Time for Trivia!

 

Endogamy:  Know what that means? According to the website of the International Society for Genetic Genealogy, endogamy "is the practice of marrying within the same ethnic, cultural, social, religious or tribal group."  Examples of endogamous groups include Jews, Polynesians, Mennonites, Amish, Acadians, French Canadians and folks from many Arab countries.

FamilySearchCenter: Do you have all the funds to allow subscriptions to the many paid genealogy websites that you'd like to use? Ha, not me either. Did you know that there are about 30 subscription websites that you can use FOR FREE at any FamilySearch Center! Go and you can pick up a 2-page, small-print, handout listing all these sites. Don't know where a FamilySearchCenter is? They're all listed on our EWGSI.org website.

Commonwealth: What is a "commonwealth?" At the time of the founding of the United States, the designation "Commonwealth" carried with it the implication of a greater degree of self-government that did the word "state." Four states officially label themselves as "Commonwealths," rather than "States." They are Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Kentucky. It is also the designation of Puerto Rico.

Worth of old county histories: Knowing my ancestor, Caleb Carr, was a Baptist minister, 1810ish, who lived in Erie County, New York, I happily hefted the 500-page Centennial History of Erie County from the shelf and flipped it to the back......... alas, no index. Of course, published in 1876, these older books don't have indexes. (Unless more recently done and then usually in a stand-alone volume.) BUT the hour I spent browsing through the pages was not a waste of time. I didn't find any mention of Rev. Carr but I did learn about the early history of the county. Tidbits such as this:  "The structures under which the early families sheltered themselves and their families hardly rose even to the dignity of log houses. They were frequently mere cabins of small logs, (there not being help enough to handle large ones) covered with bark. Sometimes there was a floor of split logs, or "puncheons," sometimes none. A log house 16-feet square, with a shingle roof, a board floor and a window containing six lights of glass, was a decidedly stylish residence and its owner was in some danger of being disliked as a bloated aristocrat." 

Quote from Thomas Jefferson: "How sublime to look down into the workhouse of nature, to see her clouds, hail, snow, rain, thunder..... all fabricated at our feet! And the fgorious sun gilding the tops of the mountains and giving life to all nature."

Quotes from Garrison Keillor: "Some people get what they want. Some people get what they got."  ......  "After all is said and one, more is said than is done." 

Quote from Ethel Mertz, "I Love Lucy,"  "Just because we're married to men doesn't mean we've got anything in common with them."

Quote from AAA about travel: "Thou shalt, when in Rome, do somewhat as the Romans do, and if in difficulty, thou shalt use thy common sense and much friendliness.'

Time for Trivia!

 French Fry ice cream. How does that sound to you? Or Ranch Dressing ice cream? These exotic new ice cream flavors are a reality from a Los Angeles company called VanLeeuwen's. The idea was that many of us in the past have enjoyed dipping our French Fries into our Malted Milkshakes. Well maybe you, but not me never. Would you try it?

In a very old newspaper clipping from an undated, unidentified newspaper, was this bit:

"Abe Kissed 34 Women During His Ceremony."  Quoting Jewell Casey "in the current issue of The Holy Names Journal," Honest Abe bussed no fewer than 34 girls at his first inauguration..... one from each state.

The article also stated that George Washington was the only president inaugurated in two cities, New York and Philadelphia. He wore a "made in America brown wool suit made from the wool of American sheep."

John Adams was so galled over the larger popularity of his successor, Thomas Jefferson, that he left Washington early in the morning to avoid seeing Jefferson sworn into office. Then 28 years later, John's son, John Quincy Adams, got out of town early, too, so he wouldn't have to watch Andy Jackson, his bitter rival, succeed him.  

Thomas Jefferson rode to his inaugural on horseback. Warren Harding was the first to arrive in a motor car....but kissed the same Bible "that had known the lips of George Washington."

Calvin Coolidge was sworn into office by his own father, a justice of the peace, in a simple Vermont farmhouse lit only by a flickering kerosene lamp. No other father has had that privilege. 

Quote from Mark Twain:  "Clothes DO make the man; naked people have little of no influence in society." 

She: "What's that lump on your head?"  He:  "Oh, that's where a thought struck me." 

Bitesize Bits & Pieces

 

Saw a school bus last week bringing munchkins to the MAC. The bus was from Benge, Washington, and I had no clue where that was. (Do you?) Benge is a bitty farming town in Adams County named for Frank H. Benge who donated land for the town in 1907. He was the first representative from Adams County to the Washington State Legislature in 1904.

How about Larene, WA? Or Littlerock, WA? Our ancestors did not always live in places we can easily find on the maps.

EWGS President, Lynda Keenan, shared some Google tips with us at the April REFOCUS meeting. None of us present realized that Google offers 35 helps and all for free! Do check it out. 

She also shared a DNA spotlight:  You cannot pass on down what you did not get.

We might fuss about our cold winters here in the Spokane area but "it ain't nuttin' like it used to be." A bit in the Spokesman back in March 1921 reported that "more than 1,000,000 feet of logs enroute from pack River near Hope to the Beardmore mill in Priest River are frozen fast in the Pend Oreille River at LaClede with little prospects of moving them until warmer weather. The river at LaClede is frozen over with about three inches of ice and it is still freezing."  With no logs, the mill had to shut down..... many ancestors were out of work that cold, cold winter.

Tidbit from Donna's personal experience. Wanting to access a book written in 2013, The Chinese in Washington State, I scoured books stores both online and in person. Even Amazon was no help. As a last resort, I turned to our Spokane Public Library catalog and, as you quickly guessed, they do have a copy. DUH on me for sure. 

Old Farmer's Almanac: An Oldie But Goodie, Part 1

Just for fun while grocery shopping, I picked up a copy of the Old Famer's Almanac. SUCH a delightful read! Here are some trivia facts I learned:

** The computer mouse was patented in Nov 1970

** NORAD began to track Santa Claus in 1955

** The last old-style VW Beetle left the plant in 1978

** The Yankees bought 10acres in Bronx for a stadium in 1921

** The Tootsie Roll was introduced in 1896

** The first U.S. weather report broadcast was in 1921

**  Coca-Cola goes on sale in Atlanta in 1886

** An alligator fell from the sky during a hurricane in Charleston, SC, in 1843

** The U.S. Federal Income Tax was imposed in 1861

** Walt Disney World opened in Orlando in 1971

** Love Me Tender, Elvis' first movie, debuted in 1956

** A 5.6 pound avocado set a new world record, Kahului, HI, 2018

Remember these when you decide to audition for Jeopardy!