Bits Of This 'N That

 

Would you guess that the world's longest known family tree is that of Confucius, 551-479 BC, the ancient Chinese philosopher. Confucius' descendants had a vested interest in keeping proper family records because successive generations were often honored with official positions and titles of nobility by various imperial governments. Today there are 80 generations on record; Google:  Confucius genealogy. 

Do you know what "handfasting" was? This was the term for a trial marriage. in the 1600s, there were strict laws in England and Scotland regarding marriage. So young couples in the area sealed a trial marriage by the joining of hands at the annual village fair. The couple would live together for a year, until the next fair, and if it was working out, they'd marry. 

A census enumerator sometimes had a dangerous mission. This story appeared in The Spokesman Review, 21 Feb 1935, and tells the story of the census supervisor of the 1935 farm census in this district:  "Boyd Carter, enumerator in the North and South Newport, Lenora and Furport Districts, is recovering from an attack of snow blindness and severe exhaustion suffered while at work in his precinct. Carter was found in a dazed condition in his parked car several nights ago. He was taken to Newport, and later to his home in Usk, where he is convalescing. Snow and long trips by snowshoe were blamed for his condition." (Charles Hansen submitted this bit to The Bulletin, Dec 2008.)

The Union side of the Civil War was fought mostly by boys and men under the age of 21, some 2,159,798 to be exact. Amazing. But that explains why Civil War vets lived until into the 20th century. 

Of our 50 United States, which ones do NOT have counties names for presidents? Talk about trivia, eh? They are Alaska, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey and South Carolina. Which state has the most counties? Texas, with 254 counties. Delaware has only three counties. George Washington's name was given to 31 counties nation wide. 

Was your ancestor a Texas Ranger? No, not a football player! Thank you, Google:  In the 1800s, the Texas Rangers evolved from a small, frontier defense force for the Republic of Texas into a statewide law enforcement body, primarily tasked with protecting settlers from Native Americans and bandits, maintaining order during the Mexican-American War, and later combating lawlessness. The Rangers were known for their equestrian skills, use of advanced weaponry like Colt revolvers, and their effectiveness in frontier conflicts, though they also developed a reputation for harsh and sometimes extra-legal actions, such as frontier justice and ethnic violence.  Google "Texas Rangers 1800s" for more information.

Records of Death

 

 

John Denver (real name Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr.) was and will always be my favorite musical artist. Sorry; had to start this post with something. :-) 

There are nearly 20 sources that will furnish family searchers with death information for an ancestor:

• Sexton Records (in cemetery office)
• Church or Religious Registers
• Burial Permit Registers
• Cemetery Plot Maps
• Grave Opening Records
• Lot Cards (in office; who's also buried nearby)
• Plat Records
• Family Bible
• Death Certificate
• Obituary
• Funeral Home Records
• Transit Permits **
• Doctor/Hospital Records
• Coroner Records
• Church Records
• Military Records
• Newspaper mentions

** A burial-transit permit, also known as a removal permit, is a legal document required to transport a deceased person's body, especially across state lines. It essentially serves as permission to move the body to its final destination for burial or cremation. A death certificate must be completed before the burial-transit permit can be issued. 

So if you cannot find great-grandpa's death documentation, you might try these ideas to dig a little deeper. 

Carrousel Rings

 
My son recently confessed to me. Back in about 1977, he stole some of the Spokane Carrousel rings and kept this one all these years. What was I to do but smile and grab the camera! 

Our Spokane merry-go-round opened in 1909. Besides riding round-and-round-and-up-and-down in wooden animals, a rider could stretch and reach for a ring with each circuit. If you got The Gold Ring, you won a free ride! If you plucked a dull-metal one, you tossed it into the clown's face and tried with the next go-round. If your aim was good and you got it into the clown's mouth, a bell would ring! 

Did you know that about 200 American towns have carrousels? The significant ones are listed in the National Register of Historic Places.... as is our Spokane Looff Carrousel. Binghamton, New York, is billed as the Carrousel Capitol of the World because they have SIX working wooden carrousels. 

There are still rings to grab for but nowadays they're plastic (much safer for tossing) and are often colored for the season. 

Want to know more? Click to www.carrousels.org. 

Do you remember reaching for a gold ring on the Spokane carrousel? I'd love to hear your story!

As for my son and his ring; he's put it safely in his keepsake box of treasures. Rightly so. 

Thoughts On A Silversword

 

The Silversword plant mirrors the human tale. At least to me.

The silvery hairs, fleshy leaves and low-growing rosette form the Haleakala Silversword ('ahinahina in Hawaiian) and grows only in hot, dry cinder slopes......... like the Haleakala Crater on Maui. These plants live between 3 and 90 years. They flower once, sending up a spectacular flowering stalk and then soon die, scattering drying seeds to the wind.

We humans are rather like this magnificent plant. We start as seeds, we grow in special locations for an allotted span of years and then we die. Our progeny, like Silversword seeds, have scattered to the wind.

If you go to Maui, do drive the twisty road to the top of Haleakala and take a stroll on the cinder paths among these fantastic plants.

 

Georgia's Virtual Vault

 

If you have Georgia research to do, you must investigate the Virtual Vault, an online feature of the Georgia State Archives. This is where records of interest to genealogists are digitized and made available for research. 

The masthead of the website states that this is "your portal to success to some of Georgia's most important historical documents, 1733 to present. The Virtual Vault gives access to manuscripts, photographs, maps, and government records. 

My research interest lies in Troup County. When I entered that into the search box, some 600 entries appeared before my eyes! I also need info from Wilkes County; wouldn't this make your fingers twitch??

How about this category (one of 53 collections/categories):

If you have Georgia ancestry, do check out the Virtual Vault!

Archaeology Magazine

 

Archaeology Magazine is the bi-monthly publication of the Archaeological Institute of America. Subscription cost is under $20 which is half what you'll pay for the issues at a newsstand. I really enjoy this magazine and learn so much history from it!

The July-August 2025 issue had a bit, "Legend of the Crystal Brain." This relates how in the 1960s the skeleton of a young man about 20 years old was found covered in ash lying on his wooden bed in the doomed city of Pompeii. In 2018, doing a more thorough study on this "man," some "fragments resembling obsidian" were found in the man's skull. The poor man's brain had been turned into glass by the extremely high temperatures of that volcanic ash.... over 950o! The scientist was quoted as saying, "We were looking into the brain of that young Roman who lied 2000 years ago---a brain that, perhaps, held his last thoughts before dying." How sad. 

Another fascinating bit was this:  "Cats curl up on couches in 1/3 of all American households. However, domesticated felines are not native to the New World but were introduced by Europeans. The earliest known cats in the present day U.S., an adult and a kitten, have been identified in the wreck of a Spanish ship that sank in Pensacola Bay in Florida at 1559. Cats were likely brought aboard to feast on rodents."

This magazine has articles of historic and archaeologic interest from all over the world......... from where our ancestors lived and still live all over the world. Try it; you might just like it. 

Civil War Research

 

Tomorrow is the EWGS Fall Workshop with the spotlight on Civil War Research. F.Y.I. Family Tree Magazine offers this 8-page, laminated, Cheat Sheet to help you "find military records and study the history" of the Civil War. Cost for this is $14.95, + p/h. This Cheat Sheet offers

5 Steps to Trace Your Civil War Ancestor:

1. Search the Civil War Soldiers & Sailors (CWSS) Database.... a free National Park Service site which indexes over 6,000,000 soldiers and 18,000 African American sailors. 

2. Obtain service and pension records (explains how).

3. Find burial information. (National cemeteries were established in 1862 for the Civil War dead.) 

4. Seek additional records (explains what/where).

5. Broaden your knowledge (gives great ideas). 

This Cheat Sheet then gives two pages explaining in more detail what the records contain. Also a map of the U.S. during the Civil War (Did you know that Oregon remained loyal to the Union?) and a Civil War Timeline (helps greatly to understand that conflict). The final page of this Cheat Sheet lists 17 websites and 24 books for your further study. 

One resource listed was The Civil War, a film by Ken Burns. I've viewed this; it's worth a second time around, especially if you have ancestors who participated in the Civil War.