Putting My Lives Together

A little update. I have not posted a blog since December 2019, but I feel like I've been blogging the entire 2020 year posting to my journal in a private blog. The working title is called Putting My Lives Together and I thought it was an appropriate title because I was constantly getting my life's facts wrong. This isn't like a genealogy post or research, but I was dealing with my own documents and memory. The thing that started me on this trail was I discovered I had seen the Gateway Arch in St. Louis three times instead of one time, and since I didn't remember that, I decided to do something about it.

So, my 2020 New Year's Resolution was to do a journal about my life. I knew I had lived in 18 different locations covering four states (California, Connecticut, Virginia, Massachusetts, and a few months in Texas when I was in the service).  I also remember the four different fourth grades (in three different states), and the two high schools in different towns in Massachusetts, the last year was my senior year.

I've never used scrapbooks or journals, but I did have a 5-year diary for years 1963/4-68, and a lot of loose papers, some with a date of what I did. However, I was a huge collector of mementos, playbills, tickets to concerts, theaters, various events, a lot of letters because I was always moving, flyers, newspaper clippings, photos, and other items. These were always stored in a big Rubbermaid container. Nothing organized (just like genealogy sometimes). When I began going through my paper treasurers, I found my baptism certificate and had no idea I had been baptized in Illinois! That along with finding photos of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis got me thinking about my life. I also couldn't remember the chronological order of some of my jobs and dates to many of my moves. And, the letters from my grandparents, aunt, and mother (hidden away for 25 to almost 50 years) provided a wealth of information. I had everything saved that mattered.

In January 2020 I made eight piles of what I wanted to cover. Where I lived, various friends in each location, jobs, plays, my family, trips all over the United States. Doing this helped me immensely. I always knew I saw the St. Louis Gateway Arch in 1979 with my sister on a west-to-east coast road trip. but I had completely forgotten a 1988 trip from Virginia to the midwest with my husband, and a 1976 road trip from Virginia to St. Antonio. Thank goodness I had photos of all three and they were dated on the back. New York City trips were pretty much jumbled, I just knew I visited about 25 times, but with whom, where did we stay, and what we did was driving my mind crazy.

Fortunately, after a week or so, I got the piles done but wasn't sure how to begin putting them together. So, I began with Journal #1 sharing all I knew about my birth in New Britain, CT, and that my grandmother was the attending nurse. My grandfather was an architect of the house, and I only lived there for about 9 months before moving to California...that location was covered in Journal #2.

When I began this journal I told my husband that I would allow myself one year. So, my friends, this is why I didn't write any genealogy blogs last year. The project was very therapeutic because my husband died on April 14th. Throughout the 2020 year, many of my memories with past boyfriends and former husband, my DAR and VA jobs in Virginia cheered me up. My husband and I began our lives together about 52 years ago, so there was a lot of coverage regarding him, both in Massachusetts and Virginia.

We loved genealogy, cemeteries, and libraries. This is my favorite photo of him. Thank you Bill for the memories.

I put this information into a new Blogger file, printed it out in color, and copied it to Dropbox. I went through so much ink and paper of course, but the 350-page pile was worth it.

If I had children, I believe this would be something they could be interested in, rather than reading about the old people in my genealogy reports.

So, I have spent the last few days working on some posts, one is recent, the others were done in a draft in 2019. You will see a few new posts down the road very soon.

Visiting the Monuments and Old North Bridge 57 Years Ago!

My mother's college friend, Mrs. Williams and her two daughters came to visit us in Lexington in 1958. We had already lived in that town for about four years, so I am quite certain the 1958 visit wasn't my first time there. One of the daughters, Dee Williams Malan and I were about the same age and when I lived in Alexandria, VA, she did too. We saw each other often, and once she came to Lowell,  MA for a quick visit. I am in the middle back, mother on the right and my two sisters are in front.

HERE

On the 19 of April

1775

was made

the first forcible resistance

to British aggression

On the opposite Bank

stood the American Militia

HERE stood the Invading Army

and on this spot

the first of the Enemy fell

in the War of that Revolution

which gave

Independence

to these United States

In gratitude to GOD

and

In the love and Freedom

this Monument

was erected AD 1836.

Below photos taken 2013, 2015, Concord, Massachusetts.

I never knew the name of this monument, so Wikipedia came to the rescue. It appears it's just called the 1836 Monument. While on that site, I discovered some other very interesting bits of information, shared below:

"Bridge

The original North Bridge was dismantled in 1793 by the town of Concord because its use as a bridge had become impractical; a new bridge was erected a few hundred yards away. The bridge was rebuilt multiple times in 1875, 1889, and 1909. The current replica was built in 1956 and was based on drawings of the bridge built in the 1760s. The bridge was restored in 2005.

1836 memorial (above)

In 1836, when there was no bridge at the site, the residents of Concord erected a memorial obelisk on the east side of the river, the side closest to the town center. Inscribed on the eastern (approach) side of the monument is: "HERE On the 19 of April, 1775, was made the first forcible resistance to British aggression[.] On the opposite Bank stood the American Militia[.] Here stood the Invading Army and on this spot the first of the Enemy fell in the War of that Revolution which gave Independence to these United States[.] In gratitude to GOD and In the love of Freedom this Monument was erected AD. 1836."

On Independence Day, July 4, 1837, the memorial was dedicated, an event for which Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote his "Concord Hymn". The first, and best known, of the four stanzas of this poem is:

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,

Their flag to April's breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood
And fired the shot heard round the world.

1875 memorial (below)

The first stanza of "Concord Hymn" is inscribed at the base of the statue Minute Man by Daniel Chester French. The statue, which stands on a 7-foot-tall granite pedestal, was cast in the Ames Foundry in Chicopee, Massachusetts and was made from seven American Civil Warcannons donated for the project by Congress. The statue, and the 1875 bridge, were dedicated on April 19, 1875 at a centennial recognition of the original battle of April 19, 1775."

1875 Memorial, more commonly known as the Minuteman Statue.

Past photo posts about the North Bridge Visitor Center, park and bridge in Concord, seen HERE and HERE. In reviewing the photos, I don't think I need to take any more photos!

Lexington High School, Lexington, Massachusetts Looking Back

Recently, I was in Lexington, Massachusetts and went into the library, as I was waiting for a friend. It's been many years since I saw copies of the yearbooks for the three years I attended the school. The librarian retrieved them, and I made copies of only my homeroom. Two years are shown below, my 10th and 11th grades. We moved to Chelmsford, going into my 12th grade.

 Above was my 11th grade homeroom.

Above was my 10th grade homeroom.

Beads and Things from New York City

I used to visit various stores frequently to buy my Christmas ornament supplies. M. and  J. Design was my favorite store. The beads were used to make my own designed Christmas balls. At one time, I had over 150 ornaments, all different. The hobby began around 1965 when I used kits, but soon after I designed my own. The last one I made was around 2000.

The www.mjtrim.com website on window.

My Blog is Finally Two Years Old!

For my second year Blogiversary*, I had to take a special photo, shown on the left. It was taken about five miles from my house on a rainy, yet warm October 14th. It also serves as a reminder to me, to write about Garden Cemeteries.


Last year I wrote 302 posts, and this year 250. I'm trying to cut down on writing and spend more time on research. No brick walls have been solved, that's my biggest regret. But this doesn't mean I won't try to write interesting posts, I will try very hard.

One of the best things that happened this year was finally being able to see my grandparent's gravestone, a photo was taken by a cemetery employee. The cemetery is in Illinois (I live in Massachusetts).


I began a new series for Sunday posts, that being a listing of all the obituaries in the Lowell Sun newspaper for Lowell, Massachusetts. Usually I show just the name, where they were from and age. Two things I discovered, first, I receive a huge number of hits, and second, I found out that three of my classmates died last week, we were all the same age! After more than a month, none of the readers has asked me to send a copy of an obit, but I have them saved, ready to scan for their asking.


Two fun events happened recently. The New England GeneaBlogger's Bash was held in late August, and I met some bloggers there. Last week, I met top Genea-Blogger, Thomas MacEntee and several other bloggers in Boston.

In closing, I'll repeat what I wrote last year, "thank you to each of you who have followed me, left comments and / or encouraged me. Without you, I wouldn't have made it." Will I make it to my third, we will see.

* Blogiversary combines the words Blog and Anniversary.

With Needle in Hand -- Wordless Wednesday

I Used to Dress in Style -- Wordless Wednesday

Follow Friday -- One year Blogiversary

I debated whether I would even mention my Blogiversary, then when I saw I’ve written 302 posts in one year, I decided it might be worth mentioning. Especially since I never thought I would make it through the first month!

My first post, dated Oct. 15, 2009, was a guest posts for blogger Stephen Danko, but it was actually something written for him on September 3, 2006. Even after seven early guest posts, it took another few years before I got my courage to begin the blog.

Now, I’ve decided to make a few changes to the blog, as some of you may know, it looks the same since day one…and it will still look the same. I just want to fix the labels and check links.  For the next few months, I plan on posting mainly on Saturday and Tuesday, and perhaps a few other things, as time permits. My main goal now is to work on my brick walls.

Thank you to each of you who have followed me, left comments and / or encouraged me. Without you, I wouldn't have made it.

Grandmother and Me

My grandmother, Sarah Dumont Ten Eyck Bishop.

I don't remember this photo being taken, but it was in my grandparent's kitchen nook.  It is the only photo I have of us together, and this was probably when I first met her. I was brought up in California and she was living in Connecticut.

Sarah Ten Eyck left Dunham, Missisquoi Co., Quebec to attend a nursing school in the United States. I believe it was in Florida, as that is where she met my grandfather. They married in New York City and settled in his home state of Connecticut. Fortunately, she was the attending nurse at my birth in Connecticut.

She died shortly after this photo was taken, of lung cancer.

Many years earlier (1919) my grandmother was holding my mother, born in NYC.

Introduction -- New Kid on the Block

The nice thing about being the new kid on the blogging block is meeting new people, connecting with some who know the ropes, and some who encouraged me. The recent comments have been kind, and believe me, that helps. The fact that I have joined over 700 other Geneablogger is pretty impressive, it would be nice to follow all of them, but it won't be possible. Some future articles of mine have already been drafted, and I have seen that they are quite similar to others posted, but I guess with so many writers, that is to be expected.


My blog was created back in the summer of 2009, but I didn't write anything...writers block so early in the game. Even before that date, I wrote a couple of guest blogs for Steve Danko in 2006 and 2007, so I already knew how much fun it was to write them. Cheryl Fleming Palmer also received a few. However, I am not a writer, and rather enjoyed having my work corrected by Steve and Cheryl. Here I am on my own, it is a little scary. I at least warned you of my writing capabilities.


Most of my pieces will be from what I experienced through the hobby of genealogy. Not a whole lot about my immediate family as most are deceased such as parents, grandparents and an aunt. As a person who moved 17 different times, from CT to CA to MA to VA to MA to VA to MA, and went to 4 different 4th grades (CA, 2 in CT and 1 in Lexington, MA), I am not lucky to have any childhood friends, and only a few from high school (yes, I went 3 yrs. to one HS and graduated from an other, in a different town). So you see, I have often been the new kid on the block.