Thoughts & Quotes

 

I keep a ongoing list of thought-provoking quotes and thoughts. And I find them everywhere!

From Alex Haley, author of Roots:

* When you clench your fist, no one can put anything in your hand, nor can your hand pick up anything.

* When you search enough for something bad, you're just likeable to find something good.

From Frank Herbert, author of Dune:

*Thou shalt not make a machine to counterfeit a human mind.

* To attempt to see the light without knowing darkness cannot be.

* Everything must take its course.

* Every experience carries its lesson.

* Greatness is a transitory experience.

*Respect for truth comes close to being the basis for morality.

From Jane Goodall:

* "You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference and your have to decide what kind of difference you want to make."

From Geraldine Brooks, author of March:

*"There is only one thing to do when we fall and that is to get up and go on with the life that is set in front of us and try to do the good of which we are capable for the people who come into our path."

I do hope you enjoyed these thoughts from my mind. 

The FRAMEwork Approach

 

EWGS member, Karen Lehfeldt, shared a genealogy book with me that she was studying. The title was what I used above and it was by Sally Romano (www.genealogyspace.com).  The ideas were so good that I HAD to share them with you in hopes that they will spark you mind to better genealogy researching. 

* The FRAMEwork Approach helps identify the key steps on which to focus your research.

* The FW Approach is a guidance process that involves five recurring steps per level.

* F - Focus - identify objective

* R - Records - brain-storm and jot down every to-do idea

* A - Assort - sort and group these ideas into read To-Dos

* M - Maximize - ensure that you're planning SMART Goals:

• S - Specific Goals - what do I want to achieve?
• M - Measurable Goals - how will I know when I've found the answer?
• A - Achievable Goals - can I achieve it?
• R - Relevant Goals - does it help me achieve what I want?
• T - Timely Goals - when do I need to know it by?

* E - Execute - activate your plan, regularly tracking your progress.

The final words to the lesson were these: You cannot manage what you don't measure.

Spotlight: Whitman County WA Historical Society

 

Whitman County, located in southeastern Washington, was formed on 29 November 1871 and named in honor of Marcus Whitman, the missionary killed (along with his wife and others) by the Cayuse in 1847. Washington State University has its home in Pullman which is also the county seat.

Organized in 1972, the Whitman County Historical Society strives to preserve the history and cultural heritage of the region. The society owns two museums, three historic buildings, publishes a newsletter and a historical journal and maintains a growing archival collection. 

WOW, eh?

The Bunchgrass Historian is a periodical dedicated to the history of Whitman County and began publication in 1973. Back issues are available for downloading and an index is posted on their website, www.whitmancountyhistoricalsociety.org.

The society also publishes a newsletter, posted free to the public on their Facebook page and on their website. 

A unique feature offered by this group is the Pullman Business Directory, 1881-1993, also available on their website. 

Another unique project is this: The Lost Apple Project: "If you have an old apple tree whose variety is unknown and that you think may qualify for the Lost Apple Project, contact apple detective David Benscotter. The project seeks to identify and preserve apple varieties in Eastern WA, Northern ID and Oregon that were once thought to be extinct. Benscotter and his volunteers have found over 29 such apple varieties since he discovered the "Nero" growing on Steptoe Butte in 2015." 

Of course you want to know what the Nero apple looked like:

L P

Contact Davi
dbens23@gm

Emerson Andrew DeRoehn: 1890-1925

 Sometimes images just say it all, Spokane Daily Chronicle, Tuesday, January 6, 1925: 

From our Washington Digital Archives:

From the Boston Globe, January 16, 1925:

From Find A Grave: 

Rest in Peace, dear Private Emerson Andrew DeRoehn. 

Velveeta "Cheese:" Love It Or Hate It

 

What American family beginning in the 1940s did not succumb to the allure of Velveeta cheese? Or was it really cheese?

Here's the story: Way back in 1916, Jacob Weisl owned the Monroe Cheese Company in New York and had a problem. What to do with the broken or misshapen bits of cheese from his factory? His helper-genius, Emil Frey, spent two years tinkering and in 1918 came up with a new way to utilize the bits and pieces and turn them into a saleable product. Frey dubbed it Velveeta and it became an instant hit. By 1923, the name was changed to the Velveeta Cheese Company and this "sensationally satiny" cheese was being marketed across America and Europe. 

Kraft Foods bought the company in 1927 and changed the recipe replacing real cheese with the paragraph of chemical elements that still graces the package today. 

No matter, Velveeta fans remained loyal. The New York Times in 1976 declared Velveeta a "worldwide favorite," with sales in America hitting an astonishing 8.75 pounds for every American. Sales figures for 2023 show net sales of about $27 billion. 

Yikes, indeed, for a "cheese product" that, in fact, technically does not contain cheese. 

(Source: Smithsonian Magazine, Jan-Feb 2025)

Hood Canal: Bay, River Or Fjord?

 

Everybody in Washington knows about Hood Canal but how much do we know? 

Named by Capt. George Vancouver on May 13, 1792, in honor of Admiral Lord Samuel Hood, Hood Canal is a fjord-like body of water lying west of the main basins of Puget Sound. It is a natural waterway and not a man-made canal. 

Hood Canal is long (about 50 miles)  and narrow (average width, 1.5 miles), with a mean depth of 177 feet and has 213 miles of shoreline and 42 miles of tideland. 

Formed some 13,000 years ago, Hood Canal was created by retreating glaciers. True fjords are long narrow inlets in valleys carved by glacial activity; hence Hood Canal originating off Puget Sound and the Salish Sea.

This is a proposal to change the name of Hood Canal to Salish Fjord since the feature is not a canal. This name change would also honor the Salish Nation whose peoples have been there for thousands of years. 

Stay tuned on that idea. :-)  

Keechelus: A Lake Or A Reservoir?

 

This is the view of Lake Keechelus that we usually see as we zoom over Snoqualmie Pass, right? But it has a different, more lovely, view:

Keechelus is both a lake and a reservoir in Kittitas County, Washington (approximately 50 miles southeast of Seattle). 

I had long thought this lake was a reservoir for Seattle's water, but not so.  The lake was/is the source of the Yakima River and is used as a storage reservoir for the Yakima irrigation needs. Although a natural lake, Keechelus Lake's storage capacity and discharge is controlled by Keechelus Dam, a 128-foot high earth-fill structure built in 1917.

The name Keechelus comes from the Native American term meaning "few fish," in contrast to nearby Kachess Lake, whose name means "more fish." 

As you zoom along I-90 the next time, take a good look at Keechelus Lake and, being in the know, smile. 

Ever Been To Castle Clinton??

 

If you've been to Castle Garden you've been to Castle Clinton! This monument is a restored circular sandstone fort within Battery Park at the southern end of Manhattan in New York City. 

Castle Clinton stands near where Fort Amsterdam was built in 1626; this fort was demolished by 1790 after the Revolutionary War. As war was still on the horizon, a new fort on the site was deemed necessary. Originally known as West Battery, and constructed between 1808 and 1811, this fort never saw warfare and by 1822 the fort was ceded to the city by an act of Congress. The fort reopened as Castle Garden in 1824. 

Between 1824 and 1855, the structure has functioned as a beer garden, exhibition hall, theater and public aquarium. Jenny Lind gave her first U.S. performance here in 1850 with tickets costing the 2023 equivalent of over $8000. 

From 1855 to 1890, Castle Garden was the first American immigration station. More than 7.5 million people came to America here between 1855 and 1890. (The Ellis Island Immigration Station opened in 1892.)

According to the Wikipedia article, "many of Castle Garden's original immigrant passenger records were stored at Ellis Island where they were destroyed in a fire in 1897." That's the sad news; the happy news is that the majority of immigrants processed at Castle Garden were from Denmark, England, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Russia, Scotland and Sweden. 

So did your immigrant ancestor come to America through Castle Clinton??? 

P.S. Wikipedia has a dandy long informational article on this place. 

Washington Trivia Quiz & Prize!

 

This is/was SUCH a delightful little book and it will be YOURS.... IF you can honestly take the quiz and send your answers to me. Honestly means no internet searching for answers! See how much Washington trivia you really know! Here goes:

1. List the names of the territorial governors (are 14). 

2. List the names of the state governors (are 23 to newly elected Ferguson).

3. What is the Washington State's official  __________:

Amphibian

Bird

Dinosaur

Endemic Mammal

Fish

Flower

Fruit

Grass

Insect

Marine Mammal

Tree

Vegetable

Fossil

Gem

Waterfall

If you choose to take this quiz, copy and paste your answers in an email to me, Donna243@gmail.com, with "QUIZ" in the subject line, and your mailing address.

 Deadline is February 28, 2025. Have fun!

FamilySearch Mobile App..... Are You Missing Out?

 

Note: The FamilySearch Mobile app is a simplified version of the web version and does require that you are comfortable using and navigating a mobile phone or tablet. 

Have you ever had to fill up some too-long minutes waiting.... at an appointment at Les Schwab, for a prescription to be filled, or for the doctor or for the kids' game to get over?? Here is something to help made that "empty" time productive (and to keep your blood pressure down from waiting). Viola! Try the FamilySearch Mobile App!

The FamilySearch Mobile App consists of three major parts:

1. Family Tree -- is a full featured genealogy app to add, edit and share your family story and use record hints to grow your family tree branches.(You likely have already used this feature.)

2. Memories -- is a way to capture important family events as they happen, to use your phone to preserve photos or documents or to record audio stories from older generations.

3. Get Involved -- is a fun way to help make historical records searchable for free online, to make it possible for people to find their ancestors online, to give back to the community in a simple and easy way and to use your spare time in a meaningful way.  

Here's how to download the FamilySearch Mobile App:

* Open the Apple App Store or Google Play Store or go to www.familysearch.org/mobile-apps.  For Kindles, first download the Google Play app or ta the Play Store for Android.

*Search for FamilySearch

*Once found, download thusly:

    ** Android: tap INSTALL

    ** Apple: tap GET

    ** Kindle: tap GET APP

    ** When the app finished its installation, tap the icon to open it and login using your FamilySearch credentials.

Travel by Stagecoach, Part 2

 

Recently enjoyed a visual trip through Long Day's Journey: The Steamboat & Stagecoach Era in the Northwest by Carlos Arnaldo Schwates, published in 1999. What an eye-opener! This book was "a study of transportation in American life, focusing on the era defined by the steamboat and stagecoach." Boy oh boy did it ever!  

Part 2: Overland Stagecoach Etiquette: "Never ride in cold weather with tight boots or shoes, nor close-fitting gloves. Bathe your feet before staring in cold water and wear loose overshoes and gloves two or three sizes to large. When the driver asks you to get off and walk, do it without grumbling. He will not request it unless absolutely necessary. If a team runs away, sit still and take your chances; if you jump, nine times out of ten you will be hurt. In very cold weather abstain entirely from liquor while on the road; a man will freeze twice as quick while under its influence. Don't growl at food at stations; stage companies generally provide the best they can. Don't keep the stage waiting; many a virtuous man has lost his character by so doing. Don't smoke a strong pipe inside, especially in the morning and spit out on the leeward side of the coach. If you have anything to take in a bottle, pass it around; a man who drinks by himself in such a case is lost to all human feeling. Provide stimulants before starting; ranch whiskey is not always nectar. 

Be sure to take two heavy blanket with you; you will need them! Don't swear, nor lop over on your neighbor when sleeping. Take small change to pay expenses. Never attempt to fire a gun or pistol while on the road; it may frighten the team and the careless handling and cocking of the weapon makes people nervous. Don't discuss politics or religion. Do not point out places on the road where horrible murders have been committed if delicate women are among the passengers. Don't linger too long at the pewter wash basin at the station. Don't grease your hair before starting or dust will stock there in sufficient quantities."

This stagecoach etiquette advice was published in the Omaha Herald, October 3, 1877. 

Travel By Stagecoach & Steamboat, Part 1

 

  

Recently enjoyed a visual trip through Long Day's Journey: The Steamboat & Stagecoach Era in the Northwest by Carlos Arnaldo Schwates, published in 1999. What an eye-opener! This book was "a study of transportation in American life, focusing on the era defined by the steamboat and stagecoach." Boy oh boy did it ever!

The many pictures in the book tell the tale. Here are men in hats, vests and white shirts. Here are women in hats, long skirts with babies and baggage. All are waiting to board a river steamboat heading west. (Pause to imagine this: lots of uncomfortable clothing, no rest rooms or privacy, babies howling, bring all your own food and mud everywhere. Would YOU survive?) Not until the completion of the railroad link in the late 1800s (Great Lakes to Puget Sound) did the trip from east to west become quicker, easier and less dangerous. 

Stagecoach travel was no less daunting by our modern standards. Stage routes did wind from Omaha, Kansas City or St. Joseph and could get you to Salt Lake City, Boise, Helena, Sacramento, Portland or Tacoma. An ad in Denver's Rocky Mountain News in 1864 proclaimed that taking the overland stage route "would take passengers in quick time and with every convenience offered from Atchison, Kansas, to Salt Lake City in "only" five days. Pause to imagine those five days: Packed elbow to elbow on wooden seats, jostling along in a carriage with bad springs, open windows letting in dust and insects (or rain and snow), dressed in way too many clothes and with other unwashed people, smelly babies and men smoking. Potty stops were spare, with no privacy, and no food or water unless you brought your own. There were frequent stops to help get the coach out of the muddy road ruts. And of course there were Indians and bandits. I won't speak for you, but I doubt that I would have survived with my sanity intact and my bowels impacted. 

Part Two next time.... "Advice to Passengers." 

 

Hate Wash Day? HA!

 

Don't we groan when the laundry basket overflows and we've no choice but to do the wash? We've got it SOOO much easier than our ancestors did!!  This bit was printed in the December 2010 issue of The Bulletin (Eastern Washington Genealogical Society). Enjoy.......... and be thankful!

Grandma's "Receet" for Washington Clothes..... Years ago, a Kentucky grandmother gave a new bride the following directions for washing clothes. It appears below just as it was written and despite the spelling has a bit of philosophy:

1. bild fire in backyard to heet kettle of rain water

2. set tubs so smoke won't blow in eyes if wind is pert

3. shave one hole cake lie soap in billin water

4. sort things, make 3 piles. 1puile white, 1 pile cullord, 1 pile work briches and rags (Guess what "rags" meant!!)

5. stir flour in cold water to smooth then thin down with billin water

6. Rub dirty spots on board, scrub hard, then bile. Rub collord, don't bile, just rench in starch.

7. take white things out of kettle with broom-stick handle, then rench, blew and starch.

8. spread tee towels on grass

9. hang old rags on fence

10. pour rench water on flour bed

11. turn tubs upside down

12. go put on clean dress, smooth hair with side combs, brew cup of set, set and rest and rock a spell and count blessins. 

When we see movie or TV shows with our ancestors in snowy white SHEETS, I always think "how did they ever.....!" 

Family Tree Magazine & Website: One Stop Shopping

 

Would you be interested in knowing of a One-Stop-Shopping Place for genealogy research???? WELL, it's here! Almost, anyway. 

Family Tree is not just a magazine that you find on many news stands. (Although the magazine is well worth the price, it is surely is cheaper by subscription.)

Family Tree offers:

* A really, really helpful bi-monthly magazine both in print and e-edition. 

*A website with a hundred "clicks" to check out!

* A long list of FREE resources, forms, guides and E-books.

* A long list of Cheat Sheets for help with various websites (Like The Big Four).

*A long list of country-centric guides.

*A long list of (paid) 13 courses to teach you "more better."

*A YouTube channel offering free tutorials...like Finding Ancestors Who Worked on the Railroad.

* A list of 15 Cheat Sheets one can order (like for Ancestry, Find My Past, My Heritage, Jewish Genealogy, Adoption, Scandinavian, Scottish plus Civil War Genealogy and US Census Genealogy (plus packages of several).

I most enthusiastically urge you to take a cold January winter day or afternoon and click to www.FamilyTreeMagazine.com. With soft background music, and a warm drink nearby, you're in for a learning treat, I guarantee it!

• • 
    

Counting Washington's BEANS!

 

Did you know that Washington bean farmers grow a dozen different kinds of edible beans??    These are: Black beans, Cranberry beans, Dark Red Kidney beans, Garbanzo beans, Great Northern beans, Navy beans, Orca beans, Pinto beans, Rojo Chiquito beans, Small Red beans, White Kidney beans and Yellow beans. 

Did Orca beans catch your eye? These are "an heirloom variety from Mexico but very rare in the U.S. Most often used in thick soups or with rice. Named after the Orca whale." 

I learned this reading about Central Bean in Quincy, Washington. This family-owned business has been providing dry beans for more than 30 years. From their website one can order #5 bags of most of their varieties for $5.00 plus shipping. For $15 you can order a "Simply Beans" cookbook. 

I urge you to visit their website simply for self-education. All those types listed above are described. Beans are planted in the spring when the ground warms up and are harvested within 90 to 120 days. Harvesting is August through October. When the beans arrive at the elevator for processing and packaging, they are tested to determine moisture content, percentage of damaged beans and foreign material.... After testing the beans are cleaned. Central Bean uses a sophisticated method to accomplish this to ensure a quality product to be shipped throughout the world. 

Their website, www.CentralBean.com, even offers three pages of how to store, soak and cook beans. ("Don't over-soak; beans soaked longer than 12 hours can absorb too much water...") 

And this last, "Dry beans are the richest source of vegetable protein available. Combining beans with a small amount of animal protein (meat, cheese, egg) or small amount of grain (corn, wheat, rice) will create a complete protein...." 

Washtucna & Forks, Washington

 

 

What do you know about two of the littlest towns in our state? Yes, Forks is the "home" of the Twilight stories and movies and Washtucna is near the amazing Palouse Falls. Have you been to either of these darling and interesting places?

Forks is a city on Washington's Olympic Peninsula (Clallam County) and was originally known as Quillayute.  The Forks Timber Museum tells the story of the region's logging industry. Around the city, the Calawah, Sol Duc and Bogachiel rivers are known for their abundance of steelhead and salmon. Just east of Forks, sprawling Olympic National Park features glacier-studded peaks and the moss-covered Hoh Rain Forest. To the west, rugged Rialto Beach is known for its rock formations. ― Google I also read that Forks bills itself as the Rainiest Town in the Contiguous U.S. Twilight brought the town to our attention and to this day there is still a Twilight Festival annually. Over 3000 people call Forks home (but there are NO vampires). 

Washtucna is a farming town in Adams County, some 65 miles west of Pullman and 220 miles east of Seattle.  The town derived its name from a nearby lake which was first named for a Palouse Native American chief. George Bassett, an Iowan,  first homesteaded the area in 1878. Goal then was to raise horses. Soon the area was known for growing wheat and by 1891 some 30,000 bushels of wheat had been shipped out by railroad. Washtucna was officially incorporated on 27 Oct 1903 and as of 2010 census there were 208 people living there. 

So, given a choice, which town would you like to visit? Too many choices of neat places to go and things to see in Washington!

Cemeteries: Different Types

 

Cemeteries: Different Types

 

Last fall, I listened to a webinar by Christine Cohen teaching me about Online Cemetery Websites. I share some of her "good stuff" with you. (If you want more, click to www.ChristineCohenGenealogy.com).

Her handout included an explanation of TYPES of cemeteries:

*Church cemeteries or graveyards - These are on church property and are governed by church leaders.

*Family cemeteries - These are on private property; are reserved for one or a few related families.

* City cemeteries - These are public property; there is a great variety of them and their upkeep; unrelated people rest there.

*Military cemeteries - These are Post Cemeteries for those who died in a particular battle or war or National Cemeteries, maintained by the federal government, for veterans, military personnel, spouses and minor children.

*Memorial Parks - These are private commercial business properties; are non-denominational and often have open areas...trails, benches and flat headstones.

Bet you didn't know:

There are FIVE National Cemeteries in Washington State:

*Fort Lawton Post Cemetery, Seattle

*Fort Worden Post Cemetery, Port Townsend

*Tahoma National Cemetery, Kent

*Vancouver Barracks National Cemetery, Vancouver

*Washington State Veterans Cemetery, Medical Lake

I found these listed via an online search BUT what about:

*Fort Wright Military Cemetery, Spokane

Do you know of any others????????

Yes, my choice of image had nothing to do with types of or records of cemeteries but didn't it make you shed a tear? It's from Seaview Cemetery, Rockport, Maine.

January: How It Got Its Name

 

January is named after Janus, the Roman god of beginnings,  endings and transitions. Janus was the god of doors and gates and was often depicted with two faces, one looking forward and one looking backward. This is fitting for a new year!

We owe Julius Caesar thanks for reforming the Roman calendar to establish the beginning of the year in January. (So stated Wikipedia.)On this day, Romans simultaneously remembered the past year and looked forward to the coming year. They would make offerings of wine and incense to Janus and exchanged gifts of dates, dried figs and honey to usher in a sweet and peaceful new year. 

January has some important official and unofficial holidays:

* Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on the third Monday in January

*January 14: Dress Up Your Pet Day

*January 19: Popcorn Day

*January 24: Belly Laughs Day

*January 28: Kazoo Day!  (Look it up :-) !!!) 

If you, or your ancestor, was born in January by the 19th, you're a Capricorn and such folks are said to be idiosyncratic and genteel. If born after the 19th, but before February 18th, you're said to be an Aquarius, said to be assertive and open-minded. REALLY????

American Ancestors, Try It You'll Like It

 

AmericanAncestors.org is a website offering a million (well, close) ways to help you find your early American ancestor. For instance, these are FREE webinars at www.americanancestors.org/events

13 Feb:  Researching Famine Irish Ancestors in Ireland's Poor Laws

13 Mar: Friend or Foe: Researching colonial Ancestors During the American Revolution

17 Apr: Best Published Sources for Colonial New England Research

13 May: English Immigration to the American Colonies

12 Jun: Best Published Sources for German Research in America

17 Jul: Top Repositories for Researching Upstate New York

Surely viewing these FREE webinars would help you??????

Here are some Sad & True Genealogy Rules Your Ancestors Followed...shared to guide your research in 2025:

* Thou salt be consistent in naming male children; only acceptable names are: James, John, Joseph, William and Thomas.

*Ditto for female children: Mary, Elizabeth, Ann and Sarah.

*Thou shalt never write down the surname of female children on any document.

*Thou shalt, after naming children from the approved list, call them by nicknames: Polly, Dolly, Sukey, Tommy or Billy.

*Thou shalt never write a surname legibly: let them guess!

*Thou shalt discard any documents created prior to your grandparents' time; descendants really won't care.

*Thou shalt bury your people on your land without a headstone.

*Thou shalt leave no family Bible records nor letters or diaries.

*Thou shalt never enter a courthouse to sign any legal documents.

*Thou shalt promote and propagate misleading legends, rumors and vague innuendos regarding ancestral information to mislead descendants.