I Love Lucy

 

Did you grow up with I Love Lucy on TV? Perhaps watching it with your mother? Perhaps you still watch it today? And what does this TV show have to do with genealogy? Lots!

When you're scribbling your memories, have you thought to include how these early TV shows impacted your life? The first TV show I remember watching (on our little B&W screen) was 1954-1955 series Flash Gordon........... remember Ming, the evil emperor? That show planted the Sci-Fi seed in me and Star Trek still is my favorite. Shouldn't I have written in my memories how these shows impacted me? 

I Love Lucy ran for six seasons, 1951-1957, 180 episodes, and has never been off the air since. The show's syndication was the brainchild of Desi Arnaz. Getting money from re-runs of a TV show was a new concept pioneered by Desi Arnaz. 

A new book, Desi Arnaz, the Man Who Invented TV by Todd Purdun, was the topic of a video that I watched recently. The book tells the story of Desi, born in Cuba in 1917, and grew up in Florida when his parents emigrated. He struggled with his music career and his big break came only after his marriage to Lucy in 1940 (they eloped). Lucy was already a rising star, with a radio show "My Father's House," which was morphing into a TV show. They wanted Lucy to continue with the show but she would agree only if Desi were her husband. 

That presented a problem in those days. A white woman married to a Cuban? But this problem was overcome; the people loved the show. When their son, Desi, Jr, was coming, they wrote the pregnancy into the show. This was the first time "sex" had been hinted at and a pregnant woman featured. The show of "Little Ricky's" birth in January 1953, was seen by 44 million Americans. 

Well, the couple had a volatile relationship even as their businesses and fortunes grew. They founded Desilu studios which still produces movies and TV shows. But apparently the strain was too much for Desi; they divorced in 1960 and Desi died in 1986 of lung cancer. Lucy died in 1989. 

What was the most memorable I Love Lucy show to you? To me, it was the "vitameggavegimine" show where Lucy became drunk during the many takes of the ad she was filming in her quest for her own stardom. Yes, I Love Lucy was part of my younger life. What about YOU? 

American Historical Society of Germans from Russia

 

The EWGS program for the upcoming May 2nd meeting will feature Richard Scheuerman teaching us about the Germans who migrated from Russia to America and specifically to the western states of America and western provinces of Canada.

If your ancestry includes these folks, you surely will not want to miss this program. And even if you don't have this lineage, learning about any facet of American history is fascinating and worthwhile.

Who were these Germans from Russia? They were people from Germanic states who settled in Russia at the invitation of Catherine the Great, Czarina of Russia, who promised the colonists many enticements. They were to keep their own religion, have their own government, in their own language, would be given loans for building homes and buying livestock. Catharine also promised exemption from military service forever. 

By 1768, some 23,000 German farmers had settled along the central Volga River region in 104 villages. By 1914, the German population along the Volga had grown to 668 villages. Under Alexander II's reign, 1855-1881, things changed for the worse for these Germanic peoples. 

Significant social change threatened the German way of life in Russia. Exemptions were eliminated and civil unrest brought chaos and hardship. The result was a movement of German Russians to the Americas. Most did not emigrate. Those choosing to stay suffered through the revolution (1914) and under Soviet policies. Theirs is a sad story. 

The story of what it means to be a "German from Russia" is epic with many twists, turns, tragedies and triumphs. The American Historical Society of Germans from Russia has been passionate since its start in 1968 about sharing what they know. Their library and research center has an extensive collection of resources to help patrons learn about the history, folklore, genealogy and ethnic heritage of these German Russian peoples. 

Where did the eastern Washington town names of Odessa and Blue Stem originate? Guess! 

For more information, click to their website, www.ahsgr.org 

Boeing Plant In Disguise

 

You may find this hard to believe but during World War II an elaborate camouflage was crafted on the roof of Seattle's Boeing Plant 2, turning the factory's appearance into a serene suburban landscape. Why? To deceive potential aerial attackers. 

Boeing's Plant 2 was a pivotal production facility during World War II, primarily responsible for the manufacture of the B-17 Flying Fortress and B-29 Superfortress bombers and components. Recognizing its strategic importance, this elaborate camouflage was engineered to cover the entire plant site.   

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, along with Hollywood set designers, artists and painters, took on the mammoth task of making the vast Boeing factory invisible from the air. The solution they arrived at was remarkable: transform the factory's 26-acre roof into a serene public landscape. 

This "town" on top of Plant 2 was not just a patchwork of colors and patters; it was a detailed and convincing three-dimensional illusion. Trees, some 300 houses, lawns, roads and even cars were crafted. They weren't real trees or cars but artistic representations that, when viewed from a height, blended seamlessly with the surrounding terrain. Fake houses, grass and bushes were added to make it look as real as possible. The buildings were constructed of wood; the ground was canvas fabrics and netting; the trees were made of chicken wire, coated in tar and then dipped in chicken feathers. 

The object was to make any enemy pilot question their coordinates or believe they were looking at an innocuous suburb, thereby diverting any potential threats. 

Boeing's Plant 2 was never directly attacked during the war, allowing it to produce thousands of aircraft that significantly impacted the Allies' aerial campaigns. Also, the psychological impact on the workers below, knowing that there were measures in place to protect them and their work, was significant. 

In 2010, Boeing decided to close Plant 2. Recognizing its historical significance, Boeing preserved certain artifacts and elements for posterity. 

Source:  PlaneHistoria.com,   "Boeing Plant 2, the Factory Disguised as a Town."

Ivar's Clam Chowder

 

Ivar Haglund operated his famous restaurant on Seattle's Pier 54 beginning in 1938. Haglund, born in 1905 of Swedish and Norwegian immigrant parents, was a graduate of the University of Washington in 1928. He did well for himself, buying the Smith Tower in 1976. Ivar died in 1985, leaving no heirs and leaving his estate to the U. of WA School of Business to support their Restaurant Program. 

Who hasn't enjoyed a bowl of Ivar's famous clam chowder? Would you like the real recipe? First I want to tell you about the Seattle Channel on YouTube. This free series on YouTube features a series of stories of the history of Seattle, each about 60 minutes long. They're really interesting and well done.

Here's the recipe:  2 (6 1/2 oz) cans minced clams;  1 c finely chopped onion;  1 cup finely diced celery;  2 cups finely diced potatoes;  3/4 cup butter;  3/4 cup flour;  4 cups half-and-half, warmed;  1 tsp salt or to taste;  1 dash pepper; 1/2 tsp sugar. 

In saucepan, combine drained clam juice with the vegetables. Add water to cover and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. In small saucepan, melt the butter and stir in the flour and then slowly whisk in the warmed half-and-half. Whisk and cook until smooth, about five minutes. If you want a thinner chowder, add 1/2 to 3/4 cup water or clam broth. Add the vegetables with their cooking liquid, clams, salt, pepper and sugar to the pan. Stir well and adjust the seasonings if necessary.

My note: This burns easily! Heat very slowly and carefully!!

Does anybody remember Ivar's famous Super Bowl advertisement? The Running of the Clams?

Tip: Findagrave.com has a nice photo and short bio of him.

Queen Elizabeth's Encounter

 

How could anybody out walking (in England) come upon this face and not recognize her? Well, according to a cute story I found said it happened in 2005 and I share it with you for your reading pleasure:

Richard Griffin, a former royal protection officer, shared this anecdote about a time when he and Queen Elizabeth met two American hikers who did not recognize her while walking near the Balmoral Estate in Scotland.  The Queen was dressed in typical off-duty attire and was not immediately recognized.

One of the hikers spoke with the Queen, sharing their travel plans. When asked where she lived, the Queen mentioned living in London but having a holiday home "just the other side of the hills."

Upon learning that she had been visiting the area for over 80 years, the hiker asked if she had ever met the Queen. She responded that she hadn't, but that "Dick here meets her regularly." 

The tourist then asked Griffin what the Queen was like and Griffin jokingly described her.

The hiker asked the Queen to take a photo of him with Griffin. After she did, they switched and Griffin took a photo of the tourists with the Queen.

As they parted ways, the Queen reportedly expressed her amusement at the thought of the hikers discovering her identity later.

Can you imagine the hikers' astonishment when they showed off their photos to friends??

Question of the day: Why do so many Americans have such great interest in British royalty? 

Knickers In A Twist

 

Ever heard the phrase "Don't get your knickers in a knot?" I've used it myself when a friend is worried over something trivial. What were knickers? In a word, they were old English underpants..... see the image and notice the split in the middle????

I'm not dwelling further in English underwear, but on British slang. Found a fun little book, Dictionary of British Slang, by Jonathan Bernstein, 2006:

    bunk off --  to play hooky

    do a runner --  leave a cafe without paying

    wobbly  --  refers to somebody untrustworthy

    the trouser department  --  referring to male genitals

    braces  --  suspenders

    glossies  --  magazines

    corker  --  an enthusiastic opinion

    panda car  --  small police car

    gammy  --  the injured part of the body

    twit  --  idiotic behavior

    paddy  --  catchall term for Irishmen

    poxy  --  most unpleasant

    number plate  --  car license plate

    dustman  --  garbage collector

    lollipopman  --  crossing guard

    brolly  --  umbrella

    that takes the biscuit  --  that beats anything I've ever heard

    tickety boo  --  everything's going great

Please feel free to employ any of these in your daily dialogs. 

Chief Kamiakin's Skull

 "Although the famous Yakama chief, Kamiakin (1800-1877) was born near Starbuck, in Columbia County, and lived the largest part of his adult life in the Yakima Valley, he spent his last 17 years in the Palouse. In fact, he is one of Whitman County's most famous residents, if not THE most famous. Washington schools, streets, parks, a butte and a creek bear his name. Sadly, the desecration of his gravesite near Rock Lake and the theft of his skull are an appalling episode in the final chapter of Kamiakin's life." 

So began an article in a 2019 edition of the Bunchgrass Historian, publication of the Whitman County Historical Society in Colfax. The rest of the article, the rest of the story, is a grizzly one.

In the 1870's, fossil and relic hunters plagued the midwest seeking museum specimens to sell. In 1878, some of these rascals were in Eastern Washington and  learned that Chief Kamiakin had been buried nearby the previous year. One of these men were later quoted as having said, "the old chief's head would look good in the Smithsonian." 

"Shortly later, a group of Kamiakin's relatives discovered that the chief's grave had been desecrated and that the head and shoulders were missing. His enraged family reburied his remains in a secret location, reportedly on the other side of Rock Lake."

"For 70 years the culprits' identities were unknown. In 1948 a son of one of those culprits came forward with details of the crime. Under cover of darkness, the men had ....... unearthed Kamiakin's body. One then removed the head and placed  it in a burlap sack, saying that he needed to 'make certain measurements.' It was never seen again, at least not by anyone willing to disclose its whereabouts."

"In all probability, the skull of Chief Kamiakin will never be found. Meanwhile, the theft of his skull and the desecration of his grave continue to provoke justifiable outrage, particularly among Kamiakin's descendants and among members of the Colville and Yakama Confederated Tribes." 

How did this story make you feel? 

Pickle Jars

 

I'd be willing to bet that I'm not the only one who loves poking around old abandoned homesites, barns and even thrift shops looking for "treasurers." I say that in quotes because we are looking for interesting things, not necessarily valuable things. How many of you are with me here?

Recently I found a jar just like this one. Embossed on the bottom were these words:  H.J. Heinz Co. 381. WELL! Knowing Grandma Google can find most anything, I asked her about this jar......and here's what I learned.

"Vintage H.J. Heinz Co. glass jars, often embossed with identification numbers on the base like 305, 381, or others, are collectible condiment containers from the late 19th to mid-20th centuries. These jars typically held relish, mustard or pickles, featuring early clear glass to showcase product quality."

That's late 1800s to mid-1900s, so perhaps I have a very old jar! What am I going to do with it? Fill it will marbles and set it on a shelf to be admired. 

My point with this post is this: when you're poking around old abandoned homesites, barns, thrift stores and even boxes of "old family things" in your basement or garage, don't just toss some rather plebian items (like a pickle jar) for it just might have been held by your ancestors' hands. 

Revolutionary Roots

 

I surely do hope you're registered for the EWGS Spring Seminar with focus on Revolutionary War research. This will be a 3-lecture, all day (with lunch) learning day...... and EWGS will furnish two 4-page handouts: Researching Patriot Roots and Researching Loyalist Roots to all registrants!!  FREE!! 

The aim of the day is to discover the stories of our Patriot ancestors in the American Revolution....those who fought for independence, freedom and unity. You'll also discover the remarkable stories of Loyalists ...... ancestors who upheld allegiance to the Crown amid turmoil and change. These handouts, offered by American Ancestors (formerly The New England Historic Genealogical Society), will be your printed roadmap to success.

Today's Priceless Tip:  Click to www.revolutionaryroots.AmericanAncestors.org. There you will find a long list of free handouts for researching the various aspects of research in this period of history. 

Parable of the Hot Dog

 

Henry was a skinny, sallow fellow who ate nothing but hot dogs.

He craved these meaty tubes morning, noon and night. He ate them with or without buns, relish, onions, beans or condiments. He ate them with scrambled eggs for breakfast. He occasionally chewed them raw from the package. 

Loving family and friends tried to convince Henry that a hot dog diet was not healthy. Henry ignored them.

Eventually, Henry's body revolted. His arms and legs swelled like those balloon dogs. His torso became an elongated chubby tube. The chemicals in those hot dogs rotted his teeth, elevated his blood sugar and blood pressure, blurred his vision, sapped his memory, constipated him and magnified his arthritis.

In short, Henry became what he craved above all else. Henry became a hot dog.

Moral of the story: We do become what we crave, what we do and certainly what we eat. And April Fool's to you!!

Postcards Tell Stories

 

My husband's ancestors came west from Troup County, Georgia. Imagine my delight to come upon a book of old historic postcards of that county! Arcadia Publishing, in business for decades, offers affordable small books on hundreds and places in America and offers many similar books of historic postcards from some areas.

Old historic postcards are about the only way we'll ever get to "see" what the place was like where our ancestors lived. 

Another place to search for old postcard images is the Newberry Library in Chicago. Their historic postcard collection numbers over 500,000 with nearly 8000 of places in Washington State.... this one states A Trainload of Pears, postmarked Walla Walla.  

Ask Google for "websites for historical postcards," and you'll have a full day's fun! One such site mentioned is eBay.... this one (below) you can order from the seller for $12. (It's the Spokane Club,1915.)

Cheers for UPS!

 

Do most of your ordered packages arrive on time? Either from the US Postal Service or the UPS, I'll bet they did. 

Bet you had no clue that the company that would become United Parcel service (UPS) began in Seattle, Washington, on August 28, 1907. Teenagers Jim Casey and Claude Ryan founded the American Messenger Company, a messenger and delivery service, with a $100 loan and two bicycles. They delivered packages and messages around Seattle, laying the groundwork for the global shipping giant UPS is today. 

By 1919, the company had expanded to Oakland, California, and changed it's name to United Parcel Service. That same year, the brown trucks and uniforms became the company colors. The headquarters of the company today is in New York City. 

There are over 5700 UPS stations across America and Washington state boasts over 130 of them. 

Did you or an ancestor work for UPS?? Why did they choose to work for UPS?

What Was At Diamond Point, WA?

 

The Diamond Point Quarantine Station across Discovery Bay from Port Townsend. was a 156-acre federal facility opened in 1893 to control infectious diseases on ships entering Puget Sound. The station featured barracks, labs, staff housing and disinfection services for vessels wishing to enter Puget Sound and an isolation hospital for passengers or crew members found to be suffering from or suspected of carrying infectious disease. The site grew from three to 27 buildings over the course of its 43 operational years. Moved eventually nearer Port Townsend, it is now the site of Miller Peninsula State Park. 

If you'd care to learn more about this episode in Washington history, click to www.historylink.org (a free website) and look for the article by Paula Becker, posted in 2007 on this subject. 

All vessels arriving from foreign ports were required to pass through quarantine. When deemed necessary, vessel were fumigated with burning pots of sulphur in order to kill fleas, rats, live and other vermin. Passengers or crew members were inspected for any symptom of infectious diseases such an influenza, cholera malaria, smallpox, yellow fever, diphtheria and leprosy. This place was not a happy place. Quoting from a 1937 book: "Port Townsend's pest-house was situated in the dense woods about two miles west of town. Here the unfortunate patients was kept under the care of a volunteer nurse, usually an old sailor, and a doctor visited the sufferer when he could spare the time."

In 1878, Congress had passed the National Quarantine Act which prevented vessels from carrying infectious diseases into any U.S. port. In 1888, the Diamond Point station was authorized and a total of $55,000 allocated for the construction. 

There is much more to learn about this episode, event and place in Washington history. Ask Google to help you find more information. 

Trivia Time!

 

The phrase "mad as a hatter" referred to the 19th century hat-makers were were poisoned by the mercury they used to treat the felt.

Christmas was not declared a national holiday until 1890.

The phrase "second string," which today means replacement or backup, originated in the Middle Ages, when an archer carried a second string in case the one on his bow broke.

During the peak of the western cattle drives, as many as one in four cowboys was African-American.

After she was crowned, the first act of Britain's Queen Victoria was to move her bed out of her mother's bedroom and into a room of her own.

The first bomb dropped by the Allies on the city of Berlin during WWII claimed an unusual casualty...the only elephant in the Berlin zoo. 

During his invasion of England in 1014, King Olaf's fleet of Viking ships managed to pull down London's wooden Thames River bridge. Hence the children's song about London Bridge falling down. 

The last soldier of WWII, Japan's Lt. Hiroo Onoda, didn't surrender until 1974. He refused to be "fooled" by allied stories about the war ending in 1945 and only gave up the fight after his old unit commander was flown to the Philippines and ordered him to lay down his arms.

And where did these wonderful bits come from? The Armchair Reader: Amazing Book of History, published in 2008, and found in a thrift store. Are they true? 

FamilySearch Offers Full-Text Searching

 

Quoting from FamilyTree Magazine, May-June 2025:  "For many years. optical character recognition (OCR) was limited to converting typed text on a record image into a searchable machine-readable text format. However, FamilySearch's Full-Text Search has been training its AI to do the same with handwritten historical records. 

"This new website feature has the potential to fundamentally change how we do family history. Full-text search, lauded by FamilySearch as a 'new era in search technology' uses AI to make unindexed record images available to search for the first time. This allows genealogists almost instant access to valuable records that once would have taken hours to page through.

"At launch in March 2025, the tool has 1.2 billion images in more than 3000 collections that includes US land, probate, emigration, naturalization, birth, marriage and death records. In the coming years, FamilySearch will roll out the technology to every unindexed record in its collection, prioritizing records that have high genealogical value but are currently inaccessible to researchers."

Having looked for Seaborn Phillips............. well, I digress here. I skipped to check out some of the findings for dear old Seaborn (husband's ggggrandfather) and lost my place and time to finish this post......... that's how good this opportunity affords!!

I do recommend to you "to try it, you'll like it." Click to FamilySearch.org, then Search and then Full Text. You will be glad you did. 

P.S. The FamilyTree Magazine, May/June 2025 issue carried a 4-page tutorial titled "Full Force" to teach us how to fully use this great new resource. Again, this is my favorite genealogy magazine and it is always full of "good timely stuff."

Social History Websites

 

The FamilyTree blog recently used this very image to head their article titled 31 Free Social History Websites. Today's post is a Part 2 from last week's post.

Some of those 31 sites mentioned in that article include:

* American History (www.USHistory.org)

* Digital Public Library of America (www.DP.LA)

*Library of Congress (www.loc.gov)

* American Rails (www.American-Rails.com)

*Erie Canal (www.eriecanalway.org)

*Food Timeline (www.foodtimeline.org)

*Old & Interesting (www.oldandinteresting.org)

*American Disasters (www.evergladesuniversity.edu)

*Documenting the American South (www.docsouth.unc.edu)

Whatever you want to learn about your ancestors' life and times, type that question into YouTube:  Immigration, Civil War, Recipes, Dress Styles, Oklahoma Land Rush, tuberculosis, U.S. Navy..... hopefully you get the idea. 

Ask these questions:

*What was a typical dinner in Maine in 1880?

*What was typical Sunday dress in 1910?

*Did my ancestor attend a World's Fair?

*Did my ancestor serve in the military?

* Did my ancestor come by steamship or sail in 1870?

*Why did my people settle in ______________? 

Social history is learning the answers to those questions.  

Is Social History Real Research?

 

 

 

Google AI says: Social history studies the everyday lives, experiences, and cultures of ordinary people, focusing on social structures, class, gender, and community rather than just elites or politics, often called "history from below". It explores how societies function through the perspectives of different groups, examining work, family, belief, and culture, using diverse sources like diaries, newspapers, and material artifacts to bring the past to life and understand societal change from the ground up. 

Social History is learning what our ancestors did and did not do. What they wore and why. What they ate and why. Why they feared bathing. Why they believed the homilies they recited. Why they moved to and/or lived where they lived. What sort of shoes did they have? Did colonial women smoke?  How did they cope with pain? What was share-cropping?

Amazon offers hundreds of books on this subject; just type in "social history California" or your state. Or just type those words into Google. 

If you're not satisfied with only knowing the names-dates-places for your ancestors, and what to know who they were, then dig into the social history of their lives and times. 

Sunset Highway.... Spokane to Seattle

 

Did you know that one of Washington's first cross-state highways, the Sunset Highway, provided the first automobile route over the Cascade Mountains? When it opened in 1915, the highway largely followed the route of an Indian trail that had been developed into a wagon road. The Sunset Highway changed designations a number of times over the years.... being known as Highway #2, U.S. 10 and Interstate 90. The route serves as the primary east-west route in Washington." So states the HistoryLink article by Jennifer Ott.

As early as 1853, a passable route over Snoqualmie Pass was becoming a necessity. There were several trails connecting points in Washington, but the Cascades were a major headache to cross. By 1867, a wagon road was open from North Bend to Easton. A 1906 report emphasized the importance of such a route, calling it "the most important trans-mountain road projected." 

The 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition's transcontinental auto race form New York to Seattle underscored the urgent need for better roads. During the race, cars were frequently bogged down in mud, particularly along some sections over Snoqualmie. 

By 1913, the Sunset Highway was designated as a primary state route and on July 1, 1915, it was officially opened. But what did it look like then compared to today??

I've been state-crossing in I-90 since 1954 and I can tell you that without a doubt there has not been a single year without road construction! The route is getting busier and busier and better and better all the time. 

And by-the-by, it's Sno-qual-mie NOT NOT  Sno-qual-a-mie. 

DAR....What's In It For ME?

 

"The DAR of our grandmothers has grown and flourished. Inspired by our Founders, we are celebrating history while shaping the future." So stated an email message from DAR headquarters inviting me into membership. 

The email went on to extole and explain:

*DAR member achieved 7.4 million service hours to their communities in 2024.

*DAR is heavily involved and promoting the America 250! celebrations nationwide.

*DAR gave a $2 million contribution to help preserve Washington DC's iconic cherry trees.

*DAR's Patriots of Color Database now featured on the 10 Million Names project, providing public access to research on those of African descent who lived in pre- and post-colonial America.

*DAR donated $250,000 to the Military Women's Memorial.

And the list went on for a full page. 

Did you know there are 36 DAR chapters in Washington State? Surely there is one in or near your town. Click to www.dar.org/national-society/become-member-chapters to find one.

If you've been doing family history for most any time at all, and if you have Colonial era ancestors, you do most likely qualify for DAR membership. You most likely do have a patriot ancestor. Be proud to recognize your connection! 

An Apple A Day?

 

David Benscoter is a pomologist on a mission. That means he studies fruits and in his case, his passion is apples. 

He's given several presentations in the area, and I enjoyed learning about his apple passion at a Westerners meeting in November, 2025. 

David explained that by the early 1900s, there were over 17,000 cultivars of apples in North America. A "named cultivar" is any apple someone thought was good enough to give a name to after immigrants first came to North America. But unfortunately, over 12,000 of those apples are lost and probably extinct today, he told us. 

In his 2024 book, Lost Apples: The Research for Rare & Heritage Apples in the Pacific Northwest, Benscoter states "When the earliest settlers reached Washington, Idaho and Oregon, one of the first things they did was plant apple trees. They knew each apple tree planted had a specific purpose. Some apples ripened early and could be enjoyed in the middle of summer. Fall apples were especially good for canning or drying while late fall apples kept well in the cellar until the next spring."

For over a decade, Benscoter has searched out old homesteads.... old apple trees.... wanting to resurrect some of the lost apples. And he has succeeded in identifying (by DNA) some 1623 previously-lost varieties. He said that evening that he's still on the hunt. 

"Did you know," he said, "that the Spokane Beauty apple was introduced about 1900 by a WSU nurseryman? This was a big commercial success. Cosmic Crisp is one of the newest varieties to come out of WSU."

David ended his excellent presentation with a quote from Henry David Thoreau: "Surely, the apple is the noblest of fruits."

Dead Fred..... A Delightful Website

 

What can you do here? "Trace your roots for free with our searchable dtabase containing thousands of identified and mystery photos for genealogy enthusiasts looking for long-lost family." Wowsers, indeed!

Did you catch the word "free?" And could you read the fine print under the photo? 23,659 surnames, 163,161 records 

At this really fun website (and it's FREE to use, remember) you can search photos and post photos. I searched for the surname "Gurney," and there was one entry, for baby Forrest Gurney. I don't know where he fits into my tree, but I'll be looking. 

Do check out www.DeadFred.com.  You'll be glad you did.

Baby Names..... Opinion, Please?

 

One of my favorite things to do is, when I spot a nametag showing a most unusual name, I'll ask that person, "How did your mother come up with such an unusual name?" And most usually they know! And are happy to share their story.

Besides the baby girl names listed above, Google helped me find rare baby girl names: Perach,  Phannie,  Salomi,  Megara,  Caliste,  Lune,  Zixuan and Darana. (Yes, these were really-used names.)

Baby boy names weren't much better:  "Nicodemo,  Cathan,  Finian,  Prentice,  Lazare,  Sophus, Thorley and Negasi. 

Google also found the best exotic baby boy names:  Amari,  Daxton,  Kairo,  Ryker,  Zephyr, Bodhi,  Jaxon and Koa. 

Overall, would you choose one of these baby names:  Akira,  Averill,  Sky,  Cayson,  Petronilla,  Osbert, Vidura,  Finrod,  Ares, Jovan,  Nyx or Caiman. 

Personally, I'm watching out for names from Star Trek or Deep Space Nine:  Odo,  Kira,  Nerys, Quark, Ezri,  Nog,  Dax, Dukat or Sisko. 

So far my great-grandchildren have pretty standard names. What about YOUR grandchildren? And do you know the reason your mother chose YOUR name? 

Ken Burns American Revolution

 

The 12-hour, 6-part, series telling the background, history and story of the American Revolution was surely one of Ken Burns' best efforts. It first aired in November, 2025. This was an university-level presentation and one that really needs to be watched a second, or third, time to fully grasp the whole story. And every American should know this story. 

There was so much more to this story than men-painted-like-Indians-dumping-tea-in-Boston-Harbor. Perhaps that's the highlight taught in grade school. To quote Burns' words, given in a September 2025 interview with David Leonhardt:

"I'm just offering a good story. I'm not offering it as anything other than an attempt to tell a complicated story, to make it come alive and to suggest that maybe it's possible to coalesce around the complexity of our origin story..... to revel in it, rather than reduce it to something binary and simple."

"Within that complexity, it may be possible to draw people to the ironies, the tragedies, the exultant ideas. Because this....the American Revolution.... is the most important event in world history since the birth of Christ. Period. Full stop. And I'll defend that. Because for the first time, there was possibility, even for those who did not yet have ownership of themselves. And to me, that is the essence of the liberating story of the American Revolution."

Yes, those are big words and deep thoughts. But that IS the story of America's Revolution. I encourage you to watch it, perhaps twice.  

Find-A-Grave Cannot Be Topped

 

Have you spent some time with the fantastic FREE website, www.findagrave.com? Over the recent holidays, I spent some happy time looking up my ancestors to look for photos of their tombstones. Oh, the things I learned......... I knew Grandfather Mel died long before Hope but 28 years she was a widow? That's a long time.

Ron Marvin. EWGS member,  gave a great workshop last November on this website. He offered several excellent tips:

* Understand that the photos have been added to FindAGrave by volunteers who live near that cemetery and have tromped around, photographed and uploaded the images. 

* Confirm that you do have the correct person.

* Review the listed links (if present) to parents, spouses, children and siblings......... often you can reconstruct an entire family here!

* Check to see who added flowers....... an unknown cousin? Consider adding flowers yourself so that cousin can contact you. 

* Once confirmed, you can snip-and-save the image to your computer clipboard and then upload it to Ancestry or FamilySearch. 

* If you wish to upload additional information for this ancestor, or suggest corrected information, click on Suggested Edits. 

* If the FindAGrave entry for your ancestor does not have a biography page, do consider compiling and uploading one. Ditto for an obituary or a photograph. 

Go spent some happy time with your ancestors and FindAGrave. You'll enjoy it, I guarantee. 

What Was A Barn Dance?

 

Ever been to a real barn dance? Likely not..... at least not like the ones our ancestors enjoyed. 

In an old magazine, quoting a 1909 newspaper, I found this description of just what was a real honest-to-goodness barn dance:

"The barn dance is a country cousin to the schottische, and the music must be furnished in convulsive jerks. The man shoots out with his heavy fluke, grabs the girl around the waist and she places her lily white paw on his shoulder near his wishbone. The man then kicks out with his right pedal and his partner with the left. They jump many times like they are dodging snakes, then resume the first position. They then hop, three times on one foot and then on the other, like a fellow that has stumped his toe, and the first position is taken again. The dance commences with a bounce, and the dancers never cease bouncing until the music stops of the fiddle string breaks. At the conclusion of the south house the performers get a broom and sweep up the buttons that have been shaken off during the spasms."

Wouldn't we love to watch the 1938 movie "Old Barn Dance?" A horse trader named Gene Autry (Gene Autry) arrives in Grainville with his horses and outfit prepared to put on a barn dance to attract potential horse buyers to an auction. The horse trading business has been affected lately by the increased use of tractors to replace horses for farm work. Radio station owner Sally Dawson (Joan Valerie) approaches Gene and offers him a contract to sing on a program sponsored by Thornton Farming Equipment, the area's leading manufacturer of tractors. Unconvinced that tractors could ever replace horses, Gene refuses her offer, but is still attracted to her and invites her to his barn dance that night.

Why Me?

 

This darling photo is not me but surely could be. I think I was born with gills behind my ears because I do love to be around water, especially the ocean. 

Why am I spotlighting me today? Because I'm really on a crusade to get all of us over-60 folks to write down your memories. One way to think about this is to image what do you want your great- great grandchildren to know about you??? 

I've kept notebooks and a simple journal for 40 years. With one spiral notebook, when my kids were teenagers, I wrote exactly what we did, went and ate every single day that year. Now maybe that drivel won't pique their beaks but my memories of Big Events surely will.

I tell them WHY I say I was born the Year of the Black Penny. I say WHY I lived in Japan as a five year old. I relate being the wife of a Navy nuclear submariner for eight years. I can tell them my memories of that 1963 day when Kennedy was shot. I can tell them I was with my mother-in-law watching the first men walk on the moon in 1969. I can tell them how my three teens plus one lived in an ash-surrounded cocoon in 1980 during Mt.St.Helens. I certainly will tell them how my sister-in-law called from Kansas City at 5:00am on that fateful 9-11 day (before we were up) to scream "turn on the TV, we're at war!" 

See how simple writing YOUR stories, YOUR memories can be? Hope I've tweaked your beak a bit. Tomorrow I turn 83; how old will you be tomorrow? Isn't it time you sharing your life's memories???

Mother Joseph

Mother Joseph of the Sacred Heart, born Esther Pariseau in 1823 in Quebec, entered the convent of the newly founded Sisters of Charity in Montreal at age twenty. In 1856, she led a group of members from her congregation to the Pacific Northwest to establish schools and healthcare to the settlers flocking to that new and remote part of the country. During the 46 years from the time she arrived in Vancouver, Washington, until she passed away in 1901 she had been instrumental in establishing 29 health care institutions, schools and orphanages in the Pacific Northwest. Though most of the original structures no longer exist, most of the institutions which she founded are still in existence, continuing the work that she envisioned more than a century ago. 

Her influence and her presence was noted in 16 places in Washington, four places in Montana, two places in Oregon, one place in Idaho and two buildings in British Columbia. She was known as a stickler for detail. For example, during the construction of Scared Heart Hospital in Spokane, Mother Joseph, then 63 years old, lived with another sister "in a rough shack next to the construction site so she could oversee the work," even climbing ladders to inspect rafters and bouncing on planks to test their support. 

She was known for successfully raising $2000 to $5000 when she went fund-raising to the mining camps whereas in the ordinary small town she could collect perhaps $18 to $20. She surely was a mover and a shaker. 

Did you know there is a statue of Mother Joseph in the Washington, D.C. capitol?

 

Where In The World Is Danville?

Have you ever been to Danville? There are 24 places in America with the name of Danville, but our Danville is in Ferry County, Washington, just a few miles south of the border with Canada. 

Originally named Nelson from merchants Peter and his uncle Ole Nelson. An early reference to this settlement is dated 1896. The town was renamed in 1899 to prevent confusion with Nelson, British Columbia just across the border.  By 1897 the town boasted a jewelry and watch repair section of a general store, a post office, a newspaper (lasted only a year) and a sawmill. By 1913, the mill which produced 50,000 feet of lumber daily, was one of the three larger producers in the area.

The 1920s brought increasing prosperity to Danville when it became a rendezvous for whiskey smugglers, who employed local guides familiar with the old trails to avoid detection by border authorities as they smuggled booze from Canada down into the "dry" U.S. 

The top image is of the U.S.-Canada border crossing station. The lower photo is the Nelson's general store in the 1890s.  

From the website MyNorthwest:  Danville is in the part of Washington that was once the Colville Indian Reservation. However, when valuable minerals were discovered there, the land was taken away from Indigenous people by the federal government and opened to settlement and mineral claims by white homesteaders and miners. This little-remembered episode surely ranks as one of the great injustices in the state’s history.

Now isn't that a sad factoid?

What Is A Keeper?

 

Sue Kreikemeier is president of the Whitman County Genealogical Society. Her editorial in their November 2025 newsletter was a real zinger and I asked permission from her to share it with you.

"Dear Readers, I am sure many of you can related to the quandary I find myself facing on a continual basis... how to manage my plethora of notes, hard copy records, unlabeled family photos and other ephemera from my genealogical pursuits. How do I know what to keep and what to toss out? Might something seeming irrelevant become an important clue in the future? 

"Asking myself what is a "keeper," I went to Google and found many definitions. My favorites were (1)a person whose job it is to guard to take care of something or (2) a curator. This gave me a new way of looking at those challenging piles and files. Instead of thinking about which items I should keep, I started thinking about how I might better define and deliver on my role of "keeper" especially as it relates to family history."

Sue went on in this editorial to tell about how she and her siblings were collaborating on putting down their memories of a very frightening event that occurred in the family when Sue was about nine years old. Sue says she has realized that "sometimes being a "keeper" means sharing something that can't be found in any document or archive."

Isn't that just another way to say WRITE YOUR STORIES NOW! I think Sue would second that motion. 

Ossuaries?

Do you know what an ossuary is? What it was used for....and when? Well, let's learn!

 

An ossuary was usually a smallish chest or box used to hold the bones or cremains of the dead. As far back as 40 B.C. ossuaries were popular among the Jewish population.  Historically they have been used in areas where burial space was scarce or in situations were large numbers of people died in a short time such as a plague or battle. Also, over time, they were used when the bones were exhumed from a grave to make space for a new burial. (Very common in Europe even today. You have your cemetery space or plot for x-number of years and then the plot is reused.)

Are ossuaries used today? Certainly yes. How many have their deceased loved ones still with them sitting on the mantel?? There are funeral urns even for our beloved pets!

Francis Harold Potter

 

Ever been out on Fairchild Air Force Base and driven past the real-life B-52 parked on display there? My father, Francis Harold Potter, was the AC (Aircraft Commander) of that very plane! My son took the serial number of that plane and did the research to prove that fact. 

Dad would have been 105 years old today. He's been gone for 22 years. And I realize every day that I should have given him more of my time. 

I'm so glad I talked to him over the years gleaning his stories..... from a poor, rural Illinois childhood, to a brilliant career in the Air Force (he flew in the Berlin Airlift and Operation Chromedome), to a great grandpa to children. He did his last waterskiing at age 80. He and Mom traveled the world. He could change rocks into candy for big-eyed grandchildren. He was a great guy.

Asking my grandmother how she named him, she explained that she liked "Frank" but that sounded too grownup for a baby so they settled on Francis. As for Harold? She giggled and lowered her voice to tell me "It was after an old boyfriend...but I never told Mel!" 

The point of this post today is to beg you to procrastinate no longer! Talk to your elders and learn their stories!  And get your own stories down either on paper or computer. Please just do it.