Grandma's Stitches

Cemetery Statuary

2011-10-04T14:36:00.002-06:00

As I wander around in the serenity of cemeteries, taking photos for Find a Grave, I'm struck by the beauty of staturary few people ever see.

These are some of my favorites, taken in the Salt Lake City Cemetery, except where noted.

The words are from the song Soul Meets Body, I Will Follow You into the Dark, and What Sarah Said by Benjamin Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie.

I want to live where soul meet body

And let the sun wrap its arms around me

And bathe my skin in water cool and cleansing

And feel what it's like to be brand new. . .

Where Soul meets Body.

Love of mine, someday you will die

But I'll be close behind and I'll follow you into the dark

No blinding light or tunnel to gates of white

Just our hand clasped tight, waiting for the hint of a spark.

I Will Follow You into the Dark

If silence takes you then I hope it takes me too

I'll hold you near 'cause you're the only song I want to hear

A melody softly soaring through my atmosphere.

Where Soul meets Body

It stung like a violent wind that our memories depend

on a faulty camera in our minds.

But I keep thinking of what Sarah said:

"Love is watching someone die."

Holladay Memorial Park

I want to live where Soul meet Body

And let the Sun wrap its arms around me!

Happy News

2011-07-15T12:56:00.001-06:00

Whixall Chapelry, Shropshire, England

Good news comes in threes.

First good news: I had a new hard drive installed in my computer.
Second good news: I found my camera which had been lost for over a month. (It was under the front passenger seat of our car. Three of us had looked there twice each. The third time for me was the charm.)
Third good news: I found a CD back-up of files which I made in February 2009. Thousands of names have now been restored to my PAFs. Thousands of photos have now been restored to my photo files. My computer seems like it's mine again.

It's been a good week.

Speaking of things which were lost---

In 1998, my husband and I spent several hours driving around Shropshire, England trying to find the above Chapelry without luck. My great grandmother was christened there in 1856. It meant a lot to me to find the church.

My GGrandmother, Mary Ann Holding

Mary Ann's parents were from Prees parish in Shropshire which we found without a hitch. According to our map Whixall was just around the bend. Well, we went round several bends, trying to see over the hedgerows, but never found Whixall.

Surprisingly, when I found the photo of Whixall on the Shropshire Family History site, it looks to be out in the open without any hedgerows! We definitely went on a wild goose chase that day in 1998.

With the miracle of technology, I can visit the parishes of my ancestors online. Granted, it's not as fun as being there. I'm not tasting the fish 'n chips or bread pudding, feeling the rain "bucketing down", or sleeping in 400 year old inns, but I can visit England anytime I want from the comfort of my LaZBoy.

Now where did I put my Mouse??

What have you lost?

A Word to the Wise

2011-06-26T15:34:00.001-06:00

I've been trying for months now to get "into" writing about genealogy.

As a professional genealogist for thirty-five years, I should have a lot of wisdom and advice to impart. Instead, I feel drained emotionally, intellectually, physically. My zest and ambition seem to be gone. Shucks.

Genealogy has been my life, my passion. Ever seen I was a child when mom and dad told me stories about their families, I was bit by the bug compelling me to know more.

Once I when I was about twenty-nine, I was selling toys at toy parties, but I was quick to explain to anyone who'd listen, "It isn't my real job. I'm a genealogist."

One zealous mother of five spoke up, "But isn't genealogy for old people?" The comment stung, but I shrugged it off. Yet from that time forward, I felt my work in family history was less important than the work teachers, nurses or secretaries (jobs available to women in my day).

I used to tell people that if they waited until they were old to do genealogy, they wouldn't be able to read the microfilm. Fading eyes and foggy memories being only two deficits of old age. I know only too well about those deficits now (and other deficits as well).

After years of researching for other people and writing (not purposely) dry research reports, I'd like to have enthusiasm to investigate my own family history. I have compiled two families histories on my father's lines, but can't muster the energy to work on my mother's ancestral history. I had much of it done and I'd collected a trunk full of photos (which I were scanned and saved on my now defunct hard-drive). I wanted to write a wonderful history, but I don't think I can make it into what it deserves to be. Especially now that I have to re-do it all.

Have I waited until I'm too old (nearly 62--when must people get started)?

At my stage of life, I thought things would be much different than they are. With a chronic inflammatory illness (Rheumatoid Arthritis), on immune-suppressant drugs, and continual infections which completely incapacitate me for long periods of time. The drugs and illnesses leave me tired, depressed and without ambition.

A word to the wise:

Don't wait until it is too late to write your family history
Keep accurate, organized records--in case something happens to you, others might carry on your work.
Organize and annotate your photographs, while you still have a memory.

But most important:

Backup your files, so you don't lose everything

when your hard-drive crashes.

Don't be a big dumbo like me!

2011-05-15T17:48:00.000-06:00

I once had a wonderful hard drive in a very cute little laptop. It stored all my genealogy files and thousands of photographs, all neatly organized and labeled. One day I was on my bed with my laptop on my lap. Isn't that what they are made for--lazy computing? Apparently not. Suddenly, years of work slipped from my lumpy lap to the floor and the rest is history.

Good-bye to blogging until I can afford to get a new hard drive. Hopefully, there is some one out there who can restore some of my files. PLEEEEAAASSSSSEEEE!!!

Black Country UK

2011-01-11T13:49:00.002-07:00

Holy Trinity, Amblecote, Warwickshire, England

If you have ancestors from Black Country in the United Kingdom or if you just like looking at photos of English parish churches and tombstones, you simply must check out the following web sites:

http://www.blackcountrychurchyards.co.uk/

http://www.blackcountrygenealogyandfamilyhistory.co.uk/

http://www.blackcountryimages.co.uk/

http://www.blackcountrychurchyards.com/

The Black Country gained its name in the mid nineteenth century due to the smoke from the many thousands of ironworking foundries and forges plus also the working of the shallow and 30ft thick coal seams. The area is in the West-Midlands surrounding Birmingham which became the seat of the Industrial Revolution including West Bromwich, Oldbury, Blackheath, Cradley Heath, Old Hill, Bilston, Dudley, Tipton, Wednesfield, Halesowen, Walsall and others.

I hope you enjoy browsing these family history web sites as much as I have!

Why is it we only gather at weddings and funerals?

2010-12-29T18:46:00.005-07:00

Heather and Brad, the happy couple, with my son Wes and daughter Danielle

Weddings and funerals draw together extended families. The one occasion is to rejoice and celebrate, the other is to mourn a loss, but celebrate a life. Unfortunately in some families, it is the only time we have the opportunity to see nieces, nephews, in-laws, aunts, uncles and cousins who live far from us.

We had two such occasions in our family this past year. My nephew was married on July 30, a happy occasion which brought my brother-in-law Dave to town. He's the husband of my sister who died in 2007 and I've seen him only twice since Gail passed and he moved away.

Dave, a great brother-in-law

My deceased brother's family also came to town for the wedding. Sister-in-law Sheryl, niece Shaney and her husband Justin, nephew Collin, niece Heather, her husband Damon and their three children. It was a joyful occasion full of love. Our extended family continues to grow with lots of little ones (two babies born in June 2010).

On the other occasion, we celebrated the life of my aunt Virginia Kloepfer (Jinny to me, Ninny to her grandchildren). While we mourn her loss, we also remember and hold dear all that she meant to us, all that she gave to us. Happy memories. But it was time for her to go. Cancer had destroyed her only lung. For us, it is the end of the older generation. The generation which survived the Great Depression. The generation which fought and survived World War II.

Ninny shortly before her death with my cousin Kellea

My sister, her husband and I drove to Boise, Idaho on December 18 to attend the memorial service for Virginia. It brought together my cousins and their children which, unfortunately, I had not seen for fourteen years, when we went to Boise for my uncle Dick (Virginia's husband) funeral.

Obituary published in Idaho Statesman on December 16, 2010

Virginia Kloepfer, 81, born Virginia Watson to Percy and Fern Watson departed her loving family to accompany the heavenly choir. Her soprano voice will be missed by the choir at All Saints Episcopal Church nearly as much as her presence. Sandra Durland Kloepfer, Rick Kloepfer , his wife Charlotte and Dr. Randall Kloepfer. Loving brother, Harold (Hal) Watson and his son, Michael, and numerous grandchildren were present Saturday, December 11 as Virginia reluctantly received her goodbyes. Virginia aka "Nini" was born in Salt Lake City, Utah and grew up in Boise. She graduated from Boise High School where she met and later married Richard V. Kloepfer, her high school sweetheart. Virginia accomplished many challenges in life beyond children and grandchildren. She had multiple college degrees and worked in the insurance business, as a counselor, and an architect. She taught high school math and astrology. She competed successfully in high school and college tennis. She played golf at a high level with 2 hole-in-ones and many trophies while participating at state tournaments. Her children were deeply moved by her courage and fortitude as she continued to volunteer and contribute to her church, All Saints Episcopal, in various functions, cooking and baking. Though never timely, her death came all too soon. Those attempting to continue her legacy are daughter Sandra and her son Weston, her eldest son Rick, wife Charlotte, and their children, Ivy and Amber, and youngest son Randy, wife Beverly, and their children, Jefferson, Daniel, and Jessica. Virginia's brother Harold Watson his children Michael, Sally and Robert and the four Kloepfer nieces Carolyn, Kathleen, Kellea, and Kim. Virginia was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, and sister Jean Harlow Jackson. Memorial service will be held at All Saints Episcopal Church on Saturday, December 18th, at 3:00 PM. Celebrants, family, and friends are all welcome to share memories and condolences. For those wishing to contribute in memory of Virginia, the family respectfully requests donations be made to the Friendship Meal in care of All Saints Episcopal Church located at 704 South Latah, Boise, Idaho 83705.

Jinny's family looks at photos I took 14 years earlier in 1996 when Uncle Dick died

The Boise home where my mother grew up.

I remember it well from my childhood. The present owners have

done a wonderful restoration. Thanks. . . .

Good things happen even at sad times. I found out (through my cousin's teenage son) that six of my Kloepfer cousins are on FaceBook! Now we can stay connected, can view photos of kids and grandkids, can send messages and birthday greetings. I was born to live in the cyber-space generation.

Dear cousins, it is so nice to reconnect

Happy New Year to All!

Stitching Families Together

2010-07-25T18:56:00.004-06:00

[Music: Enya. . . A Day without Rain]
This is my latest attempt at movie making. . . Turn your sound on.

Each of us is a thread in the tapestry of life
Some of us are woven closely to the past
Others pull away and become worn, frayed
Detached, distant.
In the end, our families stories create a picture
Imperfect, flawed
Yet amusing and fascinating.
Sometimes it's tragic, sometimes magic,
But it is always worth a second look.

Thank you for stopping by.

Forefathers

2010-07-16T10:04:00.001-06:00

The words and pictures say it all.

This is what genealogy is about.

'Non nobis solum' (Not for ourselves alone)

2010-07-14T15:34:00.003-06:00

Sir George Yeardley (1588 - 1627) was a plantation owner and three time colonial Governor of the British Colony of Virginia. A survivor of the Virginia Company of London's ill-fated Third Supply Mission, whose flagship, the Sea Venture, was shipwrecked on Bermuda for 10 months in 1609-10, he is best remembered for presiding over the initial session of the first representative legislative body in Virginia in 1619. With representatives from throughout the settled portion of the colony, the group became known as the House of Burgesses. It has met continuously since, and is known in modern times as the Virginia General Assembly.

Knight's Tomb--Sir George Yeardley

Jamestown, Virginia

My uncle Edward Eardley visited the Knight's Tomb in Jamestown when he moved to Virginia in the 1940s. Uncannily, he sensed a connection with the Yeardley and Eardley names, but without the Internet, he had no way of researching that relationship. Years later (1985), after I bought my first computer, but before the Internet was what it is today, Edward asked me research Sir George and see if we were related. I laughed, believing there was no link and if there was I would never find it. Silly me. Little did I know then where the road would lead.

In the 1990s when I was actively researching and compiling a book on my own Eardley family, a gentleman from Kentucky contacted me. He was a retired psychiatrist named Jack Eardley who was also researching the Eardley name. He had somehow found addresses and connected every living Eardley (male) throughout the world and had concluded that all of our ancestors originated from Audley, England. That's right--the Eardleys of Audley.

Jack was organizing a great Eardley Millennium Family Get-Together to be held at St. James, the Audley parish church on 15 July 2000. Jack's an ambious man. The Get-Together went off without a hitch and it launched numerous unexpected projects. On Jack's web site, he has put information about all male Eardley marriages from the English Civil Registration from 1837 to 1998. He has collected the actual marriage certificates of all Eardley men from 1837 to 1900. Phew! His web site is highly unorganized (confusing) and has more information than I can grasp and I'm a genealogist!

Eardleys in front of St. James Audley, 15 July 2000

At the millenial reunion, the Eardley family members voted to pay to have the 300 year old stained glass window restored in St. James, Audley. After two years, the money was raised (I think Jack paid most of it) and the best glass artisans in the area carefully restored the window behind the altar. Members of the Eardley family from around the world joined together for a re-dedication service of the window, led by the Reverend Peter Davies, Vicar of this Parish, on Sunday 14th July 2002.

St. James, Audley

Restored Stained and Leaded glass window

Re-Dedicated 14 July 2002

Meanwhile, other projects were afoot. Which takes me back to the original story of Sir George Yeardley. A family genealogist in England traced Sir George's family to Audley where the seeds of the rest of our Eardley progenies began. This is what they found:

George Yeardley was baptized on July 28, 1588, in St. Saviour's Parish, Southwark, Surrey (across the River Thames from London). He was the son of Ralph Yeardley (1549-1604), a London merchant-tailor, and Rhoda Marston (d. 1603).

Ralph Yeardley was born in Audley, Staffordshire, England to William Eardley and Elizabeth Moreton. For some unknown reason Ralph changed the spelling of his family name when he went off to London or more likely the clerks in Surrey changed the spelling. In those early years the name was spelled in a variety of ways. The family owned land and a manor in Audley parish which was known as Eardley's End, below. Unfortunately, it was torn down in the 1950s before I had the chance to see it,.

Moreton Hall, near Congleton, Cheshire, England was the home of Elizabeth Moreton Eardley, grandmother of Sir George Yeardley.

George Yeardley chose not to follow his father into trade, but instead became a soldier and joined a company of English foot-soldiers to fight the Spanish in the Netherlands. As a captain and bodyguard, he was selected to serve Sir Thomas Gates during his term as Governor of Virginia.

In 1613 Yeardley married Temperance Flowerdew, daughter of Anthony Flowerdew of Hethersett, County Norfolk, and his wife Martha Stanley of Scottow, County Norfolk. Temperance had also sailed for Virginia in the 1609 expedition aboard the Falcon, arriving at Jamestown in August 1609, and was one of the few survivors of the Starving Time.

Sir George Yeardley was knighted at Newmarket, England, on 24 November 1618, and six days later he was commissioned Governor of Virginia. He was granted 300 acres of land to help defray the cost of maintaining himself as governor.

In 1618, he patented 1,000 acres of land on Mulberry Island. He owned another private plantation upriver on the south side of the James River opposite Weyanoke, named Flowerdew Hundred. Yeardley named the property after his wife, Temperance Flowerdew. The plantation elected two representatives to the first General Assembly in Jamestown in 1619: one was an ancestor of President Thomas Jefferson. With a population of about thirty, the plantation was economically successful with thousands of pounds of tobacco produced along with corn, fish and livestock. Yeardley paid 120 pounds (possibly a hogshead of tobacco) to build the first windmill in British America in 1621.

This brings me to the next descendants get together, this time in America on the Flowerdew Hundred plantation in Virginia. I am NOT a descendant of Sir George Yeardley. My Eardley family came to America 246 years after George. But we do descend from common ancestors somewhere in the 16th Century. So the Flowerdew Hundred organization kindly invited Eardley researchers (Jack Eardley and myself) to attend their shindig. I accepted since I was going to be in Virginia at the time anyway.

My cousin, her husband and I stepped out of the car at sweltering Flowerdew in August and were greeted by some women with southern accents who asked from which of Sir George's children we descended. I sheepishly replied, "None." They turned up their noses and headed in the opposite direction as one said, "Then what are you doing here." We were like lepers, no one wanted to be near us. Aristocracy in America? The only other thing I remember about the day was humidity and heat.

The Flowerdew Hundred Descendant's Gathering

24th of August, 2002

The Eardleys of Audley had made the link to Jamestown. With the Jamestown 400th Anniversary approaching in 2007, the Eardleys decided to commemorate the event by sewing its own panel for the New World Tapestry. And so the Eardleys got together to sew. And sew they did.

The Yeardley/Jamestown Tapestry--20 January 2003

Close-up of panel in tapestry including Eardley shield

The Eardley Crest

'Non nobis solum' meaning 'Not for ourselves alone' seems an apt motto for many of the Eardleys who are always 'doing for others'.

I'm writing this today because tomorrow, July 15, 2010, there will be another world-wide Eardley Get Together at St. James, Audley. I wish them well, hope for a good attendance and good weather. Wish I could be there!

The "New" Celebrity Craze

2010-03-12T17:02:00.002-07:00

Who Do You Think You Are?

When I started this genealogy blog, I thought it would be unique, different, interesting and informative to many. As a professional genealogist, I had tons of knowledge and tips to share. But I soon realized that while I had been researching for thirty years, the face of genealogy had changed.

Thirty years ago, genealogy seemed to be a Bastion of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The Mormons had been microfilming church and civil records all over the world since World War II ended. They had the largest genealogical library in the world and had collected more family records than any other organization. The church encouraged research, not just to its own members, but to all interested.

That has not changed. The LDS Church continues in its commitment to family history.

What has changed is the advent of the Internet and the huge influx of people interested in their ancestors.

Personally, I can't imagine growing up without knowing who my grandparents and great-grandparents were--where they lived and how they died, what they looked like, what they did, what they said. It was ingrained in me from as early as I can remember. It's always astonishing to me when someone can't give me the names of their grandparents.

The "new" craze in celebrity ancestry right now doesn't surprise me and it really isn't new at all. It seems new to the public because of the hit TV series currently being broadcast, one on PBS (Faces of America) and the other on NBC (Who Do You Think You Are?). Americans have always been obsessed with stars and here is the most important reason:

America has never had Royalty!

The royal families of Europe, Russia and Asia have always been well documented with massive quantities written on their histories, their families and descendants. It is obviously one reason most Americans want to trace their family back to royalty--because then the work is done--and they have a claim to fame.

For centuries the commoners of Europe have been preoccupied with the lives of their royals and their aristocracy. How did they dress? It set the standards for fashion. How did they recreate? Polo, grambling, glamorous balls--all amusements of the rich and famous. What about their personal lives? Okay, I won't go there.

Celebrities in America--Movie and TV stars, pro athletes, music personalities, politicans--these people are America's Royals. We buy magazines and tabloids by the millions, watch ET (Entertainment Tonight) and talk shows, all to find out more about our Royals. Their names are always in the headlines.

It is not surprising that we also want to learn about their ancestors!

Furthermore, it isn't surprising to me that the series Who Do You Think Your Are? actually started in the U.K. in 2004. Americans are not very original.

Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. of Faces of America and his earlier African American Lives, seems to have invented the celebrity genealogy trend. But, pardon me, I beg to differ.

Faces of America

I work for a genealogy company which did genealogy for the "Stars" clear back in the late 1970s after Roots gave African-Americas a sense of their heritage. Soon after Roots aired, music producer Quincy Jones approached my boss about having his own roots traced. Thus began his remarkable journey, as well as ours.

A wall chart in our office charts Jones's ancestors and all the descendants of his ancestores (his cousins) who descend from his common ancestors. People such as Johnny Carson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Prince Charles, Lady Diana, George Bush, etc.--all cousins to Quincy.

Quincy was so enthralled, he encouraged his friends to explore their lineages and even paid for many relucant participants. Our company researched Bill Cosby, Michael Jackson, Oprah Winfrey, Jane Fonda, Ted Turner among numbers of other celebrities. This was way back in the days before the Internet!

I have heard Henry Louis Gates, Jr. interviewed several times. He has yet to acknowledge the role of my former boss in the research on his productions. He was not once recognized the role of the LDS Church in collecting, microfilming and preserving family records. It miffs me a little. He seems to claim all the glory and accolates. In my humble opinion, the man has an ego.

I admit to anxiously awaiting each new episode of Who Do You Think You Are? I am glad this program (sponsored by Ancestry.com) is concentrating on only one star per installment. It leads to more continuity than was seen in Faces of America which jumped from one person to the next.

What do you like about the two series I mentioned? Which one do/did you like better? Please tell me your opinion.

The Best Part Of Genealogy

2010-01-11T17:40:00.001-07:00

Janet ~ 1932

When I began researching my family history over forty years ago, I was very sure I would never be bothered with reunions and living relatives. I was concerned only with the DEAD. Tracing the names, dates, places of those who went before me--that was my only quest. It was much easier to "like" skeletons with their quirks than it was to tolerated my eccentric, flesh and blood kin!

Was I ever wrong.

Over the years, I have learned to love the living as well as the dead.

My greatest discovery in 2009 wasn't a headstone in far away place. It wasn't the marriage record of a forefather in 1729. My greatest discovery was my second cousin, once removed who is alive and well in Scotland--or to be more specific--it was her discovery of ME!

Janet's grandmother (Sarah) and my great-grandmother (Mary Ann) were sisters. Her grandmother stayed in England while my great-grandmother immigrated to America.

Bryden Family in England circa 1895
Youngest child -- Janet's mother is on Janet's

grandmother Sarah's lap

Eardley Family circa 1908
My Great-grandmother Mary Ann - far right

with her five children

Janet is not only my cousin, she has become my best friend. We are so blessed in this era of computers to have become acquainted through E-mail. Janet is a very computer savvy seventy-nine year old, who is writing her life story, as well as researching her ancestry and best of all, she shares it all with me. We have many interests (and illnesses) in common. She's spunky, optimistic, spiritual and loves life, even though she is nearly disabled. She is a survivor who has experienced many heart-wrenching tragedies in her lifetime.

Though we may never met in person in this life, I'm sure we'll have lots to discuss when we get to the other side.

Janet's family - 1932 - in England

Brother, Grahame (1924-1996)

Janet writes:

"There was another incident which had a profound influence on my life. In the early Summer of 1939, when there was a War threatened, and Conscription was beginning to gather boys to the Army, I awoke one night by a torch [flashlight] being flashed onto my face. Catching a glimpse of a white shirt, and then feeling a ‘bump’ underneath my bed, I called out for my Dad to come, ‘There’s a man under my bed!’. It took him a little while to get the message, trying to persuade me that I had had a bad dream. At my persistence he finally, looked under my bed, and sure enough…!

My visitor turned out to be the 17 year old son of a farmer friend, from some miles away, near Canvey Island, who had absconded. He had come for Dad’s help; seen a front window open and climbed in. Not knowing whose room he was in, he had shone his torch onto me to see whose bed it was. He was very sorry for upsetting me, but….. to this day, I am frightened of the dark, and will not go out alone if I can help it. To get into bed, I would take a running leap, in case someone was underneath the bed."

Janet found her true love while she was a nurse and he was her patient. They married in 1951. It was a match made in heaven. She describes it this way, "We were as one person, and never exchanged a cross word."

Sadly, their time together was very short. They had one small child and another baby on the way when her husband was killed in an explosion at I.C.I. Powfoot, on 11th February, 1954. "A twisted end of a pipe was packed with explosive, and it went off like a cannon, killing both the worker, and Walter. The explosion was heard for many miles. At the age of 22 years (23 in six weeks time), I was too young for a Widow’s Pension of 10s. per week (50p) which was paid to widows under 60."

How sad is that?

I've learned so much from my cousin and she continues to inspire me and give me advice.

Thank you, Janet.

Just when I think I have nothing left to learn about genealogy, it surprises me again.

Best of All He Loved the Fall

2009-10-12T13:54:00.010-06:00

Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961)

Ernest Hemingway Memorial in Sun Valley on Trial Creek Road

Best of all he loved the fall,

the leaves yellow on the cottonwoods,

leaves floating on the trout streams.

And above the hills

the high blue windless skies.

Now he will be a part of them forever.

------Ernest Hemingway, 1939

The summer before my twelfth birthday, I went to stay with my cousins in Burley, Idaho for two weeks. My uncle was an attorney who had good friends living in Sun Valley, Idaho. Uncle Dean and his family were invited to spend the 4th of July at his friends' lovely home. This meant I went along and visited Sun Valley for my first time.

After a two hour drive, we arrived in Sun Valley on July 2, 1961 and settled into our accommodations. Our host and hostess had a barbecue ready with hamburgers for the kids and steaks for the adults. As we were smothering our burgers with ketchup and pickles and loading our paper plates with potato chips, our host announced he had just heard on the news that Ernest Hemingway had shot himself at his home a mile away. The great writer was dead.

My uncle and aunt reacted with shock and sadness. None of us kids really understood the gravity of the situation. Of course I'd heard of Ernest Hemingway, but I hadn't read any of his books yet, nor did I realize at my tender age how famous he was. My only thought at the time was "Is his suicide going to ruin our barbecue and our stay in Sun Valley?"

In deed, a somber mood prevailed the town throughout the Fourth of July. There was no parade, no fireworks.

We drove near his home and saw the many police cars and the yellow tape forbidding entrance of spectators. The day of the funeral cars lined the highway to the Ketchum cemetery for miles. The entire cemetery was literally filled with flowers, more flowers than I had ever seen in one place.

There were seven children in our holiday household, ranging in age from nine to fourteen. We did our best to entertain the adults to keep their minds off the death of Papa Hemingway, the most famous resident of Sun Valley. Our hosts had a pile of 45 records with the large hole in the middle. We put them on the portable record player and danced, sang and acted out the words. We dressed up in costumes and sang "One eyed, one horned, flying purple people eater . . ." and "Ooo, eee, ooo ah ah ting tang, Walla walla, bing bang. . ." The adults laughed, rolled their eyes and took another sip of their high-balls.

Years later as I read some of the works of Ernest Hemingway, I would look back nostalgically on my first visit to Sun Valley. It was horrible and wonderful in the same breath.

I came to understand Hemingway's depression on a first name basis, dealing with it myself most of my adult life. Perhaps because of Ernest Hemingway, I came to realize the dichotomies which exist in so many circumstances of life. We can love and hate at the same time. Something can be beautiful and ugly. Hemingway loved life to the fullest. He drank and consumed life, yet he took his own. He felt deeply, fervently, passionately and yet in the end he also felt empty.

I have gone to Sun Valley as an adult and the feelings of my youth come rushing back. Visiting his gravesite and putting pennies on his grave, I realize what a trivial gesture it is. But how do you honor a great and talented man?

Ketchum, Idaho Cemetery--Ernest Hemingway Gravesite

Gravestone covered with pennies

Let us remember how he lived, not how he died.

Extra! Extra!

2009-06-06T15:20:00.006-06:00

Denton Journal -- Denton, Maryland, 9 August 1873

To me, part of the fun of genealogy is pouring over old newspapers. Besides finding birth, death, engagement and wedding information, it is just plain entertaining--seeing the advertisements and getting a feeling for the time and place in which an ancestor lived.

It used to be that these newspaper searches were carried out in libraries, using a microfilm reader. Other than some obituaries, most of the microfilmed newspapers were not indexed, so searches could go on and on for hours or days.

Now that so many newspapers are scanned and available online with fairly good indexing, you can read the newspapers in the comfort of your own home whenever you want.

With my trusty laptop, I've found some interesting obituaries for my husband's ancestors, while sitting in my Laz-E-Boy and watching mindless TV. (at Ancestry.com) When I think of the hundreds of hours I spent looking for my family obits at the Family History and Salt Lake City libraries, it boggles my mind.

My husband's ancestors settled on the Delmarva peninsula (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia) in the 1600s. His parents were both born in Delaware and finding genealogical records has been difficult. Fortunately, I've had good luck recently searching the Denton Journal and the Salisbury Times. Not only have I found obituaries, but I have also found articles with descriptions of weddings and items telling about ancestors' church and community activities.

Obituaries and wedding articles are crucial, because they usually list the names of relatives.

It has opened up a whole new world. I feel like I'm getting to know my husband's family member who have long been dead.

Published in the Denton Journal, I've found moving tributes to loved ones who have passed on. Where else would you find such prose or poetry? For instance, this homage for an ancestor was recently found.

Memoriam in Denton Journal, (Denton, Maryland)
4 February 1911

"Days of Sadness come o'er us,
Tears of sorrow silently flow
Fond memory keeps our father near us,
Though Heaven claimed him two years ago.
Down in our hearts we know it best,
That our dear father should be at rest,
For anxious cares reach never
To the mansions of the blest"
---A Daughter

Besides the obituary, the following tributes were found for Mr. John W. Wood, a relative:

17 Jan 1920 Denton Journal
Mr. John W. Wood, a well-known citizen of Henderson, died on Saturday morning of paralysis, aged seventy-two years. His death came as a shock to his many friends. Although in poor health a long time his death was unexpected at this time. Mrs. Wood and four children survive. The children are Mrs. Clayton Melvin, Henderson; Mrs. Alfred Carter, Henderson; Mrs. R. H. Sylvester, Goldsboro; Miss Bertie Wood, Goldsboro; and two brothers, Rev. G. E. Wood, of Girdletree, and Mr. James T. Wood, of Easton; and two sisters, Mrs. Laura Draper, of Annapolis, and Mrs. Katherine Butler, of Denton.

6 Mar 1920 Denton Journal
In Memoriam.
In sad but loving remembrance of my dear husband, John W. Wood, who departed this life January 10th, 1920.

It's sad that one we cherish
Should be taken from our Home,
But the joys that do not perish
Live in Memory alone.
All the years we've spent together,
All the happy, golden hours,
Shall be cherished in remembrance.
Rest, dear husband, thy work is o'er;
Thy willing hands will toil no more.
A faithful husband, true and kind,
A better father you could not find.
---By his loving wife, Mrs. J. W. Wood

8 Jan 1921 Denton Journal
In sad bur loving remembrance of my dear father, John W. Wood, who departed this life one year ago, January 10th, 1920.

A sad year with all its changes,
Since death strangely bade us part,
But, dear father, all these changes
Cannot take you from my heart.
We cannot understand why we must part
From those we love so dear;
But God, who doeth all things well,
Will some day make it clear.
---By his Loving Daughter, Bertie O. Wood

Don't forget about newspapers when you're doing research. They are a rich, vital, fascinating source of family information.

Genealogist's Psalm

2009-05-30T14:48:00.010-06:00

Genealogy is my pastime,

I shall not stray.

It maketh me lie down and examine half-buried tombstones.

It leadeth me into still courthouses.

It restoreth my ancestral knowledge.

It leadeth me in the paths of census records and ship's passenger lists for my surname's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the shadows of research libraries and microfilm readers,

I shall fear no discouragement,

For strong is the urge within me;

Curiosity and motivation--they comforteth me.

It demandeth preparation of storage space for the acquisition of countless documents.

It anointeth my head with burning of the midnight oil;

My Family Group Sheets runneth over.

Surely birth, marriage, and death dates shall follow me all the days of my life;

And I shall dwell in the house of the family history seeker,

Forever.

Amen.

*****

A visitor to the Family History Library was heard to say, "Coming to this library is better than going to Las Vegas, because you always come out a winner!'

Potters of the Gathering

2009-05-22T18:51:00.024-06:00

Great Grandfather -- Bedson Eardley

My great grandfather was one of the first pioneer potters in the the state of Utah and he is finally getting the recognition he deserves. An exhibition which has been ten years in the making, opened recently at the Iron Mission State Park Museum in Cedar City. Of course, other pioneer potters works are featured as well, but the Eardley pottery plays an important part.

One man, an antiques' dealer, has snapped up all surviving Eardley pots available and for the first time he is loaning them to this historic exhibit. Tim Scarlett, an assistant professor at Michigan Tech, has been studying the early Utah potters and their wares for ten years. His study includes archaeological digs, mapping and reconstructions.

I've been involved only on the periphery as a descendant and as the author/compiler of the Eardley family history. I do not own a piece of Eardley pottery and have only viewed pieces in museums, so I'm excited to see a large number of pieces together. I do own Bedson's pottery ledgers (circa 1864-1892) and have loaned them to the museum as part of the exhibition.

Read more about the exhibition on Michigan Tech web site and about

Iron Mission State Park Museum where the pottery exhibition is now on display.

Eardley Pottery in Potters of the Gathering

Listen to the radio report about the exhibition on

KUER.

The history of my Eardley ancestors began in an area of Staffordshire, England known as “the Potteries” in and around Stoke upon Trent. By virtue of their place of birth, the Eardleys were potters by profession. Although Bedson Eardley was not born in “the Potteries,” his father and grandfather were and Bedson spent much of his youth as a pottery apprentice in that area.

The Staffordshire potteries, in the Midlands of England, has a more distinctive heritage than many of the better known parts of Britain. It is here that a skilled and industrious workforce, located in an isolated rural backwater and, often with wretched working conditions and simple tools, made objects of great beauty which won a worldwide reputation.

During the 17th century, the community of potters working around Burslem began using coal as a fuel in their kilns and this appears to have given them an economic advantage over other rural workshops still dependent on diminishing supplies of timber. Coal was abundantly available throughout the area known as the Staffordshire Potteries.

The slender supply of ivory clay was soon consumed, but the red firing “Etruria Marl” still occurs in abundance. From the late medieval period Burslem potters are known to have supplied Midland markets with simple butter pots and other domestic wares. There competitive prices were noted as far away as Nottingham. By 1710 Burslem had become a prominent pottery center, probably the largest in Great Britain, and had acquired a name.

When one thinks of the famous Staffordshire potteries, the names Wedgwood, Spode, and Royal Doulton immediately come to mind. The beautiful porcelains and fine bone china are still in production and are owned by royalty throughout Europe.

Perhaps one of the most famous names to emerge from the Staffordshire Potteries is Wedgwood. Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795), often described as the “Father of English Potters,” apprenticed under Thomas Whieldon and later became his partner. Wedgwood was instrumental in introducing a new species of earthenware–with a firm and durable body, covered with a rich and brilliant glaze which bore sudden vicissitudes of cold and heat without breakage.

The ware was manufactured with ease and sold cheaply and because it so pleased the Queen, it was known as “Queen’s Ware.” His experiments are credited with the invention of several other species of earthenware and porcelain, namely: Terra Cotta, Basaltes or Black Ware, White Porcelain Biscuit and Jasper. Wedgwood combined art with industry and was acclaimed as an artist, scientist, inventor, progressive manufacturer and humanist.

With so many pottery workers turning away from the traditional Anglican church, it is little wonder that the LDS missionaries had such good success in the area during the 1840s. The Mormons not only preached of a more positive after-life in which everyone would be reunited with their loved ones, but they also told of a better earthly life in America in their “Zion.” Four Eardley brothers heard the word, were baptized and cast their lot with other Mormon immigrants. Utah needed potters and the Eardleys needed opportuntity, so they eft behind the rapidly blackening skies of Staffordshire, England.

In 1710 there were around 500 people employed in pottery manufacture. In the Burslem area alone, by 1760 this had risen to 150 manufactories employing 7,000 people. And by 1785 15,000 people across the area were working in the Potteries.

Swadlincote, where my great grandfather Bedson was born, was a small south Derbyshire village noted for coal mining, pottery making and metal working. Bedson’s father had moved there from “the Potteries” in Staffordshire in order to secure a better standard of living for his family and better working conditions for himself. The "Potteries" were becoming densely populated and extremely polluted with smoke and soot from the ever increasing number of “potbanks” or factories.

Seven months after Bedson's mother, Elizabeth, died in 1839, his father, Edward, died in Swadlincote of “consumption” at age forty-five on March 5, 1840. His illness, tuberculosis, was caused or worsened from breathing pottery and coal dust. Sons William, age sixteen, John, fourteen, James, ten and Bedson, not yet eight, were left orphans. They returned to Stoke upon Trent, because apprenticeships in the potteries were more readily available.

Industrial disease was prevalent in the Potteries and mortality rates were high. The main problem, diagnosed at an early date, was lead poisoning since lead was used in the glazing process.

The next serious health risk endured by potters was pneumoconiosis caused by inhaling flint dust particles, often with fatal damage to the lungs. It was a lingering illness, which took many decades to diagnose and control. It is likely that many small master potters could not afford improved buildings, sanitary arrangements, welfare, ventilation or supervision for their workers. It will probably never be known, or completely understood, what part the deplorable pottery conditions played in the early deaths of Edward and his wife Elizabeth Eardley.

Much of our heritage is determined or greatly influenced by the occupations of the fathers.

What occupations shaped or altered your ancestral families? How does you's or your husband's occupation effect the life-style of your present day family?

Thanks Linda and Judy!

2009-05-07T13:30:00.011-06:00

After months of wondering whether I should continue to blog, I opened my site today to find this cute award--"One Lovely Blog Award"--not just from one person but two.

Linda at Flipside and Judy at Genealogy Traces mentioned me on their blogs. I am honored and heartened to know that someone reads what I write---even if I don't get comments! I am encouraged and will continue to blog.

Of course, the idea behind presenting the award is to pass on the encouragement by awarding seven deserving blogs.

I could nominate dozens, but here are the seven I picked for the "One Lovely Blog Award":

Marty at Travelin' Oma's Library

Sherie at Sher-ing Time

Kate at Kate's Plate

Pat at Past Imperfect

Andrea at Colouring Outside the Lines

Liv at One Year of Beauty

Keri(th) at Tales from the Lone Star State

None of the above are genealogy blogs per se, but all are worth a look and a read.

Thanks again Linda and Judy.

How Do You Live Your Dash?

2009-05-06T10:48:00.004-06:00

I read of a man who stood to speak

at the funeral of a friend.

He referred to the dates on her tombstone

from the beginning --to the end.

He noted that first came her date of birth

and spoke the following date with tears,

but he said what mattered most of all

was the dash between those years.

For the dash represents all the time

that she spent alive on earth--

and now only those who loved her

know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not, how much we own,

the cars, the house, the cash.

What matters is how we live and love

and how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard--

Are there things you'd like to change?

For you never know how much time is left,

that can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough

to consider what's true and real,

and always try to understand

the way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger,

and show appreciation more

and love the people in our lives

like we've never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect,

and more often wear a smile--

Remembering that this special dash

might only last a little while.

So, when your eulogy is read

with your life's actions to rehash--

Would you be proud of the things they say

about how you spent your dash?

(Author Unknown)

Finding Uncle Jake

2009-04-27T18:27:00.020-06:00

J. W. Clifford aka Jake Kloepfer

"Uncle Jake" was my maternal grandfather's uncle. My great grandfather Philip Kloepfer was born in the tiny German town of Altleiningen, Rheinland-Pfalz, Bayern in 1861. His mother Elisabetha Kloepfer was unmarried at the time and no father was listed on the Lutheran baptismal record.

Elisabetha Kloepfer (b. 1834) had given birth to another illegitimate son, Heinrich Kloepfer, in 1854, but his father was recorded as Nikolaus Rehy in the Altleiningen parish register.

The family story, passed down through the generations, is that Nikolaus Rehy immigrated to America before Heinrich's birth. He promised Elisabetha that he would find work and build a home for them. Then he would return to Germany, marry her and take her and their son back to the United States.

Nikolaus did immigrate and found work, but he never returned to Altleiningen for Elisabetha. He married in the U.S. and had a family with another woman. Elisabetha was broken-hearted and obviously had a relationship with another man. Thus my great grandfather.

Nine years after GG-father Philip was born Elisabetha had another illegitimate son, Jacob Kloepfer in 1870. Again, no father was listed on the baptismal record.

When Jacob was five-years-old, Elisabetha moved to Mannheim, Baden, Germany where Philip was apprenticing as a stone/brick mason. There she married Georg Schneider and proceeded to have two sons by him. Both died as infants.

In 1876 at the age of twenty-two, Heinrich Kloepfer joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Two years later he decided to immigrate to Utah. No one knows if he planned on trying to find his father.

Evidently, Elisabetha was weak and ailing at that time and asked Heinrich (Henry) to take his eight-year-old half-brother, Jacob, with him. After traveling by boat up the Rhein, Jacob and Heinrich sailed first from Antwerp and then from Liverpool on 15 Jun 1878 on the S.S. Montana.

Philip immigrated in 1881 after finishing his apprenticeship. At the age of forty-seven, Elisabetha died three months after her son Philip left Mannheim.

When the 1880 U.S. Census was enumerated in Wellsville, Cache, Utah, ten-year-old Jacob was listed as Jacob CLIFFER, the adopted son of James and Sarah Park. Jake's brother Henry had married and was living with his Swiss wife in nearby Providence, Cache, Utah. The Kloepfer name was spelled CLEPERED in this record.

It is hard for us, in this day and age, to imagine why names weren't spelled correctly in the 19th Century records. Obviously, non-Anglo-Saxon names were more difficult to understand and spell. But even common names were often misspelled in the records, making research that much more challenging.

J. W. Clifford and Luella Temple, a Burlesque Team, 1908

When Jacob became a naturalized U. S. citizen in Cache County, Utah, he was using the name Jacob SCHNEIDER, his mother's married surname. How on earth could his name be found in the records if we didn't know the circumstances of Jake's life?

Uncle Jake became an actor in vaudeville, silent movies and the early "talkies". He went by the stage name J. W. CLIFFORD, very close to the name used in the 1880 census.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find Jake's name in the 1900-1930 census records. Which name was he using at the time those records were enumerated? More importantly, how was his name interpreted by the census taker AND then how did the indexer interpret what the census taker wrote?

Uncle JakeCirca 1930s

When I became interested in genealogy many years ago, I asked my mom what she remembered about her great-uncle Jake. When she was growing up in Boise, Idaho, mom said Jake showed up at their home every two to three years and asked her father for money.

Mother didn't remember Jake being an actor. She thought he was a vagabond who traveled a great deal and never married, but she didn't know his traveling was because of his vaudeville troupe.

Memories are never perfect. People remember very different things about the same event. Two people might view the same person in entirely different lights. This is the case with Uncle Jake.

My mother's cousin Naomi Kloepfer Roberts remembered in 2001 that Uncle Jake had a money bag that he wore around his neck and it was always full of money. "He was rich and always had lots of money. I asked if he had more than what was in this bag around his neck. 'Oh, yes!' He was so rich and he had travelled everywhere."

Naomi remembered he was in vaudeville and played parts. The part she remembers everyone talking about was when he played Jiggs in Maggie and Jiggs. "He would often entertain the grand kids by playing the part of Jiggs with one of Uncle Fred's girls as Maggie."

Family members remembered that Jake died in Los Angeles in the 1960s. I searched the California death index under all his various names, but couldn't find a listing under Kloepfer, Clifford, or Schneider. I finally searched with his first name only, looking for a Jacob, born in 1870 in Germany and died 1960-1970 in Los Angeles. It worked!

I found his death listed in the index under the spelling Jacob KLEPSER, born 14 Feb 1870 Germany, died 16 May 1962 in Los Angeles. He was ninety-two. He died when I was twelve and I don't think I ever met him. I would certainly have plenty of questions for him now!

Some Guidelines for Searching Names:

Never assume your ancestor's names were always spelled the same way you spell them now.
Sometimes, you'll need to be creative in figuring out how a name could be interpreted or spelled.
Remember that every time a human writes a record there is a possibility of error. With each generation (or compilation), there is the chance of additional errors.
The first letter of a surname is important--think about how a capital letter might be mis-interpreted. "R" might be read as "B" when indexing. "S" is often mistaken for "L" in hand writing, etc.

Workhouses in the U.K.

2009-04-23T22:16:00.018-06:00

Southwell Workhouse, Nottinghamshire

When one thinks of workhouses in England , Oliver Twist and the dire circumstances of the poor, immediately comes to mind.

WORKHOUSE. The word alone was calculated to send a shudder down the spine of any honest 19th century worker. It signified the end of the line, the final indignity. It said: ‘Abandon hope, all ye who enter here.’

The workhouse is an establishment offering relief for the destitute poor in an area, funded from the local poor rate (tax), which — under the supervision of a Master and/or Matron — provided some combination of communal accommodation and a requirement for inmates, particularly the able-bodied, to perform work which was often deterrent in nature, e.g. stone-breaking or oakum-picking. Workhouses usually also had a prescribed dietary regimen.

The "houseless poor" — variously known as vagrants, tramps, rogues, vagabonds, and travelers, have always lived on the edge of society often the subject of distrust. They were also regularly the target of legislation — as early as the seventh century a law was framed to make those who entertained travelers responsible for any misdemeanors they committed.

Recently, I was introduced to the Workhouse web site by a third cousin in England. Our common ancestor, Sarah Middleton Holding, a widow with seven children, had a good friend in the Chester Union Workhouse. Ann Evans had an illegitimate baby girl, Elizabeth, who she gave to Sarah to raise to avoid the life of sorrow and anguish in the workhouse.

When she was seven-years-old, Elizabeth Evans sailed to America with Sarah Holding. Lizzie’s mother hoped her daughter would enjoy the American dream of health and prosperity. Unfortunately, Lizzie died as a child and never realized that dream.

The web site is a great historical overview of all areas of workhouses including poor laws, locations, administration, rules, buildings, the asylum board institutions, Quaker and Salvation Army refuges, children, education, migration, vagrants, workhouse records, timeline and a glossary. Here are some examples from the glossary which were very helpful to me.

Almshouse
An establishment, usually funded by a charitable endowment, providing free or subsidized accommodation for the elderly poor of good character, and typically constructed as a row of small self-contained cottages. A wealthy person might bequeath money for the setting up of some almshouses in the hope that the residents might then regularly pray for his soul.

Bone Crushing
The pounding of old bones into dust for use as fertilizer. In the 1840s, there was a public scandal when it was discovered that malnourished inmates at Andover workhouse had been fighting over scraps of rotting meat left on some bones they were supposed to be crushing.

Casual Poor ("Casuals")
The Casual Poor (usually known just as "Casuals") were those to which a workhouse gave temporary accommodation for one or two nights. Casuals — typically vagrants, tramps, or the "houseless poor" — did not need to be settled in the union. They were required to perform a task of work such as stone-breaking or oakum-picking before being allowed to leave. Casuals were housed in a separate area of the workhouse, usually near the entrance, known as the casual ward.

Dietary
The fixed (and often basic and monotonous) diet prescribed for workhouse inmates. The dietary specified the food to be served to each class of inmate (male/female, adult/children etc.) for each meal of the week, often including the exact amount to be provided. After 1834, the Poor Law Commissioners devised a set of six slightly different standard dietaries from which each union could select the one it preferred, based on the local availability of various foodstuffs.

Foul Wards
Workhouse wards for those suffering from venereal diseases.

House of Correction
An early form of disciplinary institution dating back to the 16th century. In addition to its function of a jail for the rogue, it might also include a workhouse for the poor, hospital for the old, and industrial school for the young.

Ins and Outs
"Ins and Outs" were people who frequently entered and left the workhouse. Workhouses were never prisons, and inmates could leave with "reasonable notice", so long as they had been given back their own clothes — leaving the premises while wearing the workhouse uniform constituted theft of union property. "Ins and Outs" were a great irritation to workhouse staff since, upon readmission, they had to undergo all the administrative formalities required of new inmates, even though they may have only been absent for a few hours.

Poorhouse
The term poorhouse was often used in England prior to 1834 for parish establishments housing paupers where there was no resident master or matron, no prescribed dietary, and where there little or no work was required of the inmates.

Pauper establishments in Scotland were also invariably known as poorhouses (or poor's houses), perhaps reflecting that fact that they did not cater for the able-bodied and therefore imposed no requirement for deterrent work. However, the words poorhouse and workhouse were often used fairly interchangeably.

After 1834, the institutions established by Poor Law Unions were always known as workhouses and always required the able-bodied inmates to perform work. In other countries, e.g. the USA, there was a similar distinction between the poorhouse (for the destitute, old and sick) and the workhouse (a place where hard labor was required of able-bodied paupers, including petty criminals serving a short sentence there).

Poor Rate
A compulsory local tax, dating from 1597, based on an official assessment of the value of the property in which one lived. It was collected by Parish Overseers and distributed under the jurisdiction of the Vestry.

Skilly
A thin oatmeal soup or gruel - a regular part of the workhouse diet.

Toke
A slang name for bread, often of poor quality.

Union
A grouping of adjacent parishes jointly administering poor law affairs. The "union" was one of the slang names for the workhouse.

Vestry
The governing body of a parish. Its name derived from the room in a church building in which it usually met, which in turn came from its function as a room where the priest put on his vestments. Its membership comprised a chairman (the minister of the parish), the churchwardens, and a number of respected householders of the parish.

I also found unusual items on the web site such as Casual Ward Graffiti. Below are a couple of graffiti collected from the casual wards of various workhouses by Poor Law Inspector Andrew Doyle in 1865.

"Private notice.—Saucy Harry and his moll will be

at Chester to eat their Christmas dinner, when they hope Saucer

and the fraternity will meet them at the union.—14th November 1865."

"Never be ashamed of cadging. I was worth five hundred pounds once,

and now I am glad to cadge for a penny or a piece of bread.—Lanky Tom."

Gowers Workhouse, Glamorganshire, Wales

The End of the Workhouse

From 1913 onwards, the term "workhouse" was replaced by "poor law institution" in official documents but the institution itself was to live on for a good many years after that date.

During the First World War, many Boards of Guardians offered workhouse premises for military use, mostly as hospitals, but also for accommodating military personnel and prisoners of war.

Today many of the former workhouses are used for hospitals or schools.

Dum Tacet Clamat

2009-04-07T21:48:00.016-06:00

Hazel and Annie May

(GORDON?)

I was filling gravestone photograph requests for FindaGrave.com today when I realized it was Tombstone Tuesday in the Genealogy World. I noticed the lovely little double tombstones of angel babies Hazel and Annie May. Their surnames were not on the stones.

The young girls were buried so long ago their sandstone headstones had sunken into the ground and the death dates were totally obscured. The birth dates were barely legible.

I can't resist a mystery.

I was heartbroken that Hazel and Annie May seemed to be forgotten. Here is my research process and my analytic reasoning.

The graves around the Hazel's and Annie May's belonged to a large, extended GORDON family, thus I assumed the children were also GORDONs. But could I find them on any online record?

It appeared that Hazel was born February 19, 1887 and Annie May on September 6, 1885.

William GORDON, whose monument stood just east of the girls, was married to Ann LUNN on 3 December 1884 according to the International Genealogical Index. That date is compatible with giving birth to a child in September of 1885. Were William and Ann GORDON the parents of these young girl?

Annie May and Hazel GORDON's names were not listed on the IGI. Nor were they listed with the GORDON family in the Ancestral File or in the submitted family group files on Ancestry.

William's monument appeared to read as follows:

"Dum Taget Glamet"

_____

In Memory of

William Gordon

Dec. 25, 1861

April 1, 1906

_____

His words were kindness

His deeds were love

His spirit humble

He rests above

____

HERE RESTS A WOODSMAN

OF THE WORLD

______

GORDON

_____

William and Annie GORDON were enumerated in the 1900 U.S. Federal Census in Mill Creek, Salt Lake County, Utah. According to the census, the mother, Annie, had given birth to eight children and only six were alive in 1900. The six living children were listed in the household and the eldest daughter, Marion E., was born in August 1888. Therefore, Annie May born in 1885 and Hazel born in 1887 were possibly the two children in the family who had died.

The GORDONs added a couple more children to their family before William died in 1906 after his leg was amputated and he bled to death. How awful!

William was the son of James GORDON, of Scotland, and Marian Park, of Canada.

Annie Lunn GORDON died 7 October 1934 at the age of sixty-two from cardio-nephritis. She was born 18 November 1865 in Albany, New York to Daniel LUNN, of England, and Ann DONOHOE, of Ireland. This information came from her online death certificate.

It is my opinion that Hazel and Annie May were the daughters of William and Ann Lunn GORDON. Unfortunately, the state of Utah did not keep death records until 1905. Salt Lake County kept earlier death records, but I didn't make a trip to the Family History Library to confirm my suspicions. After all this is not my family. . . I was just curious to see what I could find online.

Now for the next mystery. What does "Dum Taget Glamet" mean? My online search revealed the phase was really "Dum Tacet Clamat" and it means “Though silent, he speaks”. Very fitting.

In cemeteries throughout the west, Dum Tacet Clamat is written on hand-carved gravestones paid for by an insurance company called the Woodmen of the World. In an era where people had no other form of insurance, they made sure that their ultimate resting place would have an appropriate marker.

Bella's in the Garage, Again

2009-03-18T17:15:00.009-06:00

Isabella Johnson Kloepfer (1865-1891)

Bella has had many homes over the years. Unfortunately, for lack of a decent wall space in my house, she is currently housed in my garage. Prior to the my garage, she resided in my sister's garage for twelve years and a storage garage for eight years.

Isabella or Bella was my mother's paternal grandmother, who died long before my mother was born. When my mother was alive and living in her own home, Bella's portrait and a large oil painting of Bella's father, William Johnson, hung on the wall in the family room.

Born 22 August 1865 in Upnor (Frindsbury Parish), Kent, England to Lt. William Johnson and Mary Ann Hammond, Bella lived in Upnor during her childhood.

Bella's father William was a Royal Marine serving in the 93rd Company aboard the H.M.S. Trafalgar and later aboard the H.M.S. Cumberland. Unfortunately, William had a weak heart and died at the age of thirty, when Bella was only two and her baby brother was not yet born.

Bella, her brother William, and their mother "Annie" lived in Upnor with Annie's widowed father Robert Hammond, who was a waterman or boatman on the Medway Canal like his father before him. Robert later became a coal merchant and lived to the ripe old age of eighty-four.

Bella's mother Annie, widowed at the tender age of twenty-five, remarried in 1873 to James Murphy, an Irishman who worked for the Navy. The Murphy's went on to have five children, four boys and one daughter, who were Bella's half-siblings.

Because of Lt. William Johnson's service for the British government, Bella and her brother William were provided a quality education. At the age of fifteen in 1881, Bella was boarding at the Sailors' Orphans Girls School in St. Johns Hampstead, London. Two years later, she immigrated from Liverpool to New York City aboard the ship S. S. Nevada.

Bella's paternal grandmother Charlotte Budd Johnson immigrated to America in 1868, along with several of Bella's uncles and aunts. They were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and settled in Ogden, Utah.

When she was finished with her schooling, Joseph T. Johnson, Bella's uncle, wrote to her in London and encouraged her to immigrate to Ogden where she might easily find a job as a governess, which she did.

While working as a governess in Ogden, Utah, Bella met her future husband, a German immigrant, Philip Kloepfer, who was a stone mason. Philip travelled throughout Utah, Idaho and Montana, wherever building work was available. He wrote Bella sweet love letters from Butte, Montana, Logan, Utah and Blackfoot, Idaho, until she finally agreed to marry him.

They married in January 1887 and my grandfather Frank was born in November the same year. Two years later grandpa's younger brother Bill was born. In 1891, Bella was expecting a baby girl when she contracted scarlet fever and died after giving birth to the baby. The baby (Isabella) also died. They were both buried the same day in the same casket, because of the fear of spreading the fever.

Most of Bella's belongings were burned (again out of fear) and the only things to survive were the love letters and the portrait, a charcoal drawing from a photograph. Unfortunately, the paper has a good deal of foxing from moisture and mildew.

After Philip Kloepfer remarried the portrait of Bella was relegated to the damp cellar of their farm in Nampa, Idaho. There Bella stayed until Philip's death in 1940 when she moved to my grandpa's cellar in Boise until he died in 1969. She then moved to my mom's wall in Holladay, Utah, where she was happily displayed next to her father from 1969 to 1991 when mom's house was sold.

My question is this: Is it disrespectful to keep a portrait of a beloved ancestor in the garage? And, what do you do with a large portrait when there's no place to display it?

Stories Buried Under Stones

2009-03-07T18:30:00.010-07:00

Chesterfield Cemetery, Centreville, Queen Annes County, Maryland

I have a hobby that feeds my long-time love of cemeteries. Cemeteries are peaceful and serene places which hide underground the thousands of wonderful stories, some never to be told.

My hobby is taking photographs for the web site Find A Grave as a volunteer for our local cemeteries. Each grave that I seek, is a story which needs to be told!

And I finally found a place on the web to put all my photographs of family gravestones! The site lets you add the grave photo along with information about the person, the obituary, photos of the person. You can also add virtual flowers or tributes to the grave.

It is fun for families, historians and genealogists. Anyone can search the site free and anyone can become an area volunteer by taking photos of graves in your area. Some volunteers have added thousands of graves!!

My sister-in-law (now deceased) took pictures of my husband's family graves in Maryland and Delaware when she moved to Maryland. She sent me copies many years ago (long before digital photography), but what was I supposed to do with photos of all those graves? Now they have a home for them and they can be shared with other family members.

I've also found photos and information about family members which I didn't have. This is a guiltless hobby which helps others who might be looking for names, dates, gravestones.

Cemeteries are a never ending source of genealogical information.

Those Delicate Issues

2009-03-03T15:22:00.008-07:00

Writing about delicate issues in families has genealogists treading lightly as we attempt to discuss them in tender, unoffensive ways.

In the past, some of these issues were simply swept under the rug and ignored. But eventually the rug gets pretty lumpy and the lumps become difficult to sidestep.

Delicate issues in the past ages included alcoholism, divorce, suicide, illegitimate births, gambling, domestic violence, incest, obesity, insanity and on and on. No family is exempt. How we approach these subjects or avoid them in writing a family history is the question.

In my own family history, I wrote about polygamy, adoption and illegitimate births (among other things). I didn't sugar-coat the facts, simply stated them.

It got me thinking about a whole new set of issues brought about by this Brave New World we live in. Open gay marriages, artificial insemination, transsexual dads who become moms.

Today on NPR's Talk of the Nation I listened to a discussion about the Donor Sibling Registry connecting families of sperm donors. I hadn't even thought about it, but there are thousands of people related to thousand of other people, all because of artificial insemination!

How does a child of a sperm donor trace his genetic ancestry? And should he? The obvious reason for knowing the father is for medical reasons. Wouldn't you want to know if insanity, cancer and heart attack ran in his family?

My daughter's BBF became a surrogate mother recently. She's married with two children of her own. But she decided to give the gift of a baby to a couple in Australia. She was artificially inseminated with eggs fertilized by the baby's father's frozen sperm. She carried the child next to heart for nine months, gave birth and even breast fed the baby for five months! How brave she is. Yes, she did get paid and yes, she's going to do it again for another couple. Call me old-fashioned, but I really don't understand and I know I couldn't do what she did. After this child grows up in Australia, will he come to Utah to visit his birth-mom?

I read a good article about writing about these delicate issues in obituaries and the same principles would apply to writing a family history. Obviously, an obituary or a family history is not the place to reveal deep, dark family secrets. Should all delicate subjects be taboo?

I've always believed it is best to tell the truth, but I also believe in handling some subjects with kid gloves. I always want to know what makes a person tick.

In the history I writing now: Do I mention the fact that my uncle had a "love child" during World War II? And that no one in the family knew about this child until she was a woman in her fifties?

I haven't decided how or if to write about this issue. The principals in the event are all gone now.

What issues are too delicate to write about in a family history? I really want an answer!

Names

2009-03-03T15:16:00.002-07:00

For more about names and a good laugh, click here.

Coincidence? Think again.

2009-02-25T21:31:00.009-07:00

"Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous."

~~Albert Einstein~~

We all experience coincidence in our daily lives.

You're thinking about a long lost friend, when out of the blue that friend calls you.
You make a wrong turn while driving and discover later that a bad accident occurred on the street where you should have been at the time you should have been there.

When we research our ancestors, coincidence seems fairly common. Virtually all lifetime genealogists will tell you there is a common theme that threads its ways through most family history discoveries. Some people call it luck, serendipity, synchronicity, intuition, good fortune, or coincidence.

Call it what you will, but there is clearly something beyond our control at work and genealogists experience it all the time. How else can you explain the following?

Distant cousins, living thousands of miles apart who have never met, coincidentally meeting at the grave of their common ancestor.

Family treasures--old photos, Bibles, journals, letters--which are coincidentally reunited with descendants of the original families under inexplicable circumstances.

The Edward Eardley Family circa 1914

After my grandfather's death in 1957, my grandma Olive sold their home of fifty-four years and moved away from the neighborhood. Five years later in 1962, a former neighbor was cleaning leaves and trash from behind her fence when she discovered the above photograph of my grandparents and three of their five children.

How did it get there? How long had it survived the harsh elements, the hot dry summers and cold, snowy winters? No one can explain it. Yet there is was in perfect condition. No one else in the family had a copy of this photograph. It's the only known copy--a priceless treasure which made its way back to our family. Coincidence? I call it a miracle.

One evening while working on a family history, I was writing about a distant cousin's family, a family I had never met and knew little about. The phone rang and I was about to ignore it, but something told me to answer. It was the very cousin calling from hundreds of miles away. The hair on my neck stood up! After my initial shock, she had plenty of wonderful information for me.

It seems to me that when we honor our deceased ancestors, they return the favor two-fold!

Many difficult genealogical problems go unanswered for years on end then curiously they are solved through amazing coincidences.

I once researched a friend Jane's Jewish grandfather, David Grudzinsky, who was born in Kibarty, Lithuania, then part of Polish Russia. In the 1880s when David was a child, his family fled the pogroms which forced the Jews from their homes (i.e. Fiddler on the Roof). When the Grudzinsky family arrived in America, their surname was Americanized to Lewis (go figure).

The family with two son and four daughters settled in Evanston, Wyoming along with other Jewish Russians. The daughters married in the Jewish faith and moved with their husbands to the large cities on the East coast. The two sons married Mormon girls and remained in the west.

In 1987, one hundred years after the Grudzinskys had fled Russia, I was asked to do research on this family. At that time, the Family History Library did not have any Jewish records for Lithuania, Poland or Russia. The Internet was very young and information was scarce.

Through contacts with various family members, Jane located a cousin who lived in Tel Aviv who made a tape recording telling about what happened to family members, including names and approximate dates. I listened carefully to the tape jotting down clues. After transcribing the recording, I finally had tangible data to work with.

I located the names of the family members in the 1900, 1910 and 1920 census records, and then was able to find marriage records and death certificates. But I couldn't find a death date or place for the father Isaac (Grudzinsky) Lewis. His wife died in Boston, but where did Isaac die?

On the tape recording from Tel Aviv, Jane's cousin had mentioned a family named Gottstein. I had been unable to find a connection between the Gottstein and Grudzinsky family and was stumped.

One day I was driving through the Jewish section in the Salt Lake City Cemetery when suddenly I noticed a headstone with the name Gottstein! I got out of the car and went to the grave and began reading the stones around it. There in the midst was the headstone of Isaac Lewis. Coincidence? Minor miracle to me.

Now with his death date and place I could find his death certificate and an obituary.

Isaac's obituary on the front page of the Salt Lake Tribune in 1906 outlined the life of a remarkable man, details which census records could never reveal, details which Jane's cousin didn't know about.

In Russia, Isaac had been a Rabbinical and Talmudical scholar who spoke seven languages fluently. He had worked as a customs official on the Polish-Russian border. The obituary even gave the name of the tiny town where Isaac was born. All these details because I literally tripped over his grave!

After the fall of Communism, Lithuania and other former Communist nations were opened up to the LDS Church for missionary work and filming of vital records in archives. I was able to contact through e-mail a new member of the LDS faith in Lithuania, a women interested in genealogy who understood English. She did research for me in the Vilnus archives and sent me photocopies of the vital records of over one hundred forty of Isaac Grudzinsky's ancestors and relatives. (She also translated the records for me!)

The story doesn't end there. Jane's cousin in Tel Aviv said that Isaac's father Noah Grudzinsky had gone to Palestine in the 1870s and was buried in the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. A friend of mine, on a visit to Jerusalem, was able to find Noah's grave and headstone! The names and dates were of course in Hebrew, but when translated the information provided two additional generations to the family.

A set of unusual coincidences made the research on this Jewish family possible. I saw each coincidence as a miracle.

Have you experienced similar coincidences in your research? I'd love to hear about them.

I Collect Dead People

2009-02-24T16:45:00.022-07:00

Sarah and Ted Pace, Gordon and Marvin Pace, Alice Obray,

Mary Ann Eardley

Ostrich at Hogle Zoo, Salt Lake City circa 1913

Back when I started doing genealogical research (sometime in another century), personal computers weren't even a twinkle in Bill Gate's eyes.

I never dreamed I'd live to see the day when I could view census records online in my jammies in the privacy of my own home.

It's nearly impossible to think back to the time BC (before computers) when I was going to the Family History Library everyday to I look up records in a card index file. Then I'd find the roll of microfilm in a large metal drawer, place it on a reader, find the item I needed on the film, take the film to a microfilm copier and make photocopies. I'd follow the same process for each record.

It used to take me hours of searching indexes and reeling through hundreds of pages of film to find the same information which now takes only minutes at the click of a button.

Genealogists, who start researching today, miss out on all the fun! They follow a whole new discipline than when I started.

When I taught beginning genealogy in the 1980s an '90s, I taught entirely different steps, most of which can be by-passed today because of our fast paced world of technology.

Some rules still apply whether you are using a pen or a computer. These research ideas can get your family tree started or launch it to a new level.

Start with what you know.
Search your home for diaries, photos and other information.
Interview your relatives.
Organize everything so you can access information easily when you need it.
Get ideas and a fresh perspective from other researchers.
Get valuable information from your extended family (such as aunts, in-laws and cousins).

Here are a few odds and ends I've picked up along the way. (Disclaimer note: I've haven't proved these facts.)

Most genealogists are hobbyists (laptop genealogist)
Few hobbyist will ever visit the Family History Library, a state or national archive and will never look up records on microfilm.
Because of the Internet, genealogy is one of the fastest growing hobbies.
Approximately 60% of all hits on computers involve family history information.

What got me started?

The fact that I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints certainly plays a huge role in my life-long genealogy obsession.

Having the world's largest genealogy library practically at my doorstep is another reason.

The Family History Library in Salt Lake City is open free to everyone and traces its own roots back to 1894.

It boasts the world's largest collection of family history resources - over 2.4 million rolls of microfilmed genealogical records, 727,000 microfiche, 356,000 books, 4,500 periodicals, 3,725 electronic resources - with records from more than 100 countries, covering everything from 14th century English church records to African oral histories.

An average of 2,400 people, including many visitors from Europe and Asia, visit the library each day. It can actually be easier and cheaper to travel to Salt Lake City and find all of the information in one place than to have to travel from one small town to another to gather records.

The U.S. Senate passed a resolution in October 2001 declaring October in the U.S. as Family History Month. Led by Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah and co-sponsored by 84 other U.S. Senators, the resolution stated "within the last month some 14,167,329 people researched their family history and 24 million people have used the Web and email to locate or hunt for family or friends with whom they had lost touch."

Why do members of the LDS Church do family history?

Members are motivated by love for their deceased family members and desire to serve them. As members we believe life does not end at death. When we die, our eternal spirits go to a spirit world, where we continue to learn while awaiting the Resurrection.

Members of the LDS Church believe that the family can also continue beyond the grave, not just until death. Certain sacred promises or covenants are made in the temple on behalf of these deceased ancestors in order to unite them for eternity. The church also believes that free agency we enjoy on earth is also practiced in eternity.

What is the International Genealogical Index--IGI? (FamilySearch.org)

The International Genealogical Index database contains approximately 600 million names of deceased individuals. An addendum to the International Genealogical Index contains an additional 125 million names. These names have been patron submitted or extracted from thousands of original birth, christening and marriage records.

The Family History Library has the following resources:

314 patron computers
408 microfilm readers
36 microfiche readers
28 microfilm and microfiche copiers
4 microfilm scanners
14 book copiers
375 Seating capacity at tables
4 book scanners

With all these things at my disposal, plus a wonderful laptop. How can I not do genealogy?

A Welcome Award!

2009-02-17T15:31:00.006-07:00

On February 5, my friend and fellow blogger gave me the above award! TravelinOma's Library is a must read for those who love traveling, families, history and general knowledge. Marty is truly the KreativBlogger. I am merely her student.

The rules of the nomination are are simple, as follows:

1. Copy the award to your site.
2. Link to the person from whom you received the award.
3. Nominate 7 other bloggers.
4. Link to those sites on your blog.
5. Leave a message on the blogs you nominate.

I'm honored to be a Kreative Blogger and excited to suggest these genealogy blogs which are new to me (there are thousands), but look very promising and will become regular reads for me.

Here are my seven genealogy blog nominees:

Olive Tree Genealogy Blog. I was attracted to this blog immediately because of the name. It was my Grandma Olive who inspired my blog. Olive Tree's author is truly a woman after my own heart. Wonderful blog.
Families Connecting. This is the blog that inspired me to write a genealogy blog.
AnceStories2: Stories of Me for My Descendants. Looks fun, informative and interesting.
All My Branches Genealogy. Can't wait to read. Midwestern Roots
All My Ancestors. Southern roots.
Creative Gene.
The Educated Genealogist.

This blogs will motivate and energize you! And maybe they will help me be a better blogger!

The Name Game

2009-02-13T19:18:00.008-07:00

Totternhoe Memorial Hall

As a genealogist, I run across unusual names all the time. Over the years, I have collected names I’m particularly fond of. First names, last names, names of places--they all amuse me. Most of my research involves England and America, so it is Anglo-Saxon names I gather.

How did our ancestor get their names?

Place Names. Many surnames originated from the name of the place where a person was born and raised. Name of places in England are wonderful. One has to question how many of the names came to be.

Among my own ancestral favorites are: Swadlincote, Whipsnade, Totternhoe, Maidenhead, and Skippool, a village in the parish of Poulton-le-Fylde. Other favorites include Ightham Mote, Blubberhouses, Biggleswade, Leighton Buzzard, Sunningwell, Lostwithiel, Altarnun, Ashby de la Zouch, Peatling Parva, Chipping Sodbury, to name just a few.

England has over ten thousand parishes in an area the size of North Carolina. Within each parish are numerous hamlets and villages, each with unique names. A wonderful pastime is pouring over maps of England just to read the place names.

Personal Names. It is always entertaining to find first names that go nicely with the last name, such as: Daisy Flowers, Jack Frost, Snow White, Ivory White, Forest Green, Kelly Green, Jet Black, Navy Blue, Spider Webb, Tom Turkey—all legitimate names! Really.

An unfortunate name in England is Fanny Diaper. Of course, a diaper in England is called a “nappy”, so Fanny Diaper isn't as embarrassing as it would be in the United States.

Equally as interesting is finding a listing in a record of a person whose name matches his occupation. In the England census records, it is not unusual to find a man named James Carpenter who is, in fact, a carpenter by profession or Robert Butler whose job is that of a butler.

Occupational Names. Surnames did not come into existence until about the 13th Century. Occupational surnames became a common means of acquiring a surname, such as: Baker, Shepherd, Wright, Cooper (barrel maker), Clark (a clerk), etc.

In my own experience, I have personally known a Dr. Kalm, who is a Psychiatrist, and a banker named Rich Persons.

I have also found in English records Frederick Death, an undertaker in Surrey and Thomas Law, an attorney in London.

Of course, there are three other ways Anglo-Saxons acquired surnames: Patronymics, Places and Nicknames.

Patronymic Names. A patronymic surname is taken from the first name of the father or grandfather, such as Wilson, son of Will; Thomson, son of Thomas or simply Davis, son of David.

In Ireland and Scotland, "Mac" means "son of," while "O" means "grandson of." Examples: Donalds or Donaldson - son of Donald (English); O'Donnell or O’Donald - grandson of Donald (Ireland); MacDonald - son of Donald (Scottish).

Place Names as Surnames. More than half the English surnames used today derive from geographic descriptions, such as Churchill. Various suffixes which indicate a topographical feature are lee (meadow), bank, ton (town), field, house, and thorp (village).

Nicknames as Surnames: Nicknames became surnames by describing the person or his personality. Examples: Reid - red, ruddy complexion or red hair; Stout - Body size; Small - Body size; Armstrong - strong arms.

Before the 1861 Census of England was indexed, I was asked to search the census of Great Yarmouth, page by page, line by line, looking for a specific name. This took the better part of a day.

I began to notice all the “Nature” names in Yarmouth. Bird surnames such as: Goose, Duck, Starling, Crow, Partridge, Owles, Sparrow, Swan, Crane, Jay, Dove, Raven, and simply Bird.

Did the original bearers of these names have characteristics of birds?

There were also animal names in Yarmouth such as: Rabbit, Fox, Wolf, Beaver; and earth names such as: Moss, Wood, Forest, Frost, Stone, Lake, Marsh, Greenacre, and Brooks.

Some of my favorite names are difficult to put in just one of the above categories. Just saying them makes me chuckle. These are legitimate surnames in England: Cowmeadow, Frogpitt, Clutterbuck, Sheepwash, Beaglehole, Middleditch, Littlejohn, Longbottom, Cakebread, Ramsbottom, Rawbones, Honeybone, Keylock, Thickpenny, Broomhead, Fairhead.

My own ancestral favorite names are Catherine Makepeace and Farmery Fullilove. How wonderful to go through life telling people your aim is to Makepeace and that you are Fullilove!

What are your favorite names?

The Tapestry of Our Lives

2009-02-11T18:25:00.009-07:00

The fabric of our past is more often fragile and faded than neat and precise.

As we search the sources of our being, the interwoven fibers of our heritage twist and crumble into threadbare edges. We become lost in curiosity and conjecture. What may have been reality is never completely clear.

To borrow from another analogy, history is always being rewritten as new pieces to the puzzle are discovered. Our own family histories are the same.

Each family comes wrought with myths and legends. One purpose of genealogy research is proving or disproving those myths.

Genealogy is the drama of ordinary people doing ordinary everyday things--and sometimes doing extraordinary things.

Birth dates, marriage dates, death dates--all the dates that delineate our lives--are the bare, dry bones (threads) of genealogy. Little anecdotes put flesh on the skeleton (or texture and color on the tapestry).

Often in pursuit of the skeletal facts--those innumerable, pesky and sometimes mind-numbing dates--one gets bogged down--until the discovery of a letter or a journal or a photograh which makes an ancestor breathe. Those moments make it all worthwhile.

The tapestry begins to take shape. The image of our ancestor becomes more lucid. The need to know more continues to motivate us and move us toward the next goal.

"If a man is fortunate he will, before he dies, gather up as much as he can of his civilized heritage and transmit it to his children. And to his final breath he will be grateful for this inexhaustible legacy, knowing that it is our nourishing mother and our lasting life."

~~~Will and Ariel Durant

It's All Relative

2009-02-10T19:46:00.006-07:00

"Everybody comes from 2 parents, 4 grandparents, 8 great-grandparents, 16 great-great grandparents, etc. Every generation back, we have twice as many lineal ancestors.

If there are, say 25 years to a generation, then 64 generations is 64 X 25 = 1600 years ago, or just before the fall of the Roman Empire. So, every one of us alive today had in the year 400 some 18.5 quintillion direct-line ancestors (more than the national debt :) ) -- or so it seems -- to say nothing about collateral relatives!

But this is far more than the population of the Earth, then or now. It is far more than the number of human beings who ever lived.

Something is wrong with our calculation. But what??

We have assumed all those lineal ancestors to be different people. But this is not the case. The same distant ancestor is related to us by many different routes. We are repeatedly connected with our relatives. Every marriage brings cousins (distant or close) together.

If we go back far enough, any two people anywhere on Earth have a common ancestor. Whenever a new American President is elected, someone -- generally in England -- discovers that the new President is a distant relative of the Queen of England. This announcement is intended, perhaps, to soothe any residual American longing for a king of our own.

Of course, when two people derive from the same small corner of the planet, and their genealogies are well-recorded, the last common ancestor can be discovered.

But whether it can be discovered or not, a relationship is clear: We are all cousins -- all members of a vast world-girdling family.

It's time, I think, for a reunion!" ~~Carl Sagan, 1989

How Do I Get Start?

2009-02-02T14:35:00.011-07:00

Standard Pedigree Chart

As easy as it sounds, when you are beginning a search of your roots, you will need to start at the beginning! YOU are the beginning. Start with yourself. Put your name, birth date and birth place in the #1 position on a standard pedigree chart.

That was easy, right?

STEP ONE: Identify what you already know.

The pedigree chart is a most basic prerequisite in identifying your ancestors. There are hundreds of online genealogy websites with genealogy forms you can print or download.

Likewise, there are several good computer software programs to help you organize your records. Family Search has a free download of Personal Ancestral File (PAF). It is fairly user friendly, but since I've used it for twenty plus years, I'm biased. I've also used RootsMagic, but I find it takes more time to input information.

Now that you've got the pedigree started, continue by adding information about your parents. Your father's name goes in #2 spot and mother's name in #3. Add their birth dates, birth places, marriage date, and death date/place, if applicable. Continue by filling in the names of your grandparents, if known.

Family Group Record

The next form you'll need is the Family Group Record (FGR) sheet. This sheet keeps track of each family. The husband's data is filled out first, then the wife's information with a list of each child, including birth, marriage and death information. Fill out one of these records with your parents as husband and wife and YOU as one of the children. Include all your siblings (brothers and sisters) in order of birth.

If you are married with children, fill out a FGR with YOU as the husband or wife. Then list your spouse and your children with their birth, marriage, death information.

HINT 1: Dates. Most genealogy programs record dates with the European method. Day first, month, then year (i.e. 2 Feb 2009). Use the three letter abbreviation of the month, but always write the complete year--not '09.

HINT 2: Places. Write places in order from smallest place (town), larger place (county), next larger place (state), largest place (country).

HINT 3: Names. Always list females by their MAIDEN name.

Congratulations! You're on your way. You will notice a pattern emerging.

In genealogy, there are three main life events which help to identify an individual as unique. BMD. That's birth, marriage and death--with dates and places for each event. Those things, plus the parents' and spouse names, make each individual who have lived distinct.

Those are the basics. Do it right in the beginning and you won't have to do it again!

STEP TWO: COLLECT. Start digging through drawers, closets, boxes in the attic. Collect certificates--birth or baptism, marriage, death--of course, these are important, but also collect photos, letters, news clipping, obituaries, diaries--anything with information about you and your family.

Ask relatives for help. They may have treasures long forgotten. Make copies of whatever they have.

If you find new BMD data in the collected items, be sure to add the information to your pedigree and FGR.

STEP THREE: ORGANIZATION. You need to organize what you've collected, so you can find it again. (So what else is new?)

The method is up to you. You can file papers in file folder or three ring binders. I like to put certificates and fragile letters in Archival quality polypropylene protector sheets.

Put like items together (all birth certificates) and arrange by specific families.

You are now on the road to learning more about what makes YOU you. It is a gratifying, satisfying pastime. But beware. Once bitten by the bug, it will be a passion you can't shake.

GOOD LUCK with your quest.

Family Mysteries

2009-02-01T16:09:00.027-07:00

" The Mystery of the Long-haired Ladies"

Who doesn't enjoy a good mystery? Genealogy is much like detective work. Looking for clues in unlikely places. Following leads. Analyzing evidence. It's all about solving family puzzles.

I've always loved photographs. If each picture is worth a thousand words, the above photo is worth a million. It got me started on a seventy-year-old family conundrum.

"St. Louis Cousins"

The above photos were among my grandfather's belongings after he died. As with most things left behind by my parents and grandparents, there was no information about the top photo and the above photo was identified only as "St. Louis" cousins.

I just had to figure out who these women were!

At the time, my uncle Ed asked me to write a family history. I flew to Virginia, with photographs and papers in order to "pick" his brain to see what he remembered about his early years.

He knew nothing about the top two photographs, but he remembered a visit from St. Louis cousins in 1924 when he was thirteen. The following photograph was a result of that visit.

Mary Ann Holding Eardley, Edward H. Eardley, "Aunt Mary", "Aunt" Susie, Olive Eardley, "Cousin" Amy, Alice Eardley Obray, Sarah Eardley Pace, "Cousin" Harriet, Uncle E.G. Holding

Uncle Ed had no idea how Aunt Mary, Aunt Susie and cousins Amy and Harriet were related, only that they were visiting from St. Louis and stayed with the family at my Grandpa Ed's and Grandma Olive's home.

"How did that work?" I asked Ed. "Your house had only two bedrooms and one bath!"

"Well, the four boys slept outside, Aunt Mary and Susie slept in our room, and Amy and Harriet slept on the davenports in the parlor," he explained. People in those days didn't mind a little inconvenience.

It was time to put on my Sherlock hat and do some poking around in papers and documents.

From my grandfather's journal, I learned:

1 July 1924: "Mary Hewitt, Susan Green, Harriet and Amy Sheard arrived at 12:45 noon. Took them home and Olive is making them comfortable. Took folks for a ride."

The visitors went with the family to an organ recital at the Tabernacle, swimming at Saltair and to Lagoon (an amusement park), with picnics at each place. They even hiked to Timpanogos Cave. Also on the agenda was a drive up Emigration Canyon to view the Mormon Trail and a trip to Salt Lake City Cemetery view Grandma Sarah Holding's grave.

My grandfather's address book which he took on his mission in 1900 provided another clue. In it was the address of "Miss M.E. Hewitt" of St. Louis, Missouri. His mission journal revealed the fact that grandpa visited his "relatives" in St. Louis after his mission, as follows:

Friday, November 21, 1902: "After traveling all night I arrived in St. Louis at 7:35 A. M. Cousins Susie, Mary, and Hattie were awaiting me. I was hailed with all the favor that could be manifested. After the greeting was over, we boarded the car and after a few minutes’ ride were soon at their beautiful home, 2621 N. Market St. Met Susie’s husband Mr. Alfred S. Green, a jolly Englishman and Hattie’s better half, Mr. W. J. Sheard and their two sweet little girls Harriet and Amy, ages 7 and 5 years respectively. It was a joyous meeting. I being the only relative they had seen for 40years or over."

With names in hand, the next stop was the Family History Library where I scoured the 1900, 1910 and 1920 U.S. Federal Census records of St. Louis, Missouri until I found the names of our "cousins".

1900 U.S. Federal Census -- St. Louis, Missouri

From birth date and place information on the census record, I was able to find birth, marriage and death records of the Sheard, Hewitt and Green family members. Then I traced the Hewitt family to Prees in Shropshire, England, the birth place of my great grandmother, Mary Ann Holding Eardley (in the group picture above) and her mother Sarah Holding.

Turns out Mary Ann's mother Sarah Holding and Margaret Hewitt (in the above census) were sisters, born in the 1820s in Prees. Sarah and Margaret Middleton joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) in Prees in 1840. Margaret immigrated to Nauvoo, Illinois, then the center of the Mormon church where she married Richard Hewitt and then migrated to Utah along the Mormon Trail in 1848. "Aunt" Susie and "Aunt" Mary were born in Salt Lake City.

Meanwhile, Sarah Middleton married Daniel Holding and they had five children in England before they immigrated to Utah to join the Hewitt family.

The Richard Hewitt family decided they didn't like Utah (i.e. polygamy). They traveled back across the plains in a wagon train and ended up in St. Louis, Missouri where Richard became a prairie school doctor.

Richard and Margaret Hewitt's three daughters Susan, Mary E., and Harriet were the "Long-haired Ladies" in the first picture. They all became school teachers and married late in life. Harriet was the only one to have children. She married William Sheard and they had daughters Amy and Harriet (the "cousins").

The second picture, taken in about 1900, shows Margaret Middleton Hewitt at about eighty. She died in 1901.

My great grandmother Mary Ann Holding Eardley was a first cousin to "Aunt" Susie Green and "Aunt" Mary Hewitt who visited Salt Lake City in 1924. Susie and Mary weren't actually aunts, but were my grandfather's first cousins-once removed. Amy and Harriet Sheard were my grandfather's second cousins.

I had cracked the case. The mystery was solved.

I called my uncle Ed in Virginia to tell him I'd figured out his relationship to his St. Louis cousins. Amy and Harriet Sheard were actually his second cousins--once removed.

Ed hooted a hearty belly laugh, "Well, no wonder my parents never tried to explain the relationship!"

Relationships can be confusing, but with practise and some skill, puzzles can unraveled.

Genealogy mysteries can be solved with s little sleuthing!

Who Are You?

2009-01-16T15:17:00.036-07:00

Grandma Olive

Tracing ancestries has been my vocation and avocation for one-third a century. At times I love it and other times I hate it. It is an obsession I can't shake.

Genealogy is not easy. It is not an exact science. It involves a variety of disciplines and a broad knowledge of many things! Knowledge of history, religion, geography, name etymology, hand-writing analysis, vital statistics--all play a part in the research of families.

Most of all, it demands tenacity, curiosity and attention to detail. A good memory helps, too.

Why do we want to know about our ancestors? To know where and how they lived. To know how they made a living. Were they cheerful and happy, or full of doom and gloom. Did they love life, their families, their work?

Knowing these things about our ancestors helps us come to terms with who we are. It gives our lives more meaning. It connects us with the past and gives more meaning to the present. It improves our perspective, our perception and our focus.

It is important to hear the voices of our ancestors. They were important, just as our voices will be important to our posterity.

I've gotten pretty good at digging up the bones and stitching together the tapestry of past lives. However, others are more elequent at writing down the bones.

Natalie Goldberg in Writing Down the Bones, states:

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"Our lives are at once ordinary and mythical. We live and die, age beautifully or full of wrinkles. We wake in the morning, buy yellow cheese, and hope we have enough money to pay for it. At the same instant we have these magnificent hearts that pump through all sorrow and all winters we are alive on the earth. We are important and our lives are important, magnificent really, and the details are worth to being recorded."

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And the sons become the fathers,

And the daughters will be wives

As the torch is passed from hand to hand

As we struggle through our lives.

Though the generations wander

The lineage survives

And all of us

From dust to dust

We all become forefathers

By and By.

----DanFogelberg

Forefathers

My friend TravelinOma writes more elequently about family history. Vistit her blog.