Sunday Night Ramblings

I'm sitting here watching the NCAA women's tournament and catching up on some blog reading.

Mass Moments has a post about John Calipari leading UMass to the Final Four in 1996. Well, in 2008, he's still leading a team to the Final Four, but it's a different U. of M. This time it's Memphis.

Dear Myrtle linked to the thread at 43 Things about taking a genealogy trip this year. I take at least one genealogy trip each year. This year's trip is to Boston. That may not be my only genealogy trip this year, but it's the only one I'm planning right now.

The next Carnival of Genealogy is on cars. Several people have already begun to post their car-related posts, but I spotted an unexpected car post which I'm sure won't be entered in the Carnival of Genealogy since it's not on a genealogy blog. Check out Wallet Pop's "How to Beat the Car Dealers at Their Own Game."

Now, I've got to run and see if I can dig up any old car photos for my next Carnival post. I honestly don't know if I'll succeed or not. I don't remember taking photos of cars. I wish I had a photo of one of my brother's cars. So tune in later, I'm sure that I'll be just as surprised by my post as you will!

The Yankee Type?

While I was in Facebook, I noticed that a friend had added the application for "Which state should you live in?" I knew from the past that a lot of these apps start out as online quizzes, so I thought I'd Google the question and see if I could find it. It was quite easy to find "Which State Should You Live In?" I took the quiz, but I'll have to admit to being surprised by the results. There were misspelled words and phrases throughout the questionnaire so I decided not to use the little "blog blurb" provided; however, I was pegged as a "Yankee type." They suggested that I'd never enjoyed a bowl of grits. I've lived in the South, and I do enjoy grits--the real kind, not the quick-cooking ones. They also said that I'd probably never been to a NASCAR "game." Since when is NASCAR a game? I thought it was a race, but they are correct that I've never been to one even though I'm only about an hour from the Bristol Motor Speedway. I think driving around in circles just to crash and/or burn is stupid! They suggested that New Hampshire would be a good place for me to live. If I did that, I'd have to change this blog's name to the "White Mountains Family Historian." HEHEHE I have nothing against New Hampshire. I had lots of ancestors who lived there. I'm looking forward to visiting New Hampshire this summer. It sounds like I might meet a lot of kindred spirits there.

March Madness

I'm watching Memphis beat up on Michigan State right now. (I still want to say "Memphis State" even though they have been "University of Memphis" for years now.) My beloved Vols lost to Rick Pitino's team last night. He's been our nemesis for years. How about Davidson? It's neat to see a #10 seed get to the Elite 8. Of course, Wisconsin isn't too happy about it. I think I'll probably pull for Memphis overall now! As a former resident of Cincinnati, I do like Xavier too though! I'm excited they made it to the Elite 8.

I'll be cheering for the Lady Vols Sunday night as they take on Notre Dame.

I Have a Smart Cat!

I have been looking for a book that I'd taken with me to Mississippi. I was almost sure that I'd brought it back with me. I thought it was in a tote bag or in one of the computer cases, but for two days I couldn't find it. Earlier tonight I called my mom to ask her if I'd left it in Mississippi. She couldn't find it so I was pretty sure it was around here, but I sure didn't have a clue where I'd put it and whatever else was with it. As soon as I hung up the phone, Brumley went over to a bag and sniffed it. I asked him, "Is that where it is?" He sniffed again. I went over and looked, and sure enough, there was the book. I told him "Thank you" and then called my mom back and told her that Brumley had found it. We both had a good laugh. The next time I lose something, I'm going to ask Brumley first!

Church Graveyards

Russell D. Moore asks if we should miss them?

HP ScanJet 5370C and Windows Vista

I'm very upset that HP has chosen not to make a driver for my HP ScanJet 5370C which will make it compatible with Windows Vista. Instead, they suggest that I upgrade to a newer HP Product. Why would I want to do that when what I choose might not be compatible with the next operating system released by Windows and then they'd suggest that I buy yet another one? I'm looking for suggestions. Do you have a scanner that you own and like that is not an HP that works well with Windows Vista? I'll be checking out Consumer Reports at work tomorrow. In the meantime, I guess that I'll just have to use the old computer for scanning until I send it off to be repaired.

Vandalism Discovered

We were in the general area of the Hester Cemetery in Monroe County, Mississippi where my great grandparents and great-great grandparents are buried today so we decided to stop and see if the new fence had been erected. There's an old fence there, but family members had collected money to have a new one installed. It was obvious as we drove up that the old fence was still there, but I told Mom and Dad that I was going to walk in anyway. I wasn't quite prepared for what I discovered. All of the pottery markers were broken, and most were not even there now. Two of the sturdier monuments had been toppled off their base. Some of the older granite markers were broken that had been intact the last time I visited. When we got back to my parents' house, we called the cemetery's caretaker and asked whether or not he was aware of what we had seen. He was not. I hope that he called the sheriff's department to report the vandalism. When I get back home tomorrow, I plan to dig out my sketch of the cemetery and the photos or the CD of photos that I had taken so that we can do some comparisons. I will send the photos to the sheriff's department, if needed. I hope that the vandals are caught, but I have no idea how long they had been this way. I was pretty upset when I made the discovery. Mom came on out and walked around with me.

Lost and Found

I'm so excited. Today I began clearing out part of my parents' attic. I had a lot of stuff that was up there that had been in their old house. When they moved to this house, they put a lot of my stuff up in the attic rather than in the room that I use when I'm in town. The exception to this were my yearbooks. The only problem was that my 3rd grade yearbook was missing. Since most of the other books which had been around it on the shelf at the old house were on the shelf, I just assumed that it had been accidentally thrown out during the move. I should explain that my first and second grade yearbooks were books that contained grades 1-12. This was back when kindergartens were all private instead of part of the public school system (at least where I lived). Anyway, when our third grade yearbooks arrived, I remember being so disappointed. Instead of the nice yearbook with all grades, we had a little paperback with only grades 1-3. That was all that was in East Amory Elementary, so that's all we got. We did not have yearbooks for the years that I was in 4th through 8th grades because there were none produced for West Amory Elementary or Amory Middle School. I really regret that we don't have those because I had some friends who lived here only a short time, and they were during those years. Of course, the high school always kept the Panorama going, and I have all four of those books. I'm glad that my 3rd grade yearbook has now been found!

Something else that I was excited to find was an old diary belonging to my grandmother. It appears to have been from the 1970s and mentioned visits from her friends. I also found some of my mom's books that she was very happy to rediscover.

Tennessee Won . . . and Other Thoughts!

I'm very glad that my Vols won this first round in the NCAA today. I was able to watch most of the first half of it while eating at Neely's in Memphis. This is the place of Food Network fame! I didn't meet Pat or Gina. Did the BBQ live up to its hype? I don't really think it is the best I've ever eaten, and I prefer a less sweet sauce; however, it was quite good. The portion of the pulled pork I received was huge for a small. I would say there was at least twice as much meat as I usually get at Buddy's back in East Tennessee. Would I eat there again? Yes--and I want to try those BBQ nachos! They looked decadent. Several folks in the dining room had ordered them, and I kept wishing that I'd not ordered the pulled pork as I was waiting on my food to arrive!

After that I went shopping. The only place that I bought clothes was at Macy's. What took so long was finding a dress that Mom would wear. We found one at the 6th store we entered. Actually after the 4th store, mom was getting tired. So after that, I went in and looked around to see whether I saw some possible candidates. After finally identifying 3 possibilities in the 6th store, I went out and got her. Then we went back in so she could try them on. Someone could make a fortune if they would make "Granny dresses". (I'm not talking about the 60s style called "Granny Dresses" but simply dresses that an older person would wear and feel comfortable wearing.) All of the options were probably a little different than she would have normally tried, but they all met her requirements for modesty, having a little sleeve, and not being too short. She chose the one that I would have picked for her.

I apologize for not blogging yesterday, but I had so many family members in that I really didn't have time. I'll blog later about some of the "reminiscing" that we were able to get my Dad to do about his time in World War II.

Update: If you've not seen this incredible photo of the Atlanta tornado, you need to see it.

Carnivals

Since I've been out of town, I've been remiss in posting links to a few carnivals of interest to folks.

First up is the Cabinet of Curiosities #5: Steampunk Edition. I have no idea how many entries there were for this edition, but it's got to be the longest edition yet, proving that it's becoming a quite popular blog carnival.

Second is the St. Patrick's Parade of Posts (or the Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture). I tried and tried to come up with something for this one, but I just have the least Irish heritage of just about anyone I know. Speaking of St. Patrick though, I do wish he'd drive all the snakes out of the United States too!

Finally, we have the 44th Carnival of Genealogy. It's a tribute to women!

Have fun reading!

Musings on the Census

Tonight I was transcribing a little bit of the 1870 Craighead County, Arkansas census for FamilySearchIndexing.org. I came across two items that gave me a chuckle. The first was a female who was born in the state of Tennessee whose name was Alabama. Obviously they didn't play football back then because no loving parent in Tennessee would have named their daughter Alabama if that rivalry had been in existence back then! The second was an occupation. As you know, relationships were generally not stated on censuses before 1880. There was one woman whose occupation was listed as "aged mother." I wonder what were the details of her "job description" as there were two servants in the household. She was only 66. I know life expectancy was shorter then, but if we called a 66-year-old woman "aged" nowadays we might be in "hot water."

Books, Books, and More Books

I just found out that I'll be receiving an early reviewer's copy of the cookbook Food for the Soul by Chana Rubin through LibraryThing's early reviewer program. It is published by Gefen Publishing House. This is the blurb for it:

With the information included in this book, you will be well equipped to make healthy food choices and prepare nutritious meals for you and your family. Food for the Soul: Traditional Jewish Wisdom for Healthy Eating addresses nutrition and health from a Jewish perspective. The nutrition information is universal, but tailored to the Jewish population's specific needs - kashrut, lifestyle, Shabbat and holidays, fast days and the unique Jewish culture of food.

I'm excited about receiving this book. I always love cookbooks with a twist, such as an ethnic one. I love culinary histories too. I'll see whether it lives up to my expectations when it arrives.

I found great buys on some cookbooks yesterday, picking up three titles that I will enjoy.

A friend of mine emailed me about a great book sale so I went tonight and purchased several books. I'm very excited about getting copies of Daniel Boorstein's The Colonial Period and The Democratic Experience for $3.50 each. I also picked up several other books, but the history books are the ones that excite me. The colonial period is my favorite era of American history. The other book deals with the period immediately following the Civil War. I've used these books before, but I've never owned them!

On the Radio

As I was driving through Knoxville this morning, Alison, one of the morning drive personalities on WIVK, was saying that she had recently gotten interested in learning about her family and had spent time at the Ellis Island site and had found some pretty interesting stuff, like when her grandparents had immigrated and stuff. I immediately wondered if her ancestors were Irish, and I also had a million things that I wanted to tell her--like to make sure she wrote down citations for what she was using and many of the other tips that many of us have been sharing lately on the memes about 3 things we wished we'd done when we first started. I was one of those person who actually did a decent job citing stuff--it's just that my citation were all handwritten because I started with an inadequate database program (at least by today's standards). It was either shareware or freeware so it was the right price back in those days, and I wish I'd investigated other options that were available. Later, as I was driving somewhere between Knoxville and Chattanooga, Alison was nice enough to state that she knew she was Irish because her grandparents had immigrated from there. The end of my wondering about her ethnic origin (at least the Ellis Island portion) was over. I'm glad she cleared that up before I got past the station's signal. It's really nice to hear radio personalities get excited about family history. I hope that Alison will continue her search for her ancestry. I hope others will get excited too.

Popular genealogical lecturer to speak

The Bismarck-Mandan Historical and Genealogical Society and the State Historical Society of North Dakota present John Philip Colletta, PhD, one of America’s most popular genealogical lecturer’s. Friday evening, April 11, Dr. Colletta will speak on one of his favorite topics, “Is Any Body There?–Tracking Ancestral Remains” beginning at 7:00 p.m. at the State Heritage Center, Bismarck. The Friday presentation is free and open to the general public.

Dr. Colletta lives in Washington, D.C., and conducts workshops for the National Archives and teaches courses for the Smithsonian Institution and local universities. Dr. Colletta had authored two manuals--They Came in Ships: A Guide to Finding Your Immigrant Ancestor’s Arrival Record and Finding Italian Roots: The Complete Guide for Americans.

His collection of anecdotes from his own research and travel experiences is very popular with genealogical and non-genealogical audiences. The stories are true, funny, shocking and touching. All genealogists can identify with them, and non-genealogists will get a sense of the fun and excitement of genealogy.

The BMHGS is grateful for the generous grant support from the State Historical Society of North Dakota and the North Dakota Council on the Arts.

The BMHGS has been promoting and aiding in family research since 1971. Its goals are to promote and encourage active interest in genealogy and history throughout the region and beyond by retrieving and preserving historical and genealogical records, improving the availability and access to public records and fostering education and training in genealogical and historical research.

For more information, visit www.bmhgs.com or call 701-223-6273.

Bismarck/Mandan group plans 2008 genealogy workshop

The Bismarck-Mandan Historical and Genealogical Society will host its bi-annual genealogy workshop on Saturday, April 12, 2008, at Horizon Middle School, Bismarck. Registration starts at 8 a.m., and sessions run until 4:30 p.m.

Saturday’s luncheon speaker, Dr. John Philip Colletta, is one of America’s most popular genealogical lecturers and a renowned author. He lives in Washington, D.C., and conducts workshops for the National Archives and teaches courses for the Smithsonian Institution and local universities. One of Dr. Colletta’s most popular publications is They Came in Ships: A Guide to Finding Your Immigrant Ancestor’s Arrival Record.

His luncheon topic on "Only a Few Bones: How to Turn a Juicy Family Story into a Book…and a Career!" will not only entertain and inform, but will also give conference participants an insight into who Dr. Colletta is and how he came to do genealogical lecturing and publishing.


Dr. Colletta will also present three workshop sessions, including:


"Lesser-Used Federal Records: A Sampling for Fresh Research Ideas;”


"Libraries, Archives and Public Record Offices: Understanding Resource Repositories;" and


"Breaking Through Brick Walls: Use Your HEAD!"


Dr. Colletta’s collection of anecdotes from his own research and travel experiences is very popular with genealogical and non-genealogical audiences. The stories are true, funny, shocking and touching. All genealogists can identify with them, and non-genealogists will get a sense of the fun and excitement of genealogy.


Other Saturday workshop speakers will include:


Liv Anderson, with the LDS Family History Library, Salt Lake City, on Norwegian and Scandinavian Research;


Madeline Heer, “Roots and Raspberries--Planting the Seeds in Genealogy”;


Beth Bauman, census records;


Donovan Feist, LDS Family History Center resources;


Patrice Hartman and Nancy Englerth, genealogy research on the Internet;


Jo Ann Winistorfer, on “Tracing Your Dakota Roots” and homestead records;


Greg Wysk, State Historical Society of North Dakota, on the State Archives and Historical Research Library resources;


Rachel White, State Historical Society of North Dakota, “Preservation Fundamentals”;
Bob Eastgate, funeral home records; and


LaDonna Brave Bull Allard, “Search for Your Center, A Look Into Tribal Genealogy”.


The BMHGS will also have folk artists displaying and demonstrating their traditional work of inkle weaving, tatting, knife making, quilt making and bead working.


The workshop committee welcomes the participation of area ethnic, heritage and historical groups, as well. Organizations interested in sharing information about their group, along with exhibiting and selling items unique to their organization, are welcome to contact BMHGS Steering Committee member Nadine Sheets at 701-355-1091 or at http://us.f508.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=nksheets@bis.midco.net.
Mary Bakeman, with Park Genealogical Books, will be available during the workshop, with a wide variety of historical and genealogical materials geared toward North Dakota’s ethnic groups. She will also be selling Dr. Colletta’s books. The State Historical Society of North Dakota gift shop staff will be on hand with some of their wares.


The BMHGS is grateful for the generous grant support from the State Historical Society of North Dakota and the North Dakota Council on the Arts.


The BMHGS has been promoting and aiding in family research since 1971. Its goals are to promote and encourage active interest in genealogy and history throughout the region and beyond by retrieving and preserving historical and genealogical records, improving the availability and access to public records and fostering education and training in genealogical and historical research.


For more workshop information, visit http://www.bmhgs.com/ or call 701-223-6273.

Basketball

This has not been a good day. Every team I cheered for lost in the SEC tournament.

Betsey Dearborn Taylor

Betsey Dearborn was born 4 Sep 1818 in Morgan County, Ohio to Deacon Nathan Dearborn and his wife Lucy Perkins. She is the 4th great granddaughter of immigrant Godfrey Dearborn (Godfrey, Thomas, Ebenezer, Benjamin, Samuel, Nathan, Betsey). She married Stephen Taylor, son of the late Stephen Taylor and his wife Lovica Rathbone, on 8 March 1837 in Morgan County, Ohio. Her father Nathan was a deacon of the Windsor Baptist Church (aka Brick Church) in that county. She had seven brothers and sisters--Henry Perkins, Samuel Ward, Elsina, Margaret Ann, Lucy, Lydia S., and Nathan B.

Before 1840, Stephen and Betsey had made their home in White Oak Township of McLean County, Illinois. They lived on a farm right along the Woodford County line near the present-day town of Carlock. They had nine children of their own and adopted yet another. Their children were Isaac M., Otis L., Theresa Ann, Betsey Ann D., Zachary W., Elsina D. "Sis", Laura Lucy, Ida D. "I. D.", and John Dearborn. The child they adopted later was Cora Potter.

Her husband Stephen died in 1881 and was buried at the Denman Cemetery near Carlock. She moved to Oklahoma City with her son John Dearborn Taylor where she died 12 March 1899 and is buried in the Fairlawn Cemetery in that city.

The estimated date of the photograph is 1881.

Tornado at the SEC Tournament

I've been watching the SEC tournament. They've apparently had a tornado at the Georgia dome. There seems to be some damage to the building. They heard the "freight train" sound. Needless to say, the game is on hold right now.

Update: The game finally resumed, and Mississippi State pulled off the victory. I have never heard sportscasters doing the weather before! They all said that it was quite scary.

Now they are saying that more severe weather is on the way through Atlanta so they've delayed the final game of the night.

Of course, everyone in the state of Mississippi was watching the game live. Marshall Ramsey, Clarion Ledger cartoonist, blogged about it here. Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal sports writer Gregg Ellis live-blogged his experience at the dome.

Daniel Taylor Obituary

I located a scanned copy of Daniel Taylor's obituary from an unnamed newspaper. A listing of Jefferson County papers at the Missouri Newspaper Project yields no further clues to the newspaper's identity if it was in De Soto. It could have been the Jefferson Democrat out of Hillsboro.

OBITUARY

MR. DANIEL TAYLOR--AGED EIGHTY-TWO YEARS, NINE MONTHS

About 2:30 a.m. on Thursday, December 3, 1891, Mr. Daniel Taylor, one of the oldest and most respected citizens of De Soto, departed this life at his residence, the Roberts mansion on Main street. The deceased had been failing gradually in health for some time, still his demise was unexpected. He ate his supper as usual, but, after retiring to bed, rested uneasily and suffered considerable pain till death released him. The interment was posponed till Saturday following, to admit of the arrival of relatives from Chicago. Rev. C.F. Collins of the Episcopal Church, officiated at the residence and at the grave in the city cemetery, speaking in the kindliest terms of the deceased. The cortege which followed the hearse presented an imposing appearance.

Daniel Taylor was born near Zanesville, Ohio, on March 7, 1809, and came West about 1829. He settled first near Bloomington, Ill., when that city could boast of only five or six houses. Later he removed to St. Paul, when that metropolis of the Northwest was still a small village and when Minneapolis had not yet been even platted as a town site. He again returned to Illinois, living in Peoria and other places in the northern part of the state, but finally making his home in Chicago, where he remained till he removed to Missouri. Here he lived alternately in Arcadia and Ironton, and, about ten years ago, came to De Soto, where he remained until his death. His illness was brief, and the wish was granted which he had often expressed--that he might be called suddenly. Mr. Taylor was connected with no church or sect, but was of a very charitable disposition; never passing the needy by without giving a helping hand. He leaves his faithful, loving wife, Mrs. K. T. Taylor, and three daughters, Mrs. Leech, of Wisconsin, Mrs. W.P. Abington and Mrs. Mord Roberts, of De Soto, to mourn his loss.

[end obituary]

The article mentions no tugboat incident. The similarity of names mentioned in the previous post could be coincidental. If he was a boatman in Peoria, it is likely he was navigating the Illinois River. While it is possible he also navigated the Mississippi, that is unknown and the obituary seems to indicate that he resided in northern Illinois before moving onto Missouri. Further research is needed.

Reading Roundup 3/14/08

John Michael Neill demonstrates how easy it is to upload your own scanned documents to Footnote.com.

Randy comments on the value of conference syllabi to those who were not able to attend. I must confess that I'm a huge fan of these. I refer to the ones from conferences attended and from ones I've purchased online when unable to attend. If a national conference is in a state in which you had ancestors or adjacent to such a state, you really should try to purchase a copy. You'll pick up great information in any of the syllabi, but these will offer you even more because many of the lectures will be dealing with records in that area.

Terry amuses me when his claim to Irish ancestry are those e-mails that tell you that you've won an Irish lottery.

I realized that I haven't commented on this. One of my Christmas presents this year was a DVD set of season one of WKRP in Cincinnati. The biggest problem is that they have changed the music from the original version. As someone who not only saw the originals but also saw the reruns when the original music was still being included, I can say that there's definitely something missing from these DVDs, and it's the music. You can find a list of all the music changes here. Another review is here with an addendum here. I do miss the music, but the querky characters are still around.

One of the books in my stash of books to be read soon is authored by Louise Penny. Lesa describes meeting this author at the Poisoned Pen bookstore. It's a very interesting post, and I will have to read the Three Pines mystery soon.

A Baptist looks at St. Patrick and concludes he is a role model.

I was searching the New York Times archives earlier today and found a story dated 6 Mar 1855 about the explosion of the tugboat Thomas McDaniels. The explosion presumably occurred around New Orleans since it appeared in the New Orleans Picayune 27 February 1855. Among those injured was pilot Daniel Taylor. Stephen Taylor, father of Laura Lucy Taylor, had a brother named Daniel Taylor who was enumerated as a boatman in the 1850 Peoria, Peoria Co., Illinois census. In that household was a James H. Taylor, age 12. I have seen James listed as a son of Daniel; however, evidence based on the 1850 census is inconclusive as James is enumerated below children younger than he is. However, James is very likely related to the family. Also listed among the injured of the tugboat is a fireman named James Taylor. Listed among the dead is a William Taylor, and if Daniel had a son named William, I don't know about it. It is possible that Daniel had a son named William who was living on his own or with a wife at the time of the 1850 census. I have gaps in the children where such a possibility might exist. Daniel later lived in DeSoto, Jefferson County, Missouri. Now, my question is: Is this Daniel Taylor who was in the tugboat accident Laura Lucy Taylor's uncle? I don't have an answer to that question. It may just be coincidence.

If any of you are up on your Irish movie trivia, you might want to guess Maggie's Irish movie meme quotes.

Unusual House for Sale

Are you a Trekkie? Have you ever wanted to be in a spaceship? If so, this house in Chattanooga might be for you. It's being auctioned on eBay and the offers are already up to $100,000. The inside actually doesn't look as bad as I expected, but I don't think I'd want to live in a flying saucer.

Baby Name Meme

Randy wants to know "if you had a chance to name your children again, what names would you choose to honor your ancestors?"

I have no children so I'm going to rephrase it and ask what I'd name children if I had them to honor my ancestors.

Girls:

Laura Elizabeth - This would honor Laura Lucy Taylor and her mother Elizabeth "Betsey" Dearborn Taylor. Laura was actually supposed to have been my name, but my cousin came along a few months before I did and "stole my name."

Daisy Marie - This would honor an aunt and a great aunt. I like the name Daisy, and since I used Elizabeth in the above name, I had to find something that sounded good as a middle name.

Other female names I might use would include Hannah and Abigail (since I could call the girl "Abby") which would honor direct-line colonial ancestors.

Boys:

James Stephen - I have so many ancestors named James that I would certainly have to use that name. There's a lot of James Thorntons; there are also James Allred

John Thomas - I have John E. Fowlkes, John Hester, and a lot of John Perkins. Thomas would honor Thomas Duke as well as several Thomas Perkins.

Other direct-line names include Nathan, Benjamin, Samuel, Isaac, Richard, and many others which could be used.

Names I wouldn't use:

Female - Gillie, Ursula, Nona, Berniece, Estelle, Henrietta, Selah, Lovica.

Male - Drewry, Prince, Archibald, Capus, Isham, Gabriel, Godfrey.

I'm sure I could come up with more of those if I spent more time thinking!

Bucket List Meme

I saw this meme at Janice's Cow Hampshire blog, but it originated at Passing It On. Those of you who remember the movie The Bucket List will know the gist of the movie is that a couple of older persons have made a list of things they want to do before they "kick the bucket". The meme is to name three places from your family history that you want to visit. I am going to leave off a couple of places that I'm visiting very soon that might be potentials for this list.

Block Island - This is a little island off the coast of Rhode Island. My Rathbone family was among the island's original English settlers.

England - Most of my lines eventually lead to England. The Perkins family came from Hillmorton Parish. This little parish is now a part of Rugby in Warwickshire. Other lines lead to the London area and to Wherwell in Hampshire.

Switzerland - My Amish lines originate here. I have found lines in the cantons of Basel and Berne

I'll probably wait on the last two until the dollar is in a more favorable position against the Euro and pound.

Reading Roundup 3/10/08

A link to this article about the state of libraries in the United Kingdom was posted in the comments of one of my posts. I wanted to share it with everyone. It appears that we Americans aren't the only ones seeing a decline in literacy. I really enjoyed the following quote from that article:

Reading is demanding, especially for children. It requires more attention and concentration than checking your emails or listening to music. If those other options are provided, as they are in our new look libraries sorry, think centres then children will take them, and who can blame them? Reading is the path of most resistance. Ultimately it is the path of most reward, too, but you can't expect a child to know that instinctively when all the cultural signposts around them are saying the opposite.

I enjoyed Mass Moment's post on Plum Island.



Brumley also received a post to read from someone who read his post the day he hijacked my blog. I can only hope that Brumley doesn't take up some of the vocabulary found in the post.

New Hampshire Photo Tour's Drift photo is making me wish that our weekend snow had stuck. [But then, anyone who reads my blog regularly knows how much I miss having snow that sticks. The 15 inches they got in Cincinnati over the weekend made me reminisce about the last time I saw that much.]

2010 Census at Risk

There are problems with the 2010 census.

The 2010 Census is at serious risk of massive cost increases and delays caused by problems with a contract to develop handheld computers that the Census Bureau plans to use to collect data.

Later in the article is this line:

"So serious is the crisis that if it is not dealt with immediately, it could threaten the integrity of the 2010 count," said Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., in his opening statement at the hearing. "We now find ourselves facing a situation in which we might have to revert to conducting the census entirely by paper -- no differently than it was done in the 19th century."

I sincerely hope we don't revert to early 19th century censuses. Can you imagine having only counts of the number of people within certain age groups by sex? As a researcher, I'd prefer the early 20th century model if we have to go back to written censuses. Instead of check-marks for radios, they could have check-marks for Blu-Ray DVDs, iPhones, or iPods.

My Name is Brumley

Hello! My name is Brumley. I own the person who normally writes this blog. However, when she told me about the topic that Janice wanted her to address, I told her that I was writing this post. I know that my pet human has owned other animals including those despicable dogs over the years, but she does not need to document them. I'm the only owner that matters. She thinks it is really cute when she tells how her first cat was named E.R.M. because she was learning to spell at the time. I was smart enough not to adopt a family with kids who would give me a dumb name like that and then chase me around the house. No, when she showed up at the A.S.P.C.A. shelter there in Cincinnati, I was immediately drawn to her because she didn't have kids. I didn't give any of those kids who were ooh-ing and ah-ing over me the time of day. Then she tells about Wichita, the black cat that she got from her brother's cat's litter when he was stationed in Wichita, Kansas. I'm tired of hearing of poor Wichita's demise at the mouth of her neighbor's awful chihuahua. (See, I told you dogs are despicable.) Then there was the dog she had that howled every time the "Mississippian" came down the railroad a little over a block from the house in which she grew up. Granny always tells about that dog howling the time the tornado hit Hatley, just a little farther down the road. Dogs are not unique to alerting pet humans to impending disasters. My pet human had purchased a new washing machine when we moved from my home state of Ohio to this wonderful state they call Tennessee. She put some clothes in the washer and went upstairs to do a little more unpacking. I stayed downstairs. I'd never seen one of those washers except the night my pet human took me to the basement when there was a tornado coming over our house in Cincinnati, but it wasn't on that night. However, I instinctively knew that it should not be sending forth water and bubbles all over our kitchen, and I ran and got my pet human to come and take a look. She immediately obeyed me. She knew who was boss! She turned off that washing machine and then had quite a time cleaning the kitchen. Of course, she then invited a stranger to the house to come check out what was wrong with the new washer. It turned out to be some hose was closed or something like that. Then there is the dog Floppy who died on the same day that Elvis died. She says she was more broken up by Floppy's death than Elvis'. I can't imagine why anyone would be that broken up about a dog who had floppy ears. Dogs are stupid! Then there is Cissy. That was Floppy's mom, I think. Cissy was given to the family by someone who worked with my Granny. Later on, I think that Granny and PawPaw and my pet human took in her nephew's dogs Honey and Priscilla when they moved and were renting and couldn't have a dog. Those are the ones I've heard my pet human mention. Granny has also mentioned a dog named Sam, but my pet human was too small to remember him very well. She doesn't need to remember any of them--just me! By the way, the picture is of me camping. This was my favorite spot in the Minnie Winnie until Granny and PawPaw sold it and quit letting my pet human drive them and me on camping trips. I will say that Granny was having a very hard time getting in and out of the camper without my pet human helping push her in, but I just really hate that I don't get to go camping any more. We went to such interesting places. I didn't like Georgia because they had these little bugs called sand fleas. My pet human made me wear a stupid collar that I didn't like. Florida was very nice. They had such interesting plants. I'd never seen anything like them in Ohio or Tennessee (or Mississippi). I am the only owner that my pet human needs to remember! Now, she'd better get me some catnip for taking over her blog for the night.

Jeremiah People

We had the Jeremiah People at church today. It had been at least 25 years since I'd last seen this group perform. For those of you not familiar with them, they are a Christian musical theatre group. It was nice to see them again after all these years. I think that a lot of people enjoyed having something a little different. The evening program was about 2 hours from start to finish (with the love offering).

Brief Conference Report

I went to the Sevier County Conference today. As bad weather was predicted, I opted to stay in a hotel in Sevierville on Friday night. The turn-out was small this year because of the weather. I was told that more were present for Friday's sessions. The snow, which had been predicted to start earlier, actually began about 8 a.m. It mainly just blew and blew and blew but didn't stick.

There was supposed to have been an archivists' roundtable. I really don't know what that was going to be, but the archivists who were supposed to be there didn't show up, so Mark did a shortened version of his "My Ancestor, the Farmer" presentation. He remembered that I'd always wanted to hear him do that presentation but that for some reason that my presentation at a conference gets scheduled at the same time as his (when it's on the program) so I've always missed it. That was a nice "bonus" treat for the few who stayed that late.

Light Blogging

My blogging will be light for the next few days. I'll be attending the genealogy conference in Sevierville on Saturday. I'm also keeping an eye on the weather. We have snow in the forecast again, and I may decide to go ahead and move over to Sevierville Friday night just so I don't have as long of a drive on roads which may or may not need to be treated. With it being a weekend, they won't be in a hurry in Hamblen or Jefferson County to clear them. I suspect that all the main roads in Sevier County will be fine because they depend on tourism. I probably won't make a decision until after work tomorrow.

The Vacationing Genealogist

What do genealogists do on vacations? I'd never really given it much thought until I saw a message to a mailing list by a genealogist today who stated that he was going on vacation. He specified that there would be "no libraries, no courthouses, and no cemeteries." That got me to thinking. When is the last time I took a vacation that met all three of those criteria? I think the answer is "before I started researching the family history."

First of all, I'm a librarian. I love books, and I love to see what other libraries look like. I also like to go in and browse the history and genealogy shelves. If I haven't taken my laptop along on a trip, I may go in to use a computer to check email. (I'll admit that I haven't done this much since wireless has become widely available, but I have done it in the past.)

Courthouses. While I'm slightly less likely to visit a courthouse than a library or cemetery, I have visited courthouses either along the way or near my destination on probably 75% of my vacations of recent years.

Cemeteries. I honestly cannot think of a single vacation that I've been on where I haven't gone to at least one cemetery and probably more than one. They are like magnets. I like to go to them even if I know of no relations buried there. You can sometimes find unusual markers. If I've got a few minutes to spare, you're likely to find me stopping to check out the cemetery. I know a well-known genealogist who was speaking at the FGS conference in Boston in 2006. He had no New England ancestors of his own. While he was out walking around Boston, he found a stone in a cemetery he visited which interested him. (I think it was in Old Copps, but I don't remember for sure.) He went back and researched that individual and her family. I'm not the only genealogist who can't resist a cemetery visit!


In a couple of months, I'll be headed to the Bahamas for a few days. While I don't really have anything that I need to research while there (and my niece who is accompanying me would definitely not want to spend time researching since she's not into family history), I've already read about an historic cemetery that I want to visit. If we happen to see a library, I'm likely to go in just to say I was there and to see what the similarities and differences are between that country's libraries and ours.


In short, I just can't imagine a vacation void of libraries, courthouses, and cemeteries--at least not since I began researching the family history. Of course, those of us who work full-time, welcome the opportunity to use our vacations to further our research.

What about you? Do you visit libraries, courthouses, and cemeteries when you vacation?

What Happens When . . .

. . . you wash your 1 GB PNY Technologies Attaché® drive?

Thanks to my failure to thoroughly check my pockets before washing clothes this evening, I'm now able to tell you. After I dried it off a bit and inserted it in the USB port on my computer, the device was recognized AND all the files were found to be in working order!

I knew this was my favorite of my flash drives for one reason or another. Now I know it is durable!

The Carnival is Up

Carnival of Genealogy #43, that is. Those who have counted say there are 32 entries. I was going to "crunch the numbers" on this, but What's Past Is Prologue has already done a statistical analysis to determine our favorites. The call for submissions for Carnival #44 is at the end.

This has nothing to do with the carnival, but Chery's post about silk scarves is very interesting.

When You Spend Most of the Day at Church . . .

. . .Your cat won't allow you to blog that night!

Reading Roundup - March 1

The Books for Kids blog has some great family history stories for kids featured today. Both books are by Patricia Reilly Giff. One is called Nory Ryan's Song; the second is called Maggie's Door. Both are set against the backdrop of the Irish Famine of 1845-49. I actually own the first book of the series. I'll have to get the second one to go along with it.

The first graphical web browser I used has "bit the dust." Netscape Navigator is "no longer supported." Does anyone else remember the joys of navigating the Web with Lynx before Netscape came on the scene?

Lesa has a list of mysteries that I'm going to have to read at some point. After fighting the crowds in the cookbook aisle at McKay's Used Books & CDs today, I find the idea of a body in a cookbook store intriguing. The New Hampshire antique store murder sounds good as does the boarding school one. She also lists one with a Mississippi setting. Lesa is fortunate enough to receive many books for early reviewing! At least some of these April offerings will go on my Amazon.com wish list.

While I was in Knoxville today, I picked up a copy of the MetroPulse, the city's alternative paper, to read Jack Neely's column. For those of you not familiar with Jack, he spends a lot of time at the McClung Historical Collection and has the ability to write the most engaging historical pieces. My friend was driving, and I opened to the column and told her that it was about the Georgia-Tennessee border dispute. She immediately knew that if he'd written on it that it was going to be a good column. I will say that I have never laughed so hard as I was reading something aloud. She was laughing as she was driving. For those not familiar with the border dispute, Georgia wants our water! They want about one mile around Chattanooga declared as part of Georgia so that they can tap into the Tennessee River. They haven't fussed about the inaccurate survey until now--when they want our water. Jack, of course, comes up with some pretty interesting historical items as well as some creative solutions to Georgia's freshwater shortage. You do not want to miss reading Jack's article!

Maybe it's just the cows, but this game made me think of Janice at Cow Hampshire.

In Maine, March has come in like a lion so it will go out like a lamb. What happens if March comes in like a lamb? Does it go out like a lion? I actually pondered that question last week. I don't know that I've ever heard what happens if it doesn't come in like a lion. I'd say it was pretty much a lamb here in East Tennessee.

Marshall Ramsey was down on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. He gives us a visual report on the rebuilding efforts there.

R.I.P. - Those initials will soon pertain to my hometown newspaper, The Amory Advertiser. I really don't want to see it merge with the other paper in the county, but these are tough economic times. Like most genealogists, I subscribe for the obituaries! However, Terry's Hill Country of Monroe County column will appear in the new combined paper twice a month.

The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that a 19th century Shaker building may be headed for the wrecking ball. I always had to read about the possible loss of historic structures.

This is a gorgeous snow picture over at New Hampshire Photo Tour.