Christmas Card -- 1921

I found an article which appeared in The Hartford Courant, Dec. 14, 1976. "The Peck Memorial Library (Berlin, CT) announced Monday the opening of a new exhibit of more than 40 Christmas cards. The exhibit, titled 'Christmas From the Bishops,' will feature cards sent by the Earle K. Bishops of Kensington section from 1921 to 1976." This month, I will be posting several of my grandfather's cards.


This was made in 1921, three years after they married.

Looking Back

First I want to publically thank the seven people who awarded me the Kreativ Blogger Award, their first names and blog sites are below.  Please check them out.
Gini at http://ginisology.blogspot.com/
Sharon at http://kindredfootprints.blogspot.com/
Jenna at http://desperatelyseekingsurnames.blogspot.com/
Bill at http://westinnewengland.blogspot.com/
Earline at http://ancestralnotes.ebradt.org/
Hummer at http://branchingoutthroughtheyears.blogspot.com/
Dru at http://findyourfolks.blogspot.com/

The first six of the above names are new friends, I didn't know them prior to October.   The awards came via a commet to my site, or email.  I am not sure if the senders ever read my replies, so I am doing it publically here.  When each award was given, I was really shocked, and didn't know what to do.  So I did what comes naturally, I declined for several reasons.  First, I am hoping to have clean and clutter free blog, and second, I don't want to be in the position of awarding it to others, as there are so many good Blogs out there.  Each and everyone is deserving, we are all spending lots of time on them, both in the thinking, typing and editing phases of their creation.  I don't think I will ever single out a blog as being one of the best, as I already like many.


Sometimes, I feel like I am living in the editing phase.  There hasn't been a single blog that, even tho I use the Preview option, I haven't had to go back to change something.  Yesterday's blog was set in error for 12/29/09 because I was working on December blogs, and did the entire month.  But, in reality, I wanted the cemetery article shown for yesterday, Nov. 29.  I began to wonder where it was on the dashboard.  A quick check showed it was set for December 29!


This new time-consuming part of my life has forced me to be a bit more organized and plan ahead about the subject matter.  I think that yesterday's blog is a good example.  I decided when I posted my cemetery list, (see November 18, 2009, Cemetery List in Google Spreadsheet) that I would scan and enter all those photos into http://www.findagrave.com/ in the order of that cemetery list. I was going to post some Bishop photos for Tuesday, then in going through my stuff, found the plot information, cemetery map and my old photo from 1981.  That did it, I had my article, and decided it was good for a Sunday read.


Thank you too to the people who have helped me:  Gini and Dru for recent help and Cheryl for her early encouragement.  Apple sent me a detailed explanation of how to make my links smaller (I am still having problems, but maybe it due to our different programs).  I appreciate you all.


And a special thank you to Les, who quickly emailed me after my yesterday blog of Nov. 29th appeared.  He said he would go three miles to the cemetery to take pictures for me.  Within hours, I had new pictures of the monument with the names of my grandparents, great grandparents, gg grandparents and ggg grandparents!


I hope to make this Looking Back segment a monthy piece, and will cover just a few things, mostly follow-ups during the current month.

I Did Everything Right, but Couldn't Take a Photo!

Prior to April 1999, I obtained the plot card and diagram of the cemetery where my grandparents and others in my family were buried. In addition, I located the microfilm page of the Hale Collection for the listing of all those buried in this West Cemetery, Plainville, Connecticut. Since I had been there before, in 1981, I had the memory of what the Bishop monument looked like; it was the tallest in the cemetery.  But, when I returned in 1999, I learned a valuable lesson. You are only as good and prepared as your camera allows you to be.  My 35mm took great pictures, but not so if you couldn't read the inscription, and Not when you completely forget to take close ups of the opposite side, where there were additional names, and not writing down what is inscribed!

Plot card above, there is an error, as my grandmother, Sarah, is not listed.

Diagram of the Cemetery, with plots I was interested in seeing shown in circles.

Page from the Hale Collection, copied from microfilm.

August 1981, my grandfather was buried here, and this is the family monument.  At least I could read the names.  I took this photo, so maybe I had an interest in the family back then.

My horrible shot.  And, why didn't I move my car?

The opposite side clearly reads Lowrey, also my direct line.  Fortunately, their names are listed in the Hale Collection, see 3rd photo above, so I know who is buried there.  But a close-up would have been nice.


Follow-up.  Within hours of posting this, I received an email.  My NBF wrote, "Barbara, I will try to get some good pictures of the Bishop monument for you. I live about 3 mi from it.  I enjoy your blog."  Talk about a happy dance.  And true to his word.  When I got home from a walk, there were the pictures waiting for me!  Thank you Les Larrabee.

A County-by-County look at Ancestry

 

This map has been shared many times since July 1, 2004, and it is in pretty rough shape.  However, I thought it might be interesting to some of the readers.  You could almost trace your ancestry.

Alameda, California -- Same House, Different Years

My mother and Steve Danko both took pictures of the same house. It is in Alameda, California and I lived here for 10 years, before moving to Connecticut, and then Massachusetts. In 2006, Steve mentioned he was going to Alameda, and he told me he would swing by and take an updated picture.  Since the house was for sale, he gave me the Real Estate link and I was able to take a visual tour of the rooms, and I was thrilled to see it. The San Francisco Bay was a short walk down the street.

Photo taken by my mother.

Copyright 2006 by Stephen J. Danko. Used with permission.

Another picture from Google. "2 beds, 1 bath, 1160 sq. ft. house located at 1230 Pearl St, Alameda, CA 94501 sold for $632,000 on Apr 4, 2007".

Tombstone Tuesday -- BALLARD

Josiah Ballard and his wife Sarah Carter Ballard, My 6th great grandparents.

Middle Cemetery, Lancaster, Worcester Co., Massachusetts

Josiah Ballard

Born: August 14, 1721, Andover, Essex Co., Massachusetts

Died: August 06, 1799, Lancaster, Worcester Co., Massachusetts

Josiah was a Revolutionary War Patriot

Sarah Carter Ballard

Born: November 10, 1725, Lancaster, Worcester Co., Massachusetts

Died: March 31, 1799, Lancaster, Worcester Co., Massachusetts

Normally, I don't do cemetery hunting in November in Massachusetts, it must have been a very warm day. The FindAGrave site for Josiah is: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GScid=1425683&GRid=19553751


Also at the cemetery is their son, Jeremiah Ballard, which I didn't know about until 11/22/09.

Monday Madness -- My madness about The Westford Knight

Update: I finally saw The Westford Knight last year, and my photos are below.

Now why haven't I seen The Westford Knight?  Dick Eastman posted an article about it yesterday (Nov. 2009) in his Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter, full article for Plus subscribers, see: http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2009/11/-the-westford-knight-1.html  There have been many newspaper articles and blog postings about it.

On April 11, 2014, Dick Eastman wrote another piece about the Westford Knight. See: http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2014/04/knights-in-shining-armor-in-the-1300s-in-massachusetts.html

Per The Westford Museum, "According to one account the first Europeans to reach Westford were part of an expedition led by Prince Henry Sinclair, of Scotland. This voyage would have reached the New World in about 1400 A.D. The "Westford Knight" would then be a grave marker for one of the expedition who died near-by. The carvings can be seen as a picture of the Knight, complete with sword."

Photo from Wikipedia.

My husband has seen the stone, but I haven't.  Here is the thing, it is so close to where I live, maybe 4-5 miles away.  I wonder if it has to do with the fact, that I am not related?  I am getting mad right now, and if I didn't have to leave in a few hours, I would drive over right now.  But maybe he is my ancestor, and I've ignored him all these years!

When I do go, I am taking my map with me...hope I don't get lost.

DAR - Becoming a Member and a 100 year celebration - Part 3

A very busy day at the DAR Library
(see below for the reason)

This is part 3 of my article, this week, about working at the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) in Washington, DC.


A few of the staff genealogists asked if I was interested in genealogy. What? I had no idea what they were talking about. I had a little interest, and all I knew about my heritage was that I was 1/4 Dutch, and my grandmother was from Canada, so I thought, also part Canadian. My father was born in Illinois, his line was from somewhere and they just plopped in Evanston. I knew nothing else. Thank goodness, being a DAR member was not a requirement for being an employee. Although most employees were women, there were a few men working as well. There was a staff of about 25 in the Genealogy department, but not all were genealogists, nevertheless, you can see, it was a huge department. The Library was a large department as well. The 360-degree view of the Library is wonderful, and I'm posting the site again. http://www.dar.org/omni/virtualtours/hq/index.html


If you ever get to Washington, DC, I strongly recommend the building as a building to visit. For you genealogists (men or women), by all means, please go. The cost is something like $6 for the day, no cost for DAR members. For the children and wife, they can take a tour of the period rooms and see the Museum. All information is on their home page. One of the nicest things about the Library is that their books are listed in the card catalog,  http://www.dar.org/library/onlinlib.cfm so you can see ahead of time their holdings. A great way to prepare your research there.  In addition, there is a microfilm center, a place where I almost went blind and wore my arm out. Even to this day, I can't do more than three hours of microfilm at a time or I get dizzy.


The genealogy bug hit me about two weeks later, when I received a wonderful package from my mother, then living in Massachusetts. Among the items I received was a copy of her DAR application, birth records for her and me, information about her chapter in Connecticut, and other documents and papers. I had no idea about this part of her past! Within minutes, I rushed to a few people and told them what I found out. One employee, in particular, a now CG, took me under her wing. She explained that the DAR was trying to get as many new members on board because the following year was their huge 100-year celebration, the Centennial. From that moment forward, that is just about all I heard about until it happened. Of course, there was a lot of learning on how to do my research.  I did a huge amount of work, but I was really lucky because many on the staff helped me, but no matter what, I never paid attention to the whole thing about citations and working on the whole family, I did just my line, can you imagine? And even today, I am making corrections and trying to find sources to put where they should be. I might not have been really lucky, because I found so many lines really quickly, thus moved from family to family in a heartbeat, and could never keep them straight.


On my first day of research, I clearly remember. My genealogy friend knew my great grandparents were from New Haven, and immediately brought me up to the 3rd floor, where she pulled out a 1920 city directory...there he was listed. I was shocked. Then the same week, I found a great book on Durham, Connecticut, which had the births and marriages in chronological order of my mother's DAR patriot, I learned how to trace my line, staying up to 2 AM, and yes, I did sneak the book out, but the Librarian knew it. The next thing, within that first week, was, my friend went to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in DC and got a copy of the 1920 Federal Census of my grandparents, listing my father as being one year old. I had no idea what a census looked like, and was pretty impressed.


In the following months, I took all my breaks, lunchtime, and many bathroom trips via the Library to research also went to the Library on the weekend. I think some of the Library staff must have wondered about seeing me all the time. And my bosses, well they must have known and wondered why I was doing so much xeroxing. At this time, I was working on the same line as my mother, but I discovered another Revolutionary War patriot and decided to use him, and his name was added into the book, DAR Patriot Index, a three-volume set of books, which lists the patriots that the DAR members have used. Because of my connections, all my paperwork went through the channels rather quickly. I decided to join the same chapter my mother belonged to in Connecticut. Those members were thrilled to have a new member and when some of them visited the DAR, I got to meet them. However, when I moved, I dropped my membership. If I remember correctly, the chapter was disbanding, as did the one where I now live. Unfortunately, that has happened to many chapters.


The 100th Anniversary Celebration was in October 1990, there were so many planned events. Some for all employees (like receptions) and some just for members. As I fit both categories, I attended a lot of things, and still managed to do my job. There was a lovely reception at the Capital Hilton Hotel, I believe on Sunday afternoon to kick off the week of festivities. The birthday dinner also at the Capital Hilton Hotel was a night I won't ever forget. Everybody was dressed to the nines, and very happy. Indeed, a nice experience. The photo below is of the President General cutting a cake in the Library. And as shown in the photo above, not a seat to be had that same day.  Everybody wanted cake and to do research.

President General cutting the cake in the Library.

DAR Records, Old and New

Example of an old Genealogy Record card before the new online system was made available to the public this week.

The big news that the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) recently released about the Online Research of the DAR Genealogical Research System sure is exciting, to men and women.  Randy Seaver posted an explanation recently, http://www.geneamusings.com/2009/11/using-dar-grs-ancestors-and-descendants.html.  His article is quite good, so there is no need for me to repeat it.

What I can do, for those who like a little background, is explain how the system used to work.  Above is a copy of an original card.  A new National Number was typed with the name of the child (Jesse Wright) of whom the new DAR member descended from, going to the patriot, in this case Asher Wright.  More than one child's name could be on a card.  If there were five children, you are lucky, because of the additional information you could get. Recently, I posted two examples of my very early ancestors who were DAR members, the first name listed in both the old and new systems.  Sophia Davis Bishop's with National No. 36,686.  See: http://lifefromtheroots.blogspot.com/2009/11/dar-application-1901-and-letter-from.html  The old method was rather archaic, and errors were bound to happen, probably more frequently than the new data entry system.  In addition, the cards could be filed away in the wrong place, or walked away.  The room where the cards were stored, was off limits, but since I worked there, I managed to get copies of a good 10 or so of my ancestors.  Now you can see why I am so excited.  This is a great site to see if you have a Revolutionary War patriot.

A copy of the same information, from the new online site for Asher Wright is below.

Image of the new

Note:  As yet, I don't know how to make the links smaller.  But at least they work.

DAR Online Research site:  http://www.dar.org/library/online_research.cfm

We Have the Same Name. She is a Cousin!

Photo by Diane M. Boumenot

We grew up with the same name, wrote to the Newberry Library in Chicago the same week, and found out we were related. Let me explain.

On November 23, 1998, I sent an email to the Newberry Library, stating I just found out (after nine years of doing genealogy) that my 2nd great grandfather was the first Librarian of the Newberry, and could I have the address or email of a researcher who could help me.

A reply soon followed, stating they had researchers as well as a lot of information that they could send me. That short email also had this line, "I recently made copies of some material on him for another person" Of course I wrote back and said, "... can you tell me for what purpose, or is it confidential. I am wondering if it is a long-lost relative, or is he/she writing a paper?"

A few emails later, I got the name of the other Barbara Poole who was also researching him. We then corresponded and determined we were second cousins, once removed, but both of us were still a bit leery of the other. She lived in Texas and I in Massachusetts. However, once I found out her aunt’s name I remembered many years ago, having dinner at her aunt's house. Once given the aunt's phone number, I called her in Duxbury, MA and she remembered my family and the Thanksgiving dinner.

Once the other Barbara found out about the dinner and other things, I felt she really believed me. It took us both a while to accept our new relationship.

Barbara, a teacher, and I wrote many times, but only when her classroom was open, as she didn't have a computer at home. When summer vacation came, we were out of luck and out of touch. I have tried contacting her in the past, but no reply ever came my way, and the elderly aunt passed away. Several months after my initial query to the Library, I wrote an appreciation letter to the Reference Librarian who had the initiative to let me know about the other Barbara Poole. She had wanted to write an article about the two Barbara's connecting, for a little piece in the Library's newsletter, but I never heard if she did.

I call this story, "We have the Same Name" and I've told it several times because it is rather unbelievable. It pays to follow leads and pray for somebody who is willing to go above and beyond their job duty. Now, where can I find that other Barbara Poole?

UPDATE: September 28, 2018
As I review some of my old posts, I've made additions, corrected typos, and changed photo and font sizes.

Since I am trying to find my cousin, I've decided to use her name, with hopes she will be found. It is, Barbara Poole Whatley, her husband is Thomas, and they have a son, Bryan. I believe they might still be living in Texas.

The name of the Reference Library at the Newberry Library is Rhonda Frevert. Not long after she and I corresponded, I got a notice that she was appointed Curator of the Local and Family History Dept. at the library; however, almost 20 years later, she is the director of a library in Iowa.

 Please see my post, with many photos taken by my friend, Diane M. Boumenot during her visit to the Newberry Library. https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4664905362839287500#editor/target=post;postID=1220187835891929620;onPublishedMenu=posts;onClosedMenu=posts;postNum=2;src=link