That Page Just Gets Better . . .

On the same page with Harry Potter in the 1900 White Co., Ill. census is a Joe Murphy who is not a cat, but a servant. This page is just full of literary illusions! If I want to create a successful character for a series of books, I think I'd better check this page!

Harry Potter is older than you think!

While indexing for FamilySearchIndexing.org, I got a batch from White County, Illinois for 1900. There was a 9 year old Harry Potter whose parents were Samuel and Elizabeth. One of his brothers was named Elvis!

22nd Carnival of Genealogy

The 22nd Carnival of Genealogy was posted a few days ago.

Which church father am I?

I guess this had me pegged pretty well.

You’re St. Melito of Sardis! You have a great love of history and liturgy. You’re attached to the traditions of the ancients, yet you recognize that the old world — great as it was — is passing away. You are loyal to the customs of your family, though you do not hesitate to call family members to account for their sins. Find out which Church Father you are at The Way of the Fathers!

Rural Living

I was exploring a blogroll and came across "Nonfiction Readers Anonymous." I found a rather appropriate comment for those of us with genealogical interests in the blurb on Forty Acres and a Fool: How to Live in the Country and Still Keep Your Sanity. I'll give a snippet here, but read the entire post.

. . . Welsch advises his readers that “You can live in a new rural area for decades, even generations, but unless one of your ancestors is listed on the monument in front of city hall as one of the founders of the community, you will forever be an outsider” (p. 15). . . .

BRRRRRR . . .

It's cold! It's finally made it to 38 today, but when I woke up it was only 24. It had snowed overnight. It even snowed a little more this morning. I had to wait awhile before removing the cover from my plants because it was just too cold before sunrise to do it. Yesterday, they were saying it could be as cold as 15 tonight. Then they adjusted it to 18. Now it appears they think it will only get to 22. This is the coldest "Dogwood Winter" I've seen in a long time. We're setting record lows (or coming close).

In the midst of the cold, I decided to do a little indexing. This morning I was able to get one batch in Itawamba County, Mississippi where ancestors lived and one batch in Walker County, Alabama where ancestors lived. They ran out of Mississippi and Alabama so I decided to just hit the random choice. I've been indexing New York state. For the most part, it is very readable. I had one batch that was a little illegible, but most of them have been good writing. It's very interesting to see the ethnic composition of the communities. I've mostly had batches out of Warren and Ulster Counties. In Warren, I've had a lot of Irish and French Canadians. I've also had some Swedes and Norwegians among those I've indexed today. The most humorous location was given under the birth location of the named person's father. The birthplace was listed as "Road Island." It made me wonder if my Rathbone (also spelled Rathbun) ancestors who settled Block Island, Rhode Island in 1661 ever spelled it that way!

Brumley's Twin

This is a photo of Brumley. I just found a photo of a cat that must be Brumley's relative at Atlantic Ave. I wish I had a photo of Brumley in the same pose as the other cat. Brumley has a little more white on that side, but it's still a startling resemblance. I first began reading Atlantic Ave. because its writer resides in North Hampton, New Hampshire. Several of my New England ancestors lived in Hampton. Some even lived in North Hampton after it was established.

Salem Witchcraft Trials

I ran across this article in today's Knoxville News-Sentinel. My 8th great grand-aunt, Mary Perkins Bradbury, was actually one of those accused. She is actually one of the survivors because her family was able to manage her escape and hide her until the crisis was over (according to most accounts). Most people believe that the guards were bribed to facilitate the escape. Historian Mary Beth Norton mentions that in her research at Cornell that she discovered that all those accused were not from Salem. This was the case with Mary Perkins Bradbury. She was born in Hillmorton, Warwickshire, England where she was christened 3 September 1615. (I have not seen the actual records so this is secondary information.) Her family arrived in America in 1631 aboard the same ship (the Lyon) with Roger Williams. The family lived in Boston for about 3 years before moving to Ipswich. She was married to Capt. Thomas Bradbury about 1637 (as he testified in 1692 that they had been married for 55 years). (Some say that the marriage took place in May 1636 in Salisbury, but I have not yet documented this.) Thomas and Mary were residents of Salisbury where he was a prominent resident. She was tried and convicted of witchcraft in 1692 and sentenced to hang, but she was able to escape death.

When studying the Salem Witch Trials in school, I would have never dreamed that I was related to one of those accused and convicted. I also had the impression then that those accused were all younger persons. Mary was about 77 years old when she was accused and tried and was a very well-respected member of society. I was surprised to discover a family connection to this historic trial. I was even more surprised because of her age. I remember thinking that it must be a different Mary and finally realized that it was Mary, the daughter of John Perkins and Judith Gater, the one who was related to me.

Needless to say, I'm going to have to read the book mentioned in the newspaper article to see what else Norton has discovered.

What is with the waitresses in Morristown?

I'm really getting tired of going to restaurants in Morristown and being called sweetie, sugar, or honey by the waitresses. It might be one thing if these were diners with waitresses chomping on gum like they did at Mel's Diner in the old tv show Alice, but these are places like Applebees and O'Charley's where the wait staff ought to know better than to be "too familiar" with the customers. Maybe I lived in Ohio too many years, but I just absolutely detest being called "sweetie" by a member of the same sex. A Google search shows me that I'm not alone in feeling this way. I don't eat out that often, but if this keeps up, I'll sure be cooking at home more often!

Spring

Dogwoods

Lady Vols

Last night, the Lady Vols won their 7th National Championship under Coach Pat Summitt. Candace Parker was the player of the tournament. I watched the local tv station interview people at the local hangouts during the game. It was amazing how many guys said that they loved the Lady Vols because Candace plays like a guy and could probably beat many of them. FlickMaven has information on an HBO documentary done on the Lady Vols on one of their previous winning seasons. (Hat tip to Glenn.)

Family Tree

I just read Barbara Delinsky's Family Tree. To me, it was a rather contrived plot and not that believable. I may have read other books by Delinsky in the past, but I'm not sure that I have. I'm not sure that I'll read another of hers after reading this one. I bought it simply because of the genealogical angle. I think I was disappointed that it didn't involve using records and relied pretty much on DNA to prove the point which was supported by oral tradition but not much else. I wish that Delinsky had her subjects so enamored of their newfound heritage that the pursued its study and documented the evidence so that readers would get an idea of what real genealogical research involves.