One Hundred Years and Counting

Yesterday was a great and fun day. Thanks to some friends Happy’s (my father-in-law) 100^th birthday party came off without a hitch. Don, Sharon, and Dean did an absolutely wonderful of decorating, providing the delicious food, and serving in a gracious manner. Their expertise and generous gift of time and talent removed great stress from the family and allowed all of us to enjoy the day greeting and meeting with friends and relatives. We, especially Millie (my sister-in-law), were able to stay near Happy, giving him the emotional support he needed. What a blessing!

Here’s a four-generation photo:

Seated Francis Joseph "Happy" Higgins

Front row: Granddaughters Tammy & Samantha

Next row: Great-Grandsons Stewart & Kristian and Son Jim (my husband)

Back row: Great-Grandson Derek

Great-Granddaughter Randi was unable to attend because she is in school in Texas.

I can't close without showing the wonderful spread provided by our friends:

Evidence Gleaned From One Obituary

The Ishpeming Record, Ishpeming, Michigan, Friday, 9 May 1930, page 5, columns 2 & 3; obituary for Mrs. Charles Larson.

To shorten things up a bit, let’s assume I already have sufficient evidence to state that Mrs. Charles Larson is the same person as Amelia (Ellstrom) Christiansen Larson. I could go into greater detail on this but the purpose of this writing is to determine what information can come from her obituary. So here goes.

MRS. CHARLES LARSON PASSES

1. “Mrs. Charles Larson, who was 71 years of age…” places Amelia’s birth in about 1859. Other records put her birth on 24 Nov 1858. She was actually 71 years, 5 months, 6 days old at death.
   
2. “…and a resident here for over 50 years”, she had lived in Ishpeming, Michigan half a century.
   
3. “…passed from life Wednesday night,” – date of death 7 May 1930. The obituary was published on Friday the 9^th of May, 1930. We’ll want to be careful with this one as we’ll find later in this same article that this death date is impossible.
   
4. “…at the family home on East Empire Street.” She lived on Empire Street, Ishpeming, Michigan on and before her death.
   
5. “The deceased had been ill the past several months and death was not unexpected”. This is a clue to follow-up for health history. Will the death certificate give more details?
   
6. “The deceased was a native of Sweden locating in Marquette with her parents 61 years ago, later living in Ishpeming p to the time of her death.” Family and personal information will be found in Swedish records; immigrated in about 1869; original U. S. residence was Marquette. Lots of clues here.
   
7. “Surviving are her husband and the following children: Mrs. Fred Davey Chicago; Miss Teckla, Miss Lida Larson and Clarence Larson, all residents of Ishpeming; Mrs. Albert E Porter, Sault Ste. Marie, and Mrs. H. F. St. Helen of Portland, Ore. The following brothers and sister: Alex Ellstrom, Pueblo, Colo,; Albert Ellstrom, Detroit; Mrs. Charles Seagren, St. Paul, Minn.; Mrs. Axel Peterson, Marquette, and Miss Alice Ellstrom, Saginaw…“ Wow, where to start with this paragraph. First, it tells us Amelia’s husband, Charles, is still living; second, we get a listing of her living children which includes not just her daughters’ married names but the full names of her daughters’ husbands, third we’re told where her children are living on 9 May 1930. We get the same information regarding her surviving siblings.
   
8. “Funeral took place Sunday afternoon at 2 o’clock from the family home…” Here’s where the date calculated in item number 3 proves incorrect. Since the paper was issued on Friday, the 9^th of May and the funeral had already taken place on Sunday, her death could not have been on Wednesday the 7^th. She died 30 Apr 1930 from evidence found here and from other evidence such as Family Bible records and a telegram from Clarence Larson to Mrs. Fred Davey.
   
9. “…from the Swedish Baptist church…” Amelia was probably a member of this church and more records may be available there.
   
10. “The pall bearers were : Mr. John Asplund of Marquette; William Anderson, August Olson, John Swanson, Charles Benson and Emil Olson.” Pall bearers are often but not always family members. They deserve some research to determine their relationship to the deceased and/or family.

The older obituaries and those from smaller communities tend to provide the most information.  Often in the larger cities there is only a death notice giving only the briefest information. Today, due to the cost, printed obituaries seem to be getting smaller; however, with many funeral homes providing memorial type pages on their website the obituary is seeing a come back.

Granted, you can’t take what’s written in an obituary as absolute truth but, wow, what an abundance of clues they can provide!

My Mom and Chicken Parts

I wonder what part of the chicken was my Mom’s favorite when she was a child. Was she a drumstick girl or did she prefer the white meat of the breast? I doubt she savored the parts she claimed to be her favorites when she became a mother. As a child she lived on a farm and, though I know they had little money for many and varied reasons, there was always food on the table. Probably chicken wasn’t even kept just for Sunday dinner because its meat wasn’t considered as precious as in later years.

When I was a child our family lived in town and money for food was often at a premium. I don’t recall keeping chickens except for a few bantams that were more pets than stock. We did tend to have chicken on Sunday though and everyone had his or her favorite part. I, of course, favored the drumstick, I think my brothers both liked the thighs and my Dad usually ate the breast. Mom, however, claimed the best parts were the neck, back, and wings. With the exception of the wing these pieces provided very little meat but Mom had a way of making the search for tidbits look delicious.

I know now she was taking the least desired pieces so her family could get the most out of the meal she provided. She made sure everyone else had plenty to eat by making us believe she preferred and even savored those small, even undesirable bits. Perhaps she did too good a job because I began to envy those pieces. I looked at how much she appeared to revel in getting the most out of the bony bits and wanted to try it myself. Of course, I wasn’t about to give up my drumstick at the time but the craving played on my mind.

In later years, I came to enjoy the bony pieces as much or more than any other part of the chicken. Even today, I’d rather have a couple of wings than any other part. I know wings are a big deal these days. They are a party treat, a ball game snack, a tasty spicy nosh. Most of today’s wings have more meat on them than in earlier days – must be the way the chickens are raised.

My favorite wings are from scrawny chicks that have walked around the chicken yard all their days pecking the bits of seed thrown their way.

And where’s the neck anyway? When was the last time you found a neck in the chicken parts purchased at the grocery store. It’s as though the poor things had nothing to hold their heads up with. Okay, now I’m making myself hungry. If nothing else, I may be able to find some wings to satisfy my yearning. Or maybe I’ll bread and fry up some chicken gizzards. Now that’s a treat I haven’t had in a very long time!

Mom taught me much in my life but one of the most important lessons was to not pass over the small and often tasty things in life. 

Pets Are Family Too

There never was a dog like Buttons. 

She came to us back in the late 1960s, before the uproar about puppy mills, before I’d even heard of such a thing as a puppy mill, so we bought her at a pet store. Now, I doubt she was anything other than from a litter of local puppies because she wasn’t a purebred; she was a Collie/English Shepard mix. As a puppy she was a roly-poly little white and golden happy-go-lucky mound of fur.

We were probably taking on more than we should as, at the time the girls were about 5 and 3 years old. There was certainly enough activity to keep us all busy. We lived in a small apartment with no real yard right on a major street but, for some reason, we all wanted a dog. Even Jim who had never had a pet looked forward to adding Buttons to the family.

Our early times with Buttons were not without their struggles. She never learned to walk on a leash properly. (I know that was my fault. I could have taught her better but I didn’t know how and couldn’t afford a trainer and never thought of reading up on the subject. This is long before the internet and ebooks. The library didn’t enter my mind.) She pulled and tugged and dragged me around from day one.

In fact, we had a dreadful event occur at a forest preserve. It was a family outing on a beautiful day. We were all looking forward to a good romp in the woods and maybe a picnic later. Of course, all dogs must be on leash at the forest preserves but we wanted Buttons to have a large area to explore so we had her attached to a long rope. No sooner had we all left the car then Buttons took off on a run. Unfortunately, Tammy was standing right in the middle between where I held the rope and the end on Button’s collar. The rope pulled tight and caught Tammy at the back of both knees, not only knocking her down but giving her terrible rope burns of the back of both knees. She was laid up for a week or so before that injury healed. Now you can’t blame the dog but I don’t remember too many more family visits to the forest preserve.

Due to living in an apartment building, we were fortunate that Buttons seemed to quickly learn the scent of the other residents because she only barked when a stranger entered. Showing her great watchdog abilities, whenever someone came to our door she barked frantically then hid under the couch. At least, she let us know someone was there.

The best thing about Buttons, though, was her gentleness with everyone. As I said, our girls were young and young children can be rough and tumble. Buttons didn’t care what they did; she tolerated anything and seemed to love any kind of attention they gave. She was the same with other children, and all people, who visited as well.

We moved to our house in the early 70s where Buttons grow-up with our girls and their friends. There Buttons had a litter of puppies before we had her spayed. We found homes for them all. She was a mainstay in our lives until she died at the age of 13. She will always be remember in our family. 

One Inspirational Person

Life sometimes places special people in your path, people who inspire you to accomplishment without any direct communication. I’m not talking about famous philosophers or well-known celebrities. I’m talking about people who go through their lives not even knowing the great affect they have on others.

Recently one of those exceptional people in my life, Sandy Granholm, passed away far too soon.

I had just seen her at the Elgin Genealogical Society’s (EGS) meeting in late January where she presented her third family history book to the Gail Borden Public Library. She appeared in good health and was her normal, jovial, smiling self. We had a short but interesting conversation about publications.

Researching, writing and publishing are the areas in which Sandy inspired me the most.  She had been a leader of EGS long before I joined in 1995 and was well on her way towards publishing her findings even when I was just a fledgling. She didn’t flaunt her abilities but gave quiet encouragement. She was simply Sandy going about her business and, by example, motivating others.

Since having met her I’ve published, in various forms, two family lines and two individual’s stories. I’m currently trying to decide how to best publish my Leisure line. This one I aspire to be as profession as Sandy’s work. I’ll miss not being able to get more advice from Sandy but am so happy I had the opportunity to know and learn from her.

~ Becky

New Genealogy Software - Evidentia

Thanks to Shanon Bennett's (TNT Family History) review of a new software posted on The In-Depth Genealogists website on January 11, 2013, I decided to take a look at Evidentia. What I saw and read I liked so much I didn't even go for the free 30 day trial; I just bought it at the current sale price.

I'm sure Evidentia will be a great asset in my genealogy toolbox. It took some initial concentration to get my mind around this source-based way of looking at my work. I must admit for my first attempt I cheated just a little and used a person and event I had previously worked through by other methods. However, the evaluation of each source made clear not so much discrepancies but duplication of information.

I was looking at the sources used as evidence to prove the birth date and location of my 3rd great grandfather, George Washington Leisure. The sources I used are the US census records from 1850-1880, a county history book, and his obituary. His age in each census - except one - matched the year of birth recorded in the history book and his obituary and all sources showed his birth place as Kentucky.

What I really noticed through this evaluation, however, was the similarity between the writing in the history book and his obituary. So even though the information in each is the same, I can't really use them as separate evidence. That doesn't mean the obituary isn't useful though because the history book was written prior to George's death, making the obituary stand alone as evidence of his death date (no that's not my only evidence for his death date).

Another benefit of the software is the creation of correct bibliographic and citation listings.The citations are included on the Genealogical Proof Report created by the software based on the information submitted by the user.

Bottom line, this software provides a place to bring together all your sources for an event, evaluate their information, and make a logical conclusion. That conclusion, by the way, may be the need for further evidence. Evidentia works on the premise of providing a tool to assist the genealogist with compliance to the genealogical proof standard. The software is not meant to replace your current genealogy software and it does not import information from it. Everything must be input by the user either by keying or using the cut and paste method; however, by doing this entry methodically the user must consider each detail from the beginning and that's not a bad thing.

I like Evidentia and plan to use it as I work through my research, especially with my more controversial ancestors and events.

As a note, I am not affiliated with Evidentia in anyway other than a user. As I use it more, if I incur any major difficulties or triumphs, I'll be sure to let you know.

~Becky

Illinois State Genealogical Society Conference 2012

John Colletta Speaks at ISGS Conference Dinner

  After an afternoon of sessions, vendor visits, and networking, ISGS conference attendees enjoyed a delicious meal at the Clock Tower Resort in Rockford, Illinois, Friday, October 19, 2012. Following dinner, the day was capped with an entertaining talk by John Colletta. All the laughs he created ensured not a single person nodded off even though full from dinner.

Saturday's full day of sessions, including a youth workshop for the younger soon-to-be genealogists, brought even more enthusiasts to the conference.

I spent most of my time in a volunteer capacity which allowed me to meet and greet members - new, longtime, and maybe-sometime-soon. Though I didn't get to attend many sessions, I feel my time was well spent and I'm happy I could be part of making such an event happen.

The one session I did attend was at the end of the day. Thomas MacEntee presented "They're Alive -- Searching for Living People". It was most interesting and informative. I came away with much to think about and try. He even informed us of volunteer opportunities which would help hone our skills at finding the living.

My kudos to the ISGS Conference committee and to the Winnebago-Boone Genealogy Society for a job well done. As I was heading for my car to journey home, I overhead one lady telling someone how "wonderful all her sessions were" and how happy she was to have been there. I'm sure that sentiment was voiced many times over

~Becky

Word Wednesday - Alice & Clifford Davey

Alice and Clifford Davey about 1916, probably, in Ishpeming, Michigan

Military Monday - A Brothers Meeting

Only about four years apart, brothers Peter and Eliphalet “EB” Miller spent their childhood in Rush County, Indiana with their parents, Archibald and Ann (Barber) Miller and their siblings: Charles, Martha, Sarah, Permelia, and Susannah. Peter was born in March of 1836 and EB in Jan of 1840. They knew the joys of wandering through wilderness lands still prevalent in the area and the responsibility of helping their father tame that wilderness into fertile and profitable farm land.

In 1859, when Peter was only 23 years old, his father purchased land in Douglas County, Illinois and Peter left home to tend that land. According to Rush County records, Peter was married with one son at the time; however, this family never joined him in Illinois. The 1860 US census lists him with the Lemuel Githens family (Lemuel was Permelia’s husband); Peter is listed as having $1000 in real estate and $600 personal estate.

Enter the firing on Fort Sumter and the beginning of the Civil War in April of 1861. Unlike many young men at the time, neither Peter nor EB rushed in enlist. EB had his father and family to consider; there was much to be done and Archibald, though still strong, would find working the farm alone difficult. Peter was just getting his land in order and probably felt drawn to stay with it. However, at almost the same time, both brothers enlisted. EB became part of the 68^th Regiment, Company C, of the Indiana Volunteer Infantry in August of 1862. He was age 22, 5’ 11 ½” tall with brown eyes and black hair. In that same month, Peter joined the 79^th Regiment, Company E, of the Illinois Volunteer Infantry. Peter was age 27, 5’ 8” tall, with blue eyes and dark hair.

Taking different but similar paths the two regiments came near each other in January of 1863. I’ll let Peter tell the rest of the story as transcribed from his original letter, (Note: Eliphalet aka EB aka Dick):

Rutherford County, Tenisee near Murfreesboro at the hospitle.Dear father and Mother and sisters, this leaves me well and hope it will find you all well. I received your letter Dated Feb. the 4 and was glad to here from you. I received your letter that had the dolar in it and those two are all I got from you since the battle and I have fiften more besides this one.Dick and I rote one two weeks ago or about that. I heard that he was at Nashville and I that by telling the surgeon that he was sick that he would let me go to see him and I tole the surgeon that he was very low with the fever and had sent word for me to come and see him and he would not tell me to go. He said that if I went he would not make any interruption hereafter but he gave me no pass and I got with a train of teams that were going after ammunition and provisions. This train were six or seven miles long. No more of this.I slept with Nathan Lewis some two weeks ago. His is well, I go and see him soon again. He is in camp within two miles of my Reg.I were with Dick two nites and one day. He was well. It were after nite when I went on picket to find him. I went in the old house which a part of his Company was in and looking over the house to see if I could see him in he came to my back with some wood and I stood with my back almost to him and said , you burn your wood tolerable long here. Yes, said he without pausing, how are you, Peter and how did you get here. It always done me good to meet friends at home but it does me more good here than you can imagine to meet relation and old acquaintance. I have acquaintance in the 21 Ills, 25 Ills, 123 Ills, 37 Ind, and I have seen them all since the first of October and 67 Ind…
Peter Miller To: Archibald Miller, Ann Miller, Susan Miller, Sarah Miller, P Miller

I am fortunate to have 6 letters written by Peter to his family in Indiana ranging from 1863 through 1865 just prior to his discharge.

Both Peter and Eliphalet lived through the war and had families of their own. Peter died in 1911 in Oklahoma living to see his children grow to adulthood. Eliphalet died in 1887, one year after the passing of his wife, leaving seven orphaned children ranging in age from eighteen to one year.

Antique or Not?

Many years ago when I had a brief interest in collecting antiques, someone told me “anything at least 50 years old is considered an antique.” Well, by that definition I reached said title some years ago and now so has my marriage. Today, my husband and I are celebrating our golden anniversary cruising with our girls and their families. How fortunate we are to have our whole crew with us for this occasion.

June and July of 1962 held significant events for me. I graduated from North Park Academy in Chicago in June and married my longtime friend in July.  I was extremely happy to put high school behind me and overjoyed to move towards building a life together with my new husband.

Jim and I met at Second Baptist Church in Chicago when he was 12 and I was 10. My family had recently moved from small town Indiana to Chicago; Jim’s family had been in Chicago for several  generations. We spent most weekends attending the various activities offered by our Church. As time went on we were on-again off-again dating, then Jim graduated and joined the Air Force. After his first leave, we were on-again for good

.

Although not exactly thrilled about our upcoming union, (they thought we were too young) Jim’s parents came through with flying colors. They, with my soon-to-be sister-in-law drove me up the then unpaved Alcan highway to Anchorage, Alaska where Jim was serving at Elmendorf  Air Force base. What an adventure that was!!

Ours was a small wedding in the chapel on base. We had six in attendance, not counting Jim, me and the Chaplin. One additional friend was supposed to come and take pictures but he forgot. So we have very few pictures of the day; however, some is better than none. After a lunch at a pancake house, Jim’s parents headed home and Jim went to work (that was a prank and they sent him home almost immediately).

It was fifty years ago today but for me it seems like yesterday. Yes, we have two grown daughters who have four grown children but it has all passed so quickly.  If not for mirrors and the occasional aches and pains from an aging body, I’d swear I was still that young woman looking into the loving eyes of that dashing Airman.

My Wordle Cloud for Saturday Night Fun

Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Fun:
Here is your mission, if you decide to accept it (shouldn't this be mandatory for all Genea-Musings readers every Saturday night?):

1)  Find something that you have written (letter, report, book, website, blog post, etc.) and copy all or part of it  (you know, do an Edit > Copy or a Ctrl-C on it).  If it's a website with an RSS feed, then just copy the URL in the browser address bar.

2)  go to www.wordle.net and put the copied text into the text box at http://www.wordle.net/create or URL at the site.  Be creative - select a Font, a Layout, and a color scheme.

3)  Capture the image by doing a screen capture, or by doing an image snip.

4)  Show us your Wordle creation on your own blog, on a Facebook status, or on a Google Plus stream post.  

5)  What use to do see for a Wordle cloud that you created?

6)  Be sure to leave a Comment to this blog post telling us where to find it.


Here's my wordle. It's taken from a very short bio I did on my husband's half great uncle, Henry Weidemann.

I think it looks cool and something like this might peak the interest of my grandchildren. Picking through the words used in the image gives a hint to his life.

Where I've Been Lately

I know it's been quite awhile since I last posted; however, I have been busy with a myriad of other things.

First, my dear husband booked a cruise for over Easter so we had to quickly prepare for the voyage. There was shopping, laundry, cleaners, packing, and the many preparations needed when one is to be away for over a week.

Then, two days before our departure, our dog, Bessie, appeared to have an eye infection (which she did). While at the Vet, I mentioned she had a little sore on her leg in the area where in December she had TPLO surgery. The Vet was not pleased with what she saw and took x-rays which revealed a major problem with the plate and screws that had been implanted. "They have to come out", she said. So we went home with eye drops, antibiotics, and orders to call her surgeon to set up a new surgery.

Two days later, we left Bessie in the capable hands of Bark Avenue Day Camp (her home away from home) with all her meds and left for New Orleans and our ship. It was a very relaxing and enjoyable cruise. We met some wonderful people and had interesting conversations. Saturday, April 14, we made the 16 hour drive home losing most of the relaxed feeling we had gained during the week. ;-)

Bessie had her surgery on Tuesday and we have been playing nurse and rehab therapist ever since. From the icing of the leg and the 4 short walks daily to trying our best to keep track of her medication schedule, this has kept both me and my husband very busy. The good news is Bessie seems to be feeling better than she has in a long time; the bad news is when Bessie feels good she wants to run around and have fun. Running around is currently prohibited!

So, the little time I actually get on the computer is being spent catching up on blogs, facebook, twitter, and email. Any time left is being spent indexing or arbitrating batches of the 1940 Census Community Project for Illinois for the Illinois State Genealogy Society. Anyone out there who would like to help can get started at the link above. We can use all the help we can get!!

So, it's back to indexing for me.

1940 Census Error Found Already

I've spent just a little time finding "my people" on the 1940 census over the past few days. Since I'm indexing as well and feel more of my energy should be put on that task, I've only allowed a few minutes a day to look for myself. And, since I did my homework before the release and gathered the all important ED numbers, I was ready.

My Indiana relatives were easiest to find as they are mostly rural and tended to stay put over long periods. I found my direct line and a few collaterals were spotted along the way.

Today, when I saw that MyHeritage.com had posted Illinois, I made the effort to find my husband's Chicago family. To my surprise, I found his grandmother listed with her four married sons but no daughters-in-law. Hmm, did they all have fights and run home to Mommy? I doubted that
.
Since I had a address for where hubby's Dad should have been and since I was still looking for my mother-in-law, I went to that ED and guess what I found. There they were, both of them, living happily in their own apartment.

Now, in my opinion, the odds are I'll find the other boys living with their wives too. How this error occurred, I don't know. Maybe grandma didn't understand a question about her children - yes, she was the informant-, maybe the census taker didn't ask the questions properly, however it happened my husband's father and, most likely his three brothers, are listed twice in the census.

So Little Time - Passing On Your Research

Two weeks ago my husband’s cousin, Kay, passed away. Kay had been diligently researching her mother’s side of the family for several years and had accumulated lots of wonderful information. Unfortunately, no other family members from that side are currently interested in continuing her work. It is believed in the future a nephew or niece may take up the research but, for now, we can only try to retain important data for later use, perhaps much later.

To that end, as the family historian on the Dad’s side of the family, I was called in to determine what to keep and what not to keep. What an ominous project and I only had one morning, this morning, in which to do it! Fortunately, Kay was wonderfully organized, making decisions much easier than they might have been.

Kay maintained binders - there must have been forty of them - containing descendant’s charts, family group sheets and important documents, as well as separate binders for census records and such. These I suggested should be retained for future reference. Being familiar with Kay’s ability to research and document, I feel secure the most important information for a future genealogist will be found in those binders. Because storage space will be limited, I was far more discriminating with the various folders contained in the filing cabinet.

Now, for the real point of this blog! I backed-up Kay’s Family Tree Maker File to an external device and gave both the file and the software version she was using and the manual for that version to the family. However, technology being what it is that file and the software will be obsolete before we know it. I can guarantee nothing will be updated after today.

Now, I love technology but I am convinced we still need to get our genealogy on paper. I came to that conclusion a couple of years ago when I decided to start creating family history books to be sent to family members and libraries. Whether it’s in book form or printed out and organized in binders or family folders, please, make sure your work is in print form. If you’re still researching, be sure to keep your print records updated as well as your computer files.

I’m wearing a shirt that says, “So many ancestors; so little time.” The truth of that statement was made very clear to me today. We have no way of knowing how long we have on this earth. To have any hope of our work carrying forth to the next generation of genealogists, we need to put it into a stable form. The most stable form, even today, is print.

Yes, I am posting this on my blog and will mention it on Twitter and Facebook but, if I really want my g-g-grandchild to read this, I will print it, put it in an archival safe sheet protector, and put it in a binder marked DO NOT DESTROY – FOR THE NEXT FAMILY HISTORIAN!! There’s no guarantee that will work either, but at least I will have given it my best shot.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Surname count

I don't have too much time this afternoon so I'll have to be brief with my answer to Randy Seaver's

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - How Many Surnames?

It's Saturday Night - time for more Genealogy Fun!

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:

1)  Go into your Genealogy Management Program (GMP; either software on your computer, or an online family tree) and figure out how to Count how many surnames you have in your family tree database.

2)  Tell us which GMP you're using and how you did this task.

3)  Tell us how many surnames are in your database and, if possible, which Surname has the most entries.  If this excites you, tell us which surnames are in the top 5!  Or 10!

4)  Write about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post, in a status or comment on Facebook, or in Google Plus Stream post.

However, I did take a minute to check out a few statistics. I am using Family Tree Maker 2012 and this is what the file statistics gave me:

As you can see, from my 4,534 people in the file, I have 925 surnames (among those is the all too common UNKNOWN). I was surprised to see I had 816 Media items since I only started adding media a couple of years ago.


This is my main file where I keep both my sides and my husband's sides of the family. I've often considered dividing the two but so far I've kept us together:-)

My 2011 Goal Results & 2012 Goal

This year is nearly over and I know without a doubt I'll not be reaching my 2011 goal of writing and publishing my Leisure family. I did make some progress. I decided on a format and created an outline. The format which includes biographies for my direct line seems to have been my stumbling block.

As you may know, if you've followed my posts, writing my father and my grandmothers' bios took considerable time and no small amount of "pondering." I feel great accomplishment in saying their stories are finished (some editing still needed) but, since my Leisure line in America goes back to the 1700s, I have oh so far to go.

What I'll need to do in 2012 - because this goal will carry over - is be diligent in keeping to a writing schedule. No excuses this year! Of the 24 hours in each day, at the very least, one must be dedicated to completing this task. Let's say five of seven days anyway, with the exception of vacation days. See there I go again!

I know I'll be drawn to more research as I go along and, though I don't consider that wasting time, I'll need to balance it with "getting things down on paper" - so to speak. I must keep reminding myself the research will never be finished - there will always be something new popping up; but, maybe, some of that should be left to the genealogists who come after me. After all, I have lots of lines I need to cover before I'm through. If I don't provide what I know in a concise and easily accessed manner, very likely my work will end up in a recycle bin somewhere.

So, I welcome 2012 with new enthusiasm and commitment to publish my Leisure Line.

My Ponderer Is All Tied Up

Wow, it's been awhile since I've had a chance to post here and I will probably be remiss for a while longer. As silly as it sounds, it's all because of our dog, Bessie.

That's a picture of her before she injured her knee and before the surgery last Friday to correct it. Now the back leg you see is shaved and looks like a naked turkey leg.

She is four and a half years old and very energetic. In fact, it is her athleticism that got her in this fix in the first place. She had what in humans in called an ACL tear most often suffered by athletes who run fast and turn too quickly.

Her incision seems to be healing well and the swelling is finally gone, although she still isn't using the leg too much. From what I gather, it will be eight weeks before the leg will be healed and probably three months before she is back to normal.

Right now the trial is keeping her from licking the incision area and keeping her quiet and off her feet most of the time. Really it's not like dealing with a person; she doesn't seem to understand all this is for her own
good. She only knows she's starting to feel better and "why can't I get off the deck and chase those squirrels?"

Anyway, between my husband and I, we're on 24/7 watch the dog duty at least for another week when the wound should be healed. Maybe after that my pondering mind will get back to thinking about research, writing, and family history. For now, it's "No, Bessie, leave it alone!!"

The Thanksgiving Table

Tomorrow is the big turkey day and the family will be gathering at my daughter’s house for the feast. With few exceptions the Thanksgiving Day gathering has been an annual tradition. Though the location changed from time to time over the years, the tradition held together well.

 I don’t recall how we celebrated as I was growing up and living with my parents. Once we moved to Chicago, I’m sure we just had a quiet family dinner with the five of us – my parents, my two brothers, and me. Later, after my sister was born, my brothers and I were all married and living far from home.

However, by 1963, at least for a short time, we “kids” were all back home with our spouses and children. Once again Mom had a houseful to cook for at Thanksgiving. I guess that's when the tradition really began. Time went on and the two boys with their families moved away again but my husband, Jim, and I stayed on with our two girls. Thanksgiving became a holiday to bring all of our families together. My mother included Jim’s parents and sister in all the gatherings which meant we didn't have to divide our time between sides.

Jim and I and the girls moved from small apartment to small apartment for years – no room for hosting a Thanksgiving dinner. Finally, in 1971, after nearly ten years, we bought our home with room enough for all. Thanksgiving became my holiday! How I loved cooking, decorating the tables, and bringing everyone together!

But, of course, I wasn’t quite satisfied. My vision of Thanksgiving (Norman Rockwell style) included everyone sitting around one large table, – all the adults, at least - not split between numerous small tables and TV trays. Jim, as he so often does, came to the rescue. He built a table long enough for all the grown-ups and wide enough to handle the serving dishes, turkey platter, and place settings. The children still had to sit at a card table, but that still fit my vision.

I loved that table. It served us well for dinner after dinner and not just on Thanksgiving. It’s still around somewhere, I think. I’ve not used it in years and it’s been passed from daughter to daughter through the years. I won’t need it back but I still have the picture in my mind of our families giving thanks around it.

Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!! 

Wordless Wednesday - My Girls

Just a sample of the 500 plus photos scanned from the box under the bed!! Project complete!!

A New Toy

I've been saving up for a long time to buy an IPad. The tablet size just seemed like it would be so much easier to read than my IPhone - which by the way I love. I guess that was really my problem; other than the size couldn't see any big advantage to the purchase. After all, I do more writing and taking notes than anything else and I really didn't think the IPad would be too advantageous with my needs.

Even so, I set out Wednesday thinking I'd come home with and IPad. I'd seen a really good price at our Sam's Club but decided to check my options at Best Buy first. While talking to the young man assisting me, I mentioned I do a lot of writing and he directed me to the Asus Tablet ( an Android system) which comes with Polaris - an app which reads and writes to MicroSoft products like Word, Excel, and Power Point; all products I use. In addition, I added the docking station which, when docked, turns the tablet into a net book with a full keyboard, USB slots, SD slot and additional battery power.

I'm giving it a try. I have 14 days to return it if I find I don't like it but, so far, I'm very happy with it. I've added a few apps and am writing this post with it using the keyboard. If I find something I really don't like, I'll let you know.