Halloween: One Picture Says It All

 

Starting in early September, the stores are already stocking Halloween stuff and I for one do not like that. By October the offerings include 100 different "ghoulish goodies." It's always fun to find something really different.

I spotted this Mickey Mouse Pumpkin Lamp in a thrift store! Was only $22. Now this is my kind of Halloween decoration. 

Military Records

 

The above iconic image is from the Civil War. But clear up to today, it's the same: In war, young men die.  (Col. Blake, M*A*S*H, "and rule #2, doctors can't change rule #1.")

Many, if not most, of us have ancestors that participated in a war. Have you searched out all you'd like to know about a certain conflict?

World War I lasted from 28 Jul 1914 to 11 Nov 1918;  the U.S. entered the war on 6 Apr 1917

World War II lasted from 1 Sep 1939 to 2 Sep 1945; the U.S. entered the war on 7 Dec 1941

There are literally dozens of resources for you to learn about your ancestor's service. You might start with this book (less than $5 via Amazon): 

Fold3 is the premier collection of Military Records. This is a subscription website but they periodically do offer specials. From this website you can find information and links to records on these conflicts:

• Revolutionary War
• Civil War
• War of 1812
• Mexican & Early Indian Wars
• World War I
• World War II
• Korean War
• Vietnam War
• International Records

YouTube has hundreds of "war documentaries" and thousands of books have been written about these "American conflicts." 

Bottom line, if you want to know more, go find out. The resources are out there. 

        

When Did Your Ancestor Arrive In The Colonies?

 

When did your ancestor arrive in the colonies?

American Ancestors offered this chart:

Year        Geographic Area                    Resource

1620            Plymouth Colony                     Mayflower Families books (silver books)

1607-1657    13 Original Colonies                Founders of Early American Families

1620-1633    Plymouth & MA Bay               Great Migration Begins

1634-1635    Plymouth & MA Bay               Great Migration

1607-1650    New England                            Founders & Patriots (by Kolket)

1620-1640    New England                             Great Migration Directory

1620-1650    Massachusetts                           Pioneers of Massachusetts

1641-1700    New England                              Early New England Families

by 1699        Maine & New Hampshire        Genealogical Dictionary of ME & NH

to 1700(marriage, not arrival) New England    Torrey's New England Marriages;

                                                                            New Englanders in the 1600s

EWGS Tours the Archives at Cheney

 

 Did you know that between 1863 and 1879 there was no Spokane County? The area was all part of Stevens County; the dispute over the separation and boundaries stalled in the courts for all those years.

That was just one small factoid that fifteen EWGS members learned when we had a personal tour by Lee Pierce of the Eastern Washington branch of the Washington State Archives, out on the EWU campus in Cheney. Lee has been an archivist there for 17 years and he really knows his stuff and the collections under his jurisdiction. He sticks to the rules: we all put our purses in a locker (except for David J) and could only take in our phones. He encouraged us to take photos, especially in the stacks.

Lee began our tour by explaining that “our archives is most unique in the archives’ world. China, Germany and Australia have come to learn from us. And no other state in the U.S. has an archive that is as totally geared for citizens’ access.”

The Washington Digital Archives collects both state and local governmental record groups. Lee explained that he spends most of his summers officially traveling to county  courthouse archives in Eastern Washington discussing the state of their record holdings. (He then spends the winter processing said acquisitions.)

This archives is scanning their holdings as fast as funding and people allow. Some 4,000,000 documents have already been scanned but “that’s barely 1% of what we hold,” said Lee. “The county is under no legal obligation to give their records over to us, but as time passes and shelves get full, they’re more agreeable to let us house their records forever while they keep digital copies.”

The tour progressed into the stacks, where the temperature is held to 60o and the humidity to 40%.....yes, it was cold in there. The stacks have 33,000 feet of shelf space and 28,000 feet is already full. “We hope to give back to western Washington some of their records that take up our space,” Lee quipped.

  

Lee showed us examples of some of their holdings; he’s holding an 1898 book of Spokane Jailhouse records. “Spokane was a rowdy town then and people were stupid enough to do things in public and get themselves arrested.”

It would take paragraphs and pages to outline just what all records are housed there in the “Cheney archives.” To see just what is there, first go to the main Washington Archives website and see the list there was his advice. The website we’ve all used (www.ditalarchives.wa.gov) also has such a list. Lee explained that authors wanting to write narratives or historical fiction about Spokane or eastern Washington come first to the “Cheney archives” to do local research.

SPECIAL NOTE: This was not just a tour of our Washington Archives but a reminder that while no state has quite what we have, all states do have an archives and are making strides to make their records accessible to citizens. You may not have ancestors in Washington, but realize that you do need to dig into your ancestral state’s archives to completely find your ancestor. Don’t give up!

We fifteen were all glad that we’d made the effort to come take this tour on a sunny fall October day. Most said that yes, they wanted to come and do some real research. (Mondays-Thursdays-Fridays, 8:30 to 12:00, 1:00 to 4:00, with an appointment.) 

Lee finished his time with us by saying, “I don’t care why you want a record; I’ll just help you get it …… and make copies!” (Unless the records are restricted and some are.)

 

 

EWGS Tours the Archives

 

EWGS Tours the Archives

 

Did you know that between 1863 and 1879 there was no Spokane County? The area was all part of Stevens County; the dispute over the separation and boundaries stalled in the courts for all those years.

That was just one small factoid that fifteen EWGS members learned when we had a personal tour by Lee Pierce of the Eastern Washington branch of the Washington State Archives, out on the EWU campus in Cheney. Lee has been an archivist there for 17 years and he really knows his stuff and the collections under his jurisdiction. He sticks to the rules: we all put our purses in a locker (except for David J) and could only take in our phones. He encouraged us to take photos, especially in the stacks.

Lee began our tour by explaining that “our archives is most unique in the archives’ world. China, Germany and Australia have come to learn from us. And no other state in the U.S. has an archive that is as totally geared for citizens’ access.”

The Washington Digital Archives collects both state and local governmental record groups. Lee explained that he spends most of his summers officially traveling to county  courthouse archives in Eastern Washington discussing the state of their record holdings. (He then spends the winter processing said acquisitions.)

This archives is scanning their holdings as fast as funding and people allow. Some 4,000,000 documents have already been scanned but “that’s barely 1% of what we hold,” said Lee. “The county is under no legal obligation to give their records over to us, but as time passes and shelves get full, they’re more agreeable to let us house their records forever while they keep digital copies.”

The tour progressed into the stacks, where the temperature is held to 60o and the humidity to 40%.....yes, it was cold in there. The stacks have 33,000 feet of shelf space and 28,000 feet is already full. “We hope to give back to western Washington some of their records that take up our space,” Lee quipped.

Lee showed us examples of some of their holdings; he’s holding an 1898 book of Spokane Jailhouse records. “Spokane was a rowdy town then and people were stupid enough to do things in public and get themselves arrested.”

It would take paragraphs and pages to outline just what all records are housed there in the “Cheney archives.” To see just what is there, first go to the main Washington Archives website and see the list there was his advice. The website we’ve all used (www.ditalarchives.wa.gov) also has such a list. Lee explained that authors wanting to write narratives or historical fiction about Spokane or eastern Washington come first to the “Cheney archives” to do local research.

SPECIAL NOTE: This was not just a tour of our Washington Archives but a reminder that while no state has quite what we have, all states do have an archives and are making strides to make their records accessible to citizens. You may not have ancestors in Washington, but realize that you do need to dig into your ancestral state’s archives to completely find your ancestor. Don’t give up!

We fifteen were all glad that we’d made the effort to come take this tour on a sunny fall October day. Most said that yes, they wanted to come and do some real research. (Mondays-Thursdays-Fridays, 8:30 to 12:00, 1:00 to 4:00, with an appointment.) 

Lee finished his time with us by saying, “I don’t care why you want a record; I’ll just help you get it …… and make copies!” (Unless the records are restricted and some are.)

 

 

Framing the Problem - from David Rencher, 2015

 

At the 2015 Washington State Genealogical Society conference in Ellensburg, David Rencher was the primary speaker. His talk, Framing the Problem, was so excellent that I often think back upon and ponder the truth he presented.

David began his talk with this question:  "Have you a tough genealogy problem? Worried you won't solve it in your lifetime?"  He then taught us how to "frame the problem differently." Simply put, how to look at the problem differently.  He showed three pictures of the Golden Gate bridge and explained:

If you're driving across the bridge, you see the bridge from that angle. If you're in a boat on the water, you see the bridge from that angle. If you're flying over the bridge in a 747, you see the bridge from that angle. 

David's point with these images of the Golden Gate Bridge is that, with regard to your tough genealogy problem, you're looking at the bridge as you drive over it. That's all you see. But if you were to see it from a boat or from up in the air, you'd have an entirely different perspective. You "must frame your picture differently" and then from that new angle, you might see things that you did not see before.

Does this make sense to you? It did to me. And then, of course, the question follows, how do you do this?

Then David launched into the main theme of his talk to answer this question. "Descendant research.  Some cousin, near or distant might just have the answer you seek." 

I need not go on and on about "descendant research" for I assume that most of you know what that means and entails. Between Google, YouTube and CyndisList you can find all the tutorials you'll ever need. Good luck as you "re-frame" your tough genealogy problems. 

Washington Apples

Was Johnny Appleseed for real?  Click to this link and find out:

https://waapple.org/johnny-appleseed/

(You may have to copy/paste this link.)

Apple facts perhaps you didn't know:

Apples are a $2 BILLION industry in Washington. 

Washington grows over 30 varieties of apples....can you name five?

Apple sizing is designated by count---specifically the number of apples that can be packed in a 40-pound fiberboard carton. 

The average apple contains only FIVE seeds.

29 - times you could circle the earth with the apples picked in Washington state

7500- varieties of apples grown around the world

1381 - Year the earliest known apple pie recipe was recorded

4 lb 1 oz - weight of the world's largest apple, picked in Japan in 2005

95 - calories in a medium apple

Did our ancestors eat apples? Darn tootin. Driving around and trying to find old homesteads, the surest indication that you're in the right spot is to find an old, gnarled, apple tree. 

 

Vampire Lady Ancestor?

 

‘Vampire’ grave shows 17th-century fear of women 

who ‘didn’t fit in’

A sharp sickle was placed across her neck, ready to decapitate her should she jolt awake after death, and a padlock was put around her big toe.

That’s what scientists found when they excavated the corpse of a woman they believe was suspected of being a vampire in 17th-century Poland.

The unnamed woman — thought to be young and of a high social class, given that she was buried in a silk scarf — was probably accused of being supernatural because she stood out, experts said. A large protruding tooth may provide some clues.

A professor from Poland’s Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun said burials involving a sickle are extremely unusual. Archaeologists from the university made the discovery in the southern village of Pien in the Eastern European nation last month and published their findings this week.

“Ways to protect against the return of the dead include cutting off the head or legs, placing the deceased face down to bite into the ground, burning them and smashing them with a stone,” Dariusz Polinski, who led the research team, told The Washington Post. Instead, in this case, a sharp scythe is “not laid flat but placed on the neck in such a way that if the deceased had tried to get up, most likely the head would have been cut off or injured.”

The woman’s exhumed remains are now being studied by Polinski’s team.

Her burial reveals “paranoia” and “fear” around vampires — and the “gender politics” at the time, Stacey Abbott, author of “Undead Apocalypse: Vampires and Zombies in the 21st Century,” told The Washington Post on Wednesday.

Monkey Business....... a poem to make you laugh out loud!

 

Three monkeys sat in a coconut tree,

Discussing things as they're said to be.

There's a certain rumor that can't be true

That Man descended from our noble race

the very idea is a disgrace!

No monkey ever deserted his wife,

starved her babies and ruined her life.

And you've never known of a mother monk

To leave her babies with others to bunk.

Or pass them on from one to the other

'Til hardly is known who is their mother.

Another think you'll never see

A monk build a fence around a coconut tree

And let the coconuts go to waste

Forbidding all other monks a taste

Why if I'd put a fence around the tree,

Starvation would force you to steal from me.

There's another thing a monk won't do: 

Go out at night and go on a stew,

or use a gun, or club or knife

To take some other monkey's life.

Yes, man descended----the onery cuss,

But brother, he didn't descend from us!

** I found this poem while perusing a periodical, Phillips Family Finder, in the Yakima Valley Genealogical Society library. It stated "submitted by Esther Freeman."  I share it with you only because I thought it funny. I know that monkeys are "ornery" too and do bad things to each other (I've seen the documentaries) but I never thought of monkeys as "proud." What about you?

Want these books?

 EWGS past president Shirley Penna-Oakes has been gone for a couple of years now. Her good friend, Mary, to whom Shirley gave all her genealogy and her genealogy books, is now wanting to re-home some family histories that Shirley collected.  The titles are listed below; I have these books and would be willing to send them to you for postage.  First to ask gets them..... :-)  

The Irish Scots and the “Scotch-Irish,” by John C. Linehan, 1902, Heritage Books reprint.

 I Saved the King: The Story of the Turnbulls, by R.E. Scott, 1977, 17 pages, Xerox copy

 Robert Clements: Ancestors & Descendants, of Leicestershire & Warwickshire, England, First Settler of Haverhill, Mass, by Percival W. Clement, 1921, 2 vols in 1, Xerox copy

 Family of John Page of Haverhill, Mass, 1614-1977, by Lynn M. Case and Page Sanderson, 1978, 245 pages + index, Hardbound book

 History of Haverhill, Mass, by Benjamin L. Mirick, 1832, 237 pages + index, Heritage Book reprint

 By the Name of Morrill, 1632-1987, by Madeleine Witten, ND, 240 pages + index

 Theresa Maria Maselli (Dalsanders) and Virginia D’Amico (Penna); Arrived into New York City 1907 and Spokane, WA, 1907. Compiled by Shirley Penna Oakes, ND

 Descendants of Margaret Campbell, 1847-1928, inc. John Doherty and Jonas Otto Wallgreen, by Juanita Sullender, 2011

 Family of Anthony Wayne Bricker & Melinda Sullender (who married in IN in 1842), a stuffed 3-ring binder of charts, notes, obits, pictures and copies; compiled by Shirley Penna Oakes.

 The Munson Record: Genealogy & Biographical Account of Capt. Thomas Munson and His Descendants, by Myron A. Munson, 1896, 200 pages, unbound Xerox copy

*** I also have a big box of The New England Historic Genealogical Society's publication, The Register. Shirley apparently purchased these early volumes............. I will not send them (way, way too heavy) but they are up for grabs.