Saturday Serendipity -- February 9, 2013

Here are a few serendipitous blog discoveries from this week that I commend for inclusion on your reading list.

1.            Judy G. Russell at The Legal Genealogist  has three posts well worth reading.  February 7th, "The Majesty of the Magistrate" explains the office of the magistrate and its interchangability with justice of the peace.  Two excellent posts on February 3 and 4, "Rewriting History Through DNA" & " "And the Answer is . . . " respectively, are fine reads about the discovery and positive identification of King Richard III of England.  Judy explains why both DNA science and genealogical research were needed to solve the problem of positive identification AND why it might not have been possible in just a few more years.  

2.            As New England gets walloped by a winter storm this weekend, it is interesting to read accounts of the big snowstorm that hit New England in January 1831.  Heather Wilkinson Rojo has provided that opportunity at Nutfield Genealogy.  Note that 1831 was a time before snow plows, road salting and fairly reliable predictions that the storm was even on its way.  Also, notice that there is no mention of runs on the grocery stores for eggs, bread, milk and toilet paper as we often

read or hear about these days.  :-)

3.            Having started my schooling in Holyoke, MA in kindergarten at the now non-existent Highland Grammar School, I like to check in from time-to-time at Holyoke, Mass.  The February 7th post about a 1934 furlough without pay of postal carriers and curtailment of delivery service resonates with events today.  The recent announcement of the end of Saturday mail deliveries and the nightly news about the agonizing crawl toward possible furlough without pay of federal civilian workers for up to 22 days between mid-April and October 1st makes this an interesting read.  http://holyokemass.com/2013/02/07/tuesday-mail-service-cut-to-one-delivery  Furloughs without pay and curtailment of government services are apparently nothing new! And note how postal customers in 1934 complained about having carrier deliveries only once a day!

4.            The NEHGS newsletter, The Weekly Genealogist, Vol 16, No. 6 (February 6, 2013), brings attention to an interesting article in an English on-line publication about the search for relatives of Abraham Lincoln in England today.  The English article explains how a Lincoln family dispute back in Hingham, Norfolk, England led to Abraham Lincoln being born in America. http://www.edp24.co.uk/what-s-on/the_hunt_is_on_for_norfolk_people_with_links_to_abraham_lincoln_1_1856953 

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Copyright 2013, John D. Tew

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