actually been like during his early war years. For me, this is part of what family history is about: learning about my ancestors, learning about the historical environment of the times in which they lived, then putting them into that time and place.
The power of writing letters shines brightly in this video. Sometimes it might seem as though there's little likelihood of success when writing letters to a person at an address where he or she lived many years ago, but one can never tell the outcome.

I hope you're having success with your family history research.

Certificate of Marriage & "How to Perpetuate The Honeymoon"

2011-09-15T00:07:00.014-04:00

My parents, Audrey Meinzen and Lee Doyle, were married 73 years ago on this date, September 15, 1938. They had three certificates of marriage: one civil and two signed by the minister who performed the marriage.

The certificate at right comes from a beautiful booklet printed in gold, red, green, and black, with the title, "Our Wedding" on the front. It has a 1916 copyright by The Methodist Book Concern. It contains the text for "The Order for the Solemnization of Matrimony" as well as the certificate, at right, several calligraphed poems/quotes, a space to list the bridal party, and five pages for guests to sign their names.

I will scan and post all the pages later this year. I'm especially pleased to see the names of the guests and to have their signatures.

My mother saved another booklet with the title "Wedlock." It contains the second church marriage certificate and the page at left, "How to Perpetuate The Honeymoon." I find the language quaint -- uncommon to my "modern" ear -- yet with sound advice for newlyweds. I've transcribed it below for easier reading.

__________________________________________________________________

How to Perpetuate The Honeymoon
From Home and Health, by permission of W. H. DuPuy, A. M., D. D.

Continue your courtship. Like causes produce like effects.

Do not assume a right to neglect your companion more after marriage than you did before.

Have no secrets that you keep from your companion. A third party is always disturbing.

Avoid the appearance of evil. In matrimonial matters it is often that the mere appearance contains all the evil. Love, as soon as it rises above calculation and becomes love is exacting. It gives all, and demands all.

Make the best of the inevitable. Persist in looking at and presenting the best side. Smile and smile. A cheerful disposition can be acquired, and it will carry you thru many a discouraging situation.

Keep a lively interest in the business of the firm. Two that do not pull together, are weaker than either alone.

Start from where your parents started, rather than where they now are. Hollow and showy boarding often furnishes too strong temptation, while the quietness of a humble home would cement the hearts beyond risk.

Avoid debt. Spend your own money, then it will not be necessary to blame anyone for spending other peoples.

Do not both get angry at the same time. It takes two to make a quarrel.

Do not allow yourself ever to come to an open rupture. Things unsaid need less repentance.

Study to understand your companion's disposition, in order to please and avoid friction. Try to conform your tastes and habits to the tastes and habits of your companion. If two walk together, they must agree.

Gauge your expenses by your revenues. Love must eat. The sheriff often levies on Cupid long before he takes away the old furniture.
___________________________________________________________

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad. I hope many are celebrating with you.

Her Name Was Beulah

2011-09-13T00:02:00.002-04:00

I first became aware of the name "Beulah" when I was 10 or 11. I heard it in school, thought it a very unusual and funny name, and laughed. That evening at dinner as I was telling my parents about it, I laughed again.

My father gave me a warning look and said, "You better watch it."

Puzzled, I asked why. When I received no response from him, I looked to my mother who said, "That's your father's mother's name."

Ohhhh. This was completely new information to me. It was the first time I'd ever heard anything about my father's mother. I grew up unaware that most children have two sets of grandparents.

It was years before I learned more about my grandmother, Beulah Gerner Doyle, who died a few weeks after my father was born. This morning I was imagining how my life might have been different had she lived and had I known her when I was a child. There would have been trips to Stoneboro to visit with her, perhaps for week-long visits in the summer months; letters and cards sent back and forth; and one more person to love and be loved by. My imagination went further when I thought about how much different my father's life would have been. He would have grown up safe and secure, loved by two parents instead of in a home where his loving father had to protect him from an unkind step-mother. Beulah died in 1913; my father in 1987: they've had 24 years to get to know and love each other. I'm sure the reunion was grand!

Today is Beulah Gerner Doyle's 123rd birthday. Happy Birthday, Gramma!

Grandmother's Journal - Strength To Draw From

2011-09-10T23:41:00.000-04:00

How I wish I had the journal of one of my ancestors! Even without a journal, though, I find that learning about my ancestors sometimes gives me strength.

Another Year Come and Gone

2011-09-09T09:49:00.016-04:00

This is my beautiful older daughter whose birthday we are celebrating today. I'm so grateful that she was born to me and has been a part of my life.

In the photo at right she's auditioning lace for a wedding veil. She will be married in a month. There's lots to do to get ready for a wedding (most of which I wasn't aware of until having to do it).

As I've been planning and preparing for the celebration, a Joni Mitchell song called "The Circle Game" keeps coming to mind. It tells about a young one's transition from childhood to adulthood. For me it's a poignant reminder about how quickly time passes; how toddlers grow into adults almost overnight; and about the relentlessness of time. It doesn't stop for us no matter how much we want a moment to linger so we can savor it. There have been many moments with Natasha that I wish could have lasted longer. I savor them only in my memory.

Happy Birthday, dear Natasha! It hope it's a wonderful one!

Their 97th Wedding Anniversary

2011-09-08T00:04:00.004-04:00

As I remember it, their marriage didn't always run smoothly. There was never any yelling but I remember hearing occasional grumbling. Grampa was very strong-willed, perhaps even stubborn. Gramma may have been just as stubborn. But in the days of their marriage the wife generally bent to the wishes of the husband, and I believe that was probably so for them, at least in most cases.

Love doesn't always run smoothly. But smooth isn't one of the bywords of marriage. I'm not even sure love is one of the bywords, though movies would have us believe it is the beginning, middle, and end of marriage. For my grandparents (and my parents, too) commitment, sacrifice, and dedication were some of the bywords (and actions) of marriage. And love was the result of living a life together.

These are my grandparents, William Carl Robert "Bob" and Emma Bickerstaff Meinzen. This photo probably dates to the late 1950s or early 1960s when they would have been in their late 60s or early 70s. They were married 97 years ago on this date.

Happy Anniversary, Gramma and Grampa.

Wonder Cake, Icing - Family Recipe Friday

2011-09-02T20:35:00.003-04:00

During those times when I have unthinking kinds of work to do, such as stitching a hem or scrubbing a floor, I spend part of the time wondering about many different things but often especially about the lives of my ancestors (unless I'm otherwise preoccupied with wedding preparations as is the case just now). One thing I have never wondered about is my grandmother's recipe for Wonder Cake. Now, as I sit to transcribe it, I wonder why it is called Wonder Cake. Was it an exception in it's time? Was it unusual in it's lightness or easiness to bake? Did it have fewer ingredients than most cakes? Why Wonder Cake? I doubt I'll ever know.

This recipe comes from my grandmother's, Emma Bickerstaff Meinzen's, Webster's Spelling Recipe book. This recipe is unusual, compared to the other recipes in this booklet, because it tells the length of time to bake the cake. It does not, however, tell the temperature at which to bake it. Probably about 350 degrees, which is the temperature at which most cakes bake.

I still think my grandmother did not use enough chocolate in her recipes! They do seem to call for healthier ingredients, though, including plenty of nuts and fruit.

_____________________________________________________

Wonder Cake
cream 1/2 cup butter
with 1 1/2 cup powdered
sugar 1/2 cup milk
a little at a time
add 2 cups flour
with 2 teaspoon R.
Baking powder
sifted with flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
fold in 6 beaten
egg whites last
Bake 20 min.

Icing
Boil 1 1/2 cup sugar
with 1/2 cup water
untill spins a thread
add slowly to 3 egg
whites beaten add
1/3 cup raisins (cut)
1/2 cup nut meats
1/2 " chopped figs
vanilla

Did My Grands and Great-Grands Can Tomatoes?

2011-08-30T00:04:00.010-04:00

It's tomato season again. The tomato stand alongside the country road I sometimes drive caused me to wonder if my great-grandmothers canned tomatoes. What would the canning process have been like in the late 1800s when they were young mothers with children, and probably also with gardens?

Cornell University's HEARTH provided some answers -- not specifically about whether my great-grandmothers canned tomatoes -- but about the canning process. Mary F. Henderson's book, Practical Cooking and Dinner Giving: A Treatise Containing Practical Instructions in Cooking : in the Combination of Serving of Dishes : and in the Fashionable Modes of Entertaining at Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner, published in 1877 by Harper & Brothers, gave instructions for canning.

Are you ready? Do you have cans and lids? Your tin cup, your tea-kettle, a porcelain preserving kettle, and red sealing-wax? Then let's begin.

To Can Tomatoes.

Let them be entirely fresh. Put scalding water over them to aid in removing the skins. When the cans with their covers are in readiness upon the table, the red sealing-wax (which is generally too brittle, and requires a little lard melted with it) is in a cup at the back of the fire, the tea-kettle is full of boiling water, and the tomatoes are all skinned, we are ready to begin the canning. First put four cans (if there are two persons, three if only one person) on the hearth in front of the fire; fill them with boiling water. Put enough tomatoes in a porcelain preserving kettle to fill these cans; add no water to them. With a good fire let them come to the boiling-point, or let them all be well scalded through. Then, emptying the hot water from the cans, fill them with the hot tomatoes; wipe off the moisture from the tops with a soft cloth, and press the covers tightly. While pressing each cover down closely with a knife, pour carefully around it the hot sealing-wax from the tin cup, so bent at the edge that the wax may run out in a small stream. Hold the knife still a moment longer, that the wax may set. When these cans are sealed, continue the operations until all the tomatoes are canned. Now put the blade of an old knife in the coals, and when it is red-hot run it over the tops of the sealing-wax to melt any bubbles that may have formed; then, examining each can, notice if there is any hissing noise, which will indicate a want of tightness in the can, which allows the steam to escape. If any holes are found, wipe them, and cover them while the cans are hot with a bit of the sealing-wax. There will be juice left after the tomatoes are canned. Season this and boil it down for catchup.

While reading this recipe I wished for illustrations and I certainly hoped that someone who had already canned would have been helping teach the process. It seems like they were using cans, not the glass jars that we usually use these days.

Several of my grands were young mothers in 1877. Elizabeth Armitage Meinzen was 25 with with 3 children. Elvira Bartley Gerner was 23 with 5 children, one born in July of that year. My great-great-grandmother, Lydia Bell Thompson, was 26 with 3 little ones. And my great-great-grandmother Elizabeth Laws Doyle was 32 with 8 children. Imagine canning over a fire with little ones to care for.

Oh, and did you ever think of why it's called catsup or ketchup? I always thought it was because women were trying to catch up with the overabundance of tomatoes. Maybe it was the juice and not the tomatoes that were in overabundance.

-----------
The photograph of tomatoes, above, was taken by Adam Selwood and made available on Flickr.

Dog Bones and a Birthday

2011-08-28T00:17:00.029-04:00

Jan, my sister-in-law, was a home economics teacher before she married my brother (and for a several years afterwards, too). The summer after they married she patiently helped me improve my sewing skills, since home ec was not included in my courses in high school. I suspect she was a no nonsense teacher in the classroom, yet one who was compassionate and treated her students fairly.

When I grew older and married, she and I occasionally exchanged recipes. Not long ago I came upon two recipes she wrote out for me which I'm sharing below.

I always admired Jan's beautiful handwriting, written so perfectly whether she was in a hurry or not.

I think it's fun how she drew the outline of the bone over the recipe. And don't you think the dogs are so grateful for the real drippings from the roast?!

I'm sharing Jan's recipes today because it's her birthday. She would have been 73 this year if she were still alive. She passed away in June, 1995. We still miss her. Happy, happy birthday, Jan!

___________________________________________________________

Dog Bones
2 1/4 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. nonfat dry milk
1 egg
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1 beef bouillon cube dissolved in hot water (in 1/2 c. hot water) (since salt is not good for a dog, I use the drippings off roasts, hamburgers, etc.)
1 T. brown sugar

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients, stirring until well blended. Knead dough 2 minutes. On a floured surface, use a floured rolling pin to roll out dough to 1/4" thickness. Use a 1 1/2" long bone-shaped cookie cutter to cut out bones. Bake 30 minutes on an ungreased baking sheet. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack.
Yield: about 4 dozen dog bones.

Watkins Lemony Chicken Nuggets
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
2 t. seasoning salt
1 t. paprika
1 t. onion powder granules
1 t. oregano
1/2 t. lemon pepper
1/4 t. garlic powder granules
16 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in 1-inch pieces
1 1/2 T. lemon juice
Cooking oil

Measure first seven ingredients into plastic bag; close tightly and shake to blend. Moisten chicken with lemon juice. Let stand 30 minutes. Place chicken chunks, a few at a time, into plastic bag; shake to coat thoroughly. Pour oil into heavy saucepan filling no more than 1/3 full; heat to 375 degrees. Carefully add chicken, a few pieces at a time. Fry, turning once, about 2 minutes or until tender. Drain on paper towels.

Makes 4 to 8 servings.

___________________________________________________________

Great-Grandmother Elizabeth's Birthday Is Today

2011-08-24T00:01:00.004-04:00

Elizabeth is dear to my heart for all the challenges she faced in her life. Though I never knew her personally, she continues to be a great example to me. Other posts about her include Elizabeth and My Elizabeth.Few photographs of her survived and those I have are copies (some xerox-style) of originals. Poor photographs but at least I can see her image.

This photo makes me laugh because of the cup of liquid she's holding. Water? Was there a story or joke to go with this? Why was she standing in a field, dressed in Sunday best, holding a cup of water -- and posing for a photographer?

Elizabeth was born on August 24, 1852, in Bradford, Yorkshire, England. Her parents were Abel and Eliza (Hartley) Armitage.

Happy, happy Birthday, Gramma.

Celebrating Eva on Her Birthday

2011-08-23T00:02:00.005-04:00

What I know about Eva:

She has a delightful sense of humor.
She's a great grandmother to 7 little boys.
She likes math and numbers.
She enjoys eating out.
She's a wonderful sister-in-law.
She's a genealogist/family historian.
It's her birthday today.

Happy Birthday, Eva! I hope you have a very special day.

A V-J Day Memory - Military Monday

2011-08-15T13:20:00.017-04:00

Today is V-J Day, the day the United States commemorates its World War II Victory over Japan. I was not alive on August 15, 1945, but my brother, who was, shared the following memory. He was a boy of six that year, probably about the age he was in the photo to the right (though much more serious in the photo than at the time the event of this memory took place.)

I recall being in the living room at home on Furnace Street in Mineral Ridge, Ohio, listening to the radio. I remember it being later in the day but it was still day light.

I remember mom being there but not dad. I think he was at work. (TV was some years off for us as well as everyone else for that matter. It was still in the development stages).

I remember, vaguely, that an announcement came over the radio that the Empire of Japan had surrendered. I remember mom being excited so I got excited too. Since we only had one car and dad had it at work, I think we somehow borrowed Grandpa Meinzen's car.... I don't recall either he or Grandma going with us. We went into Niles, Ohio, some three miles away. I recall everyone driving up and down the streets blowing their horns in celebration. How long we rode around I'm not sure. I think we got home after dark which would have been around 9 PM or so.... I remember the excitement of that evening that the war was over.

It's hard for me to imagine such a momentous occasion. The people of America had sacrificed unitedly and purposefully for many years to support the war effort. It would have been thrilling to imagine life going back to normal, albeit a new and different normal than before the war.

In my lifetime there has not been a war's end that was celebrated like V-J Day. I can't remember a definitive end to any war in which our country has fought, and the only time I can remember our country drawing together in prayer and unity was on and after the tragedies on September 11, 2001.

A half a century ago many newspapers, including the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and The Pittsburgh Press, published evening editions. So much the better to cover the events of the day and previous night in other parts of the world. The August 15, 1945, edition of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette details news of the Japanese surrender as it happened in Japan. The Pittsburgh Press edition for that date shows photos of celebrations in the streets and thanks-giving at churches in the city. The celebration in little Niles' would have been small compared to those in Pittsburgh, if only because of a smaller population. Yet I'm sure the sentiment was the same.

War is cruel in so many ways. For those who fight to protect freedoms, war can temporarily (and sometimes permanently) deprive individuals of freedoms -- wives and children unable to interact with husbands and fathers, soldiers without the comforts of home, everyone living with the uncertainty of what the next day or moment will bring, and frequently lives extinguished. War, in whatever form it is fought, is devastating. I hope for and look forward to a time when the countries of the world can live peacefully within their own boundaries and not feel the need to overtake and dominate other countries.

I'm grateful to my brother, Bob, for sharing this memory. Thank you.

Hope for Finding the Ladies

2011-08-06T13:57:00.009-04:00

(Apologies for using my male ancestor's name in the image at right. I wasn't searching for and didn't find one of my own female ancestors this morning.)

Don't discount the possibility of finding a will for one of your female ancestors until you've searched the will books. In my early days of working on family history I read several books that strongly suggested that women in the 1800s rarely had wills. Rare doesn't mean nonexistent.

While looking through the microfilm of a Butler County, Pennsylvania, will book at the Family History Center (FHC) this morning, I was struck by the number of women's names I saw. I mentally noted that at least one in every ten wills was that of a woman.

You can find microfilms of will books for U.S. counties in the Family History Library Catalog by typing in the location where your ancestor may have died, looking at the film notes, jotting down the film number, then finding a local FHC and ordering the film. The shipping and processing for each film costs $5.50 and will stay at your local FHC for one month.

One in ten is a low percentage but if your ancestor happens to be one of those ladies who recorded a will, you may have found a gold mine of information.

Carrot Pudding and White Candy - Family Recipe Friday

2011-08-05T20:32:00.014-04:00

This is another recipe from my Grandmother Emma Bickerstaff Meinzen's Webster's Spelling Recipe Book.

It's hard to decide what kind of dish Carrot Pudding is. At first I thought it was a savory side dish but after reading all the ingredients, changed my mind and decided it must be a dessert. What do you think?

The second recipe on this page is White Candy. On the reverse are Dark Part and Light Part. I can only assume they are a continuation of the recipe for White Candy. White Candy calls for "karo." A search for Karo Syrup revealed that it was first produced in 1902. The website shows images of the covers of early cookbooks but none of the recipes hidden inside. Was this recipe taken from one of those early Karo cookbooks? I searched for "Karo" at HEARTH and found multiple results, especially in conjunction with children's diets, then remembered that HEARTH doesn't publish cookbooks.

__________________________________________________________________

Carrot Pudding.
1 cup grated carrots.
1 " Potatoes.
1 " Suet.
1 " raisins (Roll in flour)
1 " currants.
1 " brown Sugar.
1 Egg.
1 teas. Cinamon
Citron.
1/2 Cloves.
1/2 Allspice.
1 level Soda.
Dissolve in Warm Water.
Steam 3 hrs.

White Candy.
2 cups white sugar.
1/2 cup karo.
1/2 cup water.
Beat white egg
last and beat
altogether.
Vanilla

Dark Part
[written on right side] D. F. lak [?]
Mix 2/3 cup cocoa
2 cup - White sugar
Add a little hot water ["less" written below]
at a time to dissolve
add than half cup)

Light Part
1/2 cups = butter
1 " = white Sugar
3 egg = Yolks
1 cup = sour milk or buttermilk
2 cups = flour
1 t[sp] = Soda dissolved
in 1 T. = hot water
1 egg white beaten
added last
2 egg whites for frosting

________________________________________________________________

Note added later: Lisa asked in a question about suet in a comment to this post. I did a little research and found that Ochef had some insight into suet, then and now. Suet is a hard fat from around the kidneys of cows and sheep which is very unlike the suet sold in most stores today. Buy suet from a butcher.

I also appreciated this information about how suet works: "Because suet has a high melting point, it serves as a place-holder in puddings and crusts when the dough has begun to set, and long after other fats would have melted. As a result, the structure of the pudding is already defined by the time the suet melts, leaving thousands of tiny air holes that give the pudding a light and smooth texture. Additionally, suet, which does not have any meaty taste, imparts a rich flavor."

Could our ancestors eat suet with little complication because they performed more physical labor? Did the bad stuff get worked out of their arteries? Maybe so.

We're Two Today

2011-08-01T16:02:00.003-04:00

We - My Ancestors and Me -- turn two today. If you consider our years since physical birth, we are all much, much older than that but together we've completed two years of blogging. It's an accomplishment I feel like celebrating.

These have been interesting, fun, challenging years. I can't speak for my ancestors (who probably aren't interested in blogs) but from my view it's been an educational experience. During this time I've expanded my knowledge about blogging, researching, writing, online resources, and the genealogy blogging community.

When we started two years ago I knew little about blogs and even less about blogging. We had one reader: my daughter. For the most part, it felt like I was very alone, writing for myself and publishing for no one to read. When I announced the creation of My Ancestors and Me to my extended family, some began, sporadically, to read it. (Most of my living family members are not as interested in our ancestors as I am.) When I found GeneaBloggers, I knew I'd found a niche. I was surprised -- and pleased -- to see that people I didn't know were interested in reading what I wrote about my own family. I was grateful then and continue to appreciate the support I receive.

It's sometimes hard to balance my time between research and writing (and the rest of my life, too). Research suffers when I devote time to writing but when that happens, I think my ancestors help the research by gently nudging me in one direction or another to find sources and documents to tell about their lives. Ofttimes when I'm busy researching, I post about research done before this blog existed. I share information because I want my ancestors and their contributions to life on earth to be remembered. A newly discovered ancestor, or information about him or her, usually finds its way into a celebratory post. Like the woman searching for the lost coin in the parable in Luke 15, I rejoice and announce the news to readers who sometimes celebrate with me. I also rejoice when unknown cousins contact me, interested in sharing their own research and knowledge and in learning about mine. I find that two heads are better than one.

To those of you who have come along on this wondrous blogging experience, thank you. I hope you'll continue along with me as I share new and old research and information about my ancestors. Thank you!

Sharing the Sun

2011-07-31T21:56:00.014-04:00

I think of my ancestors as real people doing real activities in lifetimes years before mine. I am continually trying to find connections to them. I search for documents to verify their existences on earth. I look for gravestones and homes and any number of other ways to connect to them. But perhaps even more than those, I try to find connections between the lives they lived and my own life. What do we share? What activities are alike in our lives? What emotions have we all felt? Family historians refer to the blood in their veins being the same blood that flowed in the veins of their ancestors. True or not, I want something more.

I sew as did many of my foremothers and I sew on my mother's sewing machine, which is exactly the same. But what about the rest of my ancestors? I grow flowers as one of my grandmothers did, but not the same flowers. I dust and clean and cook and iron, but not with the same equipment, or food, or pots. I walk on the same earth they walked on, but the ground beneath my feet is not exactly the same as the ground they walked on. Dirt moves around all the time. Even the sidewalks and driveways, should I go to a place where they lived, would not be exactly the same. They probably lived with ash and honey locust and maple trees nearby, but not the same ones I have in my yard.

The answer came this week: the sun that shines on me is the very same sun that rose when every one of my ancestors lived. Its glow may be less bright now than when they were on the earth but it is the very same sun. I'm satisfied now. Every day of my life I have some connection to my ancestors who lived before me. We share the sun.

HEARTH - Tuesday's Tip

2011-07-26T00:02:00.000-04:00

You won't find your ancestors but you can discover what their world might have been like at HEARTH - Home Economics Archive: Research, Tradition, and History. HEARTH offers scanned images of books, journals, and magazines published between 1817 and 1999. It is made available by the Albert R. Mann Library at Cornell University.

If you are interested in how your ancestors might have built, ventilated, and plumbed their homes; mixed paint; bought food; raised their children; decorated their homes; fed their chickens; and myriad other topics, HEARTH is a source of wonder and knowledge.

With a perusal of titles by date I learned that beginning in the 1870s people were concerned about sanitation and sewage as well as the health of their children. Beginning in the 1880s diet became a topic of interest as did the psychology of the child and occupations for women outside the home. By the early 1900s people were thinking about how food and diet affected health. I was surprised that hand-spinning and home weaving were still of interest into the 1920s. Topics of continual interest seemed to be plans for and the building of homes and outbuildings and wise money-management. The first mention of home food preservation was in 1912 and electricity in 1913. Browsing the titles by date gives a brief overview of interests of the various time periods.

HEARTH offers several ways to find information.

Perusing by Subject you will find topics such as Childcare, Human Development, & Family Studies; Clothing & Textiles; Food & Nutrition; Home Management; Housing, Furnishing, and Home Equipment; etc. Each category offers the option to read a brief essay about the topic and/or view a bibliography of titles in PDF. The bibliographies are compiled alphabetically by author but HEARTH does not offer the option to click through to the online sources. As far as I can tell, not all books in the bibliography are available online.

Search methods include basic, boolean, proximity, and bibliographic. The site offer tips for performing searches, an especially handy option for anyone not familiar with search terms. Their search engine seemed somewhat cumbersome to me.

Browse by date in 20-year time periods or alphabetically by title or author. I enjoyed spending time looking at the offerings. The topics I mentioned above are a result of looking through the books available by date.

If you choose to look at an image as a PDF you can enlarge it to whatever size is easy for you to read. There is also the option to print pages or whole books. When you get to the book, you can click on arrows to page through the book or use the drop-down box to click on the page number you'd like to view.

HEARTH also offers issues of Harper's Bazaar, 1867-1900, and of Good Housekeeping from 1885 to 1950.

If you think HEARTH might be useful, I hope you find it so.

Oh Henry!

2011-07-25T00:09:00.003-04:00

Oh Henry! Where, oh where, were you born? What are your parents' and siblings' names? How will I ever learn more about you?

If the facts about Henry Carl Meinzen's early years were Oh Henry! candy bars, I would buy a case and know his and the rest of his family's history. But they're not and I'm still searching.

Henry, born July 25, 1837, has claimed his country of birth as Germany, Prussia, and Hannover, depending on which census you read. Searches of all known U. S. records have been no help in determining a specific location. I haven't given up hope of eventually finding the information I seek, just hope of finding it soon.

Henry was proprietor of the confectionery store behind him in the photo at left, in Steubenville, Ohio. He might have sold Oh Henry! candy bars except that he'd given up his store by 1920 when Oh Henry! bars were first introduced.

This is Henry's commemorative birthday post. I hope it's grand, Grampa. (And if you can, please send help!)

Ginger Bread and Blitz Kuchen in Gramma's Webster's Cookbook - Family Recipe

2011-07-22T22:12:00.023-04:00

My grandmother's recipe book, sadly, calls for chocolate http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifin only three recipes. But then her recipes are probably healthier than mine (except that she used lard). Instead of chocolate, she frequently used flavorings such as lemon, molasses, and sweet spices.

Blitz Kuchen, which translates to Lightening Cake, is a German recipe. Was it given that name because it's quick to make, because it disappears as quick as lightening, or for some other reason? I don't know if Gramma's recipe came from her German in-laws or if she had neighbors with German traditions. The cake looks very much like some of our American coffee cakes.

______________________________________________________________________

Ginger Bread
1 cup Sugar.
1 " lard.
2 eggs.
2 teaspoon ginger
pinch of Salt.
1 cup Molasses.
2 teaspoon Soda.
1 cup milk or Coffee
4 cups flour.

Blitz Kuchen
3/4 cups Sugar.
butter size of egg
one cup milk
1 teaspoon Baking P.
flavor to taste,
cream butter, sugar
then, add egg, milk
& finally flour
with B.P. Sprinkle over
top with one half
cup nuts 1/2 cup
Sugar. 1 teaspoon
cinamon, bake
[tattered lower edge unreadable]
_______________________________________________________________

Below is my immediate family's favorite gingerbread recipe. My daughter found it in our local newspaper when she was about ten. For a school assignment she was asked to double a recipe and when I received a copy from her, I didn't realize it had been doubled. We had a lot of gingerbread to eat. This recipe has a wonderful mix of spices and, unlike most gingerbreads, is moist. (The recipe below is the single version.)

Mount Vernon Gingerbread

Mix:
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup light molasses

In a separate bowl, mix:
2 3/4 c. flour
2 1/2 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cloves

Mix in a measuring cup:
3/4 c. buttermilk or sour milk
1/4 c. orange juice

Alternately add the flour mixture and the milk/juice mixture to the butter/sugar/molasses mixture, stirring after each addition.

Lightly beat:
2 eggs. Add to above mixture, folding in gently.

Bake in a greased and floured 8: x 8" pan in a 350 degree oven.
How long? No times are noted on the recipe card but probably at least 30 minutes or longer, until a toothpick comes out clean.
_______________________________________________________________

This gingerbread recipe is almost as good as chocolate.

Fresh or Stale, Buttered or Plain

2011-07-21T19:35:00.001-04:00

I sometimes pull a bag of potato chips out of the cupboard and eat a few. Now and then I enjoy pretzels. Once in a while I like corn chips. But I always love popcorn. It doesn't matter if it's fresh or stale, buttered or plain. All I ask is that it’s salted.

The first time I tasted popcorn was the same day I burnt my finger on my mother's iron. I was 4 or 5 at the time. After she had finished the real ironing she unplugged the iron and set me to practice my ironing skills on my father’s handkerchiefs. I moved the still-hot iron too close to the hand smoothing the handkerchief. I probably howled. To console me Mom pulled out a box of movie-theater popcorn that my father had carried home the night before (after having taken my older brother and sister to a movie). I loved the popcorn with my first mouthful. My mother could never have guessed what was to come of having introduced me to popcorn that morning.

Lucky for me I grew up in a home with a popcorn popper. By the time I was 8 I was putting it to good use. But there was one challenge to satisfying my desire for popcorn. My mother was very particular: I could make popcorn only on the weekends. (Only once, when my father wanted popcorn, did my mother relent and let me make it on a week night.)

On Saturday afternoons or evenings (or occasional Sunday afternoons) I made popcorn. I did not, as most people might do, make one or two poppers full and be done. I couldn't do that because I had to plan ahead for a week's worth of eating. Two poppers full would have been good for the day but I knew I would want popcorn the next several days. So I made a roasting pan full-–and my mom’s roaster was no small pan. Take a 60" string, make the ends meet, lay it in an oval, and you will see the size of her roaster. Every week I filled it to the brim with popcorn, then made more and mounded it high. You can imagine that by Sunday, Saturday's popcorn was stale and by Monday or Tuesday, no one else was interested in eating it. To me it was delicious both fresh and stale.

Our popper looked similar to the one shown at left with its three pieces. The bottom had electric coils and a removable plug. The handled section looked like a pan but had a spherical bottom. This was where we put the oil and popcorn. Our popper’s lid was also glass and through it we could watch the first kernels get hot, jump, and then pop. As more popped they covered the bottom of the pan and within minutes all we could see was the mass of fluffy corn juggling and rising higher and higher. It was the kernels on the bottom that popped. Our popper probably held 3 quarts or a gallon.

We never buttered our popcorn. My mom thought that the oil used for cooking it was enough fat. I never knew people put butter on popcorn until we visited my father’s cousin, Evie McClelland. One summer evening we drove the hour or so to their home in Sharon, Pennsylvania, for an impromptu visit. Evie and her husband, Cub, were midway through a bowl of popcorn. She offered the rest to my sister and me. I didn't understand why it was wet. My sister told me it was butter. Sure enough, there was a half-melted spoonful of butter in the bottom of the bowl. Evie's popcorn was delicious, of course, but I didn't feel deprived for eating unbuttered popcorn at home.

As a young adult in college I learned that some people had very specific methods for making popcorn. One person insisted you had to wait till the pan was hot before putting the oil in. Another said the only way to get good popcorn was to put the oil into the cool pan and wait till it got hot before adding the popcorn. I didn’t notice that their popcorn tasted better than or different from mine. My method was simple: put the upper pan on the bottom, measure oil into the popper, add the popcorn, put the lid on, put the plug in the outlet, and wait. And watch. I can't remember how long it took to make a popper full, but not long.

The first time my brother brought his fiancee, Jan, to our house he prepared her for the popcorn situation. He told her not to be surprised if I brought in a roasting pan full of popcorn and asked her if she wanted some. I think they had a discussion about the reasons for popping such a large a quantity. My brother related that story to me about 10 years ago. It was then that he first learned why I made so much popcorn at one time. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

Through the years I've tried other kinds of popcorn poppers. Air poppers produce popcorn that looks delicious but tastes like packing peanuts--unless it's drenched in butter. And we have one of the old-fashioned stove-top hand-crank poppers. It makes okay popcorn. But for me, nothing compares to the popcorn made in our old popcorn popper.

These days I buy Orville Redenbacher's Smart Pop! 96% Fat Free and pop it in the microwave. Of the microwave popcorns I've sampled, it's the best I've tasted. But if you ever find one of those old popcorn poppers, please send it my way.

I hope you'll please excuse me. I'm going to make myself some popcorn -- just one bag for now because I can make a fresh bag tomorrow.

This post is a contribution to Carnival of Genealogy #108: Food! which is hosted by Jasia at Creative Gene. The poster is courtesy of footnoteMaven, who makes the most beautiful posters. Thank you both.

My Aunt's Birthday

2011-07-19T00:04:00.001-04:00

My dear aunt is celebrating a milestone birthday today, July 19, (though I won't tell you which one).

I spent many hours of my childhood at her home and she almost became a second, more patient, mother to me. Sometimes she is very serious but she also has a wonderful sense of humor and a great perspective on life.

This photograph was taken on her wedding day. Isn't movie-star glamorous?

Happy Birthday, my dear aunt!

(I'm not telling you her name to protect her privacy.)

They Invited Me to Play in the Sandbox!

2011-07-17T22:44:00.005-04:00

Yes! They want me to play on Google+.

Jim Gill from Searchin' for Kinfolk was the first to invite me. Then Greta Koehl from Greta Bog and Susan Peterson from Long Lost Relatives both said they would invite me (but Jim had already invited me).

Thank you, Jim, Greta, and Susan!

It looks like I'm not happy. Not true. Everything is so new and I have so much to learn. You'll see me smile soon. It's gonna be great fun.

Would anyone else like to join Google+?

A Break Between Chores

2011-07-16T01:19:00.008-04:00

I suspect that my father, Lee Doyle, knew the camera was aimed his way and chose not to acknowledge the photographer who was standing on the back porch. The photographer was probably me.

Dad rarely rested except when he was in bed. He was a foreman at Copperweld Steel in Warren, Ohio, and worked turns, as we called it: 5 days day-turn, 2 days off; 5 afternoons, 2 days off; 5 midnights, 2 days off; repeat the cycle. Occasionally there were long weekends but I can't remember how they fit into the cycle or how often they came. He was never off the same days of the week from week to week. I can only guess how working turns must have wracked his body.

In addition to working at the mill, he had a small business repairing watches, clocks, and jewelry. He was also the chief repairman, painter, plumber, electrician, gardener, carpenter, and mechanic at our house. If something was broken, he fixed it. If it wasn't broken but could look or work better, he maintained or improved it. In later years my mother used the term work-a-holic to describe Dad. I don't believe that's true. I think he had a very strong work ethic and a high standard for maintaining and improving his property and possessions.

We didn't use the picnic table very often but on hot summer days after several hours' work, Dad sometimes sat at the table with a cold drink or, as in this photo, actually stretched out on it. The apple tree gave welcome, cool shade.

In a previous post I wrote about my father's hats and said he wore a baseball cap to work around the house. Looking at this photo I remember he wore a flat cap, not a baseball hat.

You can see our driveway behind Dad. For many years it was slag, a cast-off product from steel production that was readily available in our area. The slag was hard to ride a bike on because it was very angular chunks of rock. I wonder now that it never pierced the tires on any of our cars. He eventually chose to put down black-top.

The picnic table sat in our side yard: our house is in front of and almost parallel with it. The window above the kitchen sink looked out on the apple tree and the driveway. Main Street was within view from the window, too, but less visible from the window because of the tree and a house which is just out of view.

You can see the tail of a car behind my dad. In the early 1960s he bought two used Fords, 1952 and 1953 models, I think. That doesn't look like either of them but it may be. The garage is to the right in the photo, directly in front of the car.

At the end of the driveway and on the other side of it you can see a tree. Sitting under the near side of the tree is a triangular rock. As a young child I thought that rock was huge. It wasn't on our property but was a favorite spot to play. You can see our street just beyond the tree and telephone pole.

And that was a few minutes' tour of our side yard on a summer afternoon while my father took a break.

If you have a few more minutes to spare, you can see other old photos and learn about them at Sepia Saturday.

Quince Honey & Jelly Roll or Sponge Cake - Family Recipe Friday

2011-07-15T21:53:00.034-04:00

Walking home from school with my daughters one autumn day many years ago, we came upon some beautiful golden yellow fruit on the ground near the sidewalk. It was a kind we had never seen before. We took one home with the hope that we could discover what it was. When we cut it open both its fragrance and flesh made us think of apples -- and other fruits, too, though we couldn't decide which ones. We chose not to taste it fearing that it might be poisonous. We asked others if they knew what it was but no one did.

Our search for the identity of the fruit took place before the internet was available and in the days after the fruit's popularity had declined. Not even a book about fruit told us what it was. Only in the past several years did I learn that we'd found a quince. One rarely hears about quinces these days. Our local stores don't sell them nor do the farmers' markets.

Have you eaten quinces before? Did my grandmother or one of her relatives have a quince tree and is that why she has a recipe for Quince Honey?

This is another page from my grandmother's Webster's Spelling Recipe Book. You'll notice how faded the penciled recipes are on this page. The photo is contrast-enhanced and yet it is still light, but if you click on the image to enlarge it you'll be able to clearly see the handwriting.

________________________________________________________________________

Quince Honey
6 lbs sugar
3 pints water boil 10 min
Add 6 large quinces which have been pared and grated
Cook 30 min then pour in glasses
cover when cool

Jelly Roll or Sponge Cake
yolks of 4 eggs
3 tablespoons waterhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
beat add 1 cup sugar
1/2 tablespoon corn starch in 1 cup and fill with flour
2 teaspoon B. Powder sifted with flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 [teaspoon] " vanilla
fold in whites of eggs beaten

_______________________________________________________________________

The image of the quince came from Creative Commons and tells this information about it: Champion quince, Cydonia oblonga, Watercolor by Amanda A. Newton (12/03/1909) From: http://www.ars-grin.gov/cor/pwc/cydonia-art.html

Disappointing Elizabeth

2011-07-14T22:01:00.001-04:00

A week ago Joyce Humphrey, an Armitage cousin, found the marriage record for our g-g-grandfather Abel Armitage and his wife, Eliza Hartley, on the West Yorkshire Marriage Parish Records collection at Ancestry.com. Abel married twice. After Eliza died, Abel married Ann Bell. Joyce descends from Ann; I descend from Eliza.

Abel and Eliza had two daughters. Ann was born on May 21, 1850. Elizabeth, my great-grandmother, was born on August 24, 1852. I hoped (and assumed that) their baptismal records would be on the companion set of records at Ancestry.com where Joyce found their parents' marriage. Below are photographs of the baptismal records as I found them on Ancestry.

_______________________________________________________________

Ann Armitage's record.

Date of Birth. 21 May 1850
When Baptized. 16 June No. 477
Child's Christian Name. Ann
Parents' Christian Names. Abel Eliza
Parents' Surname. Armitage
Abode. Bowling
Quality, Trade, or Profession. Carrier
By whom the Ceremony was performed. [Illegible signature] Office Minister

_______________________________________________________________

Elizabeth Armitage's record.

Date of Birth. 24 August 1852
When Baptized. 1852 19 September No. 985
Child's Christian Name. Elizabeth
Parents' Christian Names. Abraham Eliza
Parents' Surname. Armitage
Abode. Bowling
Quality, Trade, or Profession. Porter
By whom the Ceremony was performed. W. C. Hodgon [?], Apt. Curate

_______________________________________________________________

My disappointment is not in Elizabeth, an infant who had no control over what was written in the baptismal registry. My disappointment is in finding the first name of her father recorded as Abraham instead of Abel. I believe without a doubt that this is my Elizabeth -- but how did Abel become Abraham? I was so hopeful this record would provide clear evidence because I have been unable to find a civil birth record for Elizabeth.

I understand that in 1800s England parents were required to pay a fine if births were not recorded within a specific time period. In order to avoid paying the fine parents sometimes changed the birth dates of their infants. If that was the case in Elizabeth's situation, I will never find a record with her name, an accurate date of birth, and the correct names of her parents. Disappointing.

Go Away! You Weren't Invited.

2011-07-14T00:25:00.015-04:00

Yesterday I read nearly a dozen posts about Google Plus / Google+. GeneaBloggers were excited about this new social network. I went to the website for a demonstration, thought it looked interesting enough to try, and decided to play along.

But when I clicked on "join the project" I learned that participation was by invitation only.

For now I'm excluded from the sandbox. Go away! You can't play with us.

And I'm so sad.