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The Life From The Roots blog topics have changed several times since I began this blog in 2009. I initially wrote only about the family history I had been working on for 20 years. Years later, I was into visiting gardens, historical homes, churches, libraries that had genealogical collections, historical societies, war memorials, and travel/tourism places. I also enjoy posting autographs and photos of famous people I've met or have seen.
Along with my New England roots, other areas include New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and the Eastern Townships of Quebec, Canada.
Please check out the labels on the right side for topics (please note, they need work). Below the labels and pageviews is a listing of my top nine posts, according to Google. Four of them pertain to Lowell, MA. These posts change often because they are based on what people are reading.
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Augustus Saint-Gaudens -- Tombstone Tuesday
Home, Gardens and Studio of Augustus Saint-Gaudens
View from the Studio of Augustus Saint-Gaudens in Cornish, New Hampshire, looking towards Mt. Ascutney in Vermont.
Side view of the house and side porch.
Outside the studio, above and below.
PBS Documentary - Augustus Saint-Gaudens: Master of American Sculpture - The Diana (4.07 minute tape)
"The Puritan" Deacon Samuel Chapin
(the original is in Springfield, MA.)
Two small turtle fountains.
There is a 50 minute YouTube report about Augustus Saint-Gaudens, New Yorker, and His Metropolitan Museum Art, on view at the Met June 30-November 15, 2009. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dC_P0jG6K8U
Monday, September 16, 2013
Franklin Pierce Homestead, Hillsborough, New Hampshire
Hillsborough, New Hampshire
Pierce Homestead
The Pierce Homestead was built in
1804 by Benjamin Pierce, a general
in the American Revolution, twice
governor of New Hampshire (1827-28),
1829-30), and father of
Franklin Pierce, the 14th President of the
United States (1853-57). Franklin
Pierce was born in Hillsboro November
23, 1804 and the family occupied
this dwelling shortly thereafter.
Built in 1804 by Benjamin Pierce
Officer in the Revolutionary War
and Governor of New Hampshire in 1827-1829
Birthplace of his son Franklin Pierce
Fourteenth President of
The United States
Restored and Given to the
State of New Hampshire in 1925
as a Memorial to
Major Frederick A. Kendall
U. S. Army 1861 - 1884 and
Virginia Hutchinson Kendall
by their son
Captain Hayward Kendall U. A. Army 1917-1919
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Roger Clap, Memorial Site, Watertown, Massachusetts
Roger Clap Memorial, landing site in 1630, Watertown, Massachusetts
Roger is my 8th great-grandfather, and I wrote about trying to locate his burial site in 2011, "Searching for Roger Clap's Burial Place , Found in Front of Me!"
Charles River, behind the memorial.
For the entire year, all my photos have been taken with the iPad ver.4. Once nice thing about it is the ability to enlarge photos, including the below engraved marker.
HERE LANDED ROGER CLAP
AND THE DORCHESTER MEN
JUNE 1630
Watertown , unto a place
called Mattapan
"We went up the Charles
River , until the river
grew narrow and shallow, and there we
landed our goods with much labor and toil,
the bank being steep; and night coming on,
we were informed that there were hard by
us three hundred Indians. One Englishman,
that could speak the
Indian language
(an old planter)
went to them and advised
them not to come
near us in the night; and
they harkened to their counsel, and came
not. In the morning,
some of the Indians
came and stood at a
distance off, looking
at us, but came not
near us. But when they
had been a while in
view, some of them
came and held out a
great bass towards
us; so we sent a man
with a biscuit, and
changed the cake for
the bass. We had not
been there many
days, (although by our
diligence we had got
up a kind of shelter
to save our goods
in,) but we had order to
come away from that
place which was about
now Dorchester , because there was a neck
of land fit to keep
our cattle on."
From
Roger Clap's Narrative
Erected by
The Historical Society of Watertown
1967
Friday, September 13, 2013
Second Congregational Church of Boxford, Massachusetts
Wikipedia information on Boxford. Photos taken Memorial Day weekend.
Second Congregational Church of Boxford, MA
United Church of Christ
Founded 1736
Taken in August 2013
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts -- The Town, The Monuments and The Bridge
Shelburne Falls is the home to the World Famous "Bridge of Flowers," a bridge over the Deerfield River.
In Honor of
The Citizens of the
Towns of Buckland and Shelburne
Who Served in the Armed Forces of
Our Country in World Wars I and II
And in Loving Memory of the
Following Who Made the Supreme Sacrifice
WORLD WAR I
Ernest Winford Goodnow
|
Roy Farrell Shirtcliff
|
Gilbert Irving Allis
|
Thomas Joseph Neary, Jr.
|
Hollis Elwin Andrews
|
Homer James Richmond
|
Herman Austin Burdick
|
Robert Wilder Swan
|
Russell Delano Chamberlain
|
George Roland Trumble
|
Albert Henry Farrell
|
Oliver Joseph Turner
|
Robert Earl Whitbeck
|
|
William Francis Hourahan, Jr.
|
Robert Bardwell Williams
|
John Hames Kennedy
|
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| One of the unique houses in town. |
In Honor of
The Citizens of the
Towns of Buckland and Shelburne
Who Served in the Armed Forces of
Our Country in Korea and Vietnam Wars
And in Loving Memory of the
Following Who Made the Supreme Sacrifice
KOREA
Walter Harold Billiel
VIETNAM
William Kimball Batchelder
Paul Thomas Looney
James Edward Palmeri
Ernest Ray Taylor, Jr.
Ronald Edward Wissman
1890
Bridge Committee
George G. Merrill
|
Emerson J. Griswold
|
David W. Temple
|
Michael Atkins
|
George E. Taylor
|
George Rowland
|
Edward S. Shaw, Engineer
Vermont Construction Co. Contractors
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Remembering John Ogonowski -- American Airlines Flight 11 Pilot and Farmer
| Taken Sept. 8, 2011 |
Captain John A. Ogonowski
Memorial Square
Dracut, Massachusetts
The first name I heard regarding the disaster at the World Trade Center came across our local news station around noon. It was that of a local man, John Ogonowski, and he was the pilot of American Airlines Flight 11, the first plane to hit the World Trade Center. John went to school in my city and lived in a neighboring town. I had never heard of him, nor had my mailman, but by the end of the day, everybody in my area knew all about him.
Like so many others, I was going about my daily business on that perfect New England day. I had a dental appointment at 9:15 and heard on my golden oldies radio station that a plane had hit a World Trade Tower, but I didn't think much of it. I didn't go right home, but went to a grocery store at 10:30 and knew something was terribly wrong. I over heard somebody say the schools and the Registry of Motor Vehicles were closing. Of course, I asked what was going on, and couldn't believe what the reply was. Immediately, I ran around picking up all the junk food l never buy. Once home, I sat at the TV all day, and talked to a few people on the phone. I even rearranged my living room furniture. The following two days, I went to the Concord Free Library in Concord, MA to get away from the TV.
Below, I'm sharing a few lines from Wikipedia and from the American Flight 11 site. Several years later, I discovered that one of my good friends, was also a Ogonowski (her middle name) and was related to Capt. John Ogonowski. We never discussed anything about 9/11. A few years later, she and her husband sold their Dracut, MA farm, and moved to Cape Cod. We've seen them once her move.
CAPTAIN JOHN OGONOWSKI
CAPTAIN ON THE FARM
"John Ogonowski wore two uniforms: his navy blue senior captain's uniform for American Airlines and the blue jeans and denim shirt he wore while working on his 150- acre farm in Dracut, Mass., where he lived with his wife and three daughters.
Twelve days a month, Mr. Ogonowski, 50, flew transcontinental flights. On off days, he tended the farm's peach orchard, with acres set aside for corn, pumpkins and hay. After supper he often sat in his favorite chair, reading agricultural journals late into the evening.
Mr. Ogonowski joined the Air Force at the height of the Vietnam War. He flew C-141 transport planes, taking equipment to Asia, and sometimes flying back to the States carrying the bodies of American soldiers. He became a commercial pilot in 1979, and met a pretty flight attendant named Peggy, whom he later married.
The morning of Sept. 11, he left his wife at home, still in bed. It was already dawn as he turned down the road in his dusty green Chevy truck, to start his drive to Boston and to Logan International Airport. As he passed his uncle's nearby house, he tooted his horn. Mr. Ogonowski was the captain of Flight 11, the first plane to crash into the World Trade Center."
Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on December 3, 2001.
John Ogonowski, of Dracut, pilot for American Airlines
By Globe Staff, 9/16/2001
"John A. Ogonowski of Dracut, a pilot for American Airlines, was killed Tuesday in the crash of Flight 11 in New York . He was 50.
Mr. Ogonowski was born, raised, and educated inLowell . He graduated from St. Stanislaus School, Keith Academy , and Lowell Technical Institute, class of 1972, with a bachelor of science degree in nuclear engineering. He was a member of the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity.
Mr. Ogonowski flew as a pilot in the Vietnam War, assigned to the Air Force base in Charleston, S.C. He left the military with the rank of captain.
He flew for American Airlines for 23 years, and was a member of the Allied Pilot Association.
Mr. Ogonowski was an active member of the Dracut Grange, the Polish American Veterans Association, the American Legion, the Merrimack Valley Vietnam Veterans, and theDracut Historical Society. He belonged to the board of directors for the Massachusetts Farm Bureau, and the board of directors for the Dracut Land Trust Inc.
An avid farmer, he worked to secure 150 acres of farmland onMarsh Hill Rd. in Dracut through the federal Agriculture Preservation Restriction program. He raised hay, corn, pumpkins, blueberries, and peaches, and worked actively to preserve open space in Dracut for future generations.
Mr. Ogonowski was born, raised, and educated in
Mr. Ogonowski flew as a pilot in the Vietnam War, assigned to the Air Force base in Charleston, S.C. He left the military with the rank of captain.
He flew for American Airlines for 23 years, and was a member of the Allied Pilot Association.
Mr. Ogonowski was an active member of the Dracut Grange, the Polish American Veterans Association, the American Legion, the Merrimack Valley Vietnam Veterans, and the
An avid farmer, he worked to secure 150 acres of farmland on
He leaves his wife, Margaret (La Valle), his parents, Alexander and Theresa, and three daughters, Laura, Caroline, and Mary Katherine, all of Dracut; two brothers, Lieutenant Colonel James of Dracut, and Joseph of Newport, Mich.; and two sisters, Dolores Quigley of Pensacola, Fla., and Carol of Dracut. A memorial Mass will be said tomorrow at 11 a.m. in St. Francis Church in
From the Boston Globe newspaper, of Sept. 15, 2001."
Personal note, my sister and I toured the World Trade Center in the summer of 1985, going to the top on a windy day was scary, and I absolutely hated the height. In May of 2001, my husband and I went to DC for vacation, and drove past the Pentagon several times, plus I drove by it daily for 12 years when I lived in the area.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AS OF 09/11/2014
From the website of Mass Moments: http://www.massmoments.org/moment.cfm?mid=264
Personal note, my sister and I toured the World Trade Center in the summer of 1985, going to the top on a windy day was scary, and I absolutely hated the height. In May of 2001, my husband and I went to DC for vacation, and drove past the Pentagon several times, plus I drove by it daily for 12 years when I lived in the area.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AS OF 09/11/2014
From the website of Mass Moments: http://www.massmoments.org/moment.cfm?mid=264
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