1976 Bicentennial -- July 4th

The nation was counting down to the Bicentennial for many years and Washington, D. C. intended to make that July 4, 1976 a memorable day for all.  As a matter of fact, events were planned for all four days.  Some of the special events I saw were the American Folklife festival, NARA displaying the Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights and the Constitution, a huge "American Bicentennial Grand Parade" and of course the fabulous fireworks.

Since I was living in Alexandria, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, I had no intention of missing any free events in the city.  But, there was a problem for the Fourth of July activities. Too many people, and the Metro (subway) hadn't opened yet in my area.  Fortunately, my first cousin, who lived two blocks from the Capital, invited me to spend two nights with her.  How wonderful for me and we spent the entire time together sharing all the great and free activities together. We saw the long parade, went to a concert or two and had a superb location to watch the fireworks, from the Capital, I think we had passes, because she worked for a Texas politician, and I don't remember fighting for a spot.  And when it was all over on the 4th, we were back at her place within minutes.

My photos aren't the best, actually among my worst, but I thought I would share them.  Happy 4th to everybody.

Sentimental Sunday -- Not Father, But Grandfather

I don't have a single photo of me and my father, or a new one that hasn't been shown before, so I chose to show this one with my grandfather, Clarence F. Poole. My sister and I were visiting my grandparents in Evanston, Illinois.The note on the back, written by my mother, says it all. We were once again moving.


(My mother made the coats, I got pockets and a cape on mine.)

Sentimental Sunday -- Two Soldiers Connect

There have been many wonderful stories on Memorial Day about our American soldiers. This one happened recently, and I had a part in it, so I am rather emotional writing about it. I am just afraid I am not doing this story true justice. There are four people involved; Jo, Bob, Gary, and Larry. Jo is the sister of Bob (soldier, still living, and who held dying soldier and buddy Gary in his arms). Jo is trying to locate Gary's brother as a favor to her brother Bob. The story began on May 02, 1967 in Vietnam when Gary died in the arms of Bob. Last month, I received a letter from Bob’s sister Jo.

What would you do if you received a letter like this, "Barbara. My name is Jo ___. My brother (Bob) served in the service with Gary. They were good friends and he, Bob, wants to connect up with his (Gary) family. Could you contact me. JO"

I wrote back, and the outcome was the most rewarding thing I have ever done. It turns out that Jo wrote me because I had the brothers, Gary and Larry in my genealogy program. The brothers are my 5th cousins. Jo googled their names and came across my information.

From Jo, I learned, "My brother Bob, served in the Vietnam War with Gary. He was there when he died. They were really close friends. I think they trained together and went over together. He talks about Gary after all these years and still grieves over his death. He grieved terribly when Gary died. He has been trying to find his family for years. He asked me to help find them. He knew that Gary was from Detroit, Mich. My brother was from Ohio. My brother has Agent Orange. He got it in Nam. He is under constant medical care from the VA."

There were very few facts, but I was up to the challenge. Once I realized this was a real life situation of a soldier trying to find another soldier's family, this was my priority until all the pieces came together. Was I ever in luck Or I should say, we were all in luck.

I located Larry, via internet, but didn’t want to write him, because if this was a true event, I thought an email stating, “I know who the person is who held your dying brother” would be too painful. Fortunately, Larry and Gary’s cousin, also found via internet, is a movie director / producer, so I wrote Pamela Peak for information and to see if the story was true.

An immediate reply came from her, and yes, the story was true. Being a writer in addition to her director / producer roll, Pamela had a lot to say. “WOW! I was 10 when Gary died and we, as family, always wanted even more clarification about his death. Gary was such a patriotic person and received many more medals than what we could comprehend based on what was told to the family about his death. I attended many of those medal ceremonies.” Pamela and I wrote many letters and everything came together.

From Jo (the sister of Bob):
“My brother Bob was only about 17 or 18 when this happened and Gary was only a couple years older. Bob said he cried for his mother when he was dying and that memory was burned in my brothers mind as he was so close to our Mom. What happened in the last minutes of his death was important to him and helped him get closure also.”


A week or so later, I received this message from Jo. “My brother and Gary’s brother talked a long time on the phone and my brother got some closure on Gary's death. My brother held Gary in his arms when he died. They were best friends in Vietnam. My brother has grieved over his death for years and talking to Gary's family has helped them all. The war was really bad for my brother and when he came home he was a mess. I am glad we finally found someone who knew Gary that he could talk to about him. We wish to thank you for all the help you gave us in finding this family. Barbara, again we thank you so much. You were a life saver for my family."

From Pamela (the cousin):
“Of course you can write about this on your blog. I am a writer and I totally want you to write about it. In fact, I'm due to give a speech at the foot of the Polar Bear Monument on Memorial Day in Troy, Michigan, just a short step away from where Gary is buried. The speech is about my film dedicated to the Polar Bears, and I will now be telling this incredible story about how you contacted me and how we found Bob so he could deliver his communication after all these years. It's quite a story isn't it? (I still have chills and tears in my eyes as I am writing this).”

“Thank you for all the work you do and for being the wonderful person you are to put us all in communication. Please let me know when you write about this on your blog. I would love to see it and I love knowing that others will now share this incredible story and pass it on.”

Bob, Larry, Jo, Pamela this is for you, and for Gary who will forever be in our hearts. Pamela, I am sorry I waited so long to write this, it was extremely difficult, but at last, I quote you, “I love knowing that others will now share this incredible story and pass it on.”

Note: This was originally posted last year, May 30, 2010.

Frances and the Flu

Cynthia Shenette of Heritage Zen wrote a 3-part post about the 1918 flu and at the end of the last part, I commented, "and just today I discovered a family member died of the flu." It is this person I decided to do a Sentimental Sunday post about. For many years, I always knew the year my grandaunt died, but I didn't have the date, location or cause of death. Cynthia has incorporated a lot of the flu history into her multi-post, so I won't repeat it here.


Imagine my surprise when at long last, I located death information for Frances, just a week ago.


From the Chicago Daily Tribune. Oct 11, 1918 - Miss Frances Poole, Red Cross, from Evanston was buried yesterday in Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington D.C. Miss Poole daughter of Mrs Charles Clarence Poole, 1123 Maple Avenue, Evanston died Tuesday at Camp Ontario, Oswego, NY of pneumonia following Influenza.


From the Chicago Daily Tribune. Oct. 27, 1918, Pg. 15 was the following Death Notice:
"Poole - Memorial services will be held for Frances Poole, army nurse, daughter of Mrs. C. Clarence Poole, sister of Lieut. Charles H. Poole, A. E. F.; and Dorothy Poole, at St. Luke's Episcopal church, Hinman and Lee Sts., Evanston, Ill., at 4:30 o'clock Sunday afternoon, Oct. 27th."


Suddenly, this 32 year old became alive, instead of just a name with death date of 1918. I found out she was a nurse. What a brave young woman to travel from the Chicago area to New York state to help the sick. She came from a rather wealthy family, was single and probably had all the wants and needs of her day. Her father, a patent attorney had died four years earlier. She still had 3 siblings, although the paper only named two. She was among the first to die in New York of the influenza.  Frances Poole died October 8, 1918. All those deaths, and my Frances was the one most important to me. I am saddened by how it happened, but I am so proud of her, a young angel trying to help the sick, trying to make a difference. I wish I knew more about her, but what I know, I won't ever forget.


From two official records  records about the The Great Pandemic of 1918-1919 in the United States:
"First Official Report of Influenza: The Public Health Service did not require states to report influenza before September 27th. New York first reported the presence of influenza on September 27th, but the disease was undoubtedly present in the state before that date.
On October 11th, the PHS said that 'Epidemics have been reported from Maybrook town (Orange County), Montgomery (Orange County), North Tonawanda, and Oswego. School and theaters had not been closed.' By October 18th, state officials admitted that influenza was prevalent throughout the state.

Although state authorities were too overwhelmed by the pandemic to keep accurate records, they did attempt to record deaths. By late October, New York City, Albany, Buffalo, Schenectady and Syracuse reported elevated death rates. During the week of November 1st, the PHS reported a total of 12,357 deaths in New York City. For the previous six weeks a total of 30,736 deaths were reported. The actual number of influenza-related deaths during this period was probably much higher."

"In October of 1918, Congress approved a $1 million budget for the U. S. Public Health Service to recruit 1000 medical doctors and over 700 registered nurses. Nurses were scarce, as their proximity to and interaction with the disease increased the risk of death." Frances may have been one of the nurses who answered this call."
"The flu afflicted over 25 percent of the U.S. population. In one year, the average life expectancy in the United States dropped by 12 years."

Frances and her parents buried at

Rock Creek Cemetery, Washington, D.C.

Owl Hoot Maple Farm -- What Surprises Awaited Me

We, my husband and I, were in an area far from home and in an country he had never been. We passed a sign for the Owl Hoot Maple Farm and I knew I had to stop. Because I really love maple candy and syrup, we decided to check out the store. The owner, Dianne Jones came to the door, and invited us into her kitchen. Unfortunately, no candy was available, but within minutes, I found out a wealth of information.


I told her how my aunt once owned a 144 acre maple sugar farm many years ago, and Dianne asked her name. Yes, you guessed it, they had met. Pretty amazing, since Dianne was in Quebec, Canada and my aunt then lived in Vermont. I was already excited, until I learned that she knew a lot about my family genealogy, that being of the Ten Eyck line, and pointing to the large photo in her kitchen she said it was of the Ten Eyck property. That was thrilling. But, it gets better.


Since Dianne knew some of my genealogy (which I was in the process of discovering my Canadian roots in 1999), she verbally gave me some of her husband's lineage. Her husband, John is my 6th cousin! And, it get's better...their son is married to my 2nd cousin!


Throughout the years, Dianne and I have kept in touch, and sharing bits of information. My cousin called several times this fall expressing an interest in her ancestry. That was very exciting.  In one email, Dianne wrote, "Did you know our sugarbush is part of the first TenEyck settlers property. We still can see stone foundations of at least two building sites, and some old bricks that was used for a chimney."


For the past 18 years, Dianne and John have been hosting their Owl Hoot Sugaring Off Party in April, to raise money for the local hospital. Last year over 500 people attended.


Other link about the event.
Brome Missisquoi Perkins Hospital (additional pictures)
Below is the flyer I took from my visit in 1999, I'm so glad I saved it, and especially glad I stopped in.

Not On The Railroad Tracks!

My great-grandmother died a terrible death. At age 69 she should have been living the good life, and enjoying her three great-grandchildren. But with her mother's death the year before and her husband's death three years prior, Mira Kilborn Bishop slipped into depression. She had one child, my grandfather, and I can only assume he tried to cheer her up. But, he was married with three children under ten, commuted to New York City from Connecticut, to work as an architect, so I doubt he was around much to help his mother.

I ordered her death certificate March 1991, as I needed this proof for my DAR papers. So I've known a long time about her death. But it wasn't until this past week that I decided to see about getting an obituary, only 19 years later. Then I thought of Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness (RAOGK), something I've never used, but have heard great things about. So, I wrote and requested an obituary on November 11th. On the third day, there it was, an email with a copy attached from a wonderful volunteer. Not quite an obituary, but the write-up about the "accident." Mona Rhone was super, I couldn't believe how fast she was in getting to to me, I didn't even have the chance to be impatient. Thank you Mona, and she already knows she will hear from me again.


Below are the copies of the newspaper article and death certificate.

From: Meriden Record-Journal

Front and back of death certificate.

Mira and Earl Kilborn

I Spent the Day With Him

My uncle, William Scribner "Scrib" Fellows, has been dead 44 years, and I have thought of him many times. He was married to my mother's sister, and although I hardly saw his family because they lived in another state. His unique first name, Scribner was taken from his grandmother's surname.

At age 42 year old on April 18, 1966, while at work in the morning, he called my aunt to say he wasn't feeling well and that he was coming home. But, he never arrived. All day, my aunt was frantic, and that escalated in the evening when a co-worker passed by a lake parking lot and spotted his car. Upon further investigation, it was discovered he had died at that spot.

A few days later, my aunt, the widow, and her brother from Dallas picked me up and we traveled a couple hundred miles to Tilton, New Hampshire where he was buried in his family plot, next to his father and grandparents.  It was a cold, windy April day, when he was buried in a nice cemetery on a hill with a great view. I recently went back to visit, and when I did I couldn't find the plot. It was my husband who found the site last week.

I probably didn't meet Scrib until I was in 4th grade, but the memories are there. He was so friendly and really played with my younger cousins. I really liked him, and I think everybody did. My aunt wrote me after the funeral service saying she had over 400 notes to write.

More than anything, I remember how he loved the woods. So much so, that after his death, his mother purchased the naming rights to a New Hampshire State Forest. It is called, Scribner Fellows State Forest. My husband and I finally visited it, and I was filled with emotion, I was so proud. After the day in the forest and the cemetery, I used all my available resources to find more information about my uncle. From the below article, you can see what a remarkable person he was during his very short lifetime. The photo above was taken in the Forest, and much later in the day, we went to his cemetery where the below pictures were taken.


From Brown Alumni Monthly July 1966, page 123.  "William Scribner Fellows '49, in Middletown, Conn., April 18.  He was the chief wood technologist with Stanley Works Laboratory. He began employment at Stanley Chemical Co., East Berlin, and was transferred to the corporate laboratory in 1961. In 1962, he was granted an educational leave of absence, receiving a Master's degree in Forestry from Yale University two years later. He returned to the Stanley Works laboratory as a technologist in 1964. During World War II, he served as Cpl., USA Infantry Division. He was a member of the Forest Products Research Society, the American Forestry Association, Society of American Foresters, Society of Wood Science and Technology, and the New England Kiln Drying Association. He also was a former member of the Cromwell (Conn.) Board of Education. Barbara B. Fellows, Maple Share Rd., Middletown, is his widow."

Because I have a long line of Fellows in my tree, I recently discovered that Scrib and I were 9th cousins, once removed as well as having the niece/uncle relationship.

A Day at the Library -- Sentimental Sunday

There usually isn't much sentimental about a day at the library, especially since the day was yesterday, but it will be before long.  A day filled with seeing Eric and Henry, Gary B. Roberts, Laura Lee K., helping a genea-blogger, mention of Kathryn Doyle and a crazed man who tried to stop the train I was on.

I went to the New England Historic Genealogical Library (NEHGS), in Boston, yesterday, because I received a letter earlier this week from Laura Lee K. of California stating, "In Boston at NEHGS, researching James Lowrey.  Happened to find your rootsweb genealogy, just after finding John and Elidia in the Barbour VR. Have been reresearching your entries." We corresponded and I knew I just had to meet her.

Upon arriving and the elevator door at NEHGS, out came Eric and Henry (Eric is the director of the DAR Library in Washington, D.C. and Henry is the editor of the NEHGS Register). They were leaving to catch a plane, so no time for hugs or chatting (Eric and I have known each other for over 20 years).  The next person I saw was well-known genealogist Gary Boyd Roberts, he was very happy and excited to be going to the FGS conference in Knoxville next week. I hadn't seen his name as a speaker, so I asked if he was talking, and he said, "no" and that he hadn't been there in a very long time.  So, some of you may see him. (I am privy as to why he is there, and will keep it that way, but you can ask him.)

Meeting Laura Lee, who had been at the Library for an entire week, with her darling, non-genealogist husband, was a real treat. They were attending the NEHGS program called, "Come Home to New England" a program that is held twice in the summer. Laura discovered me through my Roots Web site and wrote me. I had just written about the Lowrey Family Reunion several weeks ago, and it was this family she was working on. Meeting her was like seeing an old friend.  We spent a lot of time together sharing this and that.  I loved that she told her new friends that we were cousins. But most of all was the fact that my blog was the first she had ever read (how can you not get sentimental over that). My blog address is on my Roots Web site. I learned that she had gone to the Jamboree and to Salt Lake City this year, so of course, I was envious. In addition, she knows Kathryn Doyle of the California Genealogical Society. Laura and I will continue to correspond, we share many, many lines which I want to help her with. I was thrilled that somebody can use my genealogy research.

It was a full day, and one of the most fun I've had at a library, perfect in every way.  Until....I took the train from Boston to home.  Half way through the 45 minute ride, a crazy drunk or drugged 20ish person ran down our aisle, out the car and up the steps to the first car, where the engineer was!  The train continued, but we all wondered what was going on. Several conductors came through, and now the train stopped and the guy was brought back, with all the conductors and the engineer. To think he was trying to get to the engineer was rather scary, to say the least.  The guy was seated, and warned that the police would remove him at the next stop.  He continued to rant and rave and we all held our breath, and the passenger again got up, and the train stopped a 2nd time. It ended peacefully, we were all 20 minutes late, and the guy was one lucky person, and not arrested.  Apparently, it is a federal crime (as in air planes), but the conductor made the call to not contact the police.  He said, he thought of the passengers not wanting to be late.

So, can you get all this from the internet?  I don't think so.  But, that being said, I do love the internet. Read  the photo below...that is one day I won't go to the library!

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.

Amazing Discoveries -- I Should Have Looked in my own Backyard First

Imagine working in Washington, DC for twenty years, then moving hundreds of miles away, only to discover that two generations of your ancestors were buried in Washington. Then imagine finding out that an ancestor is buried 35 miles away, even though he died a thousand miles away. These two  amazing discoveries are among my favorite stories, and they are both sentimental to me, I still feel the excitement when I found out. It just shows events can be solved in the strangest way...it is the good luck way.

Last Sunday, I posted the Longest Obituary I've Ever Seen  https://lifefromtheroots.blogspot.com/2010/07/sentimental-sunday-longest-obituary-ive.html. To spare you from reading it, I will say, there is no mention of a burial site in that obituary. So I assumed the person was buried in the Chicago area, after all, that is where he died.  And, since I was now in the Boston area, I figured I might never find out (not having internet and all, in 2000). Fortunately, I soon thought to check out the obituary for his wife, and in the smallest of print, it stated she was buried at Harmony Grove Cemetery in Salem, Massachusetts (maybe 40 miles from me)! Seems, the wife had him moved back to Massachusetts from Illinois, after his death.

July 2016 -- I now live 12 miles from the cemetery! The entire family is in the front row, here on Highland Avenue.

The next day, as fast as my fingers could dial the cemetery's phone number, I held my breath and asked if there was a Frances Poole buried there. "Yes, there was"...as well as her husband (of the long obituary).  Seems his body was brought back to Massachusetts from Illinois. It was early enough in the day, that within an hour I was at the cemetery and the office assistant gave me a wonderful detailed map. Not only were my gg-grandparents buried there, but also his parents. For years, I still get sentimental about this discovery. They came home to be buried in the family plot.

I returned to the cemetery several times, once armed with a large box of candy for the assistant, as she had gone way out of her way to give me access to the records. And boy did this cemetery have records. Turns out I have quite a few other direct ancestors buried there.

About the same time as the discovery above, I found out that my gg-grandfather was buried in Washington, D.C.  Well, this was winter, and I was in Massachusetts, so a trip would have to wait.  During the waiting time, I wrote and obtained a map and records of my two generations buried at Rock Creek. (Copies to be shown on Tuesday.) This proved to be smart, as it is a huge cemetery, a map was a necessity. Of course, you know the story, I either didn't have enough film or forgot the camera, either way, I had nothing to show for it.  However, my third cousin lives in Maryland, and in the following winter he went and took photos for me.

For the entire time I worked in DC, and I never knew they were buried nearby and to top it off, my gg-grandfather worked at the Dept.of Interior, right smack across the street from where I was working, at the DAR. Looking down from above, I think he had a good laugh at my expense.

So in closing, I am going to look in my own backyard to see who is buried there.

"I live in Kalamazoo, Michigan"

Last month, I received a wonderful email from Terry Kott, part of which stated, "I live in Kalamazoo, Michigan. In the course of my own family research, I was searching through old books at my grandfather's farm outside of Fulton, Michigan and came across an old ledger that I believe belonged to Stephen Eldred of Climax, Michigan. It covers the years 1837 to 1850+.  In it are entries for a couple of families in your genealogy, KELSEY and SCRAMBLING.

1) George Scrambling for the years-1837, 1838, 1840, 1841

2) Silas Kelsey-1838, 1839
3) Timothy Kelsey-1838, 1839
4) George Schrambling-1840, 1842
5) David Scrambling-1841, 1842, 1843, 1844
6) George Schramling-1844, 1845, 1846

The entries are very interesting to look at and see what transactions, what life was like back then. I thought that you would like copies of each page for each one of your family members. It has a page for Debt (What the person owed), and a page for Credit (What the person was owed).
p.s. -- I found you on Rootsweb, and then found your blog."  In a subsequent email, he mentioned there were also pages for DANIEL LAY and ALEXANDER FARMER...my two direct lines! Alexander Farmer is a "brick wall" of mine, so I did a lot of cheering.  Alexander's roots are my 15 year old "brick wall" and here was something concrete, other than a few censuses. These are the first ledger pages for anybody in my family, and now I have two, so they are indeed very meaningful. I am not a mother, but if I were, this would be a wonderful gift.

Terry did all that for me and we aren't even related!  I can see that the blog is helping me with connections and I'm glad Terry had the initiative to write me and the time to send the 18 scanned images from the ledger that Sunday afternoon.

Alexander purchased the following items during those years: wheat, wool, port, use of a horse for 1 day, corn, and one fat sheep.  His work included: husking corn, shearing sheep, threshing and hewing.  The first entries were for January 1843 and the last was for March 1846. A nice snapshot into their lives for a few years.  Fortunately, I was able to place all the above individuals too.

Note: Terry mentioned that he let Western Michigan University Archives copy the Ledger.

Sentimental Sunday -- Growing up in Lexington, Massachusetts

When I began my 4th fourth grade at the Adams School in Lexington, Massachusetts, I knew nothing of my new town's history.  My parents moved there from two previous towns in Connecticut, and from my first fourth grade in California.  I consider Lexington to be my favorite town of all the places I've lived.

Many of us have ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War, as well as ancestors who were born in Lexington. I've several who fought in the War and were born there, and even my "brick wall" person, John Adams was also in Lexington at the time of the war.

During several of my school years, our local history played an important part in our learning. My early classes took field trips down the street to see and learn about what happened. My Girl Scout troop planted flowering bulbs in the fall at some of the historic homes, and the church we attended was the tall one at the Lexington green.

Every April 19th, my Girl Scout troop marched in the Lexington Patriot's Day parade, there were two parades, I marched in the one at 7 AM! Of course, being much younger, I didn't mind, but sometimes it was cold. My mother was ecstatic about one 2 PM parade, when Sen. John F. Kennedy marched. I remember her pointing him out, but I thought, "who is he." Both the 7 AM and 2 PM parades marched just two blocks from my house, and it was a very big deal. Many years after we moved, my mother always went back on that date to see it and visit with old friends. She even did that on the day she died, on her return trip home from Lexington. And whenever I returned for visits from Virginia, I always visited Lexington. Even now, it is about a 30 minute trip, so we go there frequently.

For eight years, I was in the Lexington school system, until my 11th grade, then we moved again. During my 8th grade, our class got to rename our junior high school, as there was another junior high being built. It had to have a patriotic name. I can't remember what I wrote about and why I chose the name, but the two winners were Diamond and Muzzy, so there were new names for each of the schools.  Many years later, Muzzy Jr. High became condos. Always changing, but then, nothing looks changed. It is a beautiful town, see photos below.

The town, April 11, 2010

Lexington Green

Cary Memorial Library

Afternoon parade.

Years after we moved, I had to show a boyfriend where I lived!

40 years later....still going there.

Additional information about Patriots Day.

1914 DAR Certificate and FedEx

DAR Certificate of 1914 belonging to my great-grandmother.

I don't have many items that belonged to my great-grandmother but the three things I have pertain to the DAR.  She and her mother were both early members of the organization. Therefore, this document is quite meaningful to me. Some of you may remember my post about donating the 1901 certificate to the DAR, and they now can't locate it.

The other day, I went to FedEx armed with several items and many questions.  What joy to find there was no line, and I had the clerk all to myself.  We began with my five cemetery photos, 4 x 6 in color, which I wanted enlarged and put on heavy paper. That was done quickly.  Then from my flashdrive, the clerk found an image I had saved and printed it on heavy paper.  The last thing was to scan the above DAR document, which measures 14' x 17' and saved it on my flash drive. (There machine didn't do color, but a FedEx nearby does.) The machine used was amazing, as it can scan anything 36" wide and as long as you need.  I didn't need the image printed out, just saved..to show you.  In the future, I will have some descendant trees printed there.  Anyway, everything came to just under $6 and I was very pleased.

Once home, I tried out the flash drive.  The DAR certificate was there, but saved as a PDF, all I could get was the much smaller image (at 36% in size) to print out, which is what is above.  Yes, I can open the huge document, but of course, can't put it on the blog.  Seems like I experienced this problem before.

A quick phone call to FedEx and I was told, I could bring back the flash drive, and they can put the image into jpeg format.  Yes, I will do that. The employee was great, and really seemed to know his job and best of all, didn't mind all my questions. I learned, it is a good place to go to get information.


Based on the replies I received from a number of people who had suggestions to my Monday Madness  -- Asking For Help#1 post, there are several different ways to put a PDF onto your blog, but no easy way.  When I go back to FedEx next week, I will ask for their opinion.  Maybe there will be another way.

A DAR Chapter named after my Ancestor

When I worked at the DAR, I had access to many books, including one which was kept in the Human Resources room, for applicants to look at.  After I began doing my research, I decided to look at the book, and saw an article about the Hannah Woodruff DAR Chapter in Southington, Connecticut.  During that time, I was working on research on her line,  oh what joy.  Fortunately, I thought to make copies of a few pages from the book, so now, fast forward to a few weeks ago.  While surfing around, I found the book online, digitized by our friend, Google!

The Hannah Woodruff Chapter was organized on June 25, 1897 and the Charter was dated November 30, 1897.  From the Chapter Site is the following statement:
"It was the unanimous decision of the organizing committee to name the chapter for Hannah Woodruff, a granddaughter of Samuel Woodruff, the first white settler of Southington. Hannah Woodruff married Asahel Newell, by whom she had eight children.  Shortly after her husband's death she married Daniel Sloper, a widower with five children, and they soon had a son. This was Hannah's family when her husband, Captain Daniel Sloper, led the Southington company to the Revolutionary War accompanied by her three sons, Solomon, Asahel, and Mark Newell, and two of her husband's sons, Daniel and Ezekiel Sloper.  Thus, Hannah Woodruff saw six men of her family go off to serve in the Revolutionary Army, leaving her to care for the remaining nine children of their combined families. She certainly was a true patriot and heroine of the American Revolution."

Hannah was my 5th great-grandmother.

On Tuesday, March 2, 2010, I will be posting her tombstone photos for Tombstone Tuesday; however, I'm showing the plaque at the back of her stone (see 1st picture).  Unfortunately, her stone is completely washed out and almost unreadable, fortunately, the 1901 book mentioned herein, showed the tombstone and transcription.
Chapter sketches, Connecticut Daughters of the American Revolution By Connecticut Daughters of the American Revolution  1901, 531 pages.  Pg. 305-314  (great index, and search box to check out  Connecticut names).

Trying to Help a Friend

Boott Mills, Lowell

When my friend Joyce wrote me the other day, to see if I could check out a surname from whatever sources I could, I thought, hum, this is going to take a while and I'll do it after dinner. Well, of course, we never wait, we all want to check these things out immediately. It took five seconds, and I had a wealth of information for her.  Why is this sentimental to me?  It is because I love the history of Lowell, and unfortunately I don't have any ancestors from this city I now live in.  To be able to help an old friend in hopes of her finding a connection between the GALUSHA and her CARTY lines was right up my alley.  It has been so much fun, and I felt I had to write about it.

A little background.  Joyce and I met through another genealogy related site four years ago, and at one time, we discovered we had our ancestors living in Missisquoi Co., Quebec, Canada.  She knew I lived in Lowell, Massachusetts, so when she found out that her ancestor had connections to the GALUSHA family and there were some letters possibly in a Museum or Historical Society in Lowell, she asked for my help.  Later I discovered she already had copies of the transcriptions, not the originals.  All the originals were donated to the Lowell National Historical Park (NPS), just a few miles from where I live.  If you click on the NPS site, you can see how the collection was arranged.  These are important papers, and at some point, I hope to go to the National Park Service and see if I can see an original letter.

From the above NPS site is a listing of Galusha Family Relationships

The Galusha Family Collection (1820 - 1900), describes a group of letters and other items collected by J. Lynwood Smith of South Hero, Vermont, and donated to Lowell National Historical Park in Lowell, Massachusetts.  To me, these letters are important for several reasons.  Among them, they show a glimpse of life in Lowell, during the Industrial Revolution, a true family genealogy preserved for their family and for all historians interested in this era.  I especially enjoyed seeing names of locations familiar to me.

A transcribed letter follows, however, there are many listed, and can be viewed at: Galusha Family Letters and the Names in the letters and topics of interest - spreadsheet is useful in following the family.

"WRITTEN BY AMY MELENDA GALUSHA1

TO HER PARENTS REV. WILLIAM AND POLLY GALUSHA
Lowell Oct 9 1851

Dear Parents

I received your letter and was glad that you were doing so well as you are I hope that you will not freeze to death this winter if you cannot get into the new house try to fix up the old one so that you can live in it comfortably as possible do not be discouraged for the Lord will take care of you I wish that you would write how much you owe Erastas Bard and I will try to send you the money fore I suppose if he is sick that his family will need it I shall send you ten now and will send you then more if it is necesary when I am paid I am a going to get me one dress and a cloak which will be enough for the winter I have hired a seat in the Methodist Church with Christopher and Viola C. has experianced religeon since he came here and has united with the Worthen Street M E Church on probation he is very much engaged in religeon he likes here very much and so does Viola she says she would give anything if her Father could but hear Mr Colyar preach for he would not know how to contain himself I do think myself that he is the smartest Methodist preacher that ever I heard preach why Eldar Meeker could not hold a candle to him I do not know as I shall hire a seat after this quarter which will continue till the first of January although C and V are very anxious that I should it is very pleasant wether here this fall Viola says she is not sorry that she has come and thinks she shall stay a year very contedly she was rather homesick at first but I have not heard any more of that since C. came he is very attentive and sits her up evry Sunday night. on the whole I think he is a very good little fellow I begin to like him better than I used to when we went to school together. Viola has got so that she can run four looms quite decently Mr Cooper says that she gets along remarkbly well she makes about two dolers per week I never learned a girl with so little trouble as I did her she is very smart and will make a first rate weaver Oh how lonesome I shall be shen she is gone home. I hope that Arvilla will learn as easy as she did I hope that you will not let Arvilla race around with ... this winter I think it is bad enough for her to go with boys of her own age I hope that Lele will go with her himself it will look much better than the other way but I must stop and get a light tell Lele that if he will kill gray squirrils enough to make me a boa I will five him five dollars
Charles Miner is married
John French and Rhoda called to see us to night they are well Rhoda had not heard of Janes wedding she thinks that Jane has done first rate she was very much displeased to think they tried to sheviree her Mrs Burgess is going to california and John says he shall go in the spring I believe that I should rather be in Janes place than Rhodas. I pity her but you must not say a word. tell Janette when you see her that she ought to write to Rhoda for she feels rather bad. give my love to H and L and aunt Fany and Nancy and aunt Olive and all the folks. do not let Sall see nor hear from this letter if you can heple it I guess you will laugh when you see how I have written help just as I used to say it what I was a little baby O how many little things will take place to bring back the memory of the past “Memory thou restless spirit why break my rest.” I cannot live one hour without thinking of the happy days when I knew no care when the voice of my parents was my
only guide and a Mothers bosem was the only recpticle for my childish griefs. I have been more homesick since I came back this time that I have been before since the first summer that I was in the place but that is almost done with I hope I do not think that I shall come home again till I come for good and all I wonder how you stood through the day after I came away I thought that you would cry after we were gone for all you braved it out better than I did but you was so afraid you should appear like Aunt Irena that you did not shed a tear until I was gone but if you got along without all day you did better than I did Viola and I have laughed a great many times over what pa said when he came down stairs that night after we had such a tremenoeous uprore as bad as ever they had at Ephesus about the godess Diana I cannot help thinking how ridicolously I was treated in my own Fathers house by some of my relation but never mind them we can live without them and shall probably have to give my best respects to all the friends and neighbors who shall enquire for me Lucina Ganes went from here the next week after we come down she could not get work to suite her and she went to Springfield she has writen to us once since she left she was sewing then and was expecting a chance in the mill soon it was just as I expected almost a thing imposible to get a place for a new hand in the mill I was glad that there did not any more girls come with me but Lucina did not blame me or at least she said she did not I tried all that week to get her a place and Ann Fay tried her best to get her in but did not succeed but I shall write for Arvilla when I want her tell Lele he must write to me and let me know how he gets along with the house


Amy Galusha"