footnoteMaven

What If. . .Santa Could

2011-12-25T00:03:00.000-08:00

My favorite footnoteMaven Family Christmas Story!
Merry Christmas To You All!

Dillon, Heather, Wyatt

My daughter called. Wyatt, he of the Who's The Man On That Coin fame, had written a letter. A letter to Santa. A letter to Santa in March.

"Wow," I said. "He really is giving Santa a lot of time. It must be something big, what is it? A car?"

"No," my daughter answered. "Here, why don't I let Wyatt tell you." She handed the phone to Wyatt, and I heard him asking in the background, "Which Grandma is it?" "My Mom," she replied. It's always good to have your Grandmas straight, especially when you're going to talk about Santa I thought.

"Hi Grandma."

"Hey, Wyatt, I hear you wrote a letter to Santa." I cheerfully responded. "What did you ask for?"

"Do you want me to read the letter?" he asked.

"I'd love it, Wyatt."

He dropped the phone and ran to get his letter.

He got back on the phone and immediately started reading. "Merry Christmas, Wyatt to Santa. Can you bring my Dad's Dad back?"

I paused for a moment while he waited for my response. Needless to say I wasn't expecting this and I didn't want my emotions to show in my voice. Wyatt's Dad, my son-in-law, lost his father to MS when he was twelve years old. They were very close. They had done everything together; hunting, fishing, camping, all the "boy stuff." My son-in-law talks of his father often and still visits his grave.

"Wyatt, that's a lovely wish. Why did you ask for that?"

"It would make my Dad very happy," he answered so matter of factly.

Yes, yes it would. Things are so clear and simple when you're six while being at the same time so extremely complex.

"Grandma would like to write about your letter on her blog, if it's O.K. with you," I told Wyatt.

"Can you put it in the newspapers," he wanted to know.

"No, just on my blog. Will that do?"

"With the Alien Baby," he sounded a bit more excited. "Yes, with the Alien Baby," I confirmed. Thank heaven someone in my family reads me.

"Yep, Grandma," he yelled as he dropped the phone and ran off; Grandma time now boring him.

Oh WyMan, what a pure heart and an old soul. What if . . . Santa could! Why, I'd even write him.

Originally posted in December 2009. The Boys have grown and should now be thoroughly embarrassed by their Grandmother writing about them.

Twas The Night Before GeneaChristmas

2011-12-24T07:49:00.000-08:00

Another tradition! A version of "Twas The Night Before" has been posted on footnoteMaven every year since December 24, 2007. The only changes have been to include advances in technology and now, social media. So as you wait for Santa, please enjoy!

‘Twas the night before GeneaChristmas and from coast to coast,
every GeneaBlogger had penned their last post.

Had told Christmas stories both merry and bright
while blog caroling old favorites on YouTube all night.

There’d been last minute Tweets, facebooking and song.
We’d shared Christmas memories, all played along.

Nothing’s left for us now but to track Old St. Nick;
New Jersey, Missouri, Seattle, he’s quick.

Before this night’s over his reindeer’ll alight
on the roof tops of GeneaBloggers to right

The wrongs of the census, transcription, and fire;
to give each of us our one true heart’s desire.

Please, one missing ancestor, one smashed brick wall,
then dash away, dash away, dash away all.

I’ve not been naughty, I've tried hard to be nice.
Collecting old photos my one proven vice.

Reward me dear Santa I’ll promise you this;
the year 2012 will be one not to miss!

And I heard him exclaim ere he drove out of sight.
Merry Christmas To All and To All A Good Night!

The Ghost Of Christmas Past

2011-12-22T10:26:00.000-08:00

MARLEY was dead: to begin with.
There is no doubt whatever about that.

~ Charles Dickens ~
A Christmas Carol

It happened as I was reading the blog caroling posts. I was visited by The Ghost Of Christmas Past. The Christmas Carols conjured up the Ghost and its images of that Christmas past. Not all family history is the way we would have written it if we were given a choice. We all know that from experience. This remembrance is of a Christmas tragedy, there is no happy ending; if you would like to stop reading here, I will understand completely.

It was December 21. I left my office at lunch to pick up those last minute odds and ends. Small things for the children's stockings and some food favorites for Christmas dinner. The world at that time didn't walk around with a bluetooth in its ear, a cell phone in its purse or pocket, or in my case even an answering machine.

When I returned to my office a Sheriff's Deputy was waiting for me. I knew something was desperately wrong, but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't speak. "You need to call your Mother," he said. "I'm very sorry." I heard a loud and painful moan, and then realized it was coming from me.

The night before, my Father ("There'll Be No Hell For Dogs") had gone out in his front yard to listen to the neighborhood carolers and suffered a heart attack. The paramedics arrived, revived him and transported him to the hospital. My youngest Brother and my Mother went there with him. He was sitting up in bed and talking. He told my Brother he was fine, that he loved him, and that he should go home. My Brother left, my Mother stayed. My Mother was a cardiac intensive care nurse in the very unit my father was a patient, she would not leave him. Mom and Dad talked and decided to call the rest of us in the morning when Dad would be discharged.

Several hours later, during the early morning hours of December 21, my Father suffered a massive heart attack in the hospital and died.

My other Brother and I both lived in California. After speaking with my Mother we made arrangements and traveled to Florida. Going in the house was so difficult, Dad was everywhere. He had spent hours putting up the Christmas decorations, there were presents under the tree with his name on them, and his tools were sitting on his workbench in the garage, just where he had left them when he went out to listen to carolers.

Most of this time is a blur. I think the mind does that to make the memory of the pain less knife sharp. If only the family tragedy ended here, but it doesn't.

My Father's brothers arrived from Missouri for the funeral. They looked so much like Dad. It was a comfort and yet so visual a reminder that he was missing. During the funeral one of my Uncles stood next to me and held my hand, none of us knowing that at that very moment his pain was about to become immeasurable.

At that very moment, in Missouri, in my Uncle's backyard, his daughter, my cousin, was taking her own life. She left no note. The family has speculated for years on her reasons and her timing. My Uncle always believed she was murdered. The police reports were thorough and final, it was a suicide. She was obviously in pain, but this act of suicide was so selfish. Selfish and cruel.

As adults we know that not every Christmas is "Merry and Bright." Christmas memories are what you make of them. I have made some wonderful memories for my children and their children, I did it for them, for me, and for Dad. How he loved Christmas!

I work very hard for good memories, but every year at this time some memories of Christmas past slip into my conscious thoughts and they are still painful.

The next visit will be from The Ghost Of Christmas Present in Part 2 of A Charles Dickens Christmas COG.

The original story was told December 2007.

Do You Hear What I Hear?

2011-12-16T11:26:00.000-08:00

Said the footnoteMaven to the Bloggers all
Do you hear what I hear?
Ringing thru the web, Bloggers all
Do you hear what I hear?

A song, a song
With a Christmas Ring

Why it must be Blog Caroling

Come Blog Caroling With Us

Songs, songs
sung by a choir of
Genealogy & Family History Angels,
Blog Caroling!

carol. French carole. Originally a song to accompany dancing,
but later, by common usage, it came to refer to old,
Christmas-season religious songs.

Caroling, also known as wassailing, actually began in medieval times as a pagan ritual. The wassail, a hot beverage usually made with hot ale or mulled cider, was a ritual honoring the apple and fruit orchards in the dead of winter. Farmers went from farm to farm pouring wassail on the roots of trees while making a lot of noise to scare off the bad spirits responsible for making the days shorter and colder. Eventually the custom of going door to door singing and drinking became a Christmas tradition. (This is one of the many versions of the story of caroling, but all agree it is rooted in pagan ritual.)

Carols were formerly sung at large Christmas feasts and family dinners, in the open air on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning, and at the time of public worship in the churches on Christmas Day.

You will note as you travel around caroling that the women singers far outnumber the men.

Perhaps this explains why:

In Pasquils' "Jests," an old book published in 1604, there is a story of an eccentric knight who, at a Christmas feast which he had made for a large number of his tenants and friends, ordered no man at the table to drink a drop "till he that was master over his wife should sing a carol."

After a pause one poor dreamer alone lifted his voice, the others all sitting silent and glum. Then the knight turned to the table where the women sat, and bade "her who was master over her husband" sing a carol. The story says that forthwith "the women fell all to singing, that there was never heard such a catter-walling piece of musicke."

Let The Blog Caroling Begin!

Cindy Scherwinski of In My Life, carols Enya singing Silent Night.

Karen Krugman of Genealogy Frame Of Mind says "Got the eggnog and my sweetie as we blog carol to "All I Want For Christmas Is You," by Vince Vance & the Valiants.

Bill West, West in New England, Hi fM! Here's my now traditional "I Saw Three Ships."

Joan of Roots'N'Leaves says - Merry, merry, to fM, Here is my all time favorite "It Came Upon The Midnight Clear."

FM, I love this fun event! Dorene from Ohio blog carols Away in a Manger at Graveyard Rabbit of Sandusky Bay.

GeneaPopPop of Stardust'n'Roots said - With egg nog in hand, I am delighted to make this a new holiday tradition for me! Here's my favorite -- "I Wonder as I Wander."

Got a box of tissues? Here's mine - Michelle Robillard, Call Me-shell, "Adeste Fideles" Thanks, and Merry Christmas!

In the 1960s, we sang Star of the East in the annual Christmas pageant put on by the local schools . . . those were the days! . . . here's wishing a Merry Christmas to you and yours . . . from BeNotForgot aka Vickie E. . . .

I chose my favorite holiday song, "Little Drummer Boy." I found a video with one of my favorite voices and animation that is also one of my favs. Thanks fM, for a wonderful meme at the holidays. Carol, Reflections From the Fence.

Jo of Those Who Went Before carols - So many favorites but I have chosen Carol of the Bells; an instrumental version by pianist George Winston. Looking forward to all the favorites.

Denise Spurlock, Reflecting on Genealogy says My favorite: What Child Is This? Happy holidays!

Deborah Andrew of The Sum Of All My Research made me laugh. You'll see why. Deb, if you can sing it, go for it. She said, "Ok, so I was so excited to participate. Made the post. Posted it. Then realized that you really couldn't go caroling with the song. It's more just my favorite Christmas Song. :( But thought I would still let you know that I participated...sort of. Anyway, I picked "You're a mean one Mr Grinch." Maybe before the 14th I can come up with a real caroling song and do a post about that.....I'll have to let you know. Chalk it up to too much eggnog. :P"

Gini of Ginisology tells us, "I picked both mine and my mom's favorite, Silent Night, in German, Stille Nacht. Had to have the tissues ready as I posted this one. Merry Christmas to you all . . . ."

Thank you fM for continuing this wonderful holiday tradition! I am pleased to offer two pieces this year, one on each of my blogs, 'On a flesh and bone foundation': An Irish History - A traditional Irish carol, 'The Wexford Carol' and 'Over thy dead body':The Cemetery Blog - 'Angels We Have Heard On High'. All the best to you and yours this holiday season! Jennifer

Apple of Apple's Tree tells us, "It wasn't hard to pick a carol this year. I'll Be Home for Christmas."

Caroline Pointer, of Family Stories says, "Okay, here's this year's selection. Drink up! ;) Caroling with Grandma. Lookout for that reindeer.

Terri O'Connell of Finding Our Ancestors carols Silent Night and tells us "Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!"

Lisa of 1 Ancestry 2 Little Time says, "This is terrific! My fave is "O Holy Night" especially when performed by Josh Groban. Thanks for this blogging fun!"

Mary from Me and My Ancestors picked another carol from the Fogotten Carols. Let Him In. Have a Merry & Blessed Christmas!

Jacqi Stevens of A Family Tapestry says, "Thank you, fM, for this splendid opportunity! I wasn't sure I'd be able to participate, as I'm in the middle of a series on WWII letters home from my father-in-law that I won't complete until after Christmas. But then it hit me: amidst the palm trees in the south Pacific...what better choice than to insert the original intro to "White Christmas"?! And so, I can be part of the party, after all! Enjoy! And have a wonderful Christmas, no matter where you are stationed this December 25!

Leslie Brinkley Lawson of Genealogy and Other Thoughts says she can't pick just one. Perhaps, but she sure can pick her men. Go listen here.

I'm joining the choir! Nancy of My Ancestors and Me carols "The Sussex Carol." Thank you so much for hosting, footnoteMaven. Nancy, the tag is fine.

Jacqueline Foster says, "Thanks FM, caroling in you jammies, great idea. My favorite carol is "Here Comes Santa Claus". Posted on my blog at My Journey Back.

Denise Olson of the Moultrie Creek Gazette says "This year I'm singing Silent Night with Bob Hope and the three generations of troops he entertained at Christmas. Silent Night with Bob Hope.

Wendy tells us "I'm singing "Mary Did You Know?" so join me at Jollett, etc.

Thomas MacEntee of Destination: Austin Family carols I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day.

Heather Wilkinson Rojo of Nutfield Genealogy carols "The Holly and the Ivy."

The Road Backwards' Karen carols "Ding Dong Merrily On High!"

Greta Koehl of Greta's Genealogy Bog carols "Heaven and Earth."

Dawn Westfall of Wisteria loves to carol in all forms :) and joins Blog Caroling with O Holy Night.

Linda McCauley invites us to The Temptations singing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" at Documenting the Details.

Denise Levenick, The Family Curator, says, "It's still Silent Night! Happy Christmas, Merry Holidays.

Nancy of Gathering Stories tells us it's, "Not a traditional carol but a gorgeous Christmas song nonetheless- Rose of Bethlehem.

Shelley Bishop is chiming in with "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" at A Sense of Family (and there's also a bonus, just to add to the fun). I loved it!!!

It's All Relative's Laura Aanenson gives us her kinda silly entry, a special Twelve Days.

Whitney Houston's Joy to the World comes to us from Linda Rudd of Between the Gateposts.

Liv of Claiming Kin says, "Thanks so much for this opportunity to participate and add my favorite Christmas carol - What Child is This? - to this year's event!

Jasia, our Creative Gene tells us, "My latest favorite Christmas carol is "Let It Snow" by the cast of Glee! Come sing along with me!

Ready to go caroling! Dang, I'm out of eggnog! Leslie Ann of Ancestors Live Here carols
I Want A Hippopotamus For Christmus!

Merry Christmas to you, dear footnoteMaven! I couldn't miss out on this year's caroling. "O Holy Night" is my favorite, and I've shared it over at 100 Years in America. Visit Lighting the Way for the Christ Child to read about my childhood Christmas Eves and how my family and I celebrated the holiest night of the year.

Angela Y. Walton carols "Mary Had a Baby at My Ancestor's Name. Sorry Angela, didn't get your comment.

Sarah Greenleaf of My Mouse Is Broken carols "Mary Did You Know" and tells us that she loves seeing what everyone chooses.

Craig Manson, carols O Little Town of Bethlehem, posted at GeneaBlogie.

Anglers Rest is blog caroling Carol of the Bells at Anglers Rest.

And my own, Good Bloggers All This Christmas Time - The Wexford Carol.

Thank You For Keeping This Tradition
I enjoyed each & every one of your carols
I experienced some new & some old
(Bloggers that is)
I listened to each beautiful arrangement

Good Bloggers All This Christmas Time

2011-12-14T07:44:00.000-08:00

The Wexford Carol
("Good People All, This Christmastime")
(Enniscorthy Carol)

carol. French carole. Originally a song to accompany dancing,
but later, by common usage, it came to refer to old,
Christmas-season religious songs.

To Blog Carol I have selected probably the best known of Irish Christmas songs (and my very favorite carol), "The Wexford Carol." The Wexford Carol has roots reaching back to twelfth century Ireland, traceable to the proximity of the County and town of Wexford. The Wexford Carol was included in The Oxford Book of Carols and tells the story of the birth of Christ.

It is interesting to note that Christmas carols were rare in Ireland, but County Wexford has a 300 year tradition of handing down carols from generation to generation. Families in the area were each entrusted with a carol and with sharing that particular carol with the generations. During Christmas the carols were sung in the homes of these families and in the church by the choir. The choir consisted of six men who sang the carols unaccompanied.

Please sing along with this beautiful rendition; YoYo Ma and Allison Krauss performing The Wexford Carol.

Good people all, this Christmas time,
Consider well and bear in mind
What our good God for us has done,
In sending His belovèd Son.
With Mary holy we should pray
To God with love this Christmas Day;
In Bethlehem upon the morn
There was a blest Messiah born.

The night before that happy tide
The noble virgin and her guide
Were long time seeking up and down
To find a lodging in the town.
But mark how all things came to pass:
From every door repelled, alas!
As long foretold, their refuge all
Was but a humble oxen stall.

Near Bethlehem did shepherds keep
Their flocks of lambs and feeding sheep;
To whom God’s angels did appear
Which put the shepherds in great fear.
“Prepare and go”, the angels said,
“To Bethlehem, be not afraid;
For there you’ll find, this happy morn,
A princely Babe, sweet Jesus born.”

With thankful heart and joyful mind,
The shepherds went the babe to find,
And as God’s angel has foretold,
They did our Savior Christ behold.
Within a manger He was laid,
And by His side the virgin maid
Attending to the Lord of Life,
Who came on earth to end all strife.

Merry Christmas

I hear you singing, my friends.
How I love Blog Caroling!!
What a joyous noise we will make
when we all come together to sing-along.

Remember, you have until midnight in
Hawaii, Today, to sing-along!

The footnoteMaven's Christmas Tradition of Blog Caroling

2011-12-07T08:24:00.000-08:00

Yes, Geneabloggers it's time for fM's favorite Christmas tradition. From the comfort of my blog, with Hot Toddy in hand, my flannel jammies and furry slippers on, I will blog my favorite Christmas Carol on Wednesday, December 14. (I sing so much better online than in person!)

So my fellow GeneaBloggers, I challenge each of you to blog your favorite Christmas Carol - Blog Caroling. We'll all sing along! (Blog Caroling is posting the lyrics, youtube video, etc. of your favorite Christmas carol on your blog.)

Blog Carol between today and Wednesday, 14 December. Post a note to the comments for this article directing us to your Blog Caroling Post and I will create a listing of all our favorites. (Please list Your Name, Blog Name, Favorite Carol and the link to your post in the comments below.)

If you sing along with us, feel free to snag the Victorian Santa Blog Caroling Badge above. When you select the badge, select "Save As" and choose the .png file. This has a transparent background and will show minus the white background.

The date tag is a modified Katie Pertiet, Counting Christmas Tags No. 2 on Designer Digitals. It's on special today.

COG 113 - A Charles Dickens Christmas

2011-12-05T16:45:00.000-08:00

113th EDITION OF THE Carnival Of Genealogy

The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is:

A Charles Dickens Christmas!

- ¤ -

We're going to borrow Charles Dickens' idea and have some visits from
the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future.

- ¤ -

First show us a photo from a Christmas/Hanuka/Kwanzaa past and
tell us what you know about it (or just share a story about a
past holiday if you don't have a photo to share).

- ¤ -

Then share a photo from your Christmas/Hanuka/Kwanzaa celebration
this year (it can be a photo of holiday lights, a tree, etc., it doesn't have
to have people in it) and tell us something about how you'll be
celebrating the holiday this year.

- ¤ -

And lastly, write about a future Christmas and how you'd like
to celebrate it. (Feel free to let your imaginations go on this one!)

- ¤ -

Write up your visits by the ghosts of Christmas past, present,
and future and submit them to the Carnival of Genealogy.

- ¤ -

The Deadline For Submissions Is
January 1st, 2012

- ¤ - ¤ -

Merry Christmas to the Queen of the COG!
Jasia
Creative Gene!

- ¤ - ¤ -

Attention All COG Participants

Read Also The Changes To The COG In 2011

Submit your article using the Blog Submission Form found here. Please use a descriptive phrase in the title of any articles you plan to submit and/or write a brief description/introduction to your articles in the "comment" box of the blogcarnival submission form. This will give readers an idea of what you've written about and hopefully interest them in clicking on your link. Introductions for your articles will not be provided for you due to the volume of articles submitted. Thank you!

COG 112 - An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving

2011-11-30T14:30:00.000-08:00

112th EDITION OF THE Carnival Of Genealogy

The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is:

An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving!

- ¤ -

Share with us a favorite memory of the Thanksgiving holiday.

- ¤ -
Or, if you'd prefer, imagine how you think the Thanksgiving holiday
was celebrated by one of your ancestors and share that with us.

- ¤ -

If your family has no ties to America, perhaps you'd like to
imagine how you would celebrate Thanksgiving if you were
here visiting during the holiday.

- ¤ -

We're open to all family Thanksgiving stories, real or imagined.
Come on, get creative! You can have some real fun with this topic!

- ¤ -

The Deadline For Submissions Is
December 1st

- ¤ - ¤ -

The COG is hosted by
Jasia our
Creative Gene!

- ¤ - ¤ -

Attention All COG Participants

Read Also The Changes To The COG In 2011

Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy using Jasia's carnival submission form. Please use a descriptive phrase in the title of any articles you plan to submit and/or write a brief description/introduction to your articles in the "comment" box of the blogcarnival submission form. This will give readers an idea of what you've written about and hopefully interest them in clicking on your link. Introductions for your articles will not be provided for you due to the volume of articles submitted. Thank you!

The Hearse, Frozen Goldfish & Twins

2011-11-22T08:26:00.000-08:00

Today, November 22, is the birthday of THE TWINS. I remember their first day on earth. I've told the story before, but in honor of the fact that all my siblings are now online, I will repeat it just for them.

We had only been at my Grandmother's house an hour when the hearse came and took my Mother away. The hearse did double duty as the town ambulance. I was only five, but I knew there was something ominous about a hearse. My Mother with her overnight bag climbed into the front seat next to the driver and they left. They left in a hurry.

It was November and one of the coldest winters in Missouri. My Mother was pregnant and the baby was due any day. This would be her third child, so when the snow storm hit she called our neighbor, Mrs. Mary's husband. He arrived with his tractor and dug us out. The drifts had covered the front door.

I remember standing there next to my Grandmother crying for my Mother, thinking I would never see her again. It wasn't until I was an adult that I realized my Mother had been in labor when she called the neighbor. Snowed in, two small children and in labor; yet she remained so calm.

Grandmother was not very demonstrative. She was not affectionate. She seemed at a loss to comfort the two little girls holding tightly to her apron and crying.

That night my sister and I slept in the front bedroom just off the parlor. Neither room had heat, the stove being in the back bedroom just off the kitchen, quite some distance from where we were to sleep. My grandmother piled her handmade quilts on us for warmth. To this day I do not remember ever being that cold. No goodnight kiss, no father. I was frightened. "Watch the goldfish," my grandmother said as she pointed to the fishbowl on the table next to our bed. She turned out the lights. My little sister cried herself to sleep. Nothing I did comforted her.

I woke the next morning to the sound of my Father's excited voice. I sat up and looked around. The fish bowl was frozen solid, the goldfish caught in mid-swim. I could see my breath and remember well how cold it was as my bare feet touched the floor.

I ran to my Father leaving my sister under the pile of quilts. He was sitting at the kitchen table eating biscuits with honey and drinking coffee. My Grandmother, looking very pleased, was waiting on him and treating him like a child. It was so difficult at five to understand the relationship between my Father and my Grandmother; to realize that he was her child.

He lifted me to his lap and hugged me. I was so glad to see him. "Well Sis, guess what," he asked as he tickled me. "Do you have a new baby brother? No, you have two new baby brothers."

Twins had not been expected and were not discovered until the delivery. This revelation was the reason for the pleased look on my Grandmother's face and the excitement in my Father's voice.

I, on the other hand, was not pleased in the least. Not then, and not for many years to come. But I am now.

Posted originally for: A memory for Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - A Childhood Memory.

The photograph is in the collection of little sister Biblio.

I Once Was The Great Pumpkin

2011-10-31T08:38:00.000-07:00

It was a dark and snow stormy night. The witching hour had finally come to pass. I gazed at myself in the mirror - the "Great Pumpkin" look was me all over.

The trip in this blizzard would be a long one and I had to arrive at my destination in time for Halloween. As we drove, I hung my head out the passenger door window to help the driver follow the lines painted on the road. I couldn't see my hand in front of my face. I was developing freezer burn, but that was the least of my worries. I kept yelling "hurry" but thanks to the weather there was no hurry this Halloween.

At last, the lights of my destination appeared. I was met at the door by a woman wearing a nurse's uniform. "Great costume," I remarked. She was not amused.

"How far along is your pumpkin?" she asked. "Nine months, six days," I answered. "Is it your first pumpkin?" First and most likely last I thought. "Yes," I answered. She informed me I had probably made a mistake in calculating my pumpkin growth chart, as my pumpkin wasn't large enough to be delivered for this Halloween celebration.

"Go for a walk," she suggested. "Your pumpkin will be late for the celebration. No Halloween winner for you this year."

Walk? She wanted someone dressed as the "Great Pumpkin" to walk. How long, how far? Okay, this pumpkin was getting really heavy and it was evident I would soon be viewing it from a spot on the corridor floor.

Where did that woman dressed as a nurse go? All the doors down the corridor were closed. I started opening them, one by one, looking for the pumpkin patch.

Aha! A man dressed as a doctor was placing a recently arrived pumpkin in the patch. "I've got another one for you," I called to him. The woman in the nurse's uniform shook her head and whispered to the doctor. "Check her anyway," he ordered.

The disbelieving woman in the nurse's uniform reluctantly checked and found to her surprise that my pumpkin was well on its way. Minutes later I participated in the Halloween celebration. A new pumpkin for the patch.

"A witch or a warlock?" I asked the doctor. "A princess," he replied.

My little princess was six years old before she realized that people did not come to our door on the 31st of October asking for candy because it was her birthday, but rather because it was Halloween.

It is her favorite holiday and she firmly believes that everyone should celebrate because it is her birthday after all.

This was originally published for the 34th Carnival of Genealogy, October 2007. It's one of my favorites. A footnoteMaven Halloween Tradition. Happy Birthday Tracy.

COG 110 - A Family Tree

2011-09-29T19:47:00.000-07:00

110th EDITION OF THE Carnival Of Genealogy

The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is:

What tree best represents your family’s history?

- ¤ -

Is your family most like a towering redwood, weeping willow,
or a stately oak?

- ¤ -

Maybe you think of your family more like a brightly lit
Christmas tree or a tropical palm.

- ¤ -

Whatever your choice, write it up and tells us why!

- ¤ -

The Deadline For Submissions Is
October 1st

- ¤ - ¤ -

Attention All COG Participants

Read Also The Changes To The COG In 2011

Please use a descriptive phrase in the title of any articles you plan to submit and/or write a brief description/introduction to your articles in the "comment" box of the blogcarnival submission form. This will give readers an idea of what you've written about and hopefully interest them in clicking on your link. Introductions for your articles will not be provided for you due to the volume of articles submitted. Thank you!

Tracing Family History Magazine

2011-08-29T10:34:00.001-07:00

From as early as I can remember I have loved magazines. The love is inherited. It's in my genes.

My Mother loved and collected magazines. Today this trait would probably be called hoarding. One room of the family home was set aside to store Mom's magazines. The stacks reached over six feet tall and were in alphabetic order. There was a stack for each magazine; National Geographic, Look, and Life. I never had to go to the library to complete a school project I just opened the door to “the magazine room."

Perhaps more correctly, it's an addiction. fM's addiction. I thought you might enjoy sharing my addiction with me, as I discuss the magazines I read and why I read them, one magazine at a time, from the real to the digital world.

The journey begins with Tracing Family History Magazine, also known as Your Family History in the United Kingdom. Yes, a UK magazine and before you dismiss this as having nothing of value to US readers, think again - hear me out - you’re in for a pleasant surprise.

Tracing is published in the UK by Wharncliffe Publishing and edited by Nick Barratt. Nick Barratt is probably the UKs best known genealogist, having been the genealogical consultant for series 1 to 4 of the BBC show Who Do You Think You Are? and the author of numerous history and genealogy books. Think Megan Smolenyak.

The magazine is relatively new, having published its first issue in May of 2010. Prior to publishing Tracing, Wharncliffe published the National Archives magazine Ancestors, another of my favorites.

I love their tag line, “Our Experts Your Stories.” For those who have complained about the celebrity centric genealogy television shows and longed for family history that talks about real research by real people, this is the magazine for you. While the magazine originally did a celebrity feature in each issue, they have been dropped in favor of internet research based articles and features.

Tracing is reader driven. It features its readers’ stories, discoveries, mysteries, documents, photographs and more in every issue. Readers are encouraged to join debates, submit problems to the experts, and suggest or write topics for feature articles. They accept submissions and questions from readers outside the UK. If you have one, they’re interested.

I like the size of the magazine, 8.5 X 11.5. No straining to read the type, the magazine layout design is easy on the eyes. Tracing is full color and employs good use of white space, illustrations and photographs. Consistency in design makes it easy to find articles in past issues.

The magazine has certain mainstays features that appear in each issue.

Beginner’s Guides/How Tos. When it comes to researching my UK ancestors I find these invaluable. I’m unfamiliar with most UK resources, so Tracing gives me a lesson with every issue. The Chris Paton articles “Scottish Beginners Guide” and “Scottish Land Records” are important to my Campbell research. I may not be a novice researcher, but I am a beginner in this area of research.

The People’s Archive/Village Voice series taps the history of the resources found in every area; its people. These are wonderful stories of personal discoveries and town histories by town historians.

Spotlight On selects a different geographical area, archive, or event with each issue and introduces you to the resources that are available to family historians for each.

Casebook features reader success stories dotted with documents and amazing old photographs. Talk about inspiration, they’ve got it here.

Nick's Last Word, opinions and information on timely topics that are certain to engage you.

Along with the "in every issue columns," you'll find feature articles, a cover story, news and events. One of my favorite articles was “Jane Austen, Fashion Icon” written by fashion historian and picture specialist Jayne Shrimpton. Articles on Social History always interest me for their use in describing our ancestors’ way of life, identifying photographs and so much more. All the history articles are beautifully written and illustrated.

Here was an article I enjoyed so much I actually did further research on my own; the “History Mysteries” article in the November 2010 issue on the famous Dr. Crippen murder mystery.

The April 2011 issue contained an excellent article on Civil War research and surname mapping. Truth be told, I find something of value in every issue I read. Take a look; I think you’ll be impressed.

The act of researching is common to all family historians. Articles on methods, techniques, organization, etc. are applicable no matter where we geographically do our research. The articles in Tracing magazine are exceptionally well written and have been of great help in my own research.

Although dotted with wonderful old photographs to illustrate the stories, my one wish would be to see a photograph specific article in every issue.

The magazine is published 13 times per year. At today’s exchange rate a subscription costs about $145. (You can purchased a 6 month subscription - the free gift with purchase is not available in the US.) Yes, UK magazines are more expensive. I buy Tracing by the issue at Barnes and Noble so that I can pick which issues are more pertinent to me. The only trouble? I find I’m purchasing every issue. It’s time to get that subscription. Quality is worth it.

I would be thrilled if the magazine had a digital issue. Something I could load on my iPad as I do with several of the UK design magazines. At the moment they don't have a digital edition, but are contemplating one. Perhaps you could head to their facebook page and tell them you’d like to see one.

Tracing has an extremely active facebook page and Twitter account that keep you up to date on the magazine, the genealogy world, contests, polls, and questions posted by readers. They maintain a Your Family History web page with all the information you need to know about the magazine. One more wish? I'd love to see a comprehensive list of all the articles that have been published in the magazine available online.

I would also like to thank Megan Sagar, the Subscriptions Executive for Wharncliffe History Magazines for her patience, for answering all my questions about the magazine and for sending several issues to compliment my stash so that I could write this article.

As my Mother "the magazine expert" always said, “Quality will out,” and it is certainly out and about in Tracing Family History Magazine.

Worship - COG 109

2011-08-26T14:06:00.001-07:00

109th EDITION OF THE Carnival Of Genealogy

The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is:

Where Did Your Ancestors Worship!

- ¤ -

Show us and tell us about the churches, synagogues, chapels,
temples, grottoes, cathedrals, missions, kirks, mosques,
revivals, or open air religious services
where your family has worshiped.

- ¤ -

This edition of the COG will be guest hosted on a new blog,
coming September 1st. How exciting!!

- ¤ -

And we're not telling where this new blog is or what it's about.
You'll just have to wait till the secret is revealed!

- ¤ -

Share your wonderful articles with the new
blog in town!

- ¤ -

The Deadline For Submissions Is
September 1st

- ¤ - ¤ -

Attention All COG Participants

Read Also The Changes To The COG In 2011

Sour Cream, Raisins, and Rhubarb

2011-08-02T14:22:00.000-07:00

This article is dedicated to my mother-in-law, Lucille Palmer. She must have been a good cook, for after 41 years of marriage I’m still hearing about it.

My husband's past is tied to food. I often said that a trip to visit my in-laws was like being diabetic (I should know, I am one).

A diabetic's life is not an easy one. Meals are tied to time and content. Once a meal is out of the way you are planning for the next. I find a diabetic spends an inordinate amount of time thinking about food. All of the above applies to my husband's family.

Diabetics usually think about food we can't eat. Here endeth the similarity, for they ate everything and lots of it.

My husband's family spent more time planning, timing and thinking about food than any group of people I've ever known. Once breakfast was finished and the dishes cleared, my father-in-law would be asking what was for lunch and dinner. It was, my husband explains, due to the fact they were farming people. Food was energy. Timed to get you out in the fields where you would burn up that energy, then back in for the next meal, and so on. Every meal was rewarded with dessert.

My husband has always spoken longingly of his mother's cooking, so when his father died and we cleaned out the family home he was so excited to happen on an envelope of her handwritten recipes. Heavily weighted toward dessert, I might add.

In going through the little handwritten cards I found three ingredients used over and over again. Sour cream, raisins, and rhubarb. There was sour cream raisin cake, pie, and cookies. Sour cream rhubarb cake, pie, and cookies. The sour cream raisin pie was the most exciting find for my husband. Sour cream raisin pie is his favorite.

Reading through the recipes was a miniature history lesson featuring 1950's decorated cards, cards attributing the authorship to her children, relatives, neighbors, and an occasional cut-out from one of the farming magazines. Ingredients of the time and of her garden. Ingredients such as Karo syrup, Crisco, and the irrepressible Jell-O. And from the garden zucchini, rhubarb, corn, and plums. Food memories for my husband.

There were recipes titled Linda Bundt's Bundt Cake, Betty Harvey's Frog Eye Salad (Serves 35), and Kathy's Ribbon Ice Box Dessert. Many of the cards are punctuated with Lucille's comments - Very Good, the Real McCoy, problem!

And tucked away in the middle of thousands of cards I found a surprise. A recipe in my own handwriting. A dish I had made for Lucille over forty years ago. Saved. To understand my surprise, you'd have to know I was a second wife, a difficult position to play in any game. After thirty years, she warmed to me. So, even if she never made my recipe. She saved it. And that means a great deal to me, even after all these years.

In her honor, I am scanning the cards and transcribing the recipes into a book for her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. It will tell of her life and be punctuated with photographs. I think it would have pleased her.

Thanks for the recipes!

I Know Where I'm From

2011-07-23T16:32:00.000-07:00

It's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun from Randy Seaver at Geneamusings.

Tonight Randy has challenged us to:

Write a poem about "Where I'm From" using the template found at the website http://www.swva.net/fred1st/wif.htm and of course to post it.

You should know by now, Maven's not very good with templates. So, I've given it my own twist.

And now:
I am from the good earth, from Mississippi mud and lead leavings.

I am from the house my father built with his own two hands. From hands I remember. From hands I loved. From hands my son now bears.

I am from the dogwood trees that dotted our five acres and the Mother's Day cards I crafted in their likeness as a child.

I am from Zora and Otie's line of Bones and Campbells. I am from Sunday sit down dinners and shotguns resting against the kitchen stove.

I am from the "work your fingers to the bone" and from "give a man a dollar and a half's worth of work for every dollar he pays you" ethic.

From the "there'll be no Hell for dogs" and "are you wearing clean underwear" admonitions.

I am from the I believe in God the Father Almighty Maker of Heaven and Earth, Sunday School, and those frustrating catechism classes. I am from Missouri Synod Lutherans.

I'm from a small island where you could see the laundry hanging on the lines in both Ireland and Scotland. I'm from fried rabbit and Baked Alaska.

From people with an easy southern charm, slow to anger, quick to laugh. From people who have made me and made me proud.

I am from the good earth and the good people.

On The Radio Whoa Oh - On Geneabloggers Radio

2011-07-08T08:47:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Thomas MacEntee, the peripatetic host of Geneabloggers on BlogTalk Radio, I have been asked to be a guest on tonight's broadcast discussing education opportunities in the world of genealogy.

I have had the privilege of serving as a member of the Advisory Board of the University of Washington Continuing Education Certificate Program in Genealogy & Family History. The purpose of the advisory board is to review content, guide design and recommend updates to ensure the program remains current as the field of study evolves.

I was a graduate of the 2005 Program and I loved it.

I will be sharing the microphone with Lee Maxey, of the Boston University Center for Professional Education, and Elissa Scalise Powell of the Genealogy Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP).

If you have questions, we'll try to provide the answers.

Via GeneaBloggers Radio – Episode 24

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/geneabloggers/2011/07/09/dont-know-much-about-genealogy-genealogy-education

Friday, July 8, 2011
10pm-11:30pm Eastern US
9-10:30pm Central US
8-9:30pm Mountain US
7-8:30pm Pacific US
3am London UK
12pm Saturday Sydney AUS

Don’t forget there is a chat room. Sign in to BlogTalkRadio with your Facebook account or set up a free BlogTalkRadio account to join in the fun.

Be sure to listen in!

How To Cite A Blog Article/Post!

2011-07-07T12:22:00.000-07:00

Broadcasts & Web Miscellanea - Blogs

Source List Entry - Example

Wiseman, Becky. "Friday From The Collectors - A Moment In Time." footnoteMaven. Shades Of The Departed, 11 April 2008. http://www.www.shadesofthedeparted.com/2008/04/friday-from-collectors-moment-in-time.html : 2008.

Author (Last Name First, First Name, Middle Name/Initial). “Article/Post Title.” Creator Of The Blog. Blog Name (Italics), Posting Date. URL Digital Location : Access Year.

First Full Reference Note - Example

1. Becky Wiseman, "Friday From The Collectors - A Moment In Time," footnoteMaven, Shades Of The Departed, 11 April 2008 (http://www.shadesofthedeparted.com/2008/04/
friday-from-collectors-moment-in-time.html : accessed 11 April 2008), para. 4.

Author (First Name, Middle Name/Initial, Last Name), "Article Title," Creator of Blog, Posting Date (URL Digital Location : Access Date), Specific Content if any.

Short Reference Note - Example

11. Wiseman, "Friday From The Collectors - A Moment In Time," paras. 2-4.

Author (Last Name), "Article Title," Specific Content.

If you are citing the article/post online, create a link to the post in the citation:

Wiseman, Becky. "Friday From The Collectors - A Moment In Time." footnoteMaven. Shades Of The Departed, 11 April 2008. http://www.shadesofthedeparted.com/2008/04/
friday-from-collectors-moment-in-time.html : 2008.

Information contained in this color, including punctuation is part of the citation and may be used as a template. Information contained in black is explanatory only.

Cite this article as:

Source List Entry

footnoteMaven. "How To Cite A Blog Article/Post." footnoteMaven, 8 July 2011. http://www.footnotemaven.com/2011/07/how-to-cite-blog-articlepost.html : 2011.

108 COG - Food For Thought!

2011-07-07T12:01:00.000-07:00

108th EDITION OF THE Carnival Of Genealogy

The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is:

Food!

- ¤ -

Bring us your family recipes, stories of picnics

- ¤ -

Food fights, food allergies, favorite summertime
foods you remember.

- ¤ -

Best of all, photos of family favorite foods

- ¤ -

Have we given you some food for thought?
Then submit your articles to the
next edition of the COG.

- ¤ - ¤ -

Let's make a great mouth-watering edition of the COG!

The Deadline For Submissions Is
August 1st

- ¤ - ¤ -

Attention All COG Participants

Read Also The Changes To The COG In 2011

COG 107 - The Seasons Of Genealogy

2011-06-30T09:22:00.000-07:00

107th EDITION OF THE Carnival Of Genealogy

The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is:

The Seasons of Genealogy!

- ¤ -

Do you spend more time on genealogy research in the summer
or in the winter, or maybe spring or fall?

- ¤ -

How does the amount of time you put into research and
blogging differ from season to season?

- ¤ -

Or perhaps you'd like to think of things metaphorically... which
season is your genealogy research in?

- ¤ -

Write up your thoughts and observations and submit
your articles to the next edition of the COG.

- ¤ - ¤ -

The Deadline For Submissions Is
July 1st

This edition will be hosted by Bill West of
West in New England.

- ¤ - ¤ -

Attention All COG Participants

Read Also The Changes To The COG In 2011

I Give Up!

2011-06-29T08:22:00.000-07:00

Last night I received the following message from Jon Virtes Flipboard Community Manager regarding the problem I've had using a search for #genealogy as one of the sections on the brilliant iPad App. Flipboard. See "Here Be Dragons" and Jon's response below. I think Jon is as frustrated as I am.

Sorry Jon, but it is worse this morning and I have removed those searches. Yes, I can use a trusted list of genealogists on Twitter as a Content Section in Flipboard, which I've had from the beginning, but I was using the broader (no pun intended) search to find those jewels that might not be written by the usual suspects.

I have done a great deal of research as to where the problem actually originates. It originates with Twitter. Flipboard uses Twitter feeds to populate content. The difference is that you have to select a link to make the vulgar photographs visible in Twitter, they are immediately visible in Flipboard. This is where it becomes a Flipboard problem.

And just in case you think I may be overreacting to these photographs, trust me I'm not. Some of the worst I've ever seen. Not to mention the fact that I am furious I have to wade through them to enjoy genealogy.

So, I'm going to continue to "block and report as spam" those #RottenEggs in my #CrackedEggCampaign on Twitter and hope that Flipboard finds a solution. I ask you to do the same. Some amazing content can be found on Flipboard, so I'm not giving up on Flipboard. I'm hoping for a solution.

FlipboardCM said...

Thanks for the kind words, I'm happy to help. Sorry you had to see the inappropriate content. The way Flipboard expands all links and images is a great thing, until confronted with something like this.

I did escalate this issue to the team. We have an ongoing topic about "Not Safe For Work" content and we are working on improving this aspect of the service. With our next update, we will be adding the ability to report inappropriate images, which will flag it for removal from our servers, and it will also immediately remove the image from your feed. This is coming very soon.

In the meantime, you can also Hide posts from certain users. Just tap on the post (I know, not ideal, but you can turn your iPad so you don't have to look directly at the images) and tap on the name / avatar of the user and select Hide. You won't see any more posts from this account. This may help you enjoy your #genealogy feed in the short term.

Thank you again for bringing this to our attention, and for helping police this feed on Twitter. Report it all as spam, like you've been doing. It will help Twitter, which also helps us. :)

Feel free to stay in touch.

~ Jon Virtes
Flipboard Community Manager

A Swift Response From & A Thank You To Flipboard

2011-06-27T18:14:00.000-07:00

A lot has happened since I posted my Cranky Pants Alert - Here Be Dragons this morning.

One was the response from my husband who asked, "I don't understand why you didn't exhaust normal channels such as an email and a telephone call before you took to Twitter. Why would you do that?"

I have tried on many occasions to explain Twitter, but this is a man who has just begun to fully understand blogging and thinks Facebook and Twitter are ridiculous. So, I didn't attempt to explain Flipboard.

My reasoning - Flipboard is an application that lives in the exclusive digital world of the iPad. It's content is created from those blogs I select, as well as the ridiculous Twitter and Facebook. They are the consummate virtual business. So I decided to get their attention virtually.

An aside - I LOVE Twitter; this micro-blogging platform surpasses all my expectations of what is possible in the digital world. That was until Flipboard found a way to neatly package and magazine display Tweets.

So, I Tweeted my Here Be Dragons rant and it was picked up by several other people on Twitter and eventually seen by Flipboard. They responded immediately. So obviously my reasoning and their customer service worked, as you can see below.

Then the pièce de résistance. Flipboard actually looked at the images appearing in the genealogy section and I got this response.

So fellow genealogists, social media works. And someone has to protect our genealogy.

Here Be Dragons*

2011-06-26T17:34:00.001-07:00

Cranky Pants Alert!

I've had it! I can no longer browse #genealogy on my iPad in Flipboard with my morning tea without visions of "Debbie Does Dallas" on my screen. I am bombarded with photographs that my Mother would say are "examples of conduct that will make you go blind." Here is a page from Sunday morning. The tamest and easiest to cover up.

What must her Mother think?

Yes, genealogy must be trending in the social media world. I have received many Twitter messages that when you select the link you get an in your face on the big screen example of "that which will not be described here."

On Twitter they are fairly easy to identify. The Egg Avatar and keywords that make no sense, or just a link.

When you see this on Twitter immediately block
and report for spam.

So to any of my genealogy friends who are new to Twitter and are using the Egg Avatar, you now know why no one follows you and you may have been reported as spam.

Vulgar photographs now use the keywords #genealogy, genealogy and many more innocuous words to get your attention. I guess they're working in a per click world because they can't seriously believe we are their target market. For the genealogists I know, you may get us once, but you will never get us again.

I made a mistake on Twitter by sending a humorous chastise tweet about not being their target market unless the photograph was one of my ancestors. Really bad move. I spent days getting rid of unwanted replies and unwelcome followers. Block and report! Nothing more!

But what do I do with Flipboard? On Flipboard I don't even get the choice of selecting the link to get the photograph. The photograph is routinely posted in living color. Icky!

So, Flipboard or my techie friends, do you have any suggestions other than not using the app? Aside from this I rather like it.

*"Here be dragons" is a phrase used to denote dangerous or unexplored territories, in imitation of the medieval practice of putting sea serpents and other mythological creatures in blank areas of maps.

Making My Way In The World Today Takes Everything I've Got

2011-06-24T12:30:00.002-07:00

I am enjoying Dear Myrt's series of "21st century" blog posts as she drags us kicking and screaming into the "now" world of technology. I say now, because times they are a changin'. Minute by minute. I have a lot of opinions regarding technology and organization and am working on several articles that discuss my research and opinions. Maven has nothing if not opinions.

But Dear Myrtle's, 21st Century genealogists: how websites are failing us post struck a chord. This is something I am in the middle of researching. I've called this Making My Way In The World Today Takes Everything I've Got Series. Yes, on your toes genealogists. We do get it. And we want more and we want it now.

This is the section in particular that peaked my interest:

Where websites fail is that in printing a typical scanned images from a website, we are left with nothing more than our operating system's default to print the URL across the bottom of the page. That doesn't bode well for researchers who look for complete citations. In a recent Second Life genealogy voice chat, several researchers shared how they get around the problem:

* If one is printing out a document from a website, put the paper back in the printer, and using a word processing program, insert a proper source citation to print along the margin of the document print-out.

Work-Arounds:

I handle this another way, and it works for me. I think it is a great time saver and is useful if you print to paper as well. Maybe it would work for you.

Here's my example - I want to print the "The Overstuffed Baby Comes Full Circle!" article from Shades Of The Departed.

I am on a Mac using the Firefox browser. I open the article in my browser window and go to the Firefox Menu > File > Print. The print menu appears and I set my Header and Footer preferences and whether I wish to print all pages or only certain pages. See Below.

As you can see, I want only the Title in the Header leaving white space. I will show you why in the PDF Document later in this article. I select PDF > Save As PDF. I have created a new folder for Photo Connections and the Pdf document is printed to that folder.

Yes, I know, this is a wonderful feature of Macs, but what about Windows centric people? A very quick Google search returned several Pdf Print Plug-Ins for Windows. As I do not have a Windows machine and my husband became increasingly frustrated as I tried to talk him through it over the phone at work, I will rely on my Windows readers to tell me how well it works.

Now the magic! Open your file in Acrobat Reader X. If you do not have X you can download it here. It's WORTH it!. Wait, it's free. It's really worth it.

Acrobat Reader X lets you add Sticky Notes and Highlight text in a PDF. You can comment on ANY PDF as long as the author hasn’t restricted it via security or it is a dynamic PDF form. How fantastic is that? We don't have to buy Acrobat Pro.

I set my preferences in Acrobat Reader. Go To Adobe Reader > Preferences. Be sure to select Print Notes & Pops Ups so that should you ever wish to print the file to paper the notes will be included. Click OK.

Next, select Comments > Annotation > Sticky Notes. You will get a comment bubble attached to your cursor. Place the bubble anywhere you like on the page and click. The comment window opened and I typed the citation for this document in the box. I left all that white space at the top of my document next to the title to place my comment bubble. It is purple and can be seen below to the left of the Citation Comment Window.

Next, I set General and Appearance Properties for the comment bubble. Set anything you like. These are my preferences.

The magic doesn't end here. Acrobat Reader X allows you to highlight parts of the document. So I highlighted the name of the baby in the portrait and the person who emailed me. Now I can instantly find what was important in the document as it pertained to my research.

* If keeping the scanned image in digital format, open it immediately in photo editing software to add a border across the bottom, and then insert several lines of text that comprise the citation.

Making My Way In The Technology World Today Takes Everything I've Got

2011-06-24T12:30:00.001-07:00

There is no One Way Here!

I am enjoying Dear Myrtle's series of "21st century" blog posts as she drags us kicking and screaming into the "now" world of technology. I say now, because times they are a changin'. Minute by minute. I have a lot of opinions regarding technology with regard to photograph and document organization. I am working on a series of articles in which I discuss my research, findings, and opinions. Maven has nothing if not opinions.

But Dear Myrtle's, 21st Century genealogists: how websites are failing us post struck a chord. This is something I'm working on now. My series is Making My Way In The World Today Takes Everything I've Got Series and this will give you a taste of my direction. Yes, on your toes genealogists. We do get it. And we want more and we want it now.

This is the section of Dear Myrtle's article that caught my attention:

Where websites fail is that in printing a typical scanned images from a website, we are left with nothing more than our operating system's default to print the URL across the bottom of the page. That doesn't bode well for researchers who look for complete citations. In a recent Second Life genealogy voice chat, several researchers shared how they get around the problem:

* If one is printing out a document from a website, put the paper back in the printer, and using a word processing program, insert a proper source citation to print along the margin of the document print-out.

* If keeping the scanned image in digital format, open it immediately in photo editing software to add a border across the bottom, and then insert several lines of text that comprise the citation."

Document From A Website:

I handle this another way, and it works for me. I think it is a great time saver and is useful if you print to paper as well. Maybe it would work for you. If you know all this - Good for you! You're working technology.

Here's my example - I want to print "The Overstuffed Baby Comes Full Circle!" article from Shades Of The Departed.

I am on a Mac using the Firefox browser (the same process for Safari). I open the article in my browser window and go to the Firefox Menu > File > Print. The print menu appears and I set my Header and Footer preferences and whether I wish to print all pages or only certain pages. See Below.

Print
Select Image For Full Size

As you can see, I want only the Title in the Header leaving plenty of white space to the right. The reason will become apparent later in this article. I select PDF > Save As PDF.

I select the PDF Button and select Save As PDF. Here I title the document and add Keywords. I have created a new folder for Photo Connections and the Pdf document is printed to that folder.

Naming & Keywords
Select Image For Full Size

Yes, I know, this is a wonderful feature of Macs, printing to PDF, but what about Windows centric people? A very quick Google search returned several Pdf Print Plug-Ins for Windows. As I do not have a Windows machine and my husband became increasingly frustrated as I tried to talk him through it over the phone at work, I will rely on my Windows readers to tell me how well it works.

Now the magic! Open your file in Acrobat Reader X (10.1). If you do not have X (10.1) you can download it here. It's WORTH it!. Wait, it's free. It's really worth it. Any PDF document whether Windows or Mac will work for the following.

Acrobat Reader X lets you add Sticky Notes and Highlight text in a PDF. You can comment on ANY PDF as long as the author hasn’t restricted it via security or it is a dynamic PDF form. How fantastic is that? We don't have to buy Acrobat Pro.

Open your PDF document in Acrobat Reader X. Now set the preferences. Go To Adobe Reader > Preferences. Be sure to select Print Notes & Pops Ups so that should you ever wish to print the file to paper the notes will be included. Click OK.

Acrobat Reader Preferences
Select Image For Full Size

Next, select Comments > Annotation > Sticky Notes. You will get a comment bubble attached to your cursor. Place the bubble anywhere you like on the page and click. The comment window opens and you can type the citation for this document in the box. I left all that white space at the top of my document next to the title to place my comment bubble. It is purple and can be seen below to the left of the Citation Comment Window.

Comment in PDF
Select Image For Full Size

Next, I set General and Appearance Properties for the comment bubble. Set anything you like. These are my preferences.

Comment General & Appearance Properties
Select Image For Full Size

You have sufficient space across the top of your document to add more comments and color code them as to their purpose.

The magic doesn't end here. Acrobat Reader X allows you to highlight parts of the document. So I highlighted the name of the baby in the portrait and the person who emailed me. I can instantly find what was important in the document as it pertained to my research. This could have so many uses for genealogical research.

Highlighting
Select Image For Full Size

Scanned Image In Digital Format:

"* If keeping the scanned image in digital format, open it immediately in photo editing software to add a border across the bottom, and then insert several lines of text that comprise the citation."

I embed the citation information in the document itself. I selected the photograph of The Overstuffed Baby online, right clicked and copied. I then opened my image editing program Photoshop CS4 and pasted it. Yes, you may "Save As" and open as well.

Next, I selected File > File Info > Categories, named it Cit for Citation and added the citation for the website where I acquired the photograph and the citation for the photograph itself.

It doesn't end here. The best in organization is yet to be posted. I am working on an article that will discuss Photographs, Images, Documents, PDFs and the most brilliant tool for organizing them all. I am taking a class, researching information, and writing the next installment. It's better than sliced bread.

Good Luck!

There'll Be No Hell For Dogs - Or My Father

2011-06-18T17:25:00.000-07:00

A Tribute To My Father

My Father. How I loved him. How I miss him.

He was the most handsome man I had ever seen. Movie star good looks handsome, and he was my father. From little girls to little old ladies he could turn them all into babbling idiots just by acknowledging them. He was a farm boy from Missouri who was totally unaware of the havoc his good looks created with women. Oh, women noticed him, but he did not notice women. From the day he set eyes on my mother there was no other woman in the world.

They met in the Army during World War II. My mother was a nurse, a WAC Lieutenant. My father was a corpsman in a hospital for soldiers facing the psychological traumas of war. They met there. I remember my mother telling how she had seen him the first time, sitting on the floor in one of the corridors leaning against the wall. She said he took her breath away, he was so handsome; she hoped he wasn’t one of her patients. They knew each other just two weeks before they were married and it lasted a lifetime – his lifetime.

Yes, women noticed him and often that made me just the least bit jealous. When I was in high school and played in sports he would come to watch me compete. Female classmates who were not close friends would wait for him and sit next to him feigning interest in my performance just to be near him. It was the same if he brought my mother. She laughed, she didn’t mind, he made her feel that secure, and he even made those rotten girls feel comfortable.

To go with those good looks was a large dose of southern charm. That off-handed sense of humor that is natural and not the least bit contrived. My sister inherited his sense of humor and the way with words that were his. I hear him in her speech and when I do, I miss him. I have already told you of his tipping outhouses escapades, but there was so much more to the humor in his life, at least a book of stories more.

He was known for his little homilies. One of my favorites was “there’ll be no Hell for dogs.” What does it mean? I have absolutely no idea, but when he touched his belt buckle and uttered those words his children always ran for it. I still use it today at just the appropriate moment, when I want to daze and confuse. It’s always good for a smile.

He was my knight, my rock. He protected us all. His wife, his children, his mother, his sisters, his friends; we have all been rescued by him at least once. In my case he rescued me more times than I can count. He rescued us from broken down cars, the driving exam, tornadoes, abusive relationships, dementia, heartbreak, disappointment, fractions, and the reality of death at an early age. He did it with surprising good humor, under what were often the worst of circumstances. He always knew what to say and do. We could depend on him.

My very favorite memory of my father is of the two of us sitting on my uncle’s porch on a summers evening while he brushed and braided my hair. He loved my hair. One summer when I was nine my mother got it in her head to give me a pixie cut, without telling him. When he arrived home from work he cried and was completely inconsolable. I attribute my reticence to cutting my hair to that childhood memory.

His proudest moment of me was when, instead of taking Home Economics, I took an automotive class. He taught me to change a tire, the oil, to know all the parts of the car’s engine and to weld. I was the only girl in the class and I got the top marks. Little did I know at the time, he had a bet with the father of one of the boys in the class that his “little girl” would get the best grade and beat his son out for the top mark. He was so proud when I did just that. I think the prize was that infamous 3.2 beer again.

His life had not been an easy one. He was the seventh of eight children. His father died when he was eleven of pernicious anemia, something easily cured today. His mother took in washing to try to make ends meet, but it soon became apparent she couldn’t afford the clothes to send him to school, so he stopped going and got a job supporting his family at the age of twelve. He had no carefree youth. He often talked about how as a child he had wanted a wagon for Christmas, but his mother could not afford to buy him one. For their first Christmas together my mother gave him a shiny red Radio Flyer. He never forgot that gift.

He was plagued by poor health. My first memory of his illness was when he collapsed at thirty-five of a heart attack and my mother and I had to carry him to the car and drive him to the hospital. I have never been so frightened in my life.

When I was a junior in high school he was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. The pain was excruciating, but he never complained. He would get out of bed and balancing on crutches would fix our meals. We were at school and mother took on the burden of supporting the family. He didn't complain and he didn't give up.

I think it was his absolute joy and love of life and his endless curiosity as to what would happen next that kept him going through the pain; that and the plot for his next practical joke.

I could not have had a better Father, in that I won the lottery. Happy Father’s Day Dad - thank you for the laughter, the curiosity, the extra large dose of common sense and the good hair.
There’ll be no Hell for dogs - or for my father.

COG 106 - Swinsuit Edition!

2011-06-01T14:38:00.000-07:00

106th EDITION OF THE Carnival Of Genealogy

The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is:

The 4th Annual Swimsuit Edition!
Yes folks, it's that time of year again.
Memorial Day weekend is just around the corner.
We'll all be getting out our bikinis and heading for the
beaches and backyard pools.

- ¤ -

Let's dig into our photo archives and pull out pics
of family members in their swimsuits.

- ¤ -

If your ancestors were camera shy, stop by an antique store and pick up
a picture of someone else's ancestor in a swimsuit. We don't mind!

- ¤ -

There will be no limit on the number of submissions,
so bring multiple stories if you have them!
Submit to the 106th COG by June 1st.

- ¤ -

Oh la la!

- ¤ - ¤ -

The Deadline For Submissions Is
June 1st

- ¤ - ¤ -

Attention All COG Participants

Read Also The Changes To The COG In 2011

The Hand That Rocks The Cradle - On Mother's Day

2011-05-08T05:02:00.000-07:00

TO MY MOTHER

My little baby lies along my arm,

And, looking at her there, the glad tears press,

And, like a tidalwave of tenderness,

The years of love since I lay cradled so —

Unfathomed love enfolding me from harm —

Return and flood my life. For now I know.

Ann Devoore

FOUR GENERATIONS HELD IN
THEIR MOTHER'S ARMS

Julia Ernestine Fleischmann Salter
Lillian Elizabeth Salter

Lillian Elizabeth Salter Greene
Lillian Elizabeth Greene

Lillian Elizabeth Greene Campbell
footnoteMaven

footnoteMaven
endNote

Note: This was a group of photographs I framed for my oldest daughter as a Christmas present - to show her place in history. Oh yes, and to remind her she's the end of the line, hence endNote.

Photographs:

Julian Ernestine Fleischmann Salter - Lillian Elizabeth Salter. ca. 1904. Digital image. Photograph privately held by the footnoteMaven, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Preston, Washington. 2007

Lillian Elizabeth Salter Greene - Lillian Elizabeth Greene. ca. 1924. Digital image. Photograph privately held by the footnoteMaven, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Preston, Washington. 2007

Lillian Elizabeth Greene Campbell - footnoteMaven. ca. 1950. Digital image. Photograph privately held by the footnoteMaven, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Preston, Washington. 2007

footnoteMaven - endNote. Photograph. 1968. Digital image. Photograph privately held by the footnoteMaven, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Preston, Washington. 2008

Mother Was A Blacksmith And A Man

2011-05-08T00:01:00.000-07:00

Originally published in 2008, this is still one of my favorites.

Out of curiosity, which we all know killed the cat, and in honor of Mothers' Day I took a census trip in search of men named "Mother." And I actually found a few.

I had to wander through the Mother Superiors of the world, but found the following male Mothers:

Mother Campion was a 55 year old male who immigrated to this country from Ireland. He lived in Quincy, Illinois, in 1870 with his wife Margaret and was a blacksmith.

Mother Bell was a 57 year old male who lived with his wife Ida, their four sons, two grandsons and adopted daughter Sarah. He was a farmer in 1920 in Athens, Georgia.

Mother Collins was a five year old boy living with his grandmother, Lizzy Laney, in New Hanover, North Carolina in 1920.

Mother Lyon was a 37 year old male body builder living with his wife, Marion, in Fairfield, Connecticut in 1920.

Now just what were their Mothers thinking?

Sources:

Census:

1870 U.S. census, Adams County, Illinois, population schedule, Quincy, p. 515, dwelling 682, family 618, Mother Campion (Head); digital images. Heritage Quest (http://persi.heritagequestonline.com/ : retrieved 5 May 2008); citing NARA microfilm publication M593, roll 187.

1920 U.S. census, Adams County, Illinois, population schedule, Quincy, p. 8, dwelling 164, family 181, Mother Bell (Head); digital images. Heritage Quest (http://persi.heritagequestonline.com/ : retrieved 5 May 2008); citing NARA microfilm publication T625, roll 243.

1920 U.S. census, Adams County, Illinois, population schedule, Quincy, p. 93, dwelling 290, family 337, Lizzy Laney (Head); digital images. Heritage Quest (http://persi.heritagequestonline.com/ : retrieved 5 May 2008); citing NARA microfilm publication T625, roll 1312.

1920 U.S. census, Adams County, Illinois, population schedule, Quincy, p. 107, dwelling 53, family 86, Mother Lyon (Head); digital images. Heritage Quest (http://persi.heritagequestonline.com/ : retrieved 5 May 2008); citing NARA microfilm publication T625, roll 176.

Photograph:

Photograph Courtesy of The Library of Congress: The New Woman

Once More With Feeling

2011-04-22T00:32:00.000-07:00

It's happened again; I'm not sure how it keeps happening. I think it has something to do with the Earth rotating on its axis and my opening my eyes each morning. Thank God!

I share this day with the Earth, well actually the Earth shares the day with me. It didn't get its day until 1970, I got mine a bit earlier. And contrary to what my children think, I am not older than dirt. The Earth now gets a whole week, a day wasn't enough. I am content with the day.

A few years ago Janice Brown at Cow Hampshire told me that this is "Ancestor's Eve," its designation thanks to Neelix of Star Trek Voyager. I love having been born on Ancestor's Eve. Rather appropriate don't you think? And I'm really glad to have Janice back.

So today I opened my eyes to Mr. Maven, Zoe, and Hunter singing "Happy Birthday" accompanied by a duck call. Now that's worth opening your eyes and ears for.

I'm off to hit my two favorite antiques stores and to buy new software (there's no tax in Montana and that saves a bundle). Then I get to have dinner with some of my children and all of my grandchildren. It's going to be a wonderful day.

Auntie Em! Auntie Em! Again?

2011-04-20T09:30:00.000-07:00

The Dance Of The Tornado
This man is crazy.
Get out of there, take cover!
Don't confront the tornado!

Little sister Biblio lives in Raleigh, North Carolina. I watched weather reports Saturday as the storm clouds gathered over her home. I waited to call knowing she might have to run for it and I didn't want to distract her. When I called and she answered I asked, "Are you in the storm cellar?" No storm cellars in her neck of the woods she laughed.

As all tornado veterans do, she had been watching the skies. Jack, the cat, had just been placed in his carrier when her husband yelled for her. They stood under the shelter of their garage and watched it rain building materials up and down her street. Insulation, shingles, tiles, even putty. It was so disturbing for her to stand and watch the remnants of people's homes and lives drop from the sky. She felt a measure of guilt that she was safe and untouched.

As it always does, this led us to relive that time when we were young and confronted the demon tornado. I'll relive it for you here.

"Black Tuesday"

May 21, 1957
Shortly After 4pm
St. Francois County, Missouri

I was born and raised in St. Francois County, Missouri. St. Francois County's tornado activity is 58.16% higher than the United States average. I really don't need the statistic; it's here for you, I lived it.

By the time I was ten, I had been taught to read the clouds. Reading the clouds could save your life. When the storm clouds gathered in southeastern Missouri you would find everyone in their yards, their eyes fixed on the heavens. You had to know when to take cover. There were no sirens or tornado alert systems in 1957. That tornado intuition Missourians are born with was all we had to depend on to save our lives; and sometimes even that didn't save us.

It was Tuesday afternoon, May 21, 1957, shortly after three o'clock. I was riding the school bus home with my little sister, Biblio. Mrs. Hill, my fourth grade teacher, had been eyeing the clouds most of the afternoon. She was on edge. We all were. When the final bell rang, she escorted each of us to our waiting bus. Usually she said good-bye to us in the classroom. That day, she didn't.

Our bus driver was Troy Mills, he lived just down the road from us. He was a local dairy farmer for the better part of the day, hard-nosed school bus driver for an hour in the morning and in the early afternoon. He drove a no nonsense school bus. He didn’t talk, nor did we. During the ride home he cricked his neck to look out the window at the very dark clouds forming. When the bus stopped in front of our driveway he instructed Biblio and me to go straight into the house. My sister and I ran sensing the urgency. When I turned to look back Mr. Mills was still standing there in the road, making certain. He had never done that before.

Biblio and I ran. In the kitchen dinner was on the stove, but both my parents and my brothers were out back on the deck. Mom and Dad were looking at the ominous clouds off toward Cantwell and Desloge. My Grandmother, two uncles and an aunt lived in those towns. It was now about 3.50pm.

Dad's Tornado Emergency Disaster Plan was "run for it." He predicated that plan on what I consider to be flawed logic. 1) Our home was on the top of one of Missouri’s rolling hills. We had an almost 360 degree unobstructed view. We could see tornadoes coming and could jump in the car and run for it. This does not take into consideration the dark of night. Tornadoes can’t tell time. 2) Tornadoes do not travel uphill and we lived on a hill. We would always have time to run. This does not take into consideration a tornado forming on the top of a hill and traveling downward, even if the first part were true. He did have a plan, though, and as children we believed in him and were reassured.

I will remember always what I saw and how frightened I was as I stood on the deck. Off toward Desloge the huge outline of a tornado had formed. It swung side to side and was punctuated by what looked like lightning bolts, but were in fact transformers and electric lines exploding. It was shortly after 4.00pm.

F3 Tornado Deslodge 1957

Dad's Tornado Emergency Disaster Plan was implemented. I ran to my room to grab my jewelry box; my girlish childhood treasure. I didn't stop to think that the pop beads Aunt Ella had won in the Bingo games in Florida would be of little comfort to me if we lost our home. Biblio wanted the kittens that had been born a few days earlier. All of them. She wanted her big sister to save them. I handed her the jewelry box and pointed her and the boys toward the car.

My father was yelling, "Get in the Car!" Mother was arguing. Ah, my Mother the fatalist. "If I'm going to die in a tornado, I'm going to die in a tornado. I'm not leaving my home."

I thought I'd have time. I ran out the back door and crawled under the house to grab the kittens and their mother. Just above me, Dad had thrown my Mother over his shoulder, shut off the stove, and deposited her in the car; only to find his oldest daughter was missing.

I couldn't reach the kittens. I stretched and called to the Mother cat, but she wouldn't cooperate. The next thing I knew Dad was dragging me out by my feet. "Animals know how to save themselves in a tornado," he reassured me. Another flawed supposition that saw the light of truth when the neighbor's cow was found the next day pinned to a tree by a two by four.

We were now on the road traveling parallel to the tornado and in a head-on course. It was enormous and an eerily strange greenish color. The tornado did not change its course and we passed it headed in the opposite direction. The direction where moments before it had caused eight deaths, 75 injuries, and millions of dollars in damages. We headed straight to Cantwell and my Grandmother's house.

What we saw when we headed into town will remain with me always. Familiar homes and businesses were nothing more than piles of bricks, in some cases only bare ground. People I knew were wandering around what remained of their homes obviously stunned. What of my grandmother? The tornado had selected a house here, another there, in some cases leaving a house intact next to the rubble that had just moments before been a neighbor's home. There was debris everywhere. A roof, furniture, clothes, the streets were difficult to navigate.

Cantwell After The Tornado

I was hanging onto the back of the front seat staring out the windshield when I saw her. My grandmother! She was standing in the street in front of her home. Yes, she and her home were still standing. She was out checking on the well-being of her neighbors. Most of the homes at the end of her street, which backed-up to a chat dump, were untouched. She ran up to the car urging my father to get to my Aunt's four blocks away to make sure she and her family we unharmed.

I remember the gasps from my mother as we traveled the four blocks. Blocks that in some cases were no longer there. We drove up to my Aunt's house. The house was there, "Thank God," my mother said. As we got closer, we saw my eight-year old Cousin tangled in the chain link fence out front screaming hysterically. My aunt was trying to calm her and open the fists she had made a part of the fence. She would not turn loose.

They had taken refuge in the bathtub in the interior first floor bathroom of their two story home. They had no basement. It was the sound, my aunt old us. It had sounded like a freight train. That was followed by the whine of the neighbors homes as they gave up and succumbed to the tornado. Then, dead quiet. It had been more than an eight-year old mind could comprehend. Mother, a nurse, looked at her and determined their was no physical damage.

We moved on to check on my Uncle and his family, a few more blocks away. My Uncle described his experience to the local newspaper:

Otis Campbell said he was eating supper when it began to look very bad. He told his wife he was going out and feed the dog before it got too bad. When he went out, he looked up and spotted the tornado forming. He called for his wife and she came out to look. When they saw it was headed in their direction they ran to a neighbor's basement. Mr. Campbell said that when it was all over, it was very calm, but then he began to hear people scream. Mrs. Campbell said that hanging on their cherry tree in their back yard was a shirt freshly ironed and still on a hanger. Also, their dog and dog house were gone. They found the dog house, with the dog inside, one block away. The dog was unhurt.

I remember that shirt. My Aunt took us out back to marvel; not a spot, not a wrinkle. Freshly ironed, the shirt hung on its coat hanger, on a tree branch, as if it had been hung there intentionally. We didn't stay long enough to see the dog reunited with his family. No, we had left our home and my mother wanted to return, to be certain we still had one. When last we had seen the tornado it was headed our direction.

We took one of the back roads to avoid the downed lines and emergency vehicles. When we topped a small hill we saw what remained of a familiar home and men digging furiously trying to save the people inside. Dad parked the car at the side of the road, on an incline, and jumped out to help. He left the car running in case Mother needed to move it. She stayed with us. Soon Dad yelled for my Mother saying they needed a nurse. She turned off the car and warned us to stay put.

The four of us were watching out the window as my mother was lowered into the rubble. What a frightening image for four small children. As we watched, I realized something was not quite right. The car was moving. We were rolling down the hill. I jumped into the front seat, gripped the steering wheel, and pumped the brake. I could not stop the car. Biblio opened one of the suicide doors and jumped. I yelled at my brothers to stay put. Biblio was now outside in the road screaming. A man standing in the yard saw the danger we were in and chased the car. He opened the door, jumped in, and set the emergency brake. He turned to me and asked where my parents were; crying and unable to talk I pointed at the house. He put Biblio back in the car and left to find my parents. I moved back into the driver's seat and kept my foot on the brake.

My Mother and Father soon returned to the car visibly shaken. They had tried to save the woman in the house, but she was dead. As I remember, so was her husband and perhaps others. Then a stranger told my parents their four children had been passengers in a runaway car and had to be saved themselves.

My Mother could take no more. All she wanted was to know if she still had a home. It wasn't far, just down the road. As we passed the Black Walnut on the fence line above our house we caught a glimpse of it. Home! Still standing, undamaged. We had survived. We had all survived.

The house still stands today never having been the victim of a tornado. Perhaps my father's logic wasn't flawed after all.

Washington state is not known for its tornadoes, yet when storm clouds gather you will find me in the yard, my eyes fixed on the heavens. Old fears are hard to break!

~~~

Note: Here is the list of tornadoes that hit southeast Missouri, May 21, 1957:

The F#, location, time of day, path length, deaths

F3 E of Doss Dent , 2100 10.2 miles(16.3 km)
F2 S of Squires Taney, Douglas, 2115 14.5 miles (23.2 km)
F1 NE of Mill Spring Wayne, 2130, 13 miles (20.8 km)
F1 S of Centerville Reynolds, 2145, 0.2 miles (0.32 km)
F3 SW of Sunlight to Desloge Washington, St. Francois, 2145, 22.2 miles (35.5 km), 8 deaths
F4 NE of Fremont Carter, 2153, 9.1 miles (14.6 km), 7 deaths
F2 N of Burfordville Cape Girardeau, 2300, 5.1 miles (8.2 km)
F2 E of Lewistown Lewis, 2330, 7.4 miles (11.8 km)
F1 E of Cardwell to N of Deering Dunklin, Pemiscot, 0545, 23.7 miles (37.9 km)
F2 W of Kennett Dunklin, 0545, 0.1 miles(0.16 km)

The stories of this storm are amazing. More accounts and photographs can be found here.

Photographs:

F3 Tornado. Unknown. Digital Image. 1957. St. Francois County MoGenWeb. (accessed July 2009.)

Cantwell. Unknown. Digital Image. 1957. St. Francois County MoGenWeb. (accessed July 2009.)

Plug Into The COG With Your Favorite Technology

2011-04-11T14:32:00.000-07:00

105th EDITION OF THE Carnival Of Genealogy

The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is:

“Favorite Current Technology”

What's your favorite technology of the moment?

- ¤ -

Do you love your iPad?

- ¤ -

Do you find yourself spending a lot of time on
the site of a newly discovered database?

- ¤ -

Do you have a handy new cell phone app you'd
like to share with others?

- ¤ -

Are you learning a new piece of genealogy software?
Got a new digital camera?

- ¤ -

Tell us all about your latest and greatest technology and how it
benefits your genealogy research or the recording of your family history.

- ¤ -
The deadline for submission is May 1st.
No limit on the number of submissions for this edition

- ¤ - ¤ -

The Deadline For Submissions Is
May 1st

- ¤ - ¤ -

Attention All COG Participants

Read Also The Changes To The COG In 2011

Also, check out Jasia's post "FAQs About The Carnival of Genealogy," for all you need to know about submitting a post. First-timers always welcome and greatly appreciated!

Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy using the carnival submission form or select the 105th Edition COG poster in the upper right hand corner of this page. Past posts and future hosts can be found on the blog carnival index page.

When Men Were Men, Women Were Women, and Cars Had Muscle!

2011-03-26T14:23:00.000-07:00

We were extolled to see the USA in our Chevrolet, American was asking us to call, and see it we did. Riding along in our automobiles, it was the sixties, and we were the greatest car generation. The generation where men were men, women were women, and cars had muscle, fins, chrome, window rattling exhausts, songs written about them, and even parts in movies.

The greatest car generation's favorite form of entertainment was shooting the strip; referred to as cruising in other parts of the country. Every Friday night they came from miles around to drive up and down the main street in town; to shoot the strip, to show off their cars, to see and be seen, and to pick up women. Friday night was not date night. It was "show time." And we were "smokin' hot."

Friends, great looking cars, and women were acknowledged while shooting the strip by a series of horn honks. If you were cool, you knew the code. Two short were for friends accompanied by the man version of the Queen of England's wave, a quick flick of the hand. One long and a head and arm out the window was to acknowledge an equally hot car. One long and a whistle meant a local beauty was shooting the strip.

Once seen the crowd headed for Mills Drive-In, the staging area. Mills was the place for everything cool; men, women, and cars. The hot cars backed into their parking spots, a model for the "old car shows" of today. Their drivers leaned against them with their slick-backed hair and tight black pants.

Male posturing required the hood of each car to be opened, the chrome to be blinding and their attention focused on discussions of custom versus stock. The green Shelby Mustang, the yellow convertible Corvette with the black top, the two seater black T-Bird, the little duce coup; all players in the greatest car generation's Friday night show on wheels.

If you had a hot car you had a woman; usually a different woman every weekend. The women spent the first hour in groups; two or four to a car. Once seen they headed to Mills and parked facing the line-up of hot cars. Like birds they perched on the hoods of their cars eying the men and the muscle.

If you were interested in a particular man, there was a code for this as well. If you wanted to shoot the strip with the man and his yellow corvette you dressed the part; a yellow blouse and black shorts. Dressing to match the car was a sure signal to the man he had the woman's attention.

The women were impressed by the car and the men were impressed by the women. A nod of the head and you were chosen, the man and his car were your trophy for the night and you in turn were his. The engines started, that familiar deep rumble filled the air and it was back to shooting the strip. The top down, a warm autumn breeze and Wolfman Jack on the radio.

Now shooting the strip began in earnest. Hundreds of cars lined the strip. They stopped in the middle of the street, side by side to laugh and joke. They revved their engines. They backed up traffic. It was all a part of the ritual.

While Paul McCartney may have sung Baby You Can Drive My Car, and maybe I'll love you; this was not the case. Only one girl in town was ever allowed to drive any of these cars. She knew her stuff. She was a drag queen. For the rest of us it was high performance cars and we were low performance drivers. No man would risk the transmission of one of the greatest cars ever made to a mere woman. Women were content to be passengers in the greatest car show on wheels.

It was an autumn of memories. Soon we graduated, left for college, were introduced to life's realities by way of the Vietnam war.

When I hear a certain song playing on the radio I remember I am and always will be a member of the greatest car generation on earth, and I remember, we had fun, fun, fun!

Now, just for fun, can you answer this music question?

That fateful night the car was stalled
upon the railroad track

That fateful night the car was stalled upon the railroad track I pulled you out and we were safe, but you went running back

Source: http://lyrics-a-plenty.com/t/teen_angel.lyrics.php

That fateful night the car was stalled upon the railroad track

Source: http://lyrics-a-plenty.com/t/teen_angel.lyrics.php

That fateful night the car was stalled upon the railroad track I pulled you out and we were safe, but you went running back

Source: http://lyrics-a-plenty.com/t/teen_angel.lyrics.php

- what was it you were looking for that took
your life that night?

You'll get extra points for the title of the song
and the performer.
(Psst - there's a clue in this article.)

Cars As Stars for the COG!

If I'd Only Known, I'd Have Bought A New Dress!

2011-03-09T15:43:00.000-08:00

footnoteMaven: This unnamed woman shares artifacts from days gone by -- lyrics, poems, photos, illustrations and historical documents -- to illuminate our ancestors' worlds. (She's not too highbrow for humor, though: check out her lyrics to "Good Citations," to the tune of "Good Vibrations"). The Maven has a fun, smart voice of someone you'd want to join for tea. (To whomever wrote the blog descriptions - Bravo! They are great.)

THANK YOU FAMILY TREE!
TEAS ON ME

THANK YOU!

To Family Tree Magazine for the opportunity to be
recognized for my work by you and my readers.

To my family, Mr. Maven in particular, for their encouragement
on those days I just want to pull the covers over my head
and go back to bed.

And a very special thank you to the Expert Panel.
Lisa Louise Cooke, Dear Myrtle,
Randy Seaver, and Thomas MacEntee.
This can not have been an easy task, but this is a group who
is committed to ethics and integrity in genealogy blogging.
It's the perfect panel!

And thank you for the selection of my two other blog contributions:
Shades Of The Departed
(Research Avice/How To Category)
The Association Of Graveyard Rabbits
(Cemetery Category)
It's been a very good year.

This is the footnoteMaven's second nomination and second win. I am extremely fortunate, but before we all start to believe our own publicity (think Charlie Sheen), let me remind everyone of the FAN-TASTIC Blogs in each category that were nominated and regardless, keep on keepin' on. Viewed in this light the Family Tree 40 2011 Genealogy Blog Award is a very humbling experience.

1. EVERYTHING Category:

Clue Wagon, http://www.cluewagon.com/
Creative Gene, http://creativegene.blogspot.com/
Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter, http://www.eogn.com
Elyse's Genealogy Blog, http://elysesgenealogyblog.com/
Family History Tracing, http://familyhistorytracing.blogspot.com
footnoteMaven, http://www.footnoteMaven.com
Greta's Genealogy Bog, http://gretabog.blogspot.com/
Olive Tree Genealogy, http://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com
Relatively Curious About Genealogy, http://relativelycurious.blogspot.com
Roots and Rambles, http://rootsandrambles.blogspot.com/
SpittalStreet.com, http://www.spittalstreet.com
The Educated Genealogist, http://sherifenley.blogspot.com/
The We Tree Genealogy Blog, http://wetree.blogspot.com/
You Go Genealogy Girls, http://yougogenealogygirls.blogspot.com

Congratulations Top 40:

Clue Wagon, http://www.cluewagon.com/
Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter, http://www.eogn.com
footnoteMaven, http://www.footnoteMaven.com
The We Tree Genealogy Blog, http://wetree.blogspot.com/
Olive Tree Genealogy, http://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com

2. CEMETERIES Category:

Cemetery Explorers, http://cemeteryexplorers.blogspot.com/
Digital Cemetery Walk, http://digitalcemeterywalk.blogspot.com/
Escape to the Silent Cities, http://escapetothesilentcities.blogspot.com/
Gen Wish List, http://genwishlist.blogspot.com
Granite in My Blood, http://granite-in-my-blood.blogspot.com/
Gravestoned, http://gravestoned.blogspot.com
Over Thy Dead Body, http://stiffsandstones.blogspot.com/
The Association of Graveyard Rabbits, http://thegraveyardrabbit.com/
Tombstone Territory, http://tombstoneterritory.blogspot.com

Congratulations Top 40:

The Association of Graveyard Rabbits, http://thegraveyardrabbit.com/
Digital Cemetery Walk, http://digitalcemeterywalk.blogspot.com/
Escape to the Silent Cities, http://escapetothesilentcities.blogspot.com/
Granite in My Blood, http://granite-in-my-blood.blogspot.com/
Gravestoned, http://gravestoned.blogspot.com

3. TECHNOLOGY Category:

Ancestry Insider, http://ancestryinsider.blogspot.com
Dienekes' Anthropology Blog, http://dienekes.blogspot.com/
Family Oral History Using Digital Tools, http://familyoralhistory.us/news
Genealogy's Star, http://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/
GeneaNet Genealogy Blog, http://genealogyblog.geneanet.org/
JLog, http://www.jgen.ws/jlog/
MacGenealogy.org, http://www.macgenealogy.org/
MobileGenealogy.com, http://www.mobilegenealogy.com
Moultrie Creek Gazette, http://moultriecreek.us
Renee's Genealogy Blog, http://rzamor1.blogspot.com

Congratulations Top 40:

Ancestry Insider, http://ancestryinsider.blogspot.com
Dienekes' Anthropology Blog, http://dienekes.blogspot.com/
Moultrie Creek Gazette, http://moultriecreek.us
Genealogy's Star, http://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/
Renee's Genealogy Blog, http://rzamor1.blogspot.com

4. HERITAGE GROUPS Category:

Acadian & French-Canadian Ancestral Home, http://acadian-ancestral-home.blogspot.com
Anglo-Celtic Connections, http://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.com/
Black and Red Journal, http://www,blackandredjournal.blogspot.com
Donna's Ireland blog, http://moughty.com/Site/Ireland_Blog/Ireland_Blog.html
Geniaus, http://geniaus.blogspot.com
George Geder Evangelist for African Ancestored Genealogy, http://gedergenealogy.com/
Georgia Black Crackers, http://georgiablackcrackers.blogspot.com/
Help! The Faerie Folk Hid My Ancestors, http://irishfamilyresearch.blogspot.com/
Luxegen Genealogy, http://www.luxegen.ca
Of Trolls And Lemons, http://haugenhistory.blogspot.com/
Scottish GENES, http://scottishancestry.blogspot.com
The French Genealogy Blog, http://french-genealogy.typepad.com/genealogie/
The Knowles Collection, http://knowlescollection.blogspot.com/
The Scottish Emigration Blog, http://scottishemigration.blogspot.com/
Tracing the Tribe, http://tracingthetribe.blogspot.com/
Wandering and wondering (a'spaidsearachd agus a'meòrachadh), http://direcleit.blogspot.com

Congratulations Top 40:

Acadian & French-Canadian Ancestral Home, http://acadian-ancestral-home.blogspot.com
Georgia Black Crackers, http://georgiablackcrackers.blogspot.com/
Help! The Faerie Folk Hid My Ancestors, http://irishfamilyresearch.blogspot.com/
Luxegen Genealogy, http://www.luxegen.ca
Tracing the Tribe, http://tracingthetribe.blogspot.com/

5. RESEARCH ADVICE/HOW-TO Category:

a3Genealogy, http://a3Genealogy.blogspot.com
FamHist, http://famhist2.blogspot.com
Family History Research Tips, http://familyhistorytips.wordpress.com/
Gena's Genealogy, http://philibertfamily.blogspot.com/
Genealogy Tip of the Day, http://genealogytipoftheday.blogspot.com
NARAtions: The Blog of the United States National Archives, http://blogs.archives.gov/online-public-access/
Paula's Genealogical Eclectica, http://paulastuartwarren.blogspot.com/
Personal Past Meditations, http://www.thepersonalpast.com
Pollyblog, http://pk-pollyblog.blogspot.com
Shades of the Departed, http://www.shadesofthedeparted.com/
The Armchair Genealogist, http://www.thearmchairgenealogist.com
The Family Curator, http://www.thefamilycurator.com/

Congratulations Top 40:

The Armchair Genealogist, http://www.thearmchairgenealogist.com
The Family Curator, http://www.thefamilycurator.com/
Genealogy Tip of the Day, http://genealogytipoftheday.blogspot.com
NARAtions: The Blog of the United States National Archives, http://blogs.archives.gov/online-public-access/
Shades of the Departed, http://www.shadesofthedeparted.com/

6. LOCAL/REGIONAL RESEARCH Category:

Alberta Family Histories Society Blog, http://afhs.ab.ca/blog/page/3/
Brooklyn Historical Society Blog, http://brooklynhistory.org/blog/
California Genealogical Society and Library Blog , http://blog.californiaancestors.org/
Eastern Washington Genealogical Society Blog, http://ewgs-spokane.blogspot.com/
Grey County Historical Society, http://greycountyhs.blogspot.com/
Itawamba History Review, http://itawambahistory.blogspot.com/
Midwestern Microhistory, http://midwesternmicrohistory.blogspot.com/
MoSGA Messenger, http://mosga.blogspot.com/
My Ancestor's Name, http://myancestorsname.blogspot.com/
New York History, http://www.newyorkhistoryblog.com/
Sandusky History, http://sanduskyhistory.blogspot.com/
St. Vincent Memories, http://56755.blogspot.com
Utah Genealogical Association Blog, http://ugagenealogy.blogspot.com/
Virginia Historical Society Blog, http://vahistorical.wordpress.com/
Williams County, Ohio Genealogy, http://williamscountyohiogenealogy.blogspot.com

Congratulations Top 40:

Brooklyn Historical Society Blog, http://brooklynhistory.org/blog/
California Genealogical Society and Library Blog , http://blog.californiaancestors.org/
Eastern Washington Genealogical Society Blog, http://ewgs-spokane.blogspot.com/
New York History, http://www.newyorkhistoryblog.com/
Sandusky History, http://sanduskyhistory.blogspot.com/

7. NEW BLOGS Category:

Adventures in Genealogy Education, http://www.genealogyeducation.blogspot.com/
Climbing My Family Tree, http://www.climbingmyfamilytree.com/
Have You Seen My Roots? http://haveyouseenmyroots.blogspot.com/
Heritage Zen, http://heritagezen.blogspot.com/
Journey to the Past, http://journeytothepastblog.blogspot.com/
My Tangled Vine, http://mytangledvine.blogspot.com
myirelandhome, http://myirelandhome.com/
Nolichucky Roots, http://nolichuckyroots.blogspot.com/
Old Stones Undeciphered, http://oldstonesundeciphered.blogspot.com/
Pursuits of a Desperate Genie, http://desperategenie.com/
Roots Traveler, http://www.rootstraveler.com/
Sassy Jane Genealogy, http://www.sassyjanegenealogy.blogspot.com
The Faces of my Family, http://thefacesofmyfamily.blogspot.com/
The Family Recorder, http://thefamilyrecorder.blogspot.com/
The Mashburn Collection, http://themashburncollection.com
The Scottish Emigration Blog, http://scottishemigration.blogspot.com/
The Turning of Generations, http://www.turning-of-generations.blogspot.com

Congratulations Top 40:

Climbing My Family Tree, http://www.climbingmyfamilytree.com/
Have You Seen My Roots? http://haveyouseenmyroots.blogspot.com/
Heritage Zen, http://heritagezen.blogspot.com/
Journey to the Past, http://journeytothepastblog.blogspot.com/
Old Stones Undeciphered, http://oldstonesundeciphered.blogspot.com/

8. MY FAMILY HISTORY Category:

Ancestories: The Stories of My Ancestors, http://ancestories1blogspot.com
AtlasFamily.Org Blog, http://blog.atlasfamily.org
Begin With Craft, http://beginwithcraft.blogspot.com/
BeNotForgot, http://benotforgot.blogspot.com/
Circlemending, http://circlemending.blogspot.com/
Everything's Relative, http://genealogybycindy.blogspot.com
Finding Josephine, http://dionneford.wordpress.com/
Finding Our Ancestors, http://researchingoconnells.wordpress.com
Gene notes, http://geneanotes.blogspot.com/
Greta's Genealogy Blog, http://gretabog.blogspot.com/
Little Bytes of Life, http://www.littlebytesoflife.com
Mississippi Memories, http://www.mymississippimemories.blogspot.com
My Channel Island History, http://jerseymo2010.wordpress.com
Nutfield Genealogy, http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com
Reflections From the Fence, http://www.reflectionsfromthefence.com/
Tangled Trees, http://tangledtrees.blogspot.com/
The Accidental Genealogist, http://www.theaccidentalgenealogist.com/
The Internet Genealogist, http://shbwgen.blogspot.com/
TJLGenes: Preserving Our Family History, http://www.tjlgenes.blogspot.com/
Tonia's Roots, http://www.toniasroots.net/
TransylvanianDutch, http://transylvaniandutch.blogspot.com
West in New England, http://westinnewengland.blogspot.com/
What's Past is Prologue, http://pastprologue.wordpress.com

Congratulations Top 40:

Greta's Genealogy Blog, http://gretabog.blogspot.com/
Little Bytes of Life, http://www.littlebytesoflife.com
Mississippi Memories, http://www.mymississippimemories.blogspot.com
Nutfield Genealogy, http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com
West in New England, http://westinnewengland.blogspot.com/

COG 104 - Cars As Stars

2011-03-05T17:35:00.001-08:00

104th EDITION OF THE Carnival Of Genealogy

The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is:

“Cars As Stars of Our Family History II”

Three years ago, on April 4, 2008, we celebrated the automobile
with stories of cars that touched our hearts, made us laugh,
made us cry, and best of all made us remember the
(mostly ;-) good old days.

- ¤ -

Bring us stories of your first car.

- ¤ -

Your favorite car, a family road trip.

- ¤ -

Backseat adventures (ooh la la! ;-)

- ¤ -

Jalopy horror stories... we want 'em all!

- ¤ -

There will be no limit on the number of submissions,
so bring multiple stories if you have them!
Submit to the 104th COG by April 4th.

- ¤ -

Vroom! Vroom!

- ¤ - ¤ -

The Deadline For Submissions Is
April 4th

- ¤ - ¤ -

Attention All COG Participants

Read Also The Changes To The COG In 2011

Also, check out Jasia's post "FAQs About The Carnival of Genealogy," for all you need to know about submitting a post. First-timers always welcome and greatly appreciated!

Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy using the carnival submission form or select the 104th Edition COG poster in the upper right hand corner of this page. Past posts and future hosts can be found on the blog carnival index page.

March Forth On March Fourth For The Fourth Year

2011-03-04T13:58:00.000-08:00

Language is something to be celebrated, and March 4 is the perfect day to do it. It's not only a date, it's an imperative: March forth on March 4 to speak well, write well, and help others do the same!

Today Is The Fourth Annual National Grammar Day

National Grammar Day was established in 2008 by Martha Brockenbrough, founder of the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar (SPOGG) and author of Things That Make Us [Sic], also available as an e-book. I am a member of the Society and Marched Forth in 2008, 2009, and 2010. There are some of you who would question my membership having read footnoteMaven.

For all the newbies I give you myths that well-meaning people argue about every day in offices around the world AKA:

Grammar Girl's Top 10 Language Myths:

I'm giving you the number 10 grammar myth here, but please read the other nine as they are all my favorites.

10. A run-on sentence is a really long sentence. Wrong! They can actually be quite short. In a run-on sentence, independent clauses are squished together without the help of punctuation or a conjunction. If you write I am happy I am glad* as one sentence without a semicolon, colon, or dash between the two independent clauses, it's a run-on sentence even though it only has six words.

In a comment to A Baker's Dozen, I wrote:

My opinion is that commas and periods are highly overrated and often get in the way of a fine writer completing an exquisite thought as it is transferred to the page in one pure stream of consciousness emerging unmolested from the brain to the hand.

It was engineered to be long, but tell me, is this a run-on sentence?

This year I add the use of may and can. The difference? Permission versus ability.

To my husband, "Can I jump off the 520 Floating Bridge?" The answer is yes. There is no physical impediment to my jumping off the bridge. I have the ability to make the dive.

To my husband, "May I jump off the 520 Floating Bridge?" The answer is no. He is withholding his permission until the appropriate moment arrives.

Now go, enjoy National Grammar Day!

Party At Maven's

2011-02-28T08:18:00.000-08:00

Today Is The Twenty-Fourth Anniversary
Of The footnoteMaven Blog

Last year I explained that the Web doesn't run on human years, it runs on Web-years. Every blog year is the equivalent of six human years. That means that today footnoteMaven celebrates four human years of blogging, the equivalent of 24 web years.

Last year I had three wishes:

May I continue to blog in these interesting times

May I continue to enjoy writing, and you continue to enjoy reading what I write

May I find what I'm looking for, whatever that may be

If wishes were kisses
I'd still be kissing you!

Interesting Times:

There is no doubt that our times, today's times of family historians, have become increasingly more interesting. We are no longer viewed as little blue haired old ladies/men on library tours. We are engaged in the online world; a tech savvy, entertaining, "willing to try anything new" segment of the entire genealogical community.

We have learned to communicate with each other through the emerging and interesting aspects of social media. Facebook and Twitter are at the top of my "getting the hang of it" list. The community and education I receive daily through social media is astounding.

Online webinars have developed to the point where even if you're snowed in somewhere in this wonderful country you can continue to educate yourself with a computer and an internet connection; joining those who were able to make it to the conference in person. All things are becoming possible.

Everyday I marvel at the connections I make. A conversation with a friend in New Zealand, Australia, Wales, Scotland, the East Coast, Midwest, or just down my street. Online. In real time! Isn't that amazing? Amazing!

Television continues to recognize the mysteries of our histories. They haven't made us sexy yet, but there's always next year.

Writing:

I still love to write and to blog on my version of a Seinfeld blog; a blog about nothing in particular and anything and everything that strikes my fancy. And if you read me you know my fancies are rather eclectic. It amazes me that after four years I still have anything to say, or at least anything to say that others will read.

This last year I've also focused much of my effort on writing, editing, and publishing Shades The Magazine. It continues, and I hope it continues to improve. It is a joy to work with the friends who make it educational and interesting. It is a joy to experience the enthusiasm of our readers. footnoteMaven and Shades are one. Shades was born here.

May I find what I'm looking for:

My third wish is the one wish I would change. I would change it to - May I never find what I'm looking for, whatever that may be, as it is the challenge of discovery that gets me out of bed every morning. The excitement of what the world has to offer footnoteMaven today.

And to those who take the time to read, enjoy, comment, and

become friends, thank you! I wouldn't be here without you

and it wouldn't be nearly as much fun.

Notes:

Whatis.com defined a web year as the length of time it takes for Internet technology to evolve as much as technology in another environment might evolve in a calendar year. Early posts by old line bloggers quoted 3 months as equaling a web year, but that was in 1996 and things have sped up since then.

The author of "Manage your speed in web years," on the Business Management Daily website had the what and why of conversion. In 2006, BMD wrote:

"Ever hear of Internet time? It’s kind of like dog years: Each calendar year equals six Web years.

More organizations are realizing that they have to measure time by this new clock: New-product development speeds up from years to months. Developing new technologies accelerates from months to days. Decisions are yours to make in
hours. . .

Lesson: If you’re not six times faster than your competition, you’re in trouble. Your dog days are coming."

It's Not Going To Be As Easy As It Looks On TV

2011-02-22T14:09:00.000-08:00

~ Rosie O'Donnell ~

Who Do You Think You Are?

Truer words. But then how many of you watch those DIY programs that accomplish miraculous construction and decorating changes in thirty minutes? My husband always cringes when I ask if we "could knock out a wall this weekend or do one of those fancy paint treatments." He's a professional and he knows all too well what's involved.

He let me do the paint treatment once and it was a complete disaster. And yes, I was discouraged. It wasn't as easy as it looked on TV. But I caught the painting bug and I wanted to know more.

Is researching our family history really any different? WDYTYA wraps up a tremendous amount of research in less than an hour. Those who have been involved in researching for themselves or others probably cringe just like my husband. Newbies have caught the bug, but we can all see how they could be discouraged.

Me, personally. I can't do anything unless I do it well. (Type A) So when I embarked on the mysteries of my family history I took a nine month genealogy course at the University of Washington. I already had a solid foundation in research and writing. Yes, I'm a citation geek, and I make no apologies.

In a brilliant post, Kimberly Powell of Kimberly's Genealogy Blog on About.com asks:

How do we as genealogists strike a balance between encouraging sound genealogical standards and practices without discouraging family history newcomers who find themselves quickly discouraged by those same standards, which they often don't understand and find unnecessarily complicated? Isn't there room for genealogists of all viewpoints and varying skill levels? Can't we find a way to educate and encourage without beating people over the head with our genealogy ideals?

How Can We Strike A Balance?

One method is by example. I love formulating citations for the weird, strange, and unusual things I find while researching my own family history and those beautiful old photographs that I collect. The standard for formulation of a citation in the world of genealogy is Evidence Explained. I use citations.

Have I been known to modify the standard for my own particular situation or on a whim to make it more understandable for me? Absolutely! Are my citations perfect? Hardly ever, but they make me happy.

The standards I use, the standards I set, are MY OWN. They are to save me when ten years from today I want to compare new information I've discovered to old information I've collected. (Provided I live that long.)

As for tickets, I don’t give them out. In fact, in my own lectures on sourcing,

I give folks that same advice about not getting so uptight
over the citation police.

~ Elizabeth Shown Mills ~

Isn't there room for genealogists of all viewpoints and varying skill levels?

Without question. But Kimberly, I believe part of the responsibility must fall not just to us, but to the newbies as well.

Newbies, what do you want to do with your research? The question of skill/standards will attach directly to your answer. A professional genealogist (for hire) - professional standards, professional education. A non-professional who wants to do professional level research (me on Shades) - professional standards. Girls/Boys just want to have fun blogs (footnoteMaven) and so on and so on - then don't worry about the rest of the world, set your own standard.

Take responsibility for your own skill level. Educate yourself to that level. The online world is filled with classes, tutorials, informative blogs and members of the genealogy blogging community who are more than willing to lend a hand if they are asked. The real world is filled with libraries and societies that go above and beyond the call of duty to encourage and educate.

Please yourself. Life is too short to worry about the standards of others.
Think Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced Bouquet).

Can't we find a way to educate and encourage without beating people over the head with our genealogy ideals?

I am smart enough to know I don't know everything. And not knowing everything I won't force my standards on anyone else by berating or belittling. Unless you ask me, attack me, or attack my family and friends, then you will get my strong opinions. I have been known to issue ("Cranky Pants Alerts.")

If you have found something useful - share the wealth. Other members of the community can determine if it is useful for them. It will encourage others to share.

Ideals?

We are a community. A community that sees the same personalities online we find in our daily lives. From the "It'll Never Works" to the "Whirling Dervishes." We don't all have the same ideals. We can't control the actions of others.

Really people, would you call anyone "boob," "idiot," "unprofessional," or "misguided" to their face; or be as aggressive as some online encounters with no provocation? You wouldn't have to worry about the Citation Police, you might be meeting the real world police were you to act in this manner.

In the end, I believe we should:

Accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with those who're In-Between

Thank you Kimberly for a brilliant framework.

UNCLE! If You Use A Citation Tool - Learn From It

2011-02-21T10:32:00.000-08:00

There is a company that produces an online citation tool I've used and for the most part find it is correct or close to correct more often than not. Online citation tools are basic, cumbersome and time consuming. My opinion.

It's called NoodleTools and has an online free version of its citation tool NoodleBib Express. (Has Chicago style used by Family Historians.) There is a professional version for $8.00 per year which creates Bibliographies and much more. (Read about it here.)

Here are the choices for a citation source:

NoodleBib Express: Chicago/Turabian

Periodicals

Journal
Magazine
Newspaper or Newswire

Nonperiodicals
Anthology/Book
Collection
Bible
Book
Conference Proceedings
Pamphlet
Reference Source (Dictionary, Encyclopedia, etc.)
Religious Work
Technical/Research Report

Electronic/Online (Exclusively)
E-Mail
Electronic Mailing List
Newsgroup,
UsenetOnline Database
Software
Web Forum (Message Board)
Web Site
Weblog
Audio Blog or Video Blog
Audiovisual
Advertisement or Commercial
Cartoon or Comic Strip
Film or Video Recording
Lecture, Speech, Address, or Reading
Map or Chart
Painting, Sculpture or Photograph
Performance (Play, Opera, Ballet, Concert)
Sound Recording
Podcast Television or Radio Program
Legal Sources (Bluebook Format)
Congressional Debate (Cong. Rec.)
Court Case
Federal or State Bill or Resolution
Federal or State Report or Document
Federal or State Committee Hearing
Federal Rule or Regulation
Presidential Paper or Executive Order
Statute

Other
Dissertation or Thesis
Interview
Letter or Memo
Unpublished Paper, Manuscript or Primary Source Document

As an example of using the tool (see screen shots), I created a citation for my blog article "Collecting Information For A Source."

This was my result:

Chicago/Turabian Citation (Weblog, Audioblog or Videoblog)

You can copy and paste this citation into your own document:

Annotated Bibliography form:

footnoteMaven (blog). http://www.footnotemaven.com/.

     Article on collecting source information when scanning in library, etc.

Note form:
1. FootnoteMaven, "Collecting Information For A Source," footnoteMaven (blog), February 21,

2011, accessed January 21, 2011, http://www.footnotemaven.com/2011/02/

collecting-information-for-source.html.


It is a learning tool, so if you use it, learn from it! If you don't, see graphic at beginning of this post.

Elizabeth Shown Mills, wish there was a tool like this using all the examples of EE. I'd PAYYYY for that one.

Features

Teaching tool

Teaches evaluation and analysis; not simply a "machine" that automates the process.
Extensive help for each citation element at the point of need.
Guides learner through difficult decisions about the source material.
Fast, personal responses to individual citation questions.
Generates parenthetical reference for each citation, with additional advanced help.
Checks for mistakes in punctuation, abbreviations, and more.

Promotes ethical research

Ease of use and expert advice gives students confidence to cite even the trickiest sources.
Online notecards capture author's words, images, graphs, and original formatting.
Software guides student through paraphrasing and prompts for original thinking.
Built-in editor enables annotation of notes, improving comprehension, analysis and reflection.
Notecards linked to citations to ensure proper attribution.

Assessment for learning

Students share working bibliographies and notecards with teachers for feedback.
While viewing a student's citation form, teacher can insert comments and ask questions.
Statistical graphs analyze quantity, variety and currency of sources.

Convenient and up-to-date

Web-based, saved work can be accessed from any computer, no software to install.
Bibliographies and notecards can be exported directly to Word.
Prompt software changes to conform to current MLA, APA, and Chicago/Turabian rules.

Administrative support

Real-time usage statistics and graphs.
Customization of features and preferences.
Web-based subscription and user management.

From the NoodleTools website.

Collecting Information For A Source

2011-02-21T00:08:00.000-08:00

Just remember, a tip is only good if it works for you.
If it doesn't, we call it an anchor.

~ fM ~

Image via WikipediOne of my favorite sayings is "Fortune favors the prepared." While our online world is wonderful, it doesn't always have everything we need. Sometimes we have to enter the real world. They have some wonderful resources available in those brick and mortar buildings. But we need to enter "prepared."

You're at your local library, courthouse, or historical society and you're working the copying machine. Behind you is a line of people coughing, restless, looking over your shoulder and asking you how long you're going to be. They want you to hurry.

But if you hurry, you may miss some really important information. Information pertinent to your source and your ability to find it again.

Here is something I bring with me to save time and money ( yes, I'm cheap). My ticket to cite.

I create a word document tailored to the resource (books, magazines, wills, directories, etc.) I will be researching. In this example, I was copying a photographic article in a magazine and would be researching a couple of books, so my tickets are geared to those resources.

This ticket is created from the source citation examples in Evidence Explained, that tells you exactly what information is needed. I have a binder and I keep two copies of each set I've created. Just in case I find a resource I wasn't expecting. (Books, Magazines, Newspapers, etc.)

Word Document

Now, you can make a copy of the title page for the book or magazine (be aware, not all information needed may be found on that page). Making a copy of another page takes time and costs. They're still in line behind you. And remember, I'm cheap. Or you can copy the information by hand to each page. Time consuming.

So, prior to using the copy machine, I fill out one of these tickets for each source. Then I place the ticket on the front page of my article, face down in the copy machine, being sure not to obscure any important information on the document. You can reuse the ticket, placing it on each page of the article, in the event that the stapler is out of staples and you drop your pile of copies from three different sources on the way back to your table (Yes, I've done this), when I placed the ticket on one page only.

Fill out the information once,
use a dozen times.

Now I have all the information necessary to find the source again, or write a source citation when necessary. Plus, I know which real world repository holds the resource and where it can be found there.

Tim Cox wrote me saying - " I use something similar and I even took it a step further......I copied them on a full sheet of adhesive paper at Kinkos and cut them in strips so now I have a stack that is just like a Post-it. When I need one, I pull it off and stick it to the material copied." Another great idea.

We are a bright group and I'm sure many of you have real world and digital tips for compiling information on a resource you're using. Share, please. Let's make the information available to everyone.

Can We Talk!

2011-02-16T16:25:00.000-08:00

If it doesn't belong to you;
don't take it!

~ My Mother ~

I'd like to discuss the artwork you find on my blog. I love to tinker and create. In particular I do a COG poster each month in tribute to Jasia and the Carnival of Genealogy. They are the reason I started blogging. I owe them.

The purpose of each poster is to promote the upcoming COG. Everyone has permission to use the poster in conjunction with their COG submission or to post it on their blog to promote the COG.

The COG posters are not public domain clip art. I am extremely careful to re-purpose posters, magazine covers, and art from the many image source books I own that ARE public domain art.

It often takes days of searching for the perfect source for that month's inspiration. Many of the sources I choose have elements that must be surgically removed in Photoshop. This also takes time.

I am saddened when I see my hard work acquired and used in the "original" work of someone else. Someone who has not asked permission nor even gone so far as to have given attribution. (I hope you are new to this world and just weren't aware of the etiquette.)

Those who know me are aware that if you need a graphic and you come to me, I will make one for you. If you come to me and ask to use anything I own or have made, I will give it to you.

It is the thoughtless taking that bothers me. Would you come to my home and remove it from my computer? Of course not.

So, please, go search for the artwork yourself. As I said, it's in the public domain. Re-purpose the image to your satisfaction. You will find it far more rewarding than taking my work.

Women's History - COG 103

2011-02-16T16:12:00.000-08:00

103rd EDITION OF THE Carnival Of Genealogy

The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is:

“Women's History”

The COG traditionally honors women in March each year in
conjunction with National Women's History Month.

- ¤ -

This is the perfect opportunity to write a biography about
a woman on your family tree.

- ¤ -

Research an aspect of history that relates to women!

- ¤ -

Or create a collage of photos featuring the women in your family.

- ¤ -

However you choose to honor women, post it to your blog and
submit it to the 103rd COG by March 1st.

- ¤ -

Tell it to the COG!

- ¤ - ¤ -

The Deadline For Submissions Is
March 1st
30 submissions accepted

- ¤ - ¤ -

Attention All COG Participants

Read Also The Changes To The COG In 2011

Also, check out Jasia's post "FAQs About The Carnival of Genealogy," for all you need to know about submitting a post. First-timers always welcome and greatly appreciated!

Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy using the carnival submission form or select the 103th Edition COG poster in the upper right hand corner of this page. Past posts and future hosts can be found on the blog carnival index page.

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T00:05:00.000-08:00

Select the image or Be My Valentine! to view
my Valentine to you!

Club Cite Me!

2011-02-11T12:29:00.000-08:00

With very special thanks to Denise Levenick, the Family Curator,
for the mantra!

WE'RE TALKING PROPER CITATIONS
ON THE BLOGS AGAIN!

(See Amy's Genealogy Etc. Blog - I Don't Care Where You Put The Comma)

Time to revisit footnoteMaven's philosophy:

If the women don't find you handsome... they should at least find you handy

- Red Green -

That is also my philosophy with regard to citations. While they may not be handsome (technically correct), your citation should be handy (sufficient information to find the source). You may have missed a comma, capitalized something that shouldn't be, or have things out of place, but we should be able to find that source.

Annotate Your Sources - It Can't Hurt And It Just Might Help

JOIN THE CLUB!

Are You Watching RootsTech Live 2011?

2011-02-11T08:59:00.000-08:00

I love online "Live" presentations. For over a year I have been taking Photoshop, InDesign, and Acrobat courses live online from CreativeTechs in Seattle. All of their live presentations are free with the ability to purchase the entire course for download later. Which I did.

This week at RootsTech 2011, the genealogy world is offering some of the technology presentations live. I don't have to tell you what a fantastic idea that is, it is a technology conference after all. The sound and video quality have been excellent.

Here are some screen shots from yesterday's Digitally Preserving Your Family History.

A look at the audience and the speaker.

3:00–4:00pm Digitally preserving Your Family Heritage – Berry Ewell

You see the Power Point presentation just as
if you were in the audience.

Now, while watching the presentation I was able
Tweet,

make tea, let the dogs out and talk to Mr. Maven on the phone
without missing much.

As a Watcher, I do have a few suggestions, and you know me, I'm sure I'll have more later.

1. I'd love to have a dedicated chat, or a dedicated Twitter page for each presentation. Not plowing through all #rootstech Tweets to find those that apply to the presentation I'm watching.

2. If there is an addition to the presentation (as with the pdf here), please have an online download site rather than send to email presenter, whose email I missed on screen.

3. Love to watch for free, but would be willing to pay for certain individual presentations.

Do you have any wishes or suggestions you'd like to share?

Where's My Feed

2011-02-01T00:06:00.000-08:00

I've had several comments and emails recently asking where I've hidden the footnoteMaven's Real Simple Syndication (RSS) Feed, so I'm hoping this post will help you find my feed and any RSS feed.

An RSS Feed Icon usually looks like this and can be found in any number of places on a web page: Except on footnoteMaven, where my feed icon looks like this:

If you do not find a feed icon on the page, here are several ways you may locate the blog's Feed.

A blog has a possible 4 site posts feeds.

A blog URL that contains the word blogspot would look like the four below:

Atom (classic): http://PlaceBlogNameHere .blogspot.com /atom.xml.
RSS (classic): http://PlaceBlogNameHere .blogspot.com/rss.xml.
Atom (new): http://PlaceBlogNameHere .blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default.
RSS (new): http://PlaceBlogNameHere .blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss.

You can place a "www." in front:

Atom (classic): http://www.PlaceBlogNameHere .com/atom.xml.
RSS (classic): http://www.PlaceBlogNameHere .com/rss.xml.
Atom (new): http://www.PlaceBlogNameHere .com/feeds/posts/default.
RSS (new): http://www.PlaceBlogNameHere .com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

If the URL does not contain blogspot, but is a .com, it will look like this:

Atom (classic): http://www.footnotemaven.com.com/atom.xml

RSS (classic): http://www.footnotemaven.com.com/rss.xml

Atom (new): http://www.footnotemaven.com/feeds/posts/default

RSS (new):  http://www.footnotemaven.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss

Now, if you're very ambitious, go to the tool bar of your browser. Select - View - Page Source:. The feeds are contained in the source code and will look like this:

<link rel="alternate" type="application/atom+xml" title="footnoteMaven -

Atom" href="http://www.footnotemaven.com/feeds/posts/default" />

<link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="footnoteMaven -

RSS" href="http://www.footnotemaven.com/feeds/posts/default?alt=rss" />

Today, however, our browsers make it very easy to access a blog's Feed. (Select the images below to enlarge.) The Feed button is circled in each - Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer. Those buttons will take you to a site's Feed.

Firefox

Safari

Internet Explorer 8

Hope You Can Find Me Now!

Humor Is Where You Inherit It!

2011-01-26T14:26:00.000-08:00

There is a joke in my husband's family, oft repeated.

The joke as told by my husband, "I will be the only 90 year old man
taking his 120 year old father to the doctor."

As Maven readers know, this joke is now sadly moot. I have often commented on marrying into this family of Montanans. This family has two admirable traits. They THINK they can fix anything and the telling of any story requires a touch of western humor.

Here I sit, between the family rock and the hard place. I don't recall ever fixing anything and my humor has always been questionable. So, what is my contribution? My job is witness. I have been a willing witness to the fixing and the humor for over forty-one years, but never more so than the last few weeks.

Both of these traits were called into question with the recent family troubles leading to the death of my father-in-law.

When my father-in-law became ill, the Montanans circled the wagons, put their heads together and tried to come up with solutions to fix things. Now, in this family fixing usually requires J.B. Weld. I've seen my father-in-law use it to fix his dentures, but it's never been tried on the human heart. Although it was suggested.

In the last week, my father-in-law fell out of bed several times. "Got a solution?" he asked. Duct tape was the collective response. "That should work," was his answer. They did what they could.

He suffered two strokes and three heart attacks in the seven days leading up to his death. After the strokes, he choked. He choked on everything including water. To combat this, the doctor had a thickener added to his fluids and food. Stop him eating and drinking too fast, they thought. My father-in-law hated this.

"Louie, what would you like to drink?" the nurse asked.

"Whiskey," my father-in-law replied.

"Whiskey?" the surprised nurse asked.

"Yep," he answered. "I never cared for whiskey, so if you're going to ruin something it might as well be something I don't like."

His mind was razor sharp to the very end, and as you can see, so was his sense of humor. It is appropriate to smile here! He would have encouraged it. These would have been some of his favorite stories. I am witness to this.

Yes, I'm Back, But. . .

2011-01-26T13:48:00.000-08:00

Recently my life has gotten a bit out of hand.
The problem lies in the management of my
dreaded in-boxes!

fM is having trouble keeping order!

Three regular email in-boxes
Three Blog's Comments - A blog's in-box
Magazine Platform Comments - Another in-box
GYRabbit Subscription Form - An in-box
Twitter - One large in-box with small messages
faceBook - The mother of all in-boxes

I am working on my in-box dilemma.
If you have written, Thank You!
I will get back to you!

Obituary - Lewis Wilson Palmer

2011-01-18T13:11:00.000-08:00

Without question, this is one of the most difficult pieces I have ever had to write. How do you capture a life lived well and long? A life of which you were an integral part. I'm still not sure. I only hope I have done justice to a man who was loved by all who knew him. Good-bye Lewis, you live on through your family who are so like you.

Lewis Wilson Palmer
27 April 1918 – 12 January 2011

If the measure of a man's worth is the lives he has touched
and the friends he has made, Lewis Palmer
was truly the wealthiest man on earth.

Lewis Wilson Palmer went home to be with his beloved wife Lucille on 12 January 2011.

Lewis was born an identical twin on 27 April 1918, in Bainville, Montana, to the late Edward Mearl and Olive Suter Palmer. At the height of the depression and drought the Palmer family gave up on the dry earth of eastern Montana, loaded their worldly possessions into a boxcar, and moved to the green beauty of the Mission Valley. E.M. and his sons began their new life in the Mission Valley on a small farm west of Charlo.

Lewis had the good sense to marry Emma Lucille Harvey on July 3, 1940, in Dixon, Montana. Childhood friends, they shared a love that would endure until her death in 1999. Farming and times were tough. As Lewis now had a growing family to provide for, he left the farm to find work. He drove a milk truck and prospected for gold in Idaho, but soon found the job for which he would forever be identified.

For forty years Lewis was the ditch rider for the Mission Valley Irrigation Project. There could have been no more perfect job for him. Lewis loved the outdoors, the people he worked with and the farmers he served. In his 93 years he probably covered every inch of the Valley and met every family. He left his mark wherever he traveled. Look out across the Valley. See the burst of yellow iris? Lewis Palmer was there.

He trapped, he fished, he hunted; in his spare time he took up taxidermy. From jackalopes to standing Emu, he created mounts for them all. And he proudly displayed them for many years in the annual Charlo Fourth of July Parade. The town of Charlo honored him with the title of “Charlo’s Most Beloved Citizen.”

Life with Lewis Palmer was always an adventure. From slipping live fish into the children’s evening bath water to teaching those children, their children, and his great grandchildren the secret of catching a fish. He said it often and meant it; "Family is the most important thing.”

Lewis’ best friend was his brother Delbert. Del came to town every morning to collect his mail and stop at Lewis' for coffee and conversation. As hard as it is to believe, they had something to say to each other every morning even after ninety years. Often in a language all their own and often not requiring that a sentence be finished; they talked, planned, and executed the day's adventures. Their love of each other is something the family will hold in their hearts and memory forever.

Lewis’ green thumb was legendary; from the glorious begonias that bloomed every year, to his huge flower and vegetable gardens, and his uncanny knack for tree grafting that produced some of the most unique trees in the Valley.

But were he to be remembered for anything it would be his sense of community. He loved his neighbors. And he shared his love with them all. Their troubles were his troubles; their joys his joys. He unselfishly shared his time, knowledge, humor, possessions, and many stories with them. If Lewis could do it, he would do it.

With the passing of Lewis Palmer the Valley turns the last page on a wonderful life and says good-bye to a wonderful man. We are all the richer for having known him.

Family names withheld.

AULD LANG SYNE

2010-12-31T12:51:00.000-08:00

An Old Year's Dying ~ A New Year's Birth
New Year's Eve Without Auld Lang Syne
Would Be Unthinkable

MINSTREL BURNS

AULD LANG SYNE

Robert Burns is credited by many with penning Auld Lang Syne, but he did not credit himself.

["Is not the Scotch phrase," Burns writes to a Mrs. Dunlop in 1788, "Auld lang syne, exceedingly expressive? There is an old song and tune which has often thrilled through my soul: I shall give you the verses on the other sheet. Light be the turf on the breast of the heaven-inspired poet who composed this glorious fragment." "The following song," says the poet, when he communicated it to George Thomson, "an old song of tho olden times, and which has never been in print, nor even in manuscript, until I took it down, from an old man's singing, is enough to recommend any air." These are strong words, but there can be no doubt that, save for a line or two, we owe the song to no other minstrel than "minstrel Burns."]

"Robert Burns lived in the latter half of the 18th century. He was born of sturdy peasant stock and toiled in the fields. He loved the old melodies, verses and ballads of his native land and as he ploughed would sing them over to himself.

He transformed many inferior verses into real poetry, wrote entirely new words to many of the old melodies and composed other beautiful poems apart from music. He often wrote with deep feeling on the simplest subjects. Many of his poems are among the world's priceless gems of song." St. Nicholas, Volume 39, Issue 1. Mary Mapes Dodge, Louisa May Alcott, John Preston True. 1912.

Whether his own or repurposed from a song of olden times, Auld Lang Syne will forever be associated with Robert Burns. But it is Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians that are credited with making it the New Year's Eve anthem. Lombardo played it in California in 1929 on the first nationwide radio broadcast of New Year's Eve. This took place just six weeks after the disastrous stock market crash.

In 1935, Lombardo's "sweetest music this side of heaven" moved from Hollywood's Cocoanut Grove to New York's Times Square for New Year's Eve. From then to today, it is the official song heard around the world at midnight, January 1st.

THE SONG

Yes, the Scots speak English, but here are a few translations of parts of the song - Auld lang syne means old times, and has been considered more expressive than the English phrase. These lines, And surely ye'll be your pint-stowp, And surely I'll be mine; - I'll pay for my drink and you for yours; or, "We'll go Dutch." Gowam means wild daisies; burn, to wade or walk in the water; fiere, friend/comrade; a right guid willie-waught, a friendly drink.

And Now

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,

And never brought to min'?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And days o' lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my dear,

For auld lang syne,
We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!

We twa hae run about the braes,

And pu't the gowans fine;
But we've wander'd mony a weary foot,

Sin' auld lang syne.

We twa hae paidl't i' the burn,

Frae mornin' sun till dine:
But seas between us braid hae roar'd,

Sin' auld lang syne.

And here's a hand, my trusty fiere,

And gie's a hand o' thine;
And we'll tak a right guid willie-waught,

For auld lang syne.

And surely ye'll be your pint-stowp,

And surely I'll be mine;
And we'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

For auld lang syne, my dear,

For auld lang syne,
We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet,
For auld lang syne!

Translation From Wkipedia

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and old lang syne ?

CHORUS:

For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we'll take a cup of kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

And surely you’ll buy your pint cup !
and surely I’ll buy mine !
And we'll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We two have run about the slopes,
and picked the daisies fine ;
But we’ve wandered many a weary foot,
since auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We two have paddled in the stream,
from morning sun till dine^† ;
But seas between us broad have roared
since auld lang syne.

CHORUS

And there’s a hand my trusty friend !
And give us a hand o’ thine !
And we’ll take a right good-will draught,
for auld lang syne.

༒*¨*•.HAPPY NEW YEAR.•*¨*༒

Sources:

Mcckay, Charles. The Illustrated Book Of Scottish Songs. London: Houlston and Wright, 1867.
Ward, Thomas Humphry. The English Poets; Selections With Critical Introductions. New York: Macmillan Co., 1894-1903.
Shafto, Justin. Stories Of Famous Songs. London : J.C. Nimmo ; Philadelphia : J.B. Lippincott Company, 1898.
Anonymous. Orange Coast Magazine. "12 Days." 1983. pg. 270

If I Only Had A Plan

2010-12-30T17:04:00.000-08:00

I would wile away the hours
Conferrin' with the powers
Consultin' with the clan
All my lines I'd be fillin'
New discoveries would be thrillin'
If I only had a plan

I'd unravel any riddle
For any individ'le
Philadelphia to Spokane

With the thoughts I'd be thinkin'
Trace my family back to Lincoln
If I only had a plan

I would solve the family myst'ries
Publish illustrated hist'ries
Generations I would span
Finished sources I'm on fire
Nothing's left so let's retire
If I only had a plan

Little sister, Biblio, had a very special Christmas present for me this year. A box of family documents, linens, and a Bible for the Fleischmann branch of the family. The "who the heck are they" branch of the family. I have very high hopes for the Bible that belonged to our Great Grandmother Salter's younger sister, Anna Fleischmann. Fingers crossed.

Many of my genealogy plans hang on this box. It was supposed to arrive the Monday before Christmas. "It's very heavy," Biblio said. "Don't try to lift it on your own. Will your postman help?"

My postman is very new and not at all fond of me. You see, I receive things in the mail that don't fit in my mailbox. (This is my second mail box. Each one larger than the last.) The postman has to get out of his vehicle and walk to my door to deliver some of my mail. He's been so aggravated about having to get out of the mail truck, he has driven off on several occasions leaving all the mailboxes open to the elements. (Let me remind you I live in Washington, AKA Water World.)

"If he can figure out how to drive past my house and toss it out his window," I told her. "It will at least be delivered. Just not carried."

Needless to say the box filled with family heirlooms did not arrive, still has not arrived. But wait, Biblio had a tracking number. It seems the box arrived in Federal Way, Washington, but was unable to be delivered in Issaquah and was on its way back to North Carolina. Undeliverable, what does that mean?

I received an email from Biblio with an explanation.

Biblio: Well, the label came off the darn box. It must have been on until it got to Issaquah. Maybe your mail carrier tore it off and swallowed it. Ha. Anyway, it is on its way back to you. Kind of like playing tag.

fM: You know, I can just see him ripping the label off and making a meal of it.

Biblio: I told the woman at the post office that the box enjoyed the trip so much, it wanted to do it all over again. Of course they didn't charge me anything, and now that I think about it, the manager lingered for a moment. He probably expected me to ask for a full refund. . . .I was just glad the box wasn't sitting in somebody else's living room. Some family would peer into the box and say, "What the heck is this?

fM: This is good, it prolongs Christmas!

Biblio: I like a positive attitude.

I am not anything if not positive. And when the box arrives, I'm positive I will have a plan.

Happy New Year All!

Hatching A Plan At The COG

2010-12-29T12:18:00.000-08:00

101st EDITION OF THE Carnival Of Genealogy

The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is:

“My genealogy research/writing plan for 2011”

- ¤ -

What can you accomplish in 2011?

- ¤ -

Write it up on your blog!

- ¤ -

Share With The COG!

- ¤ - ¤ -

The Deadline For Submissions Is
January 1st - 2011
Unlimited submissions accepted

- ¤ - ¤ -

Attention All COG Participants

Read Also The Changes To The COG In 2010

Also, check out Jasia's post "FAQs About The Carnival of Genealogy," for all you need to know about submitting a post. First-timers always welcome and greatly appreciated!

Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy using the carnival submission form or select the 101st Edition COG poster in the upper right hand corner of this page. Past posts and future hosts can be found on the blog carnival index page.

Twas The Night Before GeneaChristmas

2010-12-24T00:17:00.000-08:00

Another tradition! A version of "Twas The Night Before" has been posted on footnoteMaven every year since December 24, 2007. The only changes have been to include advances in technology and now, social media. So as you wait for Santa, please enjoy!

‘Twas the night before GeneaChristmas and from coast to coast,
every GeneaBlogger had penned their last post.

Had told Christmas stories both merry and bright
while blog caroling old favorites on YouTube all night.

There’d been last minute Tweets, facebooking and song.
We’d shared Christmas memories, all played along.

Nothing’s left for us now but to track Old St. Nick;
New Jersey, Missouri, Seattle, he’s quick.

Before this night’s over his reindeer’ll alight
on the roof tops of GeneaBloggers to right

The wrongs of the census, transcription, and fire;
to give each of us our one true heart’s desire.

Please, one missing ancestor, one smashed brick wall,
then dash away, dash away, dash away all.

I’ve not been naughty, I've tried so hard to be nice.
Collecting old photos my one proven vice.

Reward me dear Santa I’ll promise you this;
the year 2011 will be one not to miss!

And I heard him exclaim ere he drove out of sight.
Merry Christmas To All and To All A Good Night!

The Twelve Days Of Christmas

2010-12-21T00:05:00.000-08:00

What Is The Story Behind This Carol?

Select the image to view my Christmas Card To You!

“The Twelve Days of Christmas" was originally known as a cumulative or forfeiture Christmas game, a nursery rhyme, or chants of numbers. The twelve days extending from Christmas to Epiphany. (The Epiphany was the arrival of the Magi, usually observed January 6).

It was a customary thing in a friend's house to play "The Twelve Days," every Twelfth Day night. The party was most often a mixed gathering of juveniles and adults and mostly relatives. The game was played before supper—before eating mince pies and twelfth cake.

The group would be seated in a circle around the room. The leader of the game, an adult, would start by saying the first line. The lines for the "first day" of Christmas were said by each member of the group in turn as they went around the room.

Then the leader repeated the first "day" and added the “second.” This was said all around the circle in turn, until the lines for the "twelve days" were said by every player.

For every mistake a forfeit—a small article belonging to the person—had to be given up. These forfeits were not returned to the owner until they had been redeemed by the performance of a penalty.

The first day of Christmas my true love gave me
A partridge in a pear-tree.

The second day of Christmas, my true love gave me
Two turtle-doves and a partridge in a pear-tree.

And so forth, enumerating three French hens,
four colly/collie* birds, five gold rings, six geese a-laying,
seven swans a-swimming, eight maids a-milking,
nine drummers drumming, ten pipers piping,—Halliwell's Nursery Rhymes, cccxlvi.

*Colly/collie birds were black birds. Sometime in the early 1900s the word was changed to calling birds.

The same game is played in Scotland, where it is known as The Yule Days, but is carried on to thirteen.

The king sent his lady on the first Yule day
A papingo-aye [i.e. peacock or parrot]
Who learns my carol and carries it away ?

The king sent his lady on the second Yule day
Two partridges and a papingo-aye.
Who learns my carol and carries it away ?

On the third day he sent three plovers; on the fourth, a goose that was grey; on the fifth, three starlings; on the sixth, three goldspinks; on the seventh, a bull that was brown; on the eighth, three ducks a-merry laying; on the ninth, three swans a-merry swimming; on the tenth, an Arabian baboon; on the eleventh, three hinds a-merry dancing; on the twelfth, two maids a merry dancing; on the thirteenth three stalks of corn.

In Carnbresis, in the North of France, the same game is called Les dons de Van, " the gifts of the year," but the gifts correspond in number with the number of the day. They are: one partridge, two turtle-doves, three wood-pigeons, four ducks flying, five rabbits trotting, six hares a-field, seven hounds running, eight shorn sheep, nine horned oxen, ten good turkeys, eleven good hams, twelve small cheeses.

So now we know, The Twelve Days of Christmas was a game to entertain.

Sources:

Anonymous. Monthly Chronicle of North Country Lore and Legend. London : W. Scott, [1887-1891].
Eckenstein, Linda. Comparative Studies In Nursery Rhymes. London : Duckworth, 1906.
Gomme, George Laurence. A Dictionary of British Folklore. London : D. Nutt : 1898.
Gomme, Alice Bertha. The Traditional Games of England, Scotland, and Ireland. London : D. Nutt, 1894-98.

I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

2010-12-20T00:04:00.000-08:00

The song “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” was written by Englishman Tommie Connor and based on a 1950s Neiman Marcus Ad (some accounts say the song was commissioned by the store). The Ad, was meant to bring adult humor into what was a child’s holiday. It was a wholesome 1950’s image of a father dressed as Santa being kissed by his wife under the mistletoe on Christmas Eve. The song was sung by thirteen year old Jimmy Boyd.

“I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus,” was condemned by the Archdiocese of Boston within a week of its release, as being immoral. Catholic and Protestant churches followed suit. “How could Santa be portrayed as someone who played around on the side?” they asked.

The churches had missed the point that the Santa of the image was the husband dressed as Santa. Fearing the song would be banned, Jimmy Boyd was sent to Boston to meet with the head of the Catholic church in an effort to explain the song from a child’s perspective. The Church accepted the explanation and removed its objections. The song was No. 1 on the Billboard Charts for two weeks.

The Great Blog Caroling Songbook

2010-12-18T23:18:00.000-08:00

Thank You For Keeping This Tradition
I enjoyed each & every one of your carols
I experienced some new & some old
I listened to beautiful arrangements

Come Caroling With Us

Songs, songs
sung by a choir of
Genealogy & Family History Angels,
Blog Caroling!

carol. French carole. Originally a song to accompany dancing,
but later, by common usage, it came to refer to old,
Christmas-season religious songs.

In Pasquils' "Jests," an old book published in 1604, there is a story of an eccentric knight who, at a Christmas feast which he had made for a large number of his tenants and friends, ordered no man at the table to drink a drop "till he that was master over his wife should sing a carol."

After a pause one poor dreamer alone lifted his voice, the others all sitting silent and glum. Then the knight turned to the table where the women sat, and bade "her who was master over her husband" sing a carol. The story says that forthwith "the women fell all to singing, that there was never heard such a catter-walling piece of musicke."

Let The Caroling Begin!

These songs did not made it into the reader:

Bobby Gail of Hot Coffee and Cool Jazz asks, "May I join the music lovers?" Of course you may, although you didn't show up in the widget! Bobby sings "The Friendly Beast."

Singing Star Of The East is Vickie Everhart of BeNotForgot. Vickie says, " . . . and thank you, fM, for organizing and hosting this Christmas party again . . . so glad to be here! V. . . ." So glad you are as well.

Coloring Outside The Lines' (a blog name to die for & how I live my life) carol is White Christmas as only Bing Crosby could do it. Near and dear to any Washingtonians heart.

Denise Olson, Moultrie Creek, blogs while traveling and sings "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen." And as she flew over I heard her exclaim, "Ho! Ho! Ho! From the (traveling) Creek. Here's my contribution to the caroling fun. Merry Christmas to all!"

Jill Ball of Geniaus says, "Here's some Aussie music for the blog caroling. A lovely collection that as Jill tells us, takes in the climate down under during Christmas.

My good friend and neighbor M. Diane Rogers said: I don't think my singing made it into the presentation, but then I'm Canadian, so perhaps I just don't fit into the widget. She sings Winter Wonderland at eicuthbertson's Book Blog. Yes, you Canadians are tough to fit into widgets.

A very special thank you to Thomas for the Google Widget that made this presentation possible. Knowing I was a bit stressed this Christmas he truly made my tradition possible.

If the widget missed you, please contact me and I will insert your post.

Making your way online today takes everything you've got.

2010-12-15T00:05:00.000-08:00

Taking the time to share our worries, sure does help a lot.

Wouldn't you like to blog away?

Sometimes you want to go

Where everybody knows your name,
and they're always glad you came.
You wanna be where you can see,
our troubles are all the same
You wanna be where everybody knows
Your name.

You wanna go where people know,
people are all the same,
You wanna go where everybody knows
your name.

I began blogging at a time when nobody knew your name much less your URL. The "legitimate" (I use this term advisedly) genealogy community had not encountered our online band of blogging family historians, and when they did, they didn't know what to make of us. I think they still don't, but they're trying.

Found in The American Genealogist via the Slovak Yankee. ". . .The Fellows of the American Society of Genealogists had decided quite a few years ago that digital/online publications did not qualify as permanent contributions to the field. At this year's meeting, much was said on both sides of the question: 'Online publication is becoming increasingly common and increasingly excellent, but it remains fluid and its permanence is uncertain.'" Emphasis added. So my friends, it isn't the work, it's the ebb and flow of the internet that sets us apart.

Something else that sets us apart is the Family Tree 40 nominations for our work online. They're out and seeing my blogs listed make me feel like such a fraud. This is my, if they only knew moment. If they only knew I'm blogging in my jammies in a tiny crowded office in Preston (whoever heard of it), Washington. OK, Myrt, you know where I am. I'm cleaning up after sick dogs, an ancient cat, and a justifiably put upon husband. Who the heck am I? I ask myself this all the time.

Do I really deserve special recognition for talking with my friends around the world everyday? For dishing those delicious family secrets? For analyzing those mystery photographs I love so much? For sharing the sheer joy of a new find, tool or technique with people whose eyes don't roll back in their heads when I talk.

I would, correction, I HAVE blogged without accolades for years. And still I am happy.

I've learned in some of the most embarrassing ways not to take myself too seriously. Remember this little ditty after I went to Jamboree:

A woman attending a conference struck up a conversation with me. She explained that she was a blogger and asked who I was. I told her I was the footnoteMaven. "Oh, I love your site," she said. "I find so much good stuff in your databases." That hiss you hear is hot air leaving the over inflated head of the footnoteMaven, sometimes mistaken for footnote.com.

Now, please don't think I'm being ungrateful. I am grateful that someone found pleasure in what I do and nominated me. That you stopped by and congratulated me. Thank you, really, thank you.

Naturally, when the list comes out I look for my name, but I am being honest when I say I am far more pained than proud that certain people are missing from that list. People for whom I'm not good enough to clean their keyboards. I am a realist. I know everyone can't be there. We select forty from this list. Forty from several thousand. So, I rejoice in those that have been nominated. Nomination being the real winners list.

So, I'm not going to give you the Miss America response to who the heck am I. My blogging will not end world hunger or bring about world peace. It is what it is, and I love doing it. And if I had to ask for a vote I feel it would defeat the purpose of what I do and why I do it.

So, I ask you to stop by, to read and hopefully to enjoy. Stop by and jaw. Sip your tea, have your morning coffee with me. I will be honored.

Perhaps it's time some of us were delisted.

Another Tradition - "Not All Merry & Bright"

2010-12-14T09:31:00.000-08:00

It happened last night as I was reading the blog caroling posts. The songs bring to mind a Christmas past. It has become another footnoteMaven tradition to post this remembrance. It is cathartic.

Not all family history is the way we would have written it if we were given a choice. We all know that from experience. This remembrance is of a Christmas tragedy, there is no happy ending; if you would like to stop reading here, I will understand completely.

FTM40 Voting Is Now Open

2010-12-13T08:53:00.000-08:00

CONGRATULATIONS!

to all the terrific blogs that have been nominated as one of the 40 Best Genealogy Blogs, AKA Family Tree 40. What a lovely Christmas present.

You are instructed to vote for five nominees in each of the following eight category. To vote, use the survey at www.surveymonkey.com/s/ft40-2011voting. (I do wish the lists had been in alphabetic order.)

The winners will be announced in the July 2011 issue of Family Tree Magazine.

Voting is open until 11:59 p.m. (I do not know which time zone.)
Monday, Dec. 20.
You may vote multiple times.

1. Please choose FIVE Blogs from the EVERYTHING category.

Clue Wagon, http://www.cluewagon.com/
Creative Gene, http://creativegene.blogspot.com/
Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter, http://www.eogn.com
Elyse's Genealogy Blog, http://elysesgenealogyblog.com/
Family History Tracing, http://familyhistorytracing.blogspot.com
footnoteMaven, http://www.footnoteMaven.com
Greta's Genealogy Bog, http://gretabog.blogspot.com/
Olive Tree Genealogy, http://olivetreegenealogy.blogspot.com
Relatively Curious About Genealogy, http://relativelycurious.blogspot.com
Roots and Rambles, http://rootsandrambles.blogspot.com/
SpittalStreet.com, http://www.spittalstreet.com
The Educated Genealogist, http://sherifenley.blogspot.com/
The We Tree Genealogy Blog, http://wetree.blogspot.com/
You Go Genealogy Girls, http://yougogenealogygirls.blogspot.com

2. Please choose FIVE blogs from the CEMETERIES category.

Cemetery Explorers, http://cemeteryexplorers.blogspot.com/
Digital Cemetery Walk, http://digitalcemeterywalk.blogspot.com/
Escape to the Silent Cities, http://escapetothesilentcities.blogspot.com/
Gen Wish List, http://genwishlist.blogspot.com
Granite in My Blood, http://granite-in-my-blood.blogspot.com/
Gravestoned, http://gravestoned.blogspot.com
Over Thy Dead Body, http://stiffsandstones.blogspot.com/
The Graveyard Rabbit Online Journal, http://oj-graveyardrabbit.blogspot.com/
Tombstone Territory, http://tombstoneterritory.blogspot.com

3. Please choose FIVE blogs from the TECHNOLOGY category.

Ancestry Insider, http://ancestryinsider.blogspot.com
Dienekes' Anthropology Blog, http://dienekes.blogspot.com/
Family Oral History Using Digital Tools, http://familyoralhistory.us/news
Genealogy's Star, http://genealogysstar.blogspot.com/
GeneaNet Genealogy Blog, http://genealogyblog.geneanet.org/
JLog, http://www.jgen.ws/jlog/
MacGenealogy.org, http://www.macgenealogy.org/
MobileGenealogy.com, http://www.mobilegenealogy.com
Moultrie Creek Gazette, http://moultriecreek.us
Renee's Genealogy Blog, http://rzamor1.blogspot.com

4. Please choose FIVE Blogs from the HERITAGE GROUPS category.

Acadian & French-Canadian Ancestral Home, http://acadian-ancestral-home.blogspot.com
Anglo-Celtic Connections, http://anglo-celtic-connections.blogspot.com/
Black and Red Journal, http://www,blackandredjournal.blogspot.com
Donna's Ireland blog, http://moughty.com/Site/Ireland_Blog/Ireland_Blog.html
Geniaus, http://geniaus.blogspot.com
George Geder Evangelist for African Ancestored Genealogy, http://gedergenealogy.com/
Georgia Black Crackers, http://georgiablackcrackers.blogspot.com/
Help! The Faerie Folk Hid My Ancestors, http://irishfamilyresearch.blogspot.com/
Luxegen Genealogy, http://www.luxegen.ca
Of Trolls And Lemons, http://haugenhistory.blogspot.com/
Scottish GENES, http://scottishancestry.blogspot.com
The French Genealogy Blog, http://french-genealogy.typepad.com/genealogie/
The Knowles Collection, http://knowlescollection.blogspot.com/
The Scottish Emigration Blog, http://scottishemigration.blogspot.com/
Tracing the Tribe, http://tracingthetribe.blogspot.com/
Wandering and wondering (a'spaidsearachd agus a'meòrachadh), http://direcleit.blogspot.com

5. Please choose FIVE Blogs from the RESEARCH ADVICE/HOW-TO category.

a3Genealogy, http://a3Genealogy.blogspot.com
FamHist, http://famhist2.blogspot.com
Family History Research Tips, http://familyhistorytips.wordpress.com/
Gena's Genealogy, http://philibertfamily.blogspot.com/
Genealogy Tip of the Day, http://genealogytipoftheday.blogspot.com
NARAtions: The Blog of the United States National Archives, http://blogs.archives.gov/online-public-access/
Paula's Genealogical Eclectica, http://paulastuartwarren.blogspot.com/
Personal Past Meditations, http://www.thepersonalpast.com
Pollyblog, http://pk-pollyblog.blogspot.com
Shades of the Departed, http://www.shadesofthedeparted.com/
The Armchair Genealogist, http://www.thearmchairgenealogist.com
The Family Curator, http://www.thefamilycurator.com/

6. Please choose FIVE blogs from the LOCAL/REGIONAL RESEARCH category.

Alberta Family Histories Society Blog, http://afhs.ab.ca/blog/page/3/
Brooklyn Historical Society Blog, http://brooklynhistory.org/blog/
California Genealogical Society and Library Blog , http://blog.californiaancestors.org/
Eastern Washington Genealogical Society Blog, http://ewgs-spokane.blogspot.com/
Grey County Historical Society, http://greycountyhs.blogspot.com/
Itawamba History Review, http://itawambahistory.blogspot.com/
Midwestern Microhistory, http://midwesternmicrohistory.blogspot.com/
MoSGA Messenger, http://mosga.blogspot.com/
My Ancestor's Name, http://myancestorsname.blogspot.com/
New York History, http://www.newyorkhistoryblog.com/
Sandusky History, http://sanduskyhistory.blogspot.com/
St. Vincent Memories, http://56755.blogspot.com
Utah Genealogical Association Blog, http://ugagenealogy.blogspot.com/
Virginia Historical Society Blog, http://vahistorical.wordpress.com/
Williams County, Ohio Genealogy, http://williamscountyohiogenealogy.blogspot.com

7. Please choose FIVE blogs from the NEW BLOGS category.

Adventures in Genealogy Education, http://www.genealogyeducation.blogspot.com/
Climbing My Family Tree, http://www.climbingmyfamilytree.com/
Have You Seen My Roots? http://haveyouseenmyroots.blogspot.com/
Heritage Zen, http://heritagezen.blogspot.com/
Journey to the Past, http://journeytothepastblog.blogspot.com/
My Tangled Vine, http://mytangledvine.blogspot.com
myirelandhome, http://myirelandhome.com/
Nolichucky Roots, http://nolichuckyroots.blogspot.com/
Old Stones Undeciphered, http://oldstonesundeciphered.blogspot.com/
Pursuits of a Desperate Genie, http://desperategenie.com/
Roots Traveler, http://www.rootstraveler.com/
Sassy Jane Genealogy, http://www.sassyjanegenealogy.blogspot.com
The Faces of my Family, http://thefacesofmyfamily.blogspot.com/
The Family Recorder, http://thefamilyrecorder.blogspot.com/
The Mashburn Collection, http://themashburncollection.com
The Scottish Emigration Blog, http://scottishemigration.blogspot.com/
The Turning of Generations, http://www.turning-of-generations.blogspot.com

8. Please choose FIVE Blogs from the MY FAMILY HISTORY category.

Ancestories: The Stories of My Ancestors, http://ancestories1blogspot.com
AtlasFamily.Org Blog, http://blog.atlasfamily.org
Begin With Craft, http://beginwithcraft.blogspot.com/
BeNotForgot, http://benotforgot.blogspot.com/
Circlemending, http://circlemending.blogspot.com/
Everything's Relative, http://genealogybycindy.blogspot.com
Finding Josephine, http://dionneford.wordpress.com/
Finding Our Ancestors, http://researchingoconnells.wordpress.com
Gene notes, http://geneanotes.blogspot.com/
Greta's Genealogy Blog, http://gretabog.blogspot.com/
Little Bytes of Life, http://www.littlebytesoflife.com
Mississippi Memories, http://www.mymississippimemories.blogspot.com
My Channel Island History, http://jerseymo2010.wordpress.com
Nutfield Genealogy, http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com
Reflections From the Fence, http://www.reflectionsfromthefence.com/
Tangled Trees, http://tangledtrees.blogspot.com/
The Accidental Genealogist, http://www.theaccidentalgenealogist.com/
The Internet Genealogist, http://shbwgen.blogspot.com/
TJLGenes: Preserving Our Family History, http://www.tjlgenes.blogspot.com/
Tonia's Roots, http://www.toniasroots.net/
TransylvanianDutch, http://transylvaniandutch.blogspot.com
West in New England, http://westinnewengland.blogspot.com/
What's Past is Prologue, http://pastprologue.wordpress.com

And I am remiss in not pointing out that just because your blog
is not on this list means you are not a great genealogy blogger.
(Think Dancing With The Stars!) Several of my all-time favorite
blogs did not make this list. I voted for them,
I •✩♡✩• them, and I will continue to
read and enjoy them.
Lists, Bah HumBug!

"Good Bloggers All, This Christmastime"

2010-12-12T14:08:00.000-08:00

The Wexford Carol
("Good People All, This Christmastime")
(Enniscorthy Carol)

carol. French carole. Originally a song to accompany dancing,
but later, by common usage, it came to refer to old,
Christmas-season religious songs.

To Blog Carol this year I have selected probably the best known of Irish Christmas songs (and my favorite carol), "The Wexford Carol." The Wexford Carol has roots reaching back to twelfth century Ireland, traceable to the proximity of the County and town of Wexford. The Wexford Carol was included in The Oxford Book of Carols and tells the story of the birth of Christ.

It is interesting to note that Christmas carols were rare in Ireland, but County Wexford has a 300 year tradition of handing down carols from generation to generation. Families in the area were each entrusted with a carol and with sharing that particular carol with the generations. During Christmas the carols were sung in the homes of these families and in the church by the choir. The choir consisted of six men who sang the carols unaccompanied.

Please sing along with this beautiful rendition; YoYo Ma and Allison Krauss performing The Wexford Carol.

Good people all, this Christmas time,
Consider well and bear in mind
What our good God for us has done,
In sending His belovèd Son.
With Mary holy we should pray
To God with love this Christmas Day;
In Bethlehem upon the morn
There was a blest Messiah born.

The night before that happy tide
The noble virgin and her guide
Were long time seeking up and down
To find a lodging in the town.
But mark how all things came to pass:
From every door repelled, alas!
As long foretold, their refuge all
Was but a humble oxen stall.

Near Bethlehem did shepherds keep
Their flocks of lambs and feeding sheep;
To whom God’s angels did appear
Which put the shepherds in great fear.
“Prepare and go”, the angels said,
“To Bethlehem, be not afraid;
For there you’ll find, this happy morn,
A princely Babe, sweet Jesus born.”

With thankful heart and joyful mind,
The shepherds went the babe to find,
And as God’s angel has foretold,
They did our Savior Christ behold.
Within a manger He was laid,
And by His side the virgin maid
Attending to the Lord of Life,
Who came on earth to end all strife.

Merry Christmas

I hear you singing, my friends.
What a joyous noise we will make unto the Lord
when we all come together.

Remember, you have until midnight in
Hawaii, December 15, to sing-along!

The FootnoteMaven's Tradition Of Blog Caroling

2010-12-10T11:49:00.000-08:00

Yes, even Geneabloggers have traditions. From the comfort of my blog, with Hot Toddy in hand, my flannel jammies and furry slippers on, I will blog my favorite Christmas Carol on Wednesday, December 15. (I sing so much better online than in person!)

So my fellow GeneaBloggers, I challenge each of you to blog your favorite Christmas Carol - Blog Caroling. We'll all sing along!

Blog Carol between today and Wednesday, 15 December. Post a note to the comments for this article directing us to your Blog Caroling Post and I will create a listing of all our favorites.

You can view the first year's A Choir Of GeneAngels, and Do You Hear What I Hear.

If you sing along with us, feel free to snag the Blog Caroling Badge. When you select the badge, select "Save As" and choose the .png file. This has a transparent background and will show minus the white background.

Merry Christmas from Bailey the Unknown Reindeer

2010-12-09T07:58:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favorite Christmas Videos. Now, after watching the wonderful video below you'll see why my wussy dogs and I really have nothing to complain about when it comes to the weather today. Our snow is in liquid form.

Merry Christmas from Bailey the Unknown Reindeer

I Always Listen To Denise Olson

2010-12-06T00:06:00.000-08:00

On Shades Of The Departed, today's "Date With An Old Photo" discusses the thirty-five magazines I gave myself as a Christmas present. I use these magazines to aid in the identification of period clothing, jewelry, shoes, glasses, etc.

But, there is another answer to the question, "What do you do with all those old magazines?" I listened to Denise Olson in her Vintage Scrapbooking article and looked at all the things I could make rather than purchase. I am a good Scot after all.

Here are a few examples of what can be done with the graphics in an old magazine. I took the cover image from the magazine above and created a PNG file.

Next, I converted the image to black and white so that it could be colored in Photoshop, like a coloring book. Just because you might want to change the color scheme as often as you change your mind.

Then I converted it to my favorite thing, a Photoshop brush. A PS Brush is capable of amazing things.

I do the same process with old magazine advertisements. Some of the old ads are amazing additions to a family history.

Old magazines and books are filled with fancy letters and ornaments that make wonderful stamps. The advantage of converting them to a stamp being they can be any color. Using them in a family history document adds interest.

Once you've found the images best suited for your project, go look at the commercial products for inspiration. Then try to construct one of your own.

This article was strictly show and tell, not instruct. If there is any interest in how this was done let me know and I will prepare a How To Article.

All images in the possession of the author.

To All!

2010-11-25T08:20:00.001-08:00