Don't Get "Antsy"

 Well, it's the final blog post for 2023 and what better to share than a word puzzle. You'll find all kinds of "ants" in the dictionary. Here are 14 words that end with "ant"..... like elephant. Have fun! (Answers at the bottom.)

• What ant helps to put out fires?
• What ant is found in car engines?
• What ant reminds you of puff pastries?
• What ant smells nice?
• What ant pours wine?
  
• What ant buys and sells?
• What ant is worn on a chain?
• What ant makes the air dirty?
• What ant provides all kinds of food?
• What ant is dull and never goes anywhere?
• What ant hates school?
• What ant is good with numbers?
• What ant is the smartest?
• What ant never changes?

(1-hydrant;  2-coolant;  3-croissant;  4-deodorant;  5-decant;  6-merchant;  7-pendant;  8-pullutant;  9-restaurant;  10-stagnant;  11-truant;  12-accountant;  13-brilliant;  14-constant.)

National Wildlife Refuges in Washington

We Washingtonians are so lucky...... we have 23 National Wildlife Refuges in our state! These are places dedicated to preserving, conserving and enhancing the flora and fauna of an area by means of managing the land and water for fish, wildlife and plants. And for we human visitors too!

The list below the image is probably too small for you to read, but just ask Google for "National Wildlife Refuges in Washington." Then any time of year, put on your walking shoes, put a granola bar in your backpack along with your water bottle and camera and go out and explore your world.

Keep in mind that on these refuges you can better imagine what your ancestors first saw when they arrived into XXX place. 

What are the benefits of a national wildlife refuge?

Beyond their primary mission of conserving and enhancing land and water for fish, wildlife and plants, national wildlife refuges are important in other ways. They offer healthy, world-class outdoor recreation. They improve air and water quality across the nation.

Trivia & Tidbits

 

Bet you didn't know that Washington State has its own tartan. The symbolic colors are: GREEN for our Evergreen State; BLUE for our rivers, lakes and the ocean; WHITE for snow capped mountains; RED for all the fruit; YELOW for all the grains; and BLACK for Mt.St.Helens.  This tartan was adopted by the Washington State legislature in 1991. Now you know.

Here's one for you geography buffs:  How many state capitols are located west of Los Angeles?? (tiny answer at the bottom)

Ever watch the TV or YouTube show with Mike Rowe where he visits interesting places? In one video, Mike visited the Hair Museum in Independence, Missouri (near Kansas City). Museum owner and director, Leila, made Mark incredulously laugh many times. "Hair can be black, brown, red, blonde or white....there is no gray!" she quipped.  The museum features hair pictures.... tableaus made from hair, often of a deceased loved one. "This custom dates back to the 12th century," Leila said. One question on Mark's mind was this: "Does human hair keep growing after death?" The answer? "No way!"

Tampa Bay Times, October 2022: "Florida lawyer who fought helmet laws died in motorcycle crash not wearing one." Humm. Serves him right?

How do you feel about this? An original copy of the U.S. Constitution, one of only two known to be in private hands, will be auctioned off in December with bidding estimated to go as high as $30 million, Sotheby's announced (in November 2022). 500 first printings were made of this historic document and were provided to participants at the 1787 Constitutional Convention. Nearly all have been lost to history; of the 13 known to have survived, 11 are owned by governments and institutions.

((Answer to above question:  SIX!!  Carson City, Nevada;  Honolulu, Hawaii; Juneau, Alaska; Olympia, Washington; Sacramento, California; and Salem, Oregon.  HOW MANY DID YOU GUESS?)

History of Envelopes

 

Rummaging through the wheeled racks of books at the Goodwill Outlet Store, I happened upon a slim little volume titled The History of Envelopes, by Robert H. Ramage, published by the Envelope Manufacturers Association of America in 1952. 

Only a genealogist would think to grab up a book on the history of envelopes!

Author Ramage begins his book with this bit:  "The little paper enclosure which we term "envelope" sustains such an important relation to our social, commercial, political, and moral world as to render it eminently worthy of notice a our hands. It has now become the vade mecum of thought transportation----crossing seas, threading rivers, chasing up railways, exploring the solitary paths of the forest and plains, pursing expresses and telegraphic messengers; it is almost everywhere doing, for rich and poor alike, its good offices and trusty services."  Quote in Cosmopolitan Art Journal, 1860. 

Remember that in 1860 there was no telephone and certainly no interest/email. Writing on paper and sent in envelopes was The Only way to communicate over distance. 

Ramage continues:  "No one will ever know who it was that first conceived the idea of cutting paper for envelopes ...... but it was no doubt a stationer who sold paper and realized there was a need to be filled. " 

In 1635, King Charles I issued a proclamation establishing the first State Postal Service.   One of the earliest envelopes on record is attached to a letter written on 16 May 1696 in England. 

The early mail service (in England) was inadequate and expensive. Mail was sent collect with postage paid by the receiver which system was easy to defraud. This ultimately let to the better system of pre-paid postage, or postage stamps.

Further chapters in this 90-page book are: Envelopes in America; First Envelope Machines;  Evolution in Envelope Manufacture; Early Type of Envelopes; Papeteries; Business Envelopes Become Specialized;  Government Stamped Envelopes and the Industry Behind Envelopes. WHEW! Who knew there could be 90 pages of envelope history! 

An envelope history would not be complete without mention of V-Mail, short for Victory Mail "which was a particular postal system put into place during the war (WWII) to drastically reduce the space needed to transport mail thus freeing up room for other valuable supplies. The V-Mail system was only used between June 1942 and November 1945 with over one billion items processed through these means. 

If anybody would like to borrow and peruse this interesting history book, be happy to loan it to you. Just ask me. 

Bad Luck of the Kalakala

 

The motor vessel Kalakala was a ferry that operated on Puget Sound from 1935 until her retirement in 1967. The MV Kalakala was notable for her unique streamlined superstructure, art deco styling and luxurious amenities. The vessel was a popular attraction for locals and tourists and was voted second only to the Space Needle in popularity among visitors to Seattle during the 1962 Seattle World's Fair. 

After retiring from passenger service in 1967, the ship was beached in Kodiak, Alaska, and converted into a shrimp cannery. In 1998, the ship was refloated and towed to Puget Sound with the owner hoping to restore the ship. During this time, the ship continued to deteriorate, with the Coast Guard decaling the ship a hazard to avigation in 2011. Unable to raise the funds required for restoration, the ship was scrapped in 2015. 

The book, Weird Washington, explains the story and history of this once proud ferry boat....... that many of you might remember traveling aboard. Members of the Advanced Ghost Hunters of Seattle & Tacoma were most interested in the ship and the possibility that it might be haunted. Several members were aboard when she was towed from Alaska back to Puget Sound in 1998 and felt certain they documented "ghostly manifestations." 

So goes another story of Washington's history.....

(Big thanks to Wikipedia for the info and images.) 

Genealogy Bargains...... Who Doesn't Like Free Stuff?

 

Who isn't in line for FREE stuff? To those of EWGS members who have been in my genealogy classes in the past, haven't I taught you "that if it's free, take two?" 👵 Well, it's true; everybody checks out "free stuff." It's human nature.

Thomas MacEntee is the genius behind this website (www.genealogybargains.com) and the links at the top of his site are:  

• Home
• Genealogy Webinars
• FREE Genealogy Stuff
• Store
• Connect with me

Under the "FREE Genealogy Stuff," Thomas (in his newsletter) mentions what's free today or this month in the genealogy world. (Click to his website to sign up for his free newsletter.) 

Under the "Store" you'll find over a dozen pages of cheat sheets or how-to sheets that he's created and offers mostly for free ...... but some are $1.99. 

By now (late in December) your "extra" spending money is running low, so having freebies offered to you right now is a December gift to you for sure!  Enjoy. 

December 7th Throughout History

When we see, hear or read "December 7th," we likely immediately think of the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. I thought you might like to learn of other events throughout history that also happened on December 7th:

• 1696 - Connecticut Rt 108, one of the oldest highways in America is completed to Trumbull
• 1732 - The Royal Opera House opens at Covent Garden, London, England
• 1787 - Delaware is the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution
• 1808 - James Madison elected 4th U.S. President
• 1842 - New York Philharmonic's first concert
• 1868 - Jesse James gang robs bank in Gallatin, Missouri
• 1872 - HMS Challenger sets sail on 3 1/2 year world oceanographic cruise
• 1891 - the 52nd U.S. Congress was first to appropriate $1,000,000,000
• 1909 - Inventor patents Bakelite, sparking birth of the plastics industry
• 1912 - Bust of Queen Nefertiti found in El-Amarna, Egypt
• 1917 - The USA's 42nd "Rainbow" Division arrives in France (with Col. Douglass MacArthur among its ranks)
• 1917 - U.S. becomes 13th country to declare war on Austria during WW I
• 1926 - Gas refrigerator patented
• 1937 - Dutch Minister Romme proclaims married women are forbidden to work
• 1937 - Red Sox acquire the contract of 19-year-old Ted Williams
• 1941 - Adolf Hitler issues first anti-Jewish proclamations
• 1967 - Otis Redding records "Sittin on the Dock of the Bay"
• 1972 - Apollo 17 launched; crew takes famous "blue marble" photo of Earth
• 1979 - Star Trek: The Motion Picture, first movie from the TV series
• 1992 - Galileo spacecraft passes the North Pole of the Moon; 1995 heads to Jupiter
• 2020 - Coca-Cola named the world's No. 1 plastic polluter
• 2021 - Chile becomes the 31st nation to legalize same-sex marriage

There was a L-O-N-G list of events that happened on December 7th, in several categories. Ask Google to read the entire list.... 

Fun Facts & Trivia

 

What would December be without a blooming amaryllis? In any of their gorgeous colors, they are the quintessential December flower. Did you know that according to Greek mythology, the first amaryllis grew from the droplets of blood of the nymph Amaryllis, who was smitten with a handsome but aloof shepherd named Alteo. That beautiful flower helped win his heart.  Well, now you know!

Here's a tantilizer for you: How many "people" are you? Daughter - Child - Mother - Parent - Sister - Sibling - Wife - Spouse - Niece - Grandmother - Granddaughter - Aunt - Cousin - Great-grandmother - Mother-in-law - FRIEND ........ can you add something I missed?  Could do the same thing for gentlemen.

The New England Historic Genealogical Society announced that they're offering a Genealogists Handbook for Portuguese Research. There will be some folks delighted with that bit of news.  (Click to www.AmericanAncestors.org) 

Here's how to fool people and make a new document look old:  Create a sample on plain paper with black or dark brown pencil.  Make a dark, strong tea and let it cool. Then put your paper in the tea and leave them there for 3 days. Squeeze and crush the papers daily. Finally, remove the paper from the tea and air dry in a surface where the tea will not stain.  Why does this work? Tea contains tannin, a dark chemical that stains paper. 

A funny from Chuckleberries, from the Huckleberry Press:  A Sunday school teacher was discussing the Ten Commandments with her five and six year olds.  After explaining the commandment to "honor thy father and mother," she asked, "Is there a commandment that teaches us how to treat our brothers and sisters?" Without missing a beat, one little boy answered: "Thou shalt not kill." 

Want to expand your vocabulary? And impress your family and friends? Google this: "100 Totally Weird Words."  There you'll learn about words like "argle-bargle" which means "copious but meaningless talk or writing."   Perhaps you would think this post was argle-bargle?

Time for a December Quiz!

 

This is, I'm 100%, a Christmas tree the likes of which you've never seen. This was a page in the L.L. Bean catalog, a clothing company based in Maine. And in case you cannot tell, it's a tree built by stacking lobster traps!!  Way cool and most unusual, no?

Now for some December chuckles:

• What do you call an elk that can sing & dance?  ELFIS!
• 
  
• What do you get when you mix a Christmas tree with an iPad? A PINEAPPLE!
• 
  
• What is the Grinch's least favorite band?  THE WHO!
• 
  
• What goes Ho-Ho-Whoosh, Ho-Ho-Whoosh?  SANTA CAUGHT IN A REVOLING DOOR!
• 
  
• What kind of photos do elves take?  ELFIES!
• 
  
• Why was the snowman looking through the carrots? HE WAS PICKING HIS NOSE!
• 
  
• What did the reindeer sing to Santa on his birthday? FREEZE A JOLLY GOOD FELLOW!
• 
  
• Knock, knock.  Who's there.  Dexter. Dexter who? DEXTER HALLS WITH BOUGHS OF HOLLY.

Yes, these are pretty cheesy but you laughed, didn't you? Took me a minute to get the iPad one.......... 

Billion Graves vs Find-A-Grave: What's the Difference?

 

What IS the difference between these two "finding grave memorials" websites? 

Both Billion Graves and Find-A-Grave do have similarities. Both websites have cemetery data.The biggest and main difference is that Billion Graves included the GPS coordinates which, they say, follows the Genealogical Proof Standard.

Billiongraves.com was begun in 2010 with the stated mission to provide accurate gravestone data with both images and GPS coordinates. To date, the website has millions of headstone images and they're closing in on nearly two million records.

Find A Grave started in 1995 with the stated mission to post memorials, remembrances and virtual flowers first for celebrities and then for every-day people. They now exceed two million records. 

As I see it today, the best thing for you to do to understand the differences is to click to both sites and click around, seeing what they offer and how the data offered. Pick a little cemetery that you know of and see if there are transcribed memorials for that cemetery. 

Additionally, you can take your own grave marker photos and upload them to both sites, and you can assist with the indexing of the tombstone information. 

Today's Laugh: Many in the Northwest are elk hunters; I hope they and you get a laugh from this postcard. It reads "The morning after the last day of elk season. Idaho." These delightful cards are the creation of Paul Stanton and produced by Clay Salzman. He offers a bunch of similar cards; click to www.duckboy.com.  (He did give me permission to use this image.) 

Remember GPC...Genealogical Publishing Company?

 

Remember getting catalogs from Genealogical Publishing Company (based in Baltmore, Maryland)? I sure do..... sometimes I did order a book but more often I made note of a book pertinent to my research and would look for it next time at a big library. Maybe you did that too?  Well, GPC has morphed into My GPC Library and comes offering books to you in a brand new format: digitally. Click to www.genealogical.com to get all the info. But, bottom line, you'll have access to 800 books for a yearly subscription of $135, or for six months for $75, or for three months for $45.  (What a great idea for our long winter days, no?)

Before you read on, here's a warm fuzzy for you from EWGS member Rosemary Braun. She has a granddaughter born when her parents were in South America, and was named Xochitl....... "so-CHEE."  The name is Mayan and means "beautiful flower."  Rosemary assures us that she loves her name. 

Breakdown of the major categories:

• Industry leading how to books and manuals – an unsurpassed collection of more than 140 of our best titles that you cannot find anywhere else
• More than 375 genealogy books on colonial American families
• Over 239 books on New England or Mayflower genealogy
• Nearly 200 immigration titles covering Colonial America to about 1865
• Native American guides and records
• The best collection of titles on Royal and Noble genealogy
• More than 90 titles on Irish and Scottish genealogy
• Guidebooks for African American genealogy and records of families prior to 1870
• Nearly 800 titles in all, and growing

Coulee Dam Reminiscences

 

This is one of the best non-fiction books I've read lately. It's the story of "Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics." 

College rowing had been a team sport since the early 1800s and began in New York. By 1900, many major colleges had rowing teams and the competition was fierce.  I literally couldn't put the book down as I learned about the history of this sport and the teams at the University of Washington in particular.  I do recommend this as a worthwhile winter read for you all.

What I want to share with you today begins on page 122 and I both quote and paraphrase:  "In one small corner of the country (Washington state), something large was beginning to stir that terribly hot summer..... early on August 4th (1936) .... folks from Seattle climbed into their automobiles and headed east. People in Spokane filled their picnic hampers and loaded them into their cars and headed west. By late morning, the roads were black with automobiles converging from all directions on one unlikely spot: Ephrata, a forlorn little town of 516 people, out in the desolate scablands, not far from the Columbia River and a 50-mile long canyon called the Grand Coulee.

"By midafternoon, 20,000 people had gathered behind a rope line in Ephrata. When Franklin D. Roosevelt appeared on the platform before them his cigarette holder angled jauntily upward, the crowd roared its welcome. Then Roosevelt began to speak, leaning forward on his podium, clutching it. In measured tones, but with rising emotion, he began laying out a vision of the benefits that the new Grand Coulee Dam would bring to this arid land in exchange for the $175 million public dollars it would cost.........."

Roosevelt then spoke of the many benefits and in closing said:  "We are going to see, I believe, without own eyes, electricity and power made so cheap that they will become a standard article of use....for every house within the reach of an electrical transmission line." 

While it was not mentioned in this book, no doubt Roosevelt spoke to the thousands of "arid lane" that could be transformed into productive agricultural land. 

I wasn't there; you weren't there, but with this author's words, we can well imagine the day, the crowd and his welcome news. 

Bits & Pieces, Tips & Trivia

 Who has not seen this fantastic image of the Titanic's bow as she rests nearly a mile deep in the Atlantic:

Bet you did not know:

• She was the largest moving man-made object until 1912.
• Some 4000 workers took 2 years to build her in Belfast, Ireland
• She cost $10,000,000 in 1912 dollars (about $322,000,000 today)
• The 4-day, one way, first-class passage cost about $80,000 in 1998 dollars
• Lifeboat requirements were based on tonnage, not passenger count
• New York Evening Sun ran a headline: ALL SAVED FROM TITANIC
• The 1997 movie, Titanic, cost 24 times what the ship itself cost to build in 1911 (you do the math!)
• One body, still floating in its life vest, was found 2 months la
• More than 3000 books have been written about the Titanic
• The last funnel on Titanic was  "dummy" for ventilation and aesthetics and no smoke came out of it
• The Titanic Historical Society, founded in 1963, has 5000 members; PO Box 5153, Indian Orchard MA  01151

********************

August, 2023: Miami, Florida:  Archaeologists have found a submerged gravestone in Dry Tortugas National Park near the Florida Keys and they say the discovery could also mean there's a cemetery and hospital in the area. The site could have been used for quarantined yellow fever patients on a small island that has since eroded into the sea.

*********************

Jeanne Coe, a longtime member of EWGS, does indexing under the SCRIBE project for the Washington State archives. She notes odd and unusual names.......... like these:

• America Jane Chamberlain, b. Oregon
• Ralph Oregon Dunbar, b. Illinois
• Mary Nevada Kiner, b. 1877 in Iowa
• Nevada Melvina Cameron, b. 1901 in Washington
• Hazel Inez Price, b. 1892 in King County, WA; her father was Lake Erie Price, b. Minnesota and her mother was Capitola Albatross Fuller, b. Kansas.
• Denver Colorado Sayler, b. 1906 in Kansas

********************

From Kenneth Roberts' book, "Trending Into Maine," published in 1938, I learned that the Salish word for white person was soo-yap-ee, which meant "upside down face." This happened because most 19th century Euro-American men wore beards. 

Appleton, Wisconsin, Public Library

 We do tend to head straight to the "big" libraries in the big cities and so easily overlook what the smaller town libraries might have for us. Case in point, the Appleton, Wisconsin, Public Library in Appleton, Wisconsin, located northeast of Madison, the state capitol. 

This town of about 75,000 citizens, has just opened a brand new library.... doesn't it look both grand and enticing????

Why should you care about the Appleton Wisconsin Public Library? Because they offer free genealogy resource/research monthly programs via ZOOM, that's why. 

Their program quickly upcoming on Saturday, November 18, 2023, at 2:00 Central Time is titled "Researching German Ancestry". Link to register is: https://bit.ly/3Xx1XHK (or likely from their website..... if you don't register, you won't get the ZOOM link). 

The Saturday, December 9th program is titled "Making Sense of All the Research You've Done." The link to register is: https://bit.ly/3x1gtKm. Again, do register to get the ZOOM link. 

The library hasn't posted any information about their 2024 programs but I imagine that these offerings will continue. 

Hills: Barriers To Growth In Spokane & Seattle

 Why was Spokane first settled along the river, east to west through what's now downtown? There was a simple reason in those early days: the south hill.  A couple of years ago, Lynn Krogh and I enjoyed a Southside Community Center's history tour led by Richard Sola. Here is some of what we learned that day:

There were some 50,000 people in Spokane by 1900. They mainly arrived on the railroad. They settled east to west in the valley because the south hill was a real barrier to growth. There was no way to get up the basalt-formation hills until roads were cleared and especially until the streetcars arrived. There were bridges across the Spokane River to access the north side and so settlement first spread north. 

Geologically, Dr. Sola taught, is that the Dishman Hills is the original seashore boundary (where the Pacific plate subducts). The several Ice Age Floods bypassed this area to it kept its good soil and was perfect for agriculture.

The first whites in the area were the fur traders; very few came between 1830 and 1870 because there was no easy way to get here except on the trail up from Walla Walla (which is why these towns south were settled before Spokane). 

Today we think nothing of the rather steep drive south up the Monroe Street hill (except when its icy!) but yesterday that incline was considered nigh onto impassable.... until it was not. 

Other Washington cities have had their steep road problems. Consider the massive regrading project in Seattle:

Quoting from Wikipedia:  "Seattle's first 58 regrades "consisted largely of cutting the tops off high places and dumping the dirt into low places and onto the beach".^[4] The most dramatic result of this was along that former beach, filling the land that constitutes today's Central Waterfront. Today's Western Avenue and Alaskan Way lie on this landfill.^[4]"  

I do suggest that you click to Wikipedia to read the rest of the story about

the regrading of Seattle's hills. 

Eastern Washington Genealogical Society collecting for Toys for Tots

 

It's time to get started on your Christmas Shopping!

Once again this year, EWGS will be a BIG participant in the Toys4Tots/Gold Star Mother's Toy Campaign.  

We will have 4 different drop off sites:

North: Jennilyn Weight 509-467-5703

South: Carol Anderson 509-981-2759

East: Lola McCreary     509-939-9246

West: Lynn Krogh          509-939-3131

You may drop off toys with any of these folks (but call first),

or even easier...bring your toy to the December 2nd EWGS meeting at Shadle!

If you absolutely cannot face shopping, please call Lynn Krogh; she and her grandchildren (ages 4,8,12) will shop for you!  

 

Please remeber that the toys should be new, unwrapped, and suitable for a child age 2-12.

The deadline is December 10th.