Route Taken: "U.P.R.R. route by wagon"

 An 1878 application to join the Spokane Historical Society (housed in the Spokane Public Library) where Rev. Jonathan Edwards was on the Board of Trustees, was a delight to find. As was the newspaper story................

Name: A.L. Christian

Where born: Fondulac (sic) County, Wisconsin, March  30, 1852

Ancestry: Mother: French / Father: German

States settled in turn: Moved from Wisconsin to Washington

Married to: Juliaetta Gifford at Mondovi, Wisconsin on 4th day of Oct 1876

Children: 3 - Gifford A., Eva May and Mabel A.

Started to Washington: May 1st, 1878...5 months by wagon route

Where from: Mondovi, Buffalo County, Wisconsin

Route taken: U.P.R.R. route by wagon  (Union Pacific Rail Road)

Arrived at Spokane on 1st Oct 1878

First location in Spokane County was Stevens County, now Spokane

Final settlement: 40 miles south of Spokane, now Latch, was then known as Hangman Creek P.O.

Occupation: Farmer to H.D. NE 4th Sec 24 T21 R 44.

Religious preference: wife Baptist

Politics: Republican always

Present residence address: 1704 Mallon Ave, Spokane

Other wars:  Uncle John Christian was in the Civil War; also uncle Jeremiah Plennon in Civil War, both from Wisconsin

A bit in the newspaper:  3 Oct 1936, Pioneers Observe Wedding Anniversary

"M/M Henry Luppert, W 3214 Glass, Sunday honored Mrs. Eva May Luppert's parents, M/M A.L. Christman, who were celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary. M/M Christian wee married in Mondovi, Wis, October 3, 1876 and have lived in Spokane since 1878 comping here after spending a few years in Latah. 

They came west in 1878, crossing the plains in covered wagons as members of a party of 42 people who left Mondovi May 1, 1878. Mr. Christian has in his possession a copy of a diary of the trip......Gifford Christian, now deceased, was a baby in arms when his parents started across the country. They encountered terrific rain and thunder and snow storms. Their wagons leaked and they counted 25 poles struck by lightning. Death diminished their ranks and at one time they were in the midst of a band of Indians who were on the warpath.  All reached Washington Territory safely......

Spokane History: Websites Abound

 

HistoryLink.org is just one website where you can find the tidbits and facts about Washington history. Another is www.SpokaneHistorical.org....

Other sources to learn about Washington's history include YouTube! Click to YouTube and do a search for Washington State History................ keep you entertained for hours.

Okay, maybe you don't really care about Washington State history. Your ancestry is in other states. I'd lay odds that whatever state you want to know more history about that they would have websites similar to these for Washington. Check it out?

Following Up On RootsTech Connect...... Don't Miss Out!

 

Did you realize that more than 1,117,000 people attended RootsTech 2021???  They were from 242 countries and territories (and there are only 192 sovereign countries in the world!!) and offered more than 1200 learning sessions????

Did you print out the 18 pages of those sessions and highlight the ones you want to watch, knowing you have a full year to do so??  (I did.) 

Will RootsTech be virtual again in 2022? I'd bet a nickel on it to be so. 

Click to RootsTech Connect to start learning now............ with 1200 sessions and only 365 days in a year, we're gonna have to watch 2 or 3 per day to get them all in!

EWGS Spring Seminar Will Be A Big WOWEE!

 

P.S. By today, March 30, it's too late to submit your photos, but not to late to enjoy the day! Register at the www.EWGSI.org website. 

Saturday, April 3 Spring Seminar  (Seminar) 9:00 am to 3:00 pm Meeting via Zoom   We have 2 NATIONALLY known speakers!! Karen Stanbary - Author/Lecturer will be presenting: 1) DNA: A Power Tool in the Genealogist's Tool Box - Learn the many ways DNA test results confirm and advance documentary research. Fun and entertaining lecture. All levels. 2) The Everleigh Sisters: A Case Study in Conflict Resolution - Minnie and Ada Everleigh, Chicago's most famous pair of sisters, fabricated many details of their lives in order to run their shady business. Learn to sort the fact from the fiction. Maureen Taylor - The Photo Detective will be presenting: Photo Detective Roadshow - EWGS members submit photos and Maureen does a live show weighing in on our mysteries!    Please submit photos to Lynn Krogh at lynndenyse@msn.com and please include any information you know about the photo. Maureen will choose 10-15 photos to talk about and help solve your mysteries!   Cost is $25 for EWGS members and $40 for non-members. Stay tuned for more registration information!

Church Records: What You Need To Know

 

Sunny Morton, on (YouTube's) Lisa Louise Cooke’s Elevenses with Lisa, 28 Jan 2021:

Sunny’s stated goal with her presentation was:  How might YOU use church records to answer your own genealogy questions?

In answer to Lisa’s question to her about what is the most unique thing about U.S. church records, Sunny’s answer was: their diversity!  “Think how many churches there are, even in a tiny rural town. Each one is unique, even if it is part of a bigger “mother” organization. It was a very U.S. “thing” for folks to do their own thing and that philosophy spilled over to their churches too. A group could, and often did, carve out their own church from the parent church.

Think of “church records” as looking through a lens at a uniquely American town, a unique ancestor and his unique time. “We’re always looking for things to make our ancestor more alive and more interesting………. We want more of his/her social history and church records might give us that part of his story.”

Think of the many and varied kinds of “church records:” registers, histories, jubilee celebrations and certainly the expected vital records. “Churches reflect the history of a town. Even if a person did not believe, nor was a member of a certain church, they might have joined friends/family in that church’s social activities …… maybe the only “fun” in town!

Sunny cited a study showing an immigrant’s home town is most likely to show up in church records…. Some 70% and way above any other kind of record.

TIP:  Be sure to research/check both civil and church records for vital records, especially marriage.

TIP: Many denominations have regional archives which could have records of a closed church…. IE, go from the top down if bottom up doesn’t work.

TIP:  Obituary might give church name; then go after the records of that church.

TIP: Part of a story she shared was using PERSI to find a list of members in a small rural (black) church……this list was published as a local group’s publishing of their local records.

TIP:  Cannot apply what record you find in XX church as something you’ll find in another denomination’s records. Must ask: why did that denomination keep records? And then ask where are they?

**In church records you might/can/will find many unique stories and often answers to stubborn, long-standing questions.

Ice Cream, Ice Cream, We All Scream for Ice Cream

 

Who invented ice cream? According to "Grandma" Google: 

An ice-cream-like food was first eaten in China in 618-97AD. King Tang of Shang, had 94 ice men who helped to make a dish of buffalo milk, flour and camphor. A kind of ice-cream was invented in China about 200 BC when a milk and rice mixture was frozen by packing it into snow.

Historians estimate that this recipe evolved into ice cream sometime in the 16th century. England seems to have discovered ice cream at the same time, or perhaps even earlier than the Italians. "Cream Ice," as it was called, appeared regularly at the table of Charles I during the 17th century.

What is your favorite ice cream flavor? Nearly one quarter of Americans will say "chocolate" in some form, with vanilla a close second. My favorite is a long-ago flavor offered by Baskin-Robbins, Mississippi Mud, the thickest, deepest, gooey-ist chocolate one could imagine. 

According to Costco Connections, July 2020 issue: "There's no end to the bizarre and wondrous ice cream flavors in the world."  Here are some examples:

Whiskey & Prune - Australia

Foie Gras - France

Beef Tongue - Japan

Squid Ink - Japan

Crocodile Egg - Philippines

Gin & Tonic - Spain

Garlic - United States

Lobster - United States

Which one would you not never try????

EWGS Writing Contest...... Sent In Your Entry?

 

You don't have to wear a red hat or black boots to enter the EWGS Writing Contest. 

All you need to do is sit down and WRITE. The theme for 2021 centers around family legend, rumor or a skeleton in the closet. Wouldn't you like to tell your story, be it spicy or bland? 

I have submitted my story, yahoo. I just told the stories I remember about an ancestor and some were sad and some were "juicy." The side benefit of doing this is that you've created a mini-biography for an ancestor that can then be saved and shared. That would make you a winner in any contest. 

All the entering details are on our website (www.EWGSI.org) under Members Only as this is a contest for EWGS members only. There will be prizes: 1st place-$100.  2nd place-$75.  3rd place-$50.   Entries are due 31 May 2021. 

So get your pencil and hop to it.