THE TYPE OF TREE MY FAMILY TREE IS,,,,

The topic for this next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is what type of
real tree best represents my family history. I had a hard time thinking of what
tree might fill the bill, because while I like take pictures of trees, I'll be danged
if I culd tell you what type of tree I'm pointing my camera at.
But another thing I like to do is write, and as a writer I know that words and
phrases often can mean more than one thing.

So what type of tree represents my family history? I could have picked a
tall pine tree, because of the generations of New Englanders that stretch back
to the Mayflower on my Dad's side. But that's only half the story, because I'm
Irish and German 19th century immigrants on my Mom's side and I don't know
much about those families once I get past my Mom's grandparents. If I take that
lack of knowledge into consideration, then I have a different picture of a tree
in my mind. Have you ever driven down the street and seen where the telephone
company has  trimmed the tree branches back from the line? The side of the tree
away from the line is full and untouched while the side closest to the street has
large gaps cut away from it?  That might be a good representation of my family
history.    

There's another type of tree that came to mind but this one reminds me more
of the process of researching the family tree rather than the tree itself:

Somewhere behind all that is a tree. I was lucky; my Aunt Dorothy had already
 found a lot of the tree before I started working on it. The trick is doing it
carefully, knowing which  leaf is actually part of the tree and which belongs to
the other plants. It has to be done with care, you can't just chop and rip away.
It's a work in progress and eventually, if I do it right, I'll end up with a tree that
looks like this:

BLUE-COLLAR CUISINE

When we were growing up as kids in our family the big meals were on Sunday:
roast chicken, pot roast, stew, corn beef and cabbage. and there were always
leftovers for at least one more meal.  The rest of the week the meals were
food that could be cooked fast and easy because sometimes both Dad and Mom
were working. Those dinners also reflected the fact that our parents had grown
up during the Great Depression. So dinner one night might be hotdogs and B&M
brand Boston Baked Beans or Campbell's (and occasionally with B&M Brown
Bread).

Pan fried pork chops were another meal, usually cooked by Dad in an old frying
pan that we had for years. Other nights we'd have sausages and rice or macaroni
& cheese with tuna or peas. And of course there was spaghetti. Only in America
would the family of an Irish American woman and a Yankee from Maine look
forward to spaghetti for dinner!

Pizza was something we might have once or twice a month.

As my sister and I grew older into our teens. we  helped a little with the cooking
since we were home from school before our folks from work. Mom or Dad might
take a chicken out to thaw in the morning before leaving for work and either Cheryl
or myself would start it in the oven around 4pm.  And we both learned how to make
the spaghetti sauce: brown the ground beef, then add two small cans of Contadina
Tomato paste, one can of water, a tablespoon or two of sugar, cover and simmer
while the water boiled for the spaghetti .  We were a Prince Spaghetti family, by the
way. Another night we would have the Kraft Macaroni & Cheese already made
and waiting for dinner when our folks came home. Our younger brother Phil
learned how to do this too.

Spaghetti was my favorite and we usually made enough for two nights. But there
were some meals that I wasn't too crazy about. Mom really liked fried liver and
onions. I didn't like the taste of liver and smothered it with ketchup. Dad had
developed a taste for Spam while in  the service, so sometimes we had fried
Spam and beans. I smothered that in ketchup as well. (I am a big fan of ketchup.
One of the best finds of my new healthier lifestyle was finding low fructose ketchup.)

When slowcookers and crockpots came along Dad thought they were great. He
liked making the beef stew and letting  it simmer all day in the slow cooker.
Mom liked them too because she never really liked Dad using the pressure cooker,
especially after the day the little pressure thing on the cover of the pressure cooker
blew off and hit the ceiling.


There weren't any traditional family recipes in our family, although Dad learned
how to cook Italian dishes from my Aunt Emily and Mom had a recipe for mundel
bread  given to her by a Jewish friend when we were living on Capen St in Dorchester.



Looking back, I'm struck by how many of the specific brand names of the foods
we ate I remember: Dinty Moore Beef Stew,  Bennett's Mayonaise, Prince Spaghetti,
Oscar Mayer Bologna, B&M Beans.

I think we were like millions of other working class blue collar families who had
both parents working eating what I'd call "blue collar cuisine"  made up of food that
was easy to cook made with products we knew and trusted,

THE 107TH CARNIVAL OF GENEALOGY: THE SEASONS OF GENEALOGY

                     

 Welcome to the 107th Carnival of Genealogy! The intriguing topic for this edition from Jasia is:

"the seasons of genealogy. Do you spend more time on genealogy research in the summer or in the winter, or maybe spring or fall? How does the amount of time you put into research and blogging differ from season to season? Or perhaps you'd like to think of things metaphorically... which season is your genealogy research in?"


 And as usual, there are some great responses. Let's get to them, shall we?



Julie Goucher, in her Carnival Of Genealogy 107 - The Seasons of My Genealogy Research posted at Anglers Rest, shares, "Reflections of my seasons of genealogy"

Charles Hansen's  The Seasons of Genealogy for the COG # 107 posted at Mikkel's Hus, say's, "I really only have two seasons, one I am very busy and do not do much research and the second when I have a lot of time to research."

Ruth Stephens presents The Seasons of My Genealogy Research posted at Ruth's Genealogy.She tells us that in Texas there are only two seasons
and shows the parallel with her genealogy seasons.

Tara Anderson wrote The Summer of My Genealogy posted at A Family Mystery Blog, saying, "Just a little bit about why I feel I am in the Summer of my genealogy research, even though I am definitely NOT on summer vacation!"

Frances Ellsworth presents COG 107 - The Seasons Of Genealogy: Not What I Thought I Would Be posted at Branching Out Through The Years, saying, "Thanks Bill for the stimulating topic. I had to contemplate what season's of genealogy meant to me. Must say metaphorically." ((Well, actually, Jasia was the one who thought up this great topic-Bill))

Shelley Bishop in her Genealogy in Bloom posted at A Sense of Family, tells us, "With summer (finally) here, I thought about how genealogy grows much like a flower garden--through seasons of development, each with its own beauty. I hope you enjoy it!"

Linda Gartz contributes Seasons of Genealogy posted at Family Archaeologist, saying, "Trace how my family history research has blossomed over the years as I view my discoveries as an arc through the seasons, blooming from the early crocus of first awareness through my immersion in a robust summer garden of family treasures."

Dorene Paul in Seasons of Genealogy posted at Graveyard Rabbit of Sandusky Bay, says that "it is always the season for genealogy."

Barbara Cagle presents Seasons of Genealogy posted at Cagle, saying, "As the Leaves Begin to Fall My Pen Furiously Writes in the Names on My Family Tree"

Ed Hamilton views Family History Through Seasoned Eyes at My Old Ohio Home - Articles, saying, "A good landscape artist knows that we never see the same scene in the same way. As the earth rotates on its axis and circles the sun, the light changes from day to day and from season to season. So it is with our family history: each time we visit a part of it we can see things differently."

Jasia adds her The Seasons of My Genealogy Research over at Creative Gene, She says: "I've covered all 4 seasons in my genealogy research. It's time for me to move on to the organizing/writing phase of my family history but I'm finding it hard to let go of the puzzle solving!"

Denise Levenick has The Seasons of Genealogy: Content to be Stuck in a Genealogy Groundhog Day posted at The Family Curator, saying, "Sometimes it feels like Eternal Early Spring with my genealogy research, and I don't think I want these wonder-filled "aha" moments to end."

Greta Koehl presents The Seasons of Genealogy: It’s Okay to Daydream posted at Greta's Genealogy Bog, saying, "I like the cooler seasons for research and research trips, but I seem to be stuck in summer mode in my research. And I don't function very well in the summer."

Jennifer Woods at Climbing My Family Tree One Branch At a Time says 
that her time devoted to research is influenced by two very important 
factors. She beautifully illustrates her point at Carnival of Genealogy: The Seasons of Genealogy

Randy Seaver says his motto is " "life is short - do genealogy first" 
these days.  Genealogy is fun for me, and I'm doing what I want to do 
in this stage of my life." Learn how he goes about it in his post  
The Seasons of my Genealogy Research over at his Genea-Musings blog!

And finally Bill West(aka me) talks about The Endless Summer of the Genealogical Mind. 

And that concludes the 107 edition of the Carnival of Genealogy. My thanks to 
all the contributors and to the inimitable footnote Maven for the great graphic.


Jasia will return to host the next Carnival and here's the call for submissions:

Call for Submissions! The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy will be: Food! We haven't focused on food in the COG in quite a while so we're asking you to bring us your family recipes, stories of picnics, food fights, food allergies, favorite summertime foods you remember, and best of all, photos of family favorite foods. Let's make a great mouth-watering edition of the COG! The deadline for submissions will be August 1st. Bring your appetite!

Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy using our carnival submission form. Please use a descriptive phrase in the title of any articles you plan to submit and/or write a brief description/introduction to your articles in the "comment" box of the blog carnival submission form. This will give readers an idea of what you've written about and hopefully interest them in clicking on your link. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

THE ENDLESS SUMMER OF A GENEALOGICAL MIND

I've never been a cold weather guy. Weather-wise, I take after my Mom's
Irish roots. I'd rather be dry and warm inside than outside schlepping around
in the cold and snow. I'm sure my Dad's hardy Maine forefathers are all
shaking their heads in dismay in the great hereafter over their wussy
descendant. That's okay by me; they don't' have to drive on icy roads any
more so they can be as judgmental as they want and we'll hash it out when
I join them.

So it should come as no surprise that the warmer seasons have become my
more active ones genealogically speaking. To be honest, this is a recent
development.. I've worked full time most of my life and didn't really spend much
time on my family tree until about five years ago. But recent events have left
me with a lot more time on my hands, and I've made use of it. I started getting out
taking pictures of headstones at local cemeteries last Fall and continued with
that this Spring once the snow melted. In the process I discovered the graves of
distant cousins, descendants of the sisters and brothers who stayed behind down
here in Plymouth County when my own ancestors moved north to New Hampshire
and Maine two centuries ago.

I recently became a member of Find A Grave and have had some success fulfilling
photo requests of other members. It's a good way to get myself out of my chair and
outside moving about more, and I'm slowly gaining a better knowledge of the local
cemeteries and histories of the towns.  I also started photographing all the graves in
Mt Vernon Cemetery here in Abington, some of which are three hundred years old.
When I'm done there, I'll move on to another cemetery. There's so many older
gravestones that have deteriorated so badly they can't be read, so preserving a
record of the ones still readable is a goal.

There's other things I'm planning to do this summer: attending the Ellingwood
Family Reunion and the New England Geneablogger's Bash in August, trips into
Boston and to Billerica to find out more about my grandfather Edward F White
Sr.'s family, research  trips into the NEHGS and The Mass. State Archives, and
visiting the genealogy room of the Dyer Memorial Library right here in Abington.   

It's Summertime for my genealogical research as a whole. I keep discovering new
information online and adding collateral branches to my family tree. I'm one of
those lucky New Englanders blessed (on my Dad's side) with prolific ancestors so
I'm not in danger of running out of cousins for awhile yet. And because I live in New
England there's also plenty of history to explore as well. So genealogywise, it's an
endless Summer for me.

To use a typical New England expression, I'm as happy as a clam!

A GENTLE CARNIVAL OF GENEALOGY REMINDER:

I'll be hosting the next edition of the CoG for Jasia here at West in New
England and this is the call for submissions for it:

Call for Submissions! The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of 
Genealogy will be: the seasons of genealogy. Do you spend more time 
on genealogy research in the summer or in the winter, or maybe spring 
or fall? How does the amount of time you put into research and blogging 
differ from season to season? Or perhaps you'd like to think of things 
metaphorically... which season is your genealogy research in? Write up 
your thoughts and observations and submit your articles to the next 
edition of the COG.

Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy 
using our carnival submission form. Please use a descriptive phrase in the 
title of any articles you plan to submit and/or write a brief description/
introduction to your articles in the "comment" box of the blog carnival
submission form. This will give readers an idea of what you've written
about and hopefully interest them in clicking on your link. Past posts 
and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.


I have my post written up already...in my head.  Now I need to get it
onto my blog!

How about YOU?  Send your post to the blog carnival submissions page
or send your link right to me as a comment to this or as an email to the
email address at the upper right of my page.

I look forward to reading what your seasons of genealogy are!

THE 106TH EDITION OF THE CARNIVAL OF GENEALOGY IS OUT!

Well, it's almost Summer, and that means another Swimsuit Edition of the
Carnival of Genealogy over at Jasia's Creative Genealogy. This is the
fourth one and nineteen geneabloggers have contributed great posts full
of family history and photographs.

I'll be hosting the next edition of the CoG for Jasia here at West in New
England and here's the call for submissions for it:

Call for Submissions! The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of 
Genealogy will be: the seasons of genealogy. Do you spend more time 
on genealogy research in the summer or in the winter, or maybe spring 
or fall? How does the amount of time you put into research and blogging 
differ from season to season? Or perhaps you'd like to think of things 
metaphorically... which season is your genealogy research in? Write up 
your thoughts and observations and submit your articles to the next 
edition of the COG.

Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy 
using our carnival submission form. Please use a descriptive phrase in the 
title of any articles you plan to submit and/or write a brief description/
introduction to your articles in the "comment" box of the blog carnival
submission form. This will give readers an idea of what you've written
about and hopefully interest them in clicking on your link. Past posts 
and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

 I know there are going to be some interesting blogposts on this one!

AUGUST 1976

When I was a kid my family often visited the cottage owned by
my Mom's Aunt and Uncle Peggy and Leo McCue out at Hough's
Neck in Quincy. In later years the cottage was sold and the
scene shifted to cousin Bobby McCue's place in Marshfield. By
that time I was in my 20's and didn't go along very often. (I was
worried I'd be mistaken for a beached whale). But my younger
brother did and I think either he or my sister Cheryl took pictures
one day in August of 1976:

Mom & Dad

Mom

I'm not sure what Dad is pointing at here.

Dad about to try water skiing

Mom & Cousins

As you can tell from the pictures, my folks enjoyed the beach, and really enjoyed
the time spent with the cousins!

((Written for the 106th Carnival of Genealogy))

VIRTUALLY THERE: MEETING MY FELLOW GENEABLOGGERS

Although I've been pretty active in the geneablogging community I have yet to
attend a meeting og a genealogy society or been to a genealogy conference.
Work and finances haven't permitted me that luxury yet, and even when my
job comes to an end in a few weeks end, the prospect of me being able to
get to, say,  the Southern California Jamboree are exactly the same as for me
going to Mars: slim to none.

But while I haven't physically met any of my geneablogging colleagues, I have
met them "virtually". This began with me sitting in on Miriam Robbins Midkiff's
Scanfest chat room over at her Ancestories blog. While the stated purpose is
for us to get together and scan our troves of family photographs, the chat can
cover just about any aspect of genealogical research. Scanfest is held in the
afternoon of the last Sunday of the month.

Next came Thomas MacEntee's GeneaBloggers Radio over at BlogTalk
Radio.This is an actual radio show broadcast on the internet which began as
weekly Friday broadcasts following the genealogy television show "Who Do
You Think You Are?" which included guests whose own research areas had
something to do with the areas the tv show covered that week. But it has since
evolved in a weekly themed show, with programs on subjects like Irish, Latino,
and African American genealogy, Civil War research, or Mayfl er ancestry.
As Thomas does his excellent job interviewing the guests, the chatroom buzzes
with conversations and comments. It's fast-moving and fun stream of conversation.

My third and most recently added method of meeting other geneabloggers online
is the Genealogy in Second Life group. Second Life is an online virtual reality
world with various communities: there are buildings to enter and meet in and you
have an avatar. The Just Genealogy meetings are held in a Family History Center
and range from  the Monday "Meet and Greet" to a discussion of the upcoming
release of the 1940 Federal Census. This past week there was a "scavenger hunt"
on the American Heritage website hosted by Clarisse Beaumont (aka DearMyrtle)
that was fun and educational. Another presentation earlier this year by Alice Kane
on Boston repositories was extremely useful to me.


Here are some screen shots:

Upstairs at the FHC building. Each one of those laptops link to a specific sites, like the NARA Military Records.

The exterior of the FHC. Meetings are sometimes held on the front terrace..

The fire pit is another chat site. The screen is a whiteboard to display graphics.

There is a Genealogists on Second Life Group page on Facebook which has the list
of discussions for the upcoming week. If you decide to check it out, take a little time
to learn how to maneuver your avatar around so you won't be as much of a klutz at it
as I am!

So while my face to face encounters with other genealogists haven't happened quite
yet, thanks to computer technology I have had the pleasure of "meeting" many and
I've learned about new and useful genealogy tools to boot!

THE 104TH EDITION OF THE CARNIVAL OF GENEALOGY IS OUT!

As a matter of fact, it has been since this Monday. I have been so wrapped
up in researching , transcribing and posting here on my blog that I've been
a bit behind on my blog reading and just now saw the COG was out. I plead
old age and other stuff like that as an excuse. Anyway, this edition focused
on cars and you should go right over to Jasia's Creative Gene and start reading
all the great posts folks have come up with about the cars in their family's
history.


While you're at it, consider joining the fun and submitting a blog post for the
next Carnival. These are the details:

"Call for Submissions! The topic for the next edition of the COG will be:
Favorite Current Technology. What's your favorite technology of the
moment? Do you love your iPad? Do you find yourself spending a lot of 
time on the site of a newly discovered database? Do you have a handy 
new cell phone app you'd like to share with others? Are you learning a 
new piece of genealogy software? Got a new digital camera? Tell us 
all about your latest and greatest technology and how it benefits your 
genealogy research or the recording of your family history. The deadline 
for submission is May 1st. No limit on the number of submissions for
this edition.

Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy 
using our carnival submission form. Please use a descriptive phrase in the
title of any articles you plan to submit and/or write a brief description/introduction 
to your articles in the "comment" box of the blog carnival submission form. 
This will give readers an idea of what you've written about and hopefully interest 
them in clicking on your link. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our
blog carnival index page."


Sounds like a good topic and I have a post in mind for it.!
 

THE 102st EDITION OF THE CARNIVAL OF GENEALOGY IS UP!

Once again the amazing Jasia has put together another edition of the Carnival
of Genealogy at her Creative Gene blog,  namely the 4th Annual IGene Awards
edition:

"This is the award show for genealogy bloggers. This is when we look
back at 2010 and select those posts that appeared on our blogs that 
deserve special recognition. It's our chance to highlight blog posts in 5 
categories, Best Picture, Best Screen Play, Best Documentary,  
Best Biography, and Best Comedy. These are the best of the best!"

19 geneabloggers took part in this edition and you should go right over now
and check them out for some great reading!

Like every CoG edition, this one ends with a call for submissions for the next
one:

"Call for Submissions! The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of 
Genealogy will be: Women's History! The COG traditionally honors women
in March each year in conjunction with National Women's History Month. 
This is the perfect opportunity to write a biography about a woman on your 
family tree, research an aspect of history that relates to women, or create a 
collage of photos featuring the women in your family. However you choose
to honor women, post it to your blog and submit it to the 103rd COG by 
March 1st. International Women's Day is March 8th!

Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy 
using our carnival submission form. Please use a descriptive phrase in the 
title of any articles you plan to submit and/or write a brief description/
introduction to your articles in the "comment" box of the blog carnival 
submission form. This will give readers an idea of what you've written
about and hopefully interest them in clicking on your link. Past posts and 
future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page."


I'm looking forward to seeing what posts folks come up with for this one!

THE 2010 IGENE AWARDS

((cue the Flutaphone fanfare))
 Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Live, from Abington, Ma.,
it's the 2010 IGene Awards. Let's get right to the awards, shall we?

BEST PICTURE:

 This is from my A THURSDAY ROADTRIP TO WORLD'S END . I got out
and about a lot this fall and took a lot of foliage shots. I liked this one so much
I've made it the background photo for the blog!

BEST SCREENPLAY:
A FAMILY REUNION OF SORTS

While I was picking my cast for this I envisioned how this miniseries
would open. The camera would pan in through the entrance of Mt.
Vernon Cemetery and then focus in on the various gravestones
in the General Henry Dunham family plot, and then move further
down the lane to the Cornelius T. Dunham plot, after which the
flashback to the General's story would start.

And of course this would have to be a miniseries. It has it all:. 
Captains of Industry, the Civil War, an Inventor, a Rogue,
a Hardworking Sacrificing Mother and locales from Abington to
Boston to South Carolina to Brazil.These are the actors I'd like
to see in it:

General Henry Dunham = Hugh Bonneville (from Downton Abbey)
Mary Cushing Dunham= Glenn Close
Cornelius T Dunham= Paul Giamatti
Anne Poyas Dunham= Gillian Anderson

Henry Dunham Jr =Damian Lewis
Ella Bristol=?
Andrew Jackson Dunham= Christian Bales
Mercie Florence Dunham=Laura Linney
Sarah Dunham Dorr=Elizabeth McGovern
Richard C Dorr=Aidan Quinn

Now if I could only find a producer who'd like to film it!


BEST DOCUMENTARY:
WHAT I LEARNED ABOUT MY OFFINGER ANCESTORS PTS 1&2
This bit of research is my favorite because I discovered much I hadn't known
about my maternal great great grandmother Johanna Luick and her life.

BEST BIOGRAPHY:
DIGGING UP ALEXANDER AUGUSTUS BARKER

It's always exciting to discover new relatives. Considering Alexander's
occupation, perhaps my newfound appreciation of cemeteries is a family
trait?

BEST COMEDY:
WHY I STOPPED USING FOUNTAIN PENS
The sad details of an incident in college that was so traumatic the mere
mention of the words "cartridge pen" causes me to lose track of what
I am typing....er....where was I? Oh. Yeah.

Anyway, that concludes the 2010 WEST IN NEW ENGLAND IGENE
AWARDS show. Thanks for attending!

And remember, a blog is a terrible thing to waste!

((Written for the 102nd Carnival of Genealogy))

BY ANY OTHER NAME

I have  three personal days I have to use up at work by the end of
this month so I took for a mini-vacation. I intend to catch up on
some reading, writing and research, but the first thing on my agenda
today was to get a haircut. Unfortunately, I forgot my barber is closed
on Mondays.  

It's become a habit of mine lately on my days off to take my camera
with me when I leave the apartment, so since it was a sunny(but cold)
day and I was already out of the house I took a little ride around the
area to take some pictures. Mt. Vernon Cemetery is not far from the
barbershop so I decided to drive through it again but this time from
the back entrance to the front so that the gravestones that had been on
the passenger side on my last drive through were now on the driver
side and easier to shoot. And as luck would have it, one of the
headstones close to the road was this one:

The plot is for the Sprague-Denham family and the first name on the right
hand side of the stone was Henry Denham 1822-1903. I knew right
away who he was because I'd run across the name Denham while
researching the post for the Susan and Edward Dunham gravestone.
One of their uncles had been born George Dunham but changed his
name to Denham and went on to become a prominent businessman
in Boston and New York City. Another brother was Henry, and his
date of birth is given in The Dunham Genealogy as 13Feb 1822
and his wife as Hannah M. Sprague (p183) which matches up with
everything on the stone, except that it lists him as Henry Dunham.

I checked the records on Ancestry.com and found Henry listed as
Denham on the Federal Census as well as on the State Census at
FamilySearch Record Search.

So we have two brothers born under the name Dunham who had
changed their name to Denham while their siblings retained the
Dunham name. Considering that the name was originally Donham
I'm not too surprised it was changed again.

But I sure wish I knew the reason why they did it!

THE 101st EDITION OF THE CARNIVAL OF GENEALOGY IS UP!

Once again Jasia has done a great job of rounding up posts from
the geneablogging community. This time over forty of us wrote on
"Our genealogy research/writing plans for 2011! "


There's plenty of good reading and helpful information that
you might use to plan your own genealogy research here. So
go on over to Jasia's Creative Gene blog and read, then vote
in her poll on the topic for the 102nd edition of the Carnival
of Genealogy!

2011 GENEALOGY PLANS

It's time once again for those of us looking into the past to look into our
future. So here are my genealogy resolutions and my plans on how to
achieve them:

1 Continue researching my maternal White, McFarland, Offinger,
and Luick lines.

 Plan: I need to make trips into Boston and find what resources might be
available from the Boston municipal records, and the Boston Public
Library. I also want to search the National Archives records for any
other documentation.

I might take out a World membership from Ancestry for a month or
two to seach for records from Ireland and Germany.

2. Continue researching my paternal West, Barker, Ellingwood, 
Dunham and other family lines.

Plan: I need to visit the local FHC more oftren than I have in the
past to search for records. Visits are also in order for the NEHGS
and the Massachusetts State Archives. I also need to start making
more use of court records (wills, deeds, etc) in my research.

Continued exploration of the local cemeteries and of the distant cousins
buried there is also on my to do list.

I'd also like to attend the Ellingwood Family Reunion again in August.

3. Break down that John  Cutter West brick wall.

Plan: A series of visits to the town halls and historical societies of towns
here in Plymouth County seems to be the only approach possible to
this mystery. The cemetery visits might also prove useful in this.

4. Join a local genealogy or history society

Plan: I'm going to join the Historical Society of Old Abington. "Old
Abington" included the present town plus the districts which eventually
became  the towns of Whitman and Rockland, areas in which collateral
branches of my paternal lines lived and also where my brother in law's
family lived. The meetings are four times a year on Sunday which I
should be able to make.

The South Shore Genealogical Society might be doable but they meet
on Saturdays when I am working and the membership link on their
website is not working.  Still, I'll try to join and get to some meetings.



I also want to attend some of the regional genealogy conferences and
perhaps meet some of my genealogy blogger friends.

5.Write more.

Plan: Continue blogging and sharing what I find. Maybe publish it in
bookor ebook form.

6. Organize, ORGANIZE, ORGANIZE!

Plan: Just do it!!

7. Scan, SCAN SCAN!!

Plan: See Plan #6

All of these are dependent on my health. I planned to get out and do
more this year but my health prevented it for much of the year. So
Priority #1 is to stay healthy this winter so that once the weather
improves I can hit the ground running...well...sort of running....   

And above all else, I plan to HAVE FUN doing all of it!

 ((Written for the 101st edition of the Carnival of Genealogy!))

THE 99TH EDITION OF THE CARNIVAL OF GENEALOGY IS UP!

And I missed the deadline for posting for it! Arrgh! I've been so wrapped
up in researching my collateral line relatives lately my blogging has
been suffering. Anyway, the theme for the 99th CoG was religious rites
and there's a bunch of interesting  responses to it.

The next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is its 100th and Jasia
has a special request:

"Call for Submissions! As I mentioned in a previous post, I am asking
all who have participated in past editions of the COG to participate in the 
100th edition. It's a FAMILY REUNION! There will not be the usual
cap of 30 submissions for this edition. Instead there will be a floor of 100!
I will not attempt to write comments nor choose a featured author this 
time around. I'm asking all of you to help me out here and make my 
dream come true. I would like to have 100 or more submissions from 
my friends, my COG family members, for this 100th edition. It's a tall 
order, yes. It hasn't been done before and therein lies the challenge. 
Can it be done? Only your time and efforts will determine that. I know 
there are many more than 100 authors who have participated in the 
previous 99 editions of the COG. I need at least 100 of you to step 
up and write a blog post to submit to the COG to make my day, 
my week, my month, and my blogging career. I don't know how
many past participants are reading this edition so I'm hoping you'll 
help me get the word out. Please share this info on FaceBook, Twitter, 
GeneaBloggers, Second Life, your own blogs, mainstream media, the 
4 major TV networks, genealogy conferences, and wherever past 
COG participants may gather!

And the topic for the 100th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is... 
"There's one in every family!" Bring your stories of colorful 
characters, unique heirlooms, mouth-watering recipes, most dearly 
beloved pets, whatever! Interpret as you like. Every family has 
"special" individuals, you know, the ones with a green thumb, the
black sheep, the lone wolf, the blue-ribbon cook, the story-teller, 
the geek! I know you have treasured recipes and amazing heirlooms 
you've yet to share! Tell us about them and become a part of history 
in the 100th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy! The deadline for 
submissions is December 1st.

Submit your blog article to the 100th edition of the Carnival 

of Genealogy using our carnival submission form. Please use

a descriptive phrase in the title of any articles you plan to submit 

and/or write a brief description/introduction to your articles in 

the "comment" box of the blog carnival submission form. This 

will give readers an idea of what you've written about and 

hopefully interest them in clicking on your link. Past posts and 

future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page."

Alright, I'm in! Let's hit that 100!

THE 98TH EDITION OF THE CARNIVAL OF GENEALOGY IS UP!

I've been so absorbed in working on my sources and with transcribing
GrandUncle Clarence's interview that I missed seeing until this morning
that the latest edition of Jasia's Carnival of Genealogy is up at Creative 
Gene. This one deals with Document Analysis and features fourteen
geneabloggers' stories about documents that helped them breakdown
a brickwall in their research. (I debated entering one of my posts from
this summer when I had a streak of good luck with my own research
but I am trying to only submit newly written articles for the CoG topics.)

This is the topic for the upcoming 99th edition:

"Call for Submissions! The topic for the next edition of the 
Carnival of Genealogy will be: Religious Rites. Baptisms/Christenings, 
First Holy Communion, Confirmation, Bar/Bat Mitzvah, church 
large part in many of our family histories. Virtually all religions have 
their rites/ceremonies. Has your family participated in any of these 
rites? Write about it and submit your article to the Carnival of Genealogy. 
The deadline for submissions will be November 1st. Thirty submissions 
will be accepted. 


Submit your blog article to the next edition of the  Carnival of Genealogy 
using our carnival submission form. Please use a descriptive phrase in the
title of any articles you plan to submit and/or write a brief description/
introduction to your articles in the "comment" box of the blog carnival 
submission form. This will give readers an idea of what you've written 
about and hopefully interest them in clicking on your link."


I already know what I will be writing about for this one. And if you are
a geneablogger who hasn't participated in the CoG before, try it now.
It's a great way to stretch your writing skills and to make connections
with your fellow bloggers!

PASSING IT ALONG: HELPING OTHERS FIND THEIR ANCESTORS

I'm not a professional genealogist by any stretch of the imagination but
I've been climbing my family tree now for over five years and I'd guess
I'm at the intermediate level of experience. I've had folks help me along
the way and I like to return the favor by helping those who ask me to
help them get started in researching their own ancestors. Because I do
have a fulltime day job my research is online and I've established a
routine which has given me some success.

First of all, I ask the person what information they already have:
What do they know about their grandparents? Are they still alive? Do
they know anything about their great grandparents? I ask if they know
where they lived and especially if they know where in any of the
Federal Census years from the early twentieth century. If their
ancestors were immigrants, what country did they emigrate from and
what year did they come to this country? Did any of them serve in the
military?

Then with whatever information they gave me, I check several websites:

1. Ancestry.com for the Census records and images. I make note of
the street addresses for the results because there may be more than
one person with the same name living in the town where the ancestor
lived. Then I check the "Birth, Marriage and Death" and "Military"
records. If there are images I download a copy to my computer.Then
I check the Family Trees and check their information against what the
person has told me and against the records I might have found. I
look to see if there are source citations. 


2.Next I check the Family Search RecordSearch website. This is a
new addition to my list of websites to check which has records and
images not on Ancestory. Again, I dl any images .


3.The next stop is RootsWeb's Worldconnect Project. Using what
information I have found so far I run a search on the names to see if
anyone has posted a family tree there and check them against what
I've already found. Here too I check for sources.


4. Then I search next at the Family Search site, again double-checking
the trees there with what I have so far found. Again, are sources
cited?


5. Finally, I Google search the ancestors and then try Google Books
for family genealogies.


When I've found everything I could, I go over it with the person. Once
I'm satisfied that I've found their ancestors, I email them the images of
the records I've found and tell them where I found them. I suggest that
they use this information to follow up and do some research on their own .
If I've found a website or family tree that was well sourced, I tell the
person how to get in touch with the owners.

I've had varying degrees of success helping people. Two recent incidents
turned out very well, with one friend discovering quite a bit about one
side of her family which she hadn't known before. She has since made
several trips to where her ancestors lived and visited family graves.
And I was able to help a high school classmate find out that his family
traces back to 17th century Quebec.

What I get out of this is the fun of solving a puzzle and knowing that
I've helped someone else the way others helped me when I first started
the long climb up my own family tree!

Written for the 97th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy

THE 95TH EDITION OF THE CARNIVAL OF GENEALOGY IS UP!

Well, Jasia has done it again over at her Creative Muse blog. She's
just published the 95th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy, with
contributions from twenty-six geneabloggers, This was the annual
swimsuit edition with pictures and stories of summers past and lots
of good writing.

The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy will be:

"Scrapbooking Your Family History! Here's a real challenge for you... 

Who's up to the task? Create a scrapbook page on any theme that 

suits one or more of your vintage photos. If you don't feel very artistic, 

lay a few photos down on a piece of colored paper, add a few captions, 

take a snapshot of it, and voila! You have yourself a digital scrapbook 

page! If you enjoy creating traditional scrapbook pages, take a picture 

of one you've done, and that works too. If you're up for creating

something more artsy, buy a kit or make your own. Go for it! If you've

never done scrapbooking before, this is the opportunity you've been 

waiting for! If you're an experienced scrapbooker, dig in and enjoy the 

creative process! The deadline for submissions is August 1st. 

Thirty submissions will be accepted. "

"Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of 
Genealogy using our carnival submission form."

Sounds interesting! I'll be looking forward to seeing what folks
come up with for this!

THE 94TH CARNIVAL OF GENEAOLOGY IS HERE!

Jasia over at Creative Gene has done it again! The 94th Carnival of Genealogy
is up and there's some great genealogy blog reading for us to enjoy. The topic
for this edition was:

"... the changing roles of women. We all know that women's roles have
changed over the centuries but have you stopped to think about how and
when women's roles have changed within your own family?"

One of the great things about the CoG is that I always discover some new
geneablogs to follow written by talented, enthusiastic writers and that holds
true for this latest edition. Read the CoG and discover some for yourself!

Oh, and by the way, consider contributing a post to the next CoG yourself. The
theme for the 95th CoG is:

"...The Annual Swimsuit Edition! Yes folks, it's that time again... time to look
over your photo collection of bathing beauties and select one to share. Bring
us your pin-up girls, guys in Speedos, or kids building sand castles. Summer
is here and it's time to show us how your family members have enjoyed
the water and the summertime heat! The deadline for submissions is July
1st. Thirty submissions will be accepted.

Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy
using our carnival submission form"

I haven't submitted anything to the CoG since my little er...vacation.... Hmm,
I wonder if there's any more beach pictures in the Big Tub of Photographs?

CATCHING UP IS HARD TO DO

One of the problems of my recent medical problem is that I’ve fallen behind on researching
and writing articles for upcoming editions of the Carnival of Genealogy and the Carnival of
Irish Heritage and Culture. I was optimistically thinking I could turn out entries for both
today but came to the realistic conclusion about ten minutes ago that it wasn’t going to
happen. So Jasia and Lisa, to quote Jethro Tull(since I’ve already paraphrased Neil Sedaka
in the article title) “hope you don’t mind if I sit this one out.”

On the other hand I’ve been able to catch up on posts from other geneabloggers and
just this morning read Randy Seaver’s post over at Genea-Musings from his Amanuensis
Monday series which this week is the will of our mutual ancestor John Prescott. I thought I
hadn’t known of that connection between Randy and myself but now I’m wondering if
I might have forgotten a previous mention, At any rate, if you’ve been following my series
on my Lancaster, Massachusetts ancestors you should go to Randy’s blog to see John
Prescott’s will.