Today is Emancipation Day to commemorate those who were freed from slavery.
Emancipation has another meaning, that of liberation typically from a legal, social or political restriction. When my husband and I decided to retire as longtime public school employees we hadn’t been aware that the day we selected, August 1, 2021, that we termed our “emancipation” day was actually already memorialized as the day to remember those who had been enslaved.
Reading the news this morning about emancipation made me realize this was an extra special day to celebrate freedom!
For those of you who follow my blog you know my life often has some odd coincidences occur. Someone told me that happens to me because I tell everyone I know about the weird situations so they just keep coming. I guess the theory is that by talking and writing about them I become a magnet for more. I don’t know about that but I do think this is kind of strange… Friday, March 13, 2020 was my last day working onsite at a school. The following day I was supposed to be volunteering at a library with my local genealogy society to help patrons with their brick walls. The event was cancelled at the last minute because of covid-19. Although the monthly meetings and trainings moved to Zoom, the brick wall event was not rescheduled until yesterday. Friday, July 30 happened to be my last day forever in education and the following day, the brick wall event which was supposed to be back at the library got moved to Zoom because I live in the fasted growing covid area in the country.
Too bad we couldn’t meet in person as it would have been a wonderful bookend of the beginning and termination of the pandemic.
Although I’m leaving the K-12 education field permanently, I’m definitely not abandoning genealogy. I’ll continue to blog, consult with clients, volunteer at my local historical society and provide research. Due to my termination contract, I’m unable to “teach” for the next year in any capacity but plan to return to genealogical lectures eventually.
In addition to spending more time on genealogy, I plan to invest time in my local community. Due to my previously long commute I was never able to do that. I plan on volunteering at my local hospital and with other community events.
Hubby and I are so looking forward to this next chapter in our lives. It is a privilege having you continue to follow my blog as I head off in a new direction. Stay tuned for my new adventures!
Indiana, U.S., Civil War Soldier Database Index, 1861-1865, Isaac Lofton, digital database; Ancestry.com: accessed 6 Jul 2021.
With Hurricane/Tropical Storm Elsa coming through my neighborhood this week, I’ve spent my days finishing up documentation for the Forgotten Ones project sponsored by the Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War. The purpose is to identify those who served for the Union but have no descendants. Their stories are compiled and will be included on the organization’s website so that their service will not be forgotten.
In researching two individuals, I found perfect examples of why EXHAUSTIVE research is paramount. The first discovery I made was while researching Isaac Lofton (1835-1889), an Indiana native farm laborer who enlisted for the Union. My heart sunk after spending an hour acquiring documents when I discovered the picture above.
Notice why I was concerned? Check out the Notes section – “Deserted.”
If I had stopped there I would never have learned the true story of heroic Isaac.
Further research uncovered what happened 2 days BEFORE Isaac left the hospital, which was used as a convalescent center for not threatening gunshot wounds or disease:
Gerald Kennedy. U.S. Army Hospital: Keokuk, 1862-1865, The Annals of Iowa, Vol. 40, Number 2, Fall, 1969, pp. 118-136; digital image, core.ac.uk: accessed 7 July 2021, p.132.
I don’t know about you, but I think it was a wise move on Isaac’s part to take off from that hospital when he did.
It’s what he did next that impresses me the most…he could have returned to Indiana, kept his mouth shut and carried on with his life. He chose another path, however. Instead, Isaac went SOUTH, into the war, and re-enlisted with Company K, 1st Infantry, Mississippi Marine Brigade. I didn’t even know there was a Union regiment from Mississippi!
Index to Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Ohio, Isaac Lofton, digital image; Fold3.com: accessed 6 July 2021, citing NARA Publication Number M540, Record Group 94, Roll 0034.
He served until the war ended as a Marine on the Mississippi River. Impressive for a man who had little experience with water growing up.
After the war, he married Lydia Harbaugh in 1868; the couple had no children.
I’m glad I continued researching to understand his story as finding one document does not mean it tells the whole truth.
That point can be further made by the next individual I selected to research, Julius Theodore C. Wilman. Julius (1838-1885) volunteered as a private in 1861 with the 3rd Regiment, Infantry in his native Maryland. I was impressed to discover he was promoted to Lieutenant:
Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Maryland, Julius T. C. Willman, digital image; Fold3.com: accessed 7 July 2021, citing NARA M384, Record Group 94, Roll 0128, p. 1 & 2.
He must have received notice of the charges as he sent a second letter stating he was “anxious” to learn if his resignation had been accepted and to correct the record. He claimed he was not AWOL but had permission from a physician because he was “sick.” Notice that he never mentioned being ill in his resignation letter? In reviewing his service file, however, on Fold3, I discovered his true character. Five charges were filed against him and he did not handle the situation well. Evidently, the commanding officer decided that no man could use his own guns and they were to be collected. Two privates did not want to part with their revolvers so they cut a deal with Julius; he promised to keep them safe and return them to the men. Except, Julius didn’t want to part with them when the privates asked for them back. They reported him to higher ups who confronted Julius. He denied he had the revolvers though they were found in his possession. When asked how that occurred, he spewed profanities and threats against the officer who had issued the command. Then, he went AWOL. He returned to his mother’s residence and submitted a resignation letter stating he was needed at home to take care of his elderly widowed mother, his invalid brother, and his sister-in-law with two small children whose husband, another of his brothers, had been killed at Gettysburg. He claimed to be the only one who could care for the family since one other surviving brother had important work to do in the government’s service.
In researching Julius’ claims about his need to be home, his story falls further apart. Although it was true his mother was a widow, she had raised 4 boys as a single mom since 1849. In the 1860 US Federal census, none of the adult “boys” can be found but mom had found work as a toll gatherer in Virginia. In 1870 and 1880, mom was living with one of Julius’ brothers. Julius certainly wasn’t concerned about her at her end of life when he relocated to Wisconsin. She outlived him by 4 months.
There is NO documentation to show that one of his brothers was an invalid. That brother, most likely Henry, was quite well when he completed his draft registration. Henry never was called up for service and married after the war.
There is NO documentation that brother Frederick Agustus worked for the government. He did complete a draft registration in July 1863; he was a miller in Fredericks County, Maryland throughout the war.
There is NO documentation Julius ever took care of his sister-in-law or nephews after his brother was killed at Gettysburg. In fact, his sister-in-law had married Julius’ brother John Lewis in 1857 but was found in the 1860 US Federal census as residing with her parents using her maiden name. She continued to live with them in 1870, along with her two children who had been born in 1861 and 1863. She eventually remarried and newspaper articles note the adult children returned to visit their step-dad. That implies the step-dad took on the parental role and not Julius.
There is also NO evidence that Julius had remorse for his actions regarding his poor judgement in taking the revolvers, lying about them being in his possession, his angry outburst and threats when confronted with the evidence and his failure to go through proper channels when he became “sick.”
The only truth discovered was the death of his brother, John Lewis. It is interesting to note Julius had been taken as a POW for a short time a few months before the revolver incident. He was traded quickly back to the Union. No mention of that was made in his resignation.
Julius had reason to be anxious and depressed; he possibly was suffering from PTSD. He later became a diabetic so he also may have had underlying medical issues at the time of the incident. His physical and mental state was stressed yet it disturbs me that he had no remorse for his actions.
I decided not to submit his story. Perhaps, there are two lessons learned here. The first, exhaustive research is a must. The second, sometimes it’s better to remain a Forgotten One.
I have always loved to travel, especially for genealogical purposes. The past year has taken that privilege away but I discovered, like you, there was always work arounds in most cases. I relied on others to obtain a document or check a source through Ask-A-Librarian or other email inquiry. I was surprised to discover how much I could accomplish using those resources.
Now that my closest family has all been fully vaccinated, travel has become a hot topic. Should we or shouldn’t we?
A week before the pandemic quarantine arrived, hubby and I had planned to travel later that summer to Sweden to mix genealogy research from both his mother and father’s lines with cultural immersion. This year, we had planned to do the same with Croatia and next year, after a Mediterranean cruise, to stomp through France to explore more of my lines. We guessed, by that time, Great Britain would have settled down somewhat after Brexit and we’d both explore our Welsh, Scotts, Irish and English roots.
I realize that Croatia is open for travel now but do I want to do that?! Is it wise to venture abroad and possibly bring home a new variant? Do I want to travel wearing a mask and with more hand sanitizer then I usually pack? On the other hand, am I contributing to Europe’s recession by not going?
An alternative would be US travel. After checking that archives have reopened, we could spend some time this summer traveling throughout the midwest or the northeast. That leads to more questions – should we fly or should we drive? With the rental car shortages and the great price increase in rentals, is it even worth flying? Do I want to pack up the car and drive, which would require more frequent stops along the way and the possibility of still getting a covid exposure? Sure, the chances of infection are small but they remain.
In all my years of traveling I was one of those foolish mortals that really didn’t worry about Montezuma’s revenge. I swam in cenotes, crawled into caves, ate from food trucks in cities and with local villagers outdoors in rural areas, even consuming uncooked fruits and vegetables. I was always fine. The pandemic has reminded me of my own mortality and to not push my luck.
Even though I’m fully vaccinated, I’m reluctant to travel. Ethics in genealogy go beyond being truthful and accurate. Ethics include being responsible to others. No matter how much I miss meeting new people, learning about different cultures and exploring archives new to me, I think I’ll take a wait and see approach to travel for now.
First, an important message to those who follow my blog posted on Blogger….In July, you will no longer be receiving my blog directly to your email. I’m so sorry! Google has decided to cancel the email subscriber feature. I’ll continue blogging and you can find me through Blogger or at my GenealogyAtHeart.com website where I also post.
The photo above, which I discovered accidentally this week, haunts me. It connects my past to the present in a special way.
Since the pandemic began, my husband and I have sat next to each other almost daily working separately but together from our home office. When I began my career in the education field 44 years ago, if someone had told me this was how it would end I wouldn’t have believed them.
I have been fortunate throughout this difficult time when so many have suffered untold losses. Last Friday, as I was wrapping up the work week, I came across the picture above. Before reading the caption, I was overcome with a vague memory. I somehow recognized the building. I dismissed that thought quickly. The JSTOR Daily article title, Libraries and Pandemics: Past and Present could be a photo from any Carnegie library in 1918 since most used the same architectural plans. Except it wasn’t just any old library building.
The caption identifies the librarians sitting on the steps as protecting themselves from the influenze pandemic in October 1918 in Gary, Indiana. As a child, I climbed those steps many times with my mother, who would have been 6 months old when the photo was taken. Her father and maternal grandfather would bring the influenza home to the rest of the family three months later. Joseph Kos[s], who I’ve blogged about previously, would succumb to the disease.
The last time I visited that library was about 55 years ago. It has long been closed, not because of age or lack of use, but due to mismanagement of city finances. Six years ago I was told that most of the holdings were still inside, waiting for the day that funds became available to reopen. I don’t know if that’s still the case though it appears that it re-opened after a renovation in January 2018 but has been shuttered again.
I wonder what the librarians pictured above, who worked hard to preserve the library’s contents even during a pandemic, would think about the state of the library today. No doubt, like me, they would have found it difficult to fathom what the future held.
I also wonder about the condition of the contents remaining in an environment that is unheated in winter or cooled in summer. As a child, I well remember the annual heat wave in July where temperatures would sore to 100 degrees. We managed with the windows open and portable fans to catch the breeze blowing off Lake Michigan. The winters could be brutal with snow falling as early as October and as late as April.
But this blog isn’t about record loss; my thoughts today turn to sensory memory. After all these years, I still recall those steps that were so hard to climb when I was small. The angle the photo had been taken no doubt helped me recall the building. Being short in those days, the view I visualized and stored in my mind would have been from looking up at the entrance.
Using our senses can help recall those distant genealogy memories we carry. Smelling and tasting one of my grandmother’s recipe takes me to another time. For my husband, remembrances of holidays past are easily recalled when we share food around the table held in his maternal grandmother’s china. Hearing my departed relatives voices recorded on our old movies gives me that goose bump sensation as if they are still here. The sound of those voices helps me remember other events to which I associate them.
Partaking in a former activity can also help recall long forgotten memories. Early last year, my husband salvaged a bike that was placed for trash pickup. We have two bikes which we never ride and he couldn’t explain why he brought it home with its rear flat tire. I was drawn to the bike, too. Watching my husband tinkering with the bike recalled memories of my grandfather who had once been in the same position as my husband was, fixing the chain. After the repairs were complete I decided to take it for a spin. It was a cool spring morning and I felt like I was 8 years old again. The only thing missing was my apple red wind breaker my mom had purchased from Montgomery Wards on sale. I can’t explain why that one block bike ride made me remember that long forgotten jacket. Most likely it was due to my sense of macro reception, balance and movement on the bike, that enabled me to think of the past.
There is also that 6th sense, intuition, that is yet unexplainable. Somehow, we just know where to find that tombstone or missing document. Perhaps this sense is a compilation of the others mentioned when we relax and let the thoughts enter.
Using your senses in genealogy is another asset for your toolbox, however, caution is needed. Memory alone does not suffice; examination of records and the input of others who may have shared that memory are necessary.
You might be thinking I’m being a prolific blogger this morning as this is my 5th post but the truth is I only planned to write about the one year anniversary of changing practices due to the pandemic.
I started the morning on routine maintenance to my website – genealogyatheart.com and in the process, somehow noticed that 4 older posts, 3 since June, had never posted. I don’t know how that happened so I hit the “publish” button and see that 3 of the 4 are live. Going to figure out when I’m done with this blog what’s up with the last one! Three were on strange events and one was on volunteering to identify WW2 vets. Since the past year has definitely been strange and there has been so many unnecessary deaths it seemed fitting I discovered the drafts this morning.
Was it the technology or the person (me) that was responsible? Don’t know! I usually like to find out the reason for mistakes to prevent them from reoccurring but on this beautiful almost spring morning where I’ll be losing an hour this weekend anyway, I’m choosing to focus instead on the future.
It was 1 year ago today, Friday the 13th, that I spent my last day in person at my education job. I was supposed to meet a genealogy client and do volunteer work on the 14th at a local library but that was cancelled due to the unexpected covid-19 closures. Like most of the rest of the world, I had spent March 11th bringing home items from work that I thought would be essential to use to continue doing my job from home and on the 12th, discovered there was NO hams, turkeys or toilet paper left in the first 4 grocery stores I stopped in on my way home from work.
A year ago, my guess was the pandemic would last about 6 weeks. Yeah, don’t ask me to make any forecasts! I based that assumption on the amount of time since I had first heard about Wuhong’s cases – towards the end of January – and watched with amazement how quickly they were building hospitals. By March, they had stopped so I guessed wrongly that it would just take a short time to get up to speed in providing medical assistance and our lives would be back to “normal”.
That gets me to the ham and turkey on my shopping list – I thought I’d hunker down at home and my meal planning to get through lockdown was influenced by my childhood upbringing. The grandchild of immigrants and the child of a Great Depression parent, we always had a large pantry in the basement known as the fruit cellar. I’ve blogged before how it got it’s name – that’s where my grandparents kept the illegal vino they were producing during prohibition. By the time I came along it held canned goods, soda “pop” bottles in case company came and spices. An extra chest freezer was housed on our enclosed front porch with a doily over it so it didn’t stand out. It was always filled. This was all beneficial to avoid panic buying before a snowstorm hit. Cooking a huge meal mid day Sundays resulted in having food for the rest of the week. I figured we’d have a ham with the fixings and then Monday, use leftovers for sandwiches, Tuesday would be omelets, soup from the hambone on Wednesday and Thursday, any remains mixed with macaroni and cheese on Friday and the week was almost through! I would do something similar with the turkey and chicken to get through 6 weeks of lockdown. Except, I couldn’t find turkey and ham.
I do have a large pantry and an extra fridge in the garage but I never kept them as well stocked as my grandparents did theirs. My shopping foray last March changed that practice and I scrounged for whatever I found left in the store – 3 corned beefs, 2 whole chickens, some ground beef and hot dogs. I found the ham and turkey at the 5th store I went to which was the one closest to my home. The toilet paper was discovered by a suggestion from another shopper at Big Lots. My bookkeeper at work had found hers at Staples. This was clearly a tipoff that that world was changing in a strange way.
I pivoted my education job by working through what was supposed to have been my week off for spring break. I was up and running with that quickly and easily with a plan to keep the students engaged the week we were transitioning to online learning to give the teachers time to get their lessons prepared. My genealogy business was placed on hiatus but I decided to keep writing the blog.
Reflecting on the past year, my biggest surprise is that I’m really okay with working from home. This has been the longest time since adulthood that I haven’t been on a trip or to a visit to a library. I’ve got several ideas of where I’ll do research once the world reopens fully. I’m okay with being patient for when that happens. In the meantime, I’ve created a list of where I need to research, what I need to find and some of the archives I’ll be visiting.
Thinking back, I now have no idea how I endured for years the long commute I made 5 days a week. I’ve only topped off my car with gas 4 times since last March 13th. Sometimes I would have to stop for gas more than once per week. I have spent the over 2 hours per day that I had lost driving on other tasks. Initially, I spent a lot more time on my education job but now that I’m in the groove, that has lessened. I’m now using the extra time to listen to podcasts and do my own personal genealogy research. I updated my family’s cookbook and included a section on Pandemic cooking for future generations. It’s got a great substitution chart – can’t find cake flour, here’s what you do! We also switched our hydroponics to aquaponics, took in 2 hens that were hatched 2 weeks before the pandemic at my school and froze the loquats and lemon juice from our neighbors tree for use the rest of the year.
I am amazed at how much genealogy research I have been able to do by being housebound. Granted, much has been because of the dedication of staff at archives who have done look ups for me over the past year. Due to the special offers that were available last spring, I took advantage of mining through online resources I hadn’t explored before. That was an awesome use of my time and money.
I donated some of my time by volunteering and I’ll blog more about that soon. I also donated some cash to organizations who were extremely helpful and are now in desperate need of funds. I plan to do more of this in the future.
By working fully from home I was thankful that hubby and I had renovated our home in the past few years, especially our office. We had to make some adjustments but that was mostly due to our primary jobs. I use a whole lot less paper (and printer ink!) then when I was working outside of the home. I’ve cleaned all of our closets and reorganized the kitchen and bath cabinets for efficiency. Those tasks I always put in “some day” category as in “after I retire.” Now they’re done and that will give me more time later.
I also now understand why my grandmother always washed her hands when she came in from leaving the house and why she changed her clothes after attending a funeral. The lessons she learned from the 1918 flu epidemic stayed with her 40 years later. I wonder if I’ll be doing the same.
Take this week and think about how you and your family have changed routines and practices. It is amazing how flexible and versatile we all are. No matter what the future holds we will be taking these characteristics with us. That gives me hope.
Turning lemons into lemonade takes some amount of work but it’s worth the refreshing result. As my grandparents would say, Zdravlje – To Health!
This was supposed to have been published in June 2020 but somehow was not.
Last week I blogged about my strange experience looking for my Hollingshead family going from England to Barbados to Pennsylvania/New Jersey. I was desperately searching for a document to show proof that my ancestor, Daniel, was the individual in all of those locations. Some odd happening occurred – a dream, an undelivered email, an internet site popping up after the electricity had been turned off – put me back on track. Here’s what happened this week… Although the member of my local genealogy association that I had reached out to for help in connecting with a presenter’s email was returned as undeliverable, I used the same email address and reached the person I was seeking a few minutes later. She responded she was unavailable but when get back with me soon. I’ve signed up for a British seminar online that I found by “looking small” as instructed in my dream. It’s scheduled for Friday and I’m eagerly awaiting it. Being impatient, I had a hunch that the dream meant more than just the upcoming lecture. I don’t know why I did the following, but I did and I’m glad of that. I decided to check Ancestry.com hints for Daniel. I don’t use the hint option very often. I do sometimes if I’m starting a new search for a client but for my own tree, not so much. In case you aren’t aware, your Ancestry hints never really leave you. If you click “Ignore” that isn’t the same as delete – which isn’t an option. When you Ignore, it simply goes to the Hint section and is placed under that heading. The other categories are Undecided and Accepted. Accepted hints are all those that are showing in your Facts section, Undecided are those you can’t make up your mind about after you’ve reviewed it. In my Undecided section, I had about 15 hints and most were completely wrong – wrong locations (like Ohio and I was searching before there was even an Ohio territory), wrong time period (like the 1900’s and I needed 1600-1700’s), or wrong names (like Hollins). There were 2 interesting hints, however, that I clicked on and both were from a DNA relative I’ve corresponded with in the past. I trust her work and she always uses citations! The hints were notes she had taken from old texts she had found in her local library. Lucky lady, she lives close to an awesome research library.. I wanted to find the original books to check her notes so I did a Google book search (on Google, click the “Other” box and then click “Books” is the easiest to find and lo and behold, this is what I discovered:
Alfred Mathews. History of Wayne, Pike and Monroe Counties, Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: R. T. Peck & Co,1886, p. 1156.
Even though this is exactly what I’m looking for regarding the route of immigration, there is no proof, other than that Stroud J. Hollinshead, a likely descendant, shared the info for his personal biographical sketch. Sigh! He even got some of the facts wrong. The second paragraph is a hot mess; How could Daniel, the first ancestor, be killed at the Battle of Blenheim and then hold public office in Sussex County, New Jersey? Quite a feat, I say. The date of birth is off by a few years. Didn’t mention the first wife, Ann Alexander, from whom I’m descended but does mention their child, Mary, as the daughter of the second wife, Thomasin. Mary married a Duer; according to this bio, so did Mary’s stepmom after the death of Daniel. Hmm, but something isn’t quite correct there, either. Thomasin was a female and the information states she married a Jane Deuer. I suspect they meant John as this would have been the early 1700’s. Then I found the following interesting story:
Rev. John C. Rankin, DD. The Presbyterian Church in Basking Ridge, NJ. Jersey City: John H. Lyon, 1872., p.7.
I knew Daniel was flipping property but I didn’t know that he had sold to a James Alexander of New York. That peaked my interest as his first wife was an Alexander and I’ve not been successful in locating her family. So I read up on James Alexander and Lord Stirling. The family liked to hide among other Alexander families in Ireland and France where they fled after picking the wrong political side in Scotland. Scholars haven’t been able to sort through all the stories the family told in the documentation they left behind of who was related to whom as the same individual’s tales changed from time to time. Then, there’s the whole timely topic of race relationships. Lord Stirling made his money partially from the slave trade while father James was alive and didn’t object. My Daniel, however, appeared to have not been in favor of slavery. He brought a slave family with him to New Jersey but it appears there was manumision. I told myself (no proof here!) that Daniel was empathetic as he was purportedly an indentured servant, though others felt this showed he was of the Quaker faith. Yet, as I learned more about James Alexander, I discovered that Daniel’s second wife Thomasin left several slaves to her children when she died so the couple may not have the same shared beliefs or, I’m completely wrong about Daniel. More research definitely needed. The Presbyterian Church reference provides another important clue. Some believe that Daniel was Quaker but I’ve found nothing to support that. He and his children were baptized in the Church of England in England and Barbados, Some of the Alexander land was later donated to the Presbyterian Church. That’s not surprising since James was a Scott and probably of that faith. Further reading informed me there were no Quakers in the the area when Daniel relocated there. If he had been a devout Quaker, he would have likely settled in Bucks County, Pennsylvania as the Duer’s initially did. This would explain why I’ve never found a Quaker record for Daniel. Although all of this is interesting to my research, the last weird occurrence happened while I was reading online. My husband and I share an office and he decided he was going to clean his workspace. He is a piler and I’m a filer – he has piles everywhere and I have everything sorted in a variety of devices (handing file folders, in/out baskets, file cabinets, tubs in folders, etc.). As I was deeply involved in an old text my husband said, “Is this yours?” He was holding a CD. I haven’t used CD’s in I don’t know how long so I shook my head no. “Should I toss it?” he asked. “What’s on it?” I replied. “The theme song of Pirates of the Caribbean.” I thought he was kidding me. “Yeah, right.” I said. “Seriously,” he replied. He thought I had recorded it to help me with my search. (Photo above – you can see it’s scratched so it’s not new.) Nope, wasn’t I but somewhere in the great beyond there’s a tech savvy spirit with a sense of humor who is helping me along. Keep it coming!
Season’s Greetings! You may be feeling like the folks were in the photo above after your Thanksgiving feast. Their enthusiasm for the holiday is well, a little underwhelming. Maybe a smaller family gathering would have been a good thing back then.
Whenever I think of all the work that goes into a family get together I think of this picture from my husband’s side of of the family. Taken about the mid 1930’s, from left to right is Clifford Thompson, George Harbaugh, Bert Thompson and Ruth Johnson Thompson. In the midst of the Great Depression, the decorations were scant. Don’t know if it was a heavy meal or the numbness of having to spend the holiday with extended family that put them to sleep.
The picture was taken in the living room of George’s parent’s home. Ruth was George’s maternal aunt. We’re missing the rest of the extended family who lived there – George Sr., his wife, Elsie, and their other children Bob and Betty. Ruth and Elsie’s mother, Louisa, also lived in the household. Where was Bert and Ruth’s daughter, Jeanne? Maybe upstairs playing with cousin Betty. Did Helen Johnson Chellberg, sister to Elsie and Ruth, also come with her husband and three children? Beats me – somethings we will never know.
I’ve been reading a lot in the past week about people being thankful for not having to travel this holiday season. I can relate to that as I dreaded the holidays when our home was cramped with 40 plus people. All those dishes long before dishwashers! No quiet space at all! Lines for the bathroom! Cigar smoke and alcohol breath – yuck! Although I loved those people a bunch I liked them a lot better a little at a time.
This weekend I’ve spent looking at old family holiday photos. Some years were prosperous and others, not. No matter what your holiday plans are for this year your experience will be long remembered not just by you, but by those who know you. If you can’t be all together, keep in touch – via phone, Zoom, letter/card/text – as best you can. Ask the questions you always wondered about, like where was Helen Chellberg in the mid-1930’s? Although the pandemic made this year seem to move slowly, next year just might be too late to get your family questions answered.
I recommend you each out – reconnect – and remember those far away loved ones. Now is the time!
As we all prepare to have a less than typical Thanksgiving, I want to pause and reflect on all the genealogy things that I am thankful for this year. Sure, it’s been difficult with all the archive closures, Zoom conferences and the inability to visit far flung relatives but let’s look at the bright side for a moment.
I am thankful that the pandemic allowed me to:
1. Reorganize my office. I took the time, since I had lots of it this past summer, and made my work space more efficient. I replenished supplies, pitched those pencil nubs and found items I didn’t even recall I had! This was always on my to-do list and now it’s not.
2. Pitched old family records. Don’t gasp – I scanned many of them. I found my deceased mom, 2nd cousin and sister-in-law’s health records. I had tax returns from the 1970’s that we lugged from house to house over the years. Before the tax code changed, we kept the receipts for improvements made on a home we haven’t lived in for 30 years. Found the flood insurance settlement when we lost everything in Hurricane Elena in 1985. I think going through these old documents of other difficult times in our lives made the current situation more tolerable. It was a testament that this, too, shall end one day.
3. Cleaned my Cloud backup storage. Cuddled up on the sofa with the laptop and on a week of rainy days, spent some time each day moving files around or deleting them entirely. Now I’ve got even more space for when I am able to get back out into the world to research without having to pay for more space.
4. Attended Conferences from my backyard. I know that virtual conferences aren’t the same as in-person but if it hadn’t been for the pandemic, I would have had to miss many that I was able to attend this year. I don’t think I’ve ever sat through a lecture and not learned something or been reminded that I should try what I already knew to solve a research problem. I’m so looking forward to Roots Tech, too!
5. Save $! As a long time reader you know I’m a frugal person and look for genealogy deals whenever I can. Although my business did take a hit this year, I was fortunate that my first quarter was larger than in previous years. Can’t explain how that worked out and am thankful that it was. Another way I saved was the organizations that made their records available for free or lowered the price for a limited time at the start of the pandemic. I looked in places I never was able to search before and found lots of info.
6. Researched my own family. Since business was down, I was able to spend time on my own family. In the past few years, this has been severely limited so I was glad for the time to do this. The value of a research log cannot be emphasized enough; I didn’t have to waste much time in picking up where I had left off by reviewing where I had previously searched.
7. Made many new virtual “friends.” Thank heavens for the archivist that continued to answer queries, search a vertical file or scan and email a page from needed text. Although never considered essential workers, they most definitely are to a genealogist and I greatly appreciative of their dedication. I also reached out to relatives I had never connected with before and together, we worked to solve family mysteries.
8. Caught up on my reading. All those journals, magazines, books and pamphlets/flyers/brochures I’ve picked up from past trips have been examined, noted in my tree or pitched. I have a pile in the garage ready to donate to our local library as soon as they begin to accept material again. Finally went onto websites and requested that I stop having journals mailed to me when I certainly can download and read them on a tech device.
9. Planned for the future. I have taken the time to review my findings and know where I want to travel when it becomes safe to do so. In the past, I’d get a last minute offer to travel and then take an extra day to do my own researching if I had family that once lived in the area. Now I know what I don’t know and have identified possibly where the answers might lie. Of course it won’t be 100% accurate but it’s a better way to use my future time then the spur of the moment approach I often had to do.
10. Learned more about myself. I never knew I could become a homebody. Last week, a colleague mentioned how much she hated being home. I’m not there yet. I am very content and that is the biggest surprise I’ve had. Prior to March 14th, I came home late most every week night, ate a rushed often take out meal and went to bed, then up at 5 and out the door soon after. Since I was a teenager, this has been the longest period of time I haven’t been on a flight. I’ve only topped off my car’s gas tank 3 times in 8 months and only then because I wanted to keep a full tank during our hurricane season. I’m thankful for my close family who I enjoy being with 24-7 who have made this dramatic change of lifestyle doable.
Adversity truly does reveal character. Our ancestors have experienced life’s turmoil and paved the way for us to have it easier than they did. Although the upcoming holidays will be far different from any I have previously experienced, I’m thankful for knowing their life story. It gives me strength and hope for better days ahead. Have a wonderful Thankfilled week!
As genealogists, we are used to spending our days looking at old documents, reading up on events that happened long ago and trying to put our “head” into the times that were so we can better understand when we analyze our findings. We don’t dwell much on the fact that every day we are all making our own history. I haven’t read anywhere a recent personal finding I discovered so I’m putting it out here now… As a blogger I get A LOT of spam, I’m not talking the pork based product – I don’t do sales pitches! I’m referring to the internet type. You don’t see it because of the filters I constantly update to insure that the junk doesn’t get through to impact your experience or worse, infect your device. In a typical pre-pandemic week, I got over a thousand spam hits easily, often closer to two thousand on each of my sites (my website and Blogger). Since the pandemic, the amount has fluctuated over the months. When various countries reopened the spam increased; as they shut down again it decreased. The majority in the past was from China and Eastern Europe. How do I know that? Because it wasn’t in English. I suppose someone who speaks English could have been using Google Translate to fake a hit but I’m not sure how likely that would have been. Since May, my spam has been two-thirds in English based on my unscientific analysis. I’m basing the one third on the incorrect English word choices that are being used. (Hint to Russia and China Spammers: We really don’t say ‘that cool’ much anymore). In the past, the spam consisted about half regarding dating, a quarter for obtaining cheap medicines and a quarter claiming my blog was the best ever and directing readers to a link for purchase of a product that had nothing to do with genealogy. Interestingly, the medical links are now scant. The dating has turned hardcore and blunt. The majority is product links. My take is spammers are focusing on frustrated people and are trying to make a fast buck. Just like elective medical procedures taking a back seat, so are sales of pharmaceuticals. Last night I got a late email selling Halloween costumes. I was flummoxed! My first thought, was this couldn’t be serious – who is thinking of Halloween when nearly each day of 2020 has been a horror and we’re stuck in a perpetual Ground Hog’s Day. Then I thought, maybe it’s a message of hope to return to what we used to take for granted – normal times. I don’t know what the motivation was to send an email late on a Friday evening for a holiday that may or maybe not be celebrated in three months but it did give me pause. Based on my spam and email type and amount, we’re a long way from “normal.” What does this have to do with genealogy? Everything! Our times are historical and the stresses we humans are under right now impact the choices and decisions we make. This data analysis shows insight on the conditions of our times. IMHO, with the utter chaos that greets us daily, what should become a priority is responsibility and obligations to community to insure the well being of all. I’m seeing so much of that in the genealogy community and not so much in other groups in which we belong. History will be the judge of how we, as a society, have handled the numerous crises that have befallen us in the first half of 2020. I’m looking forward, not to Halloween or Thanksgiving or Christmas, but for a turn around of hearts so that we can move forward together for a better future. Today, I’m going back to my tree to work on my long dead people who have faced their own tragedies and rose to the occasion. I want to follow in those footstep. Perhaps your ancestors will help guide you in dealing with these troubling times. All the best!
