Samaritan Sunday (July 28, 2013)

[If you should choose to adopt this prompt to contribute stories of folks who have gone out of their way to lend genealogy-related assistance to others, I would greatly appreciate a mention to Filiopietism Prism whenever you do so.  Thank you!  And please do use the same photograph below to illustrate the prompt.  ;-) ]

There clearly is no multigenerational quota on benefitting from the actions of Good Samaritans -- as Shalu Sharma can testify!

This story has been described as “the mother, daughter and grandmother of all lost-and-found stories.”  Here is why . . .

Shalu Sharma's grandmother bought a gold ring in India many years ago.  The gold ring also had three large diamonds surrounded by a total of 28 smaller diamonds arranged in a horseshoe around the principal gems.  It was bought as a precious possession with the intent that it would become a family heirloom and be handed down to an eldest daughter one day.  It almost did not happen . . .

Shalu Sharma's mother did receive the precious ring as a gift from her mother years later.  She also intended to gift it to her daughter when the time came, but it almost did not happen . . .

Shalu eventually received the heirloom ring from her mother when Shalu was in her 20s.  For the last twenty years Shalu, who is about 36 now, has lived in the United States.  She completed a master's degree at New York University recently, but she was finding it difficult to find a job and had decided she was done with New York and was about ready to return to India.  Then, in early March 2012, came the straw that broke the camel's back -- Shalu lost her family heirloom ring!

Enter Dawn Henning, the daughter of Joni Henning of Milford, Connecticut.  Dawn had little idea as she walked down the the sidewalk on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in March 2012 that she was about to join a line of three generations of Good Samaritans.  Dawn looked at something glittering from the sidewalk and bent down to find a stunning diamond ring -- Shalu Sharma's family heirloom ring!  

What happened next?  Well, it was the third generation of Good Samaritan moments that clearly have surrounded and protected this precious family heirloom!  You should go here to read the full story, see a photo of the ring and see Shalu Sharma and Joni Henning during the return of the ring.    

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Photograph of the The Good Samaritan sculpture by Francois-Leon Sicard (1862 - 1934).  The sculpture is located in the Tuileries Gardens in Paris, France.  The photograph is by Marie-Lan Nguyen and has been placed in the public domain by her. See, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Good_Samaritan_Sicard_Tuileries.jpg

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Copyright 2013, John D. Tew

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Gone Backpacking -- Be Back Soon . . . maybe!

No internet, no cell phone, no Blackberry. 

Lakes, mountains and the call of the loons

 Warm days, cool nights and 

countless stars.

A-D-I-R-O-N-D-A-C-K-S!

After the Names, Dates and Locations are Gathered, What is Genealogy??

I just began my vacation reading list more than a week ahead of time because the book arrived and I could not resist reading "just the Prologue."  Well the Prologue to Roger Williams and the Creation of the American Soul by John M. Barry reached out and grabbed me and I was absolutely forced to keep reading into Chapter 1 -- resistance was futile, so I went with it.

And here is the quote on the very first page of the first chapter that convinced me this was going to be a genealogy read every bit as much as it was going to be a history read.  Mr. Barry wrote of Roger Williams, "One cannot know what precisely he took from [his] experiences.  One cannot know the heart and mind of Williams or any other person.  But one can stand where he stood, see what he saw, know much of what he heard and read, and thus come to some understanding of his perspective." 

EXACTLY! I thought. This is as good a definition of active genealogy as I have read in some time.  It summarizes not just the motivation of a historian, but when personalized it is the siren call to the genealogist too!  How dry would genealogy be if it were just a hobby of collecting names, dates and locations?  Isn't the real excitement of genealogy the striving to understand the perspective of one's ancestors and relatives -- to try to see if one can see things through the prism of their experiences and perhaps approach knowing even a little something about their hearts and souls?  THAT is what fascinates as we look at a photograph of an ancestor we never actually knew and wonder, "What was she really like?"

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The "Wordle" created by the author using http://www.wordle.net
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Copyright 2013, John D. Tew
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Samaritan Sunday (July 21, 2013) -- Return Of A Purple Heart

[If you should choose to adopt this prompt to contribute stories of folks who have gone out of their way to lend genealogy-related assistance to others, I would greatly appreciate a mention to Filiopietism Prism whenever you do so.  Thank you!  And please do use the same photograph below to illustrate the prompt.  ;-) ]

[This post is unusual in that it is posted today after having been first published here on The Prism this past Monday as a "Military Monday" post. It does not involve any ancestor or relative of mine.  The piece was first prepared as a "Samaritan Sunday" post, but I believe it deserves as wide an audience as possible.  I thought posting it as a Military Monday post might bring it to the attention of more blog followers (via Thomas MacEntee's GeneaBloggers) than just posting it in my Samaritan Sunday series.]

*          *          *

Robert Bates was one of the sailors aboard the USS Arizona on December 7, 1941 when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and thereby brought the U.S. into World War II.  He remains entombed in the ship to this day.  The only thing of his that was returned to his family after his death was his Purple Heart -- but that medal had gone missing about 71 years ago.   

As anyone who has visited the Memorial at Pearl Harbor knows, the Arizona is still there and even after all these decades oil can be seen leaking up from the wreckage of the ship (2.3 quarts per day).  The Arizona remains the final resting place for many of the 1,177 sailors (out of a crew of 1,512) who were killed as a result of the attack on December 7, 1941.  The wreck of the ship was designated a national shrine in 1962.  The ship is considered a war grave and any survivors of the attack that sunk the ship are entitled, if they so desire, to have their ashes placed within the ship with their shipmates.  Anyone who ever served on the Arizona at times other than on December 7, 1941 is entitled to have his ashes scattered in the water above the ship. 

It is believed that Robert Bates' Purple Heart was presented to his mother.  She died in 1945 and following her death the medal was lost -- that is until a truck driver in Bakersfield, California found the medal on the side of a road with other items.  Since the items were found near a VFW Post, the driver gave it to the VFW.  

The next step in the medal's journey was when Ken Hooper, a history teacher, was contacted. He and his archives class set about trying to identify the person to whom the medal belonged.  In March of this year in Tyler, Texas relatives of Robert Bates had the medal hand delivered to them by Good Samaritan Ken Hooper.

Read here the full story of how a string of Good Samaritans contributed to the return of Robert Bates' long-lost Purple Heart to his family!

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Photograph of the The Good Samaritan sculpture by Francois-Leon Sicard (1862 - 1934).  The sculpture is located in the Tuileries Gardens in Paris, France.  The photograph is by Marie-Lan Nguyen and has been placed in the public domain by her. See, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Good_Samaritan_Sicard_Tuileries.jpg

The depiction of the Purple Heart is an image in the public domain because it is a work of the United States Government and is a United States Military Award.  See, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Purpleheart.jpg 

USS Arizona Memorial aerial photograph has been released to the public by the United States Navy.  See, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:USS_Arizona_Memorial_(aerial_view).jpg

For more information on the history of the battleship Arizona (BB-39), see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Arizona_(BB-39)

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Copyright 2013, John D. Tew

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Saturday Serendipity (July 20, 2013)

Saturdays often allow a more leisurely approach to life than work days. I can more easily post links to some blog posts or other materials I have discovered during the week, or even to those discovered during a Saturday morning coffee and extended surfing of the blogosphere/internet.

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

1.  It bears repeating that anyone with a genealogy that involves Rhode Island -- or who has just a general interest in the history of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations -- must add Diane Boumenot's One Rhode Island Family to their blog follow list!  On July 14th Diane posted an indexed map of Providence from 1881 that she scanned and has made available with zoom and navigation functions here.  Thank you Diane!!       

2.  Judy Russell at The Legal Genealogist has performed a great service for all of us that have an interest in genetic genealogy, but are challenged by the pace of the developing science of DNA testing.  Judy has assembled a list of what she calls "the must-read blogs of genetic genealogy."  She provides brief summaries and links to six bloggers and their blogs.  I am working my way through each of them and suggest you check them out too.  Thank you Judy! 

3.  Most of the recommendations in Saturday Serendipity are for interesting or instructive reads. This recommendation is a YouTube video of 11minutes 57 seconds called "BOATLIFT."  If you have not yet seen BOATLIFT, narrated by actor Tom Hanks, you need to take 12 minutes to watch it here.  You will learn about the largest, fastest evacuation by sea in history -- and even though Dunkirk evacuated some 339,000 people over nine days, it pales in comparison to the evacuation you will see and learn about!  This one took about nine hours and evacuated about 500,000 people!  [Thanks to Ron, the Director of the office where I work, for the link to this amazing video!]   

4.  Yesterday there was a convergence of historical events that should not go by without notice and comment, so here are two links that are worth reading.  TEASER:  It took 72 years from the first event for the call to be accomplished . . . and then it took another 64 years for the second event  -- a related major milestone in American history to be accomplished.  [Perhaps 32 years after the second event and 168 years after the first event another historic accomplishment could take place in 2016.  It's possible!]         

5.   Randy Seaver at Genea-Musings had a summary of viewpoints from his readers on several topics including online family trees, what is direct and indirect evidence, and is citing to indexes a sign of a bad researcher.  The comments are instructive and you can read them here. AND, you definitely have to check out the link to the National Atlas website showcased by Randy yesterday.  See his "Rivers of America" post here!

6.  And finally, today is one of those singular dates in human history that should never be forgotten -- though I worry that those who were not at least of school age at the time have no real connection to the event and thus it is merely a passing historical marker (like the ones on the side of the road pointing to some long-ago battlefield) because they did not share in the global watch that took place on July 20, 1969.  I am speaking of course about the 44th anniversary of the day mankind first landed on an extraterrestrial body -- the day Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the surface of the Moon at a location known as the "Sea of Tranquility." They were the first of twenty-four American astronauts who have traveled to the Moon.  I suggest you spend a few minutes today or tomorrow reading about this monumental event and achievement.  You can read about it here  -- especially if you do not personally recall the event.

Tomorrow, July 21st at 02:56 UTC [Coordinated Universal Time which is the same as Greenwich Mean Time except that GMT is not precisely defined by the scientific community any longer] marks the moment six hours after the landing when a human being first stepped foot on a body in the cosmos other than Earth.  It was not quite ten years from the moment the first man-made object reached the surface of the Moon on September 13, 1959 until the first humans walked on its surface on July 21, 1969.  Read about the history of Moon explorations and landings here.   

I have very vivid memories of the Moon landing because I was one of the 35,000 participants at the Boy Scout 1969 National Jamboree at Farragut State Park outside Coeur d'Alene, Idaho when the landing took place.  Neil Armstrong was an Eagle Scout and so when the famous words came, "Houston, Tranquility Base here.  The Eagle has landed," it had additional meaning at the Jamboree.  [The lunar module that Armstrong and Aldrin rode to the Moon's surface was named the Eagle.  If you read the first Moon landing link above, you will find an interesting factoid about how this name came to be.] The Moon landing was a highlight of the Jamboree for me and 34,999 others in many ways, but I also had the opportunity to personally meet both Jesse Owens and Lady Olave Baden-Powell (wife of Scouting founder Lord Baden-Powell).

My 1969 National Jamboree participant's patch

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A scan of my original 1969 National Jamboree patch, which I hand sewed into clear plastic with snaps on the back so it could be snapped onto my uniform, but would remain in pristine condition.  The "Building To Serve" rocker displayed the theme of the Jamboree and had to be earned by performing 15 different tasks (one for each letter in the theme) that got signed off/stamped on a card with the 15 letters of the theme.   

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Copyright 2013, John D. Tew

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Friday Fotos (July 19, 2013) -- G. Douglas Jeffs and Eulalie L. Jeffs

G. Douglas Jeffs (1893 - 1980) and his wife, Eulalie Lillian Mary Jeffs (1893 - 1984)

This photograph is of Dr. George "Douglas" Jeffs and his wife, Eulalie Lillian Mary Jeffs.  They are my wife's maternal grandparents and thus my sons' great grandparents.  The year and location of the photograph are unknown at this time.

Douglas and Eulalie were both born in Canada: Douglas in Havelock Township, Peterborough, Ontario on November 25, 1893 and Eulalie in Bond Head, Ontario on February 15, 1893.  They were married on October 4, 1919 in York, Ontario.  Eulalie's maiden surname was Jeffs and to date no family connection has been discovered between the two Jeffs families.

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Scan of original photograph in the possession of the author's mother-in-law.

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Copyright 2013, John D. Tew

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Treasure Chest Thursday -- New Year's Resolution booklets?

We have all heard of the "New Year's Resolution," that promise we make to ourselves to do something during the coming year.  Such resolutions are usually some improvement we wish to make in our lives by stopping some undesirable behavior or to begin some new activity to enhance our self-image or to be perceived as a better person by others.  Many of us have probably made resolutions at one time or another -- even if it is only, "Resolved -- I will NOT make any New Year's resolutions this year!"

Wikipedia tells us that resolutions at the beginning of a new year have been with us for a very long time.  Ancient Babylonians promised their gods they would pay their debts and return borrowed items.  Romans made promises to their god Janus [1], for whom the month January is named.  Knights in the age of chivalry used to renew the "peacock vow" at the end of the Christmas season to recommit to the code of conduct involving the virtues of gallantry, courtesy, honor, courtly love, and service to others.  Watchnight services by some Christians are an opportunity at the close of the year to make confession and prepare for a new year by praying and making resolutions to do better.

Like many traditions, the practice of making New Year's resolutions has probably waxed and waned over the centuries.  We are told at the same source cited above, that in this new century about 40% of Americans make some kind of resolutions for a coming new year -- and this is up dramatically from the roughly 25% of Americans that took such steps in the period of the late 1930s to mid 1940s.

It also appears from the brief examples noted above, that historically resolutions for a new year mainly took the form of oral vows made before a deity, to one's liege, or perhaps simply to oneself.  I have not been able to uncover any definite historical tradition or fad for committing New Year's resolutions to writing -- although Googling "writing down New Year's resolutions" results in myriad links (83,500,000 hits) with advice about writing down resolutions to increase the likelihood of having them stick.

All of which brings me to the item shown above.  

The item depicted above is an old family artifact in my collection.  It is very fragile and obviously handmade using common lined writing paper and a ribbon top binding.  The writing is precise and beautiful in the style often learned by dedicated writers in the 19th century; an idea of the internal script can be grasped from the small sample shown on the cover of this five-page resolution book intended to cover the year 1881.  The paper -- and especially the ribbon -- are too delicate to risk scanning the internal pages, but a transcription of the resolutions contained within is provided below.  

I do not know if personally constructed "resolution ribbon booklets" [my coined term for this artifact] such as the one shown were traditional and usual at one time, or perhaps were merely a local, regional or ephemeral fad in and around Cumberland, Rhode Island where the author lived at the end of the 19th century.  It could be it was just idiosyncratic.  I would welcome additional insight and information about written New Year's resolution booklets such as this if anyone else has come across them. I'd be especially interested if there is evidence that use of such written resolution booklets was similar to the May Basket tradition I wrote about earlier this year at this link.   

The author of this resolution book is my great grandmother, Sarah Etta Freeman.  Sarah was born in East Douglas, Massachusetts on March 27, 1858, so she was not quite 23 years old when she committed these resolutions to writing at the close of the year 1880.  She was still a little over six years away from her June 15, 1887 marriage to my great grandfather, Samuel Eber Carpenter.

Transcription of Sarah Etta Freeman's

 New Year's Resolutions for 1881

From

      Jan. 1, 1881,

To

      Dec. 31, 1881.

               I am resolved: -

                                    To

               have respect for my own

               word.  To be careful in

               making promises, and when

               made to keep them.

               To read at least one chapter

               in the Bible every week.

               To be unselfish.

               Always ready to extend a

               helping hand to one who

               needs it.  To be especially

               watchful among my companions

               for any good that I may do.

               To perform the various duties

               of the year as they come,in a

               cheerful and thorough manner.

                    Signed --

                        S.E. Freeman.

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Photograph of a New Year's resolution ribbon booklet from 1881 -- original in the personal collection of the author.

[1] Janus was the Roman god of beginnings and transitions and so also of gates, doors, passages, endings and time.  He is usually depicted as having two faces -- one to look forward to the future and one to look backward to the past.  See, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janus

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Copyright 2013, John D. Tew

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Wedding Wednesday (July 17, 2013)

1851 marriage certificate for Mason Freeman and Martha A. Shearman

My 2x great grandparents, Mason Freeman and Martha Amanda Shearman, were married on July 27, 1851 in  Smithfield, Rhode Island by Warren Lincoln, Minister of the Gospel, as shown on the above certificate of holy matrimony.

Mason was born on June 14, 1820 in Massachusetts and died in Lonsdale, Rhode Island on April 10, 1898.

Mason Freeman (1820 - 1898)

Martha was born on July 10, 1830 and died on August 28, 1870.

Martha Amanda Sherman (1830 - 1870)

Mason and Martha had at least five children:  Ellen Frances Freeman (1852 - 1947); Edward Mason Freeman (1854 -    ); Sarah Etta Freeman (1858 - 1945), my great grandmother; Caleb Everett Freeman (1862 -    ); and Otis Mason Freeman (1868 - 1949).

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Scanned images of the original certificate and photographs in the collection of the author.

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Copyright 2013, John D. Tew

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Military Monday (July 15, 2013) -- Return of a Purple Heart

[This post is unusual in that I am going to post it today and again this coming Sunday as part of my "Samaritan Sunday" series.  It does not involve any ancestor or relative of mine.  The piece was first prepared for a Samaritan Sunday post, but I believe it deserves as wide an audience as possible -- so I thought posting it as a Military Monday post might bring it to the attention of more blog followers (via Thomas MacEntee's GeneaBloggers) than just posting it in my Samaritan Sunday series.]

*          *          *

Robert Bates was one of the sailors aboard the USS Arizona on December 7, 1941 when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and thereby brought the U.S. into World War II.  He remains entombed in the ship to this day.  The only thing of his that was returned to his family after his death was his Purple Heart -- but that medal had gone missing about 71 years ago.   

As anyone who has visited the Memorial at Pearl Harbor knows, the Arizona is still there and even after all these decades oil can be seen leaking up from the wreckage of the ship (2.3 quarts per day).  The Arizona remains the final resting place for many of the 1,177 sailors (out of a crew of 1,512) who were killed as a result of the attack on December 7, 1941.  The wreck of the ship was designated a national shrine in 1962.  The ship is considered a war grave and any survivors of the attack that sunk the ship are entitled, if they so desire, to have their ashes placed within the ship with their shipmates.  Anyone who ever served on the Arizona at times other than on December 7, 1941 is entitled to have his ashes scattered in the water above the ship. 

It is believed that Robert Bates' Purple Heart was presented to his mother.  She died in 1945 and following her death the medal was lost -- that is until a truck driver in Bakersfield, California found the medal on the side of a road with other items.  Since the items were found near a VFW Post, the driver gave it to the VFW.  

The next step in the medal's journey was when Ken Hooper, a history teacher, was contacted. He and his archives class set about trying to identify the person to whom the medal belonged.  In March of this year in Tyler, Texas relatives of Robert Bates had the medal hand delivered to them by Good Samaritan Ken Hooper.

Read here the full story of how a string of Good Samaritans contributed to the return of Robert Bates' long-lost Purple Heart to his family!

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The depiction of the Purple Heart is an image in the public domain because it is a work of the United States Government and is a United States Military Award.  See, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Purpleheart.jpg 

For more information on the history of the battleship Arizona (BB-39), see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Arizona_(BB-39)

USS Arizona Memorial aerial photograph has been released to the public by the United States Navy.  See, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:USS_Arizona_Memorial_(aerial_view).jpg

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Copyright 2013, John D. Tew

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Happy Anniversary!! (July 14, 2013)

Claude Monet's, Rue Montorgueil, Paris, Festival of 30 June 1878

For many, today is the 224th anniversary of the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789.  The day is known in the English-speaking world as "Bastille Day," but in France it is formally known as La Fete Nationale (The National Celebration).  

For the Tew and Winkler families, however, today is known for another reason altogether . . .

It was one year ago today that the Tews and Winklers, their extended families, and assorted friends gathered in eastern Long Island to witness and celebrate the wedding of Jonathan and Pamela.  Today is their 1st Wedding Anniversary, which is traditionally represented by paper and carnations (with the modern 1st Anniversary gift being a clock).

May Jonathan and Pamela always find in each other the one person who gives the most affection, appreciation, encouragement and constant collaboration!  

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

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Image of Monet's Rue Montorgueil, Paris, Festival of 30 June 1878, a work of art that is in the public domain because its copyright has expired.  See, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Monet-montorgueil.JPG

Photograph of Long Island hydrangea by the author.

Scanned image of the wedding invitation by the author.

Photograph of the bride and groom by Jed.

Photograph of the Wallingford clock by the author.

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Copyright 2013, John D. Tew

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Saturday Serendipity (July 13, 2013)

Saturdays often allow a more leisurely approach to life than work days. I can more easily post links to some blog posts or other materials I have discovered during the week, or even to those discovered during a Saturday morning coffee and extended surfing of the blogosphere/internet.

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

1.  It was just a month ago that the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that Myriad Genetics could not patent genes that occur naturally in the human body.  This was extremely good news since the company had claimed patent rights on two human genes -- BRCA1 and BRCA2 -- that cause a seriously increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer for those women who carry the gene.  More practically, the patent issued to Myriad gave it what amounted to a monopoly on testing women for the genes -- and they charged exorbitant prices of up to $4,000 for women to discover if they had the genes.  Judy Russell posted a concise explanation of the ruling and its implications for women at The Legal Genealogist on June 14th.  Now you really need to read the next move by Myriad as summarized by Judy here just two days ago! 

2.  The most recent issue of The Mayflower Quarterly (June 2013, Vol. 79 No. 2) has an interesting article by Karin Goldstein, Curator of Collections and Library, Plimoth Plantation, about the history and importance of of grist mills at Plymouth. 

3.  Geneabloggers maven Thomas MacEntee has a thoughtful essay on international aspects of genealogy here on UpFront With NGS.  [ I admit that I did not recognized him with the sombrero, cigar, glasses and pencil-thin mustache! ]  As a chaser after reading the guest blogger post by Thomas, check out this interview about the boom in genealogy pursuits in the Czech Republic as flagged in The Weekly Genealogist on July 10th.  Isn't it somehow very apropos that maternity leave led to founding a genealogy business and then hiring women on maternity leave to help the business grow?

4.   Methodical research and the documentation of the thought process involved is a beauty to behold.  I recommend you have a look at the beauty contained in the methodical assault on a brick wall presented by Diane Boumenot here in "A Theory on Hannah Andrews" at One Rhode Island Family.     

5.  The post at UpFront With NGS  this week with links discussing the myth that family names were changed upon arrival at Ellis Island was quite informative and I recommend checking it out.  It also got me thinking about the fascination I have with the derivation and meaning of surnames.  This led me to peruse for the first time in a while an oldie but goodie that I recommend everyone with an interest in genealogy spend time with at some point:  J.N. Hook, Ph.D., FAMILY NAMES -- How Our Surnames Came to America (Macmillan Publishing Co., New York, NY, 1982).

6.  And finally, on the subject of sifting through the plethora of genealogy-related materials . . . Thomas MacEntee at Geneabloggers now has a Blog Roll with over 3,000 genealogy and family history blogs on it!  If we add to these sources the many genealogy magazines, quarterlies, journals, newsletters, books, radio and television shows, webcasts, and myriad other resources, there is a veritable ocean of  genealogy-related material out there.  It is impossible to sift through all these materials to find interesting and informative items on one's own.  I have several places that I visit habitually to see what interesting material and recommendations have been gathered in one place for my easy review and consideration.  I'd like to give a shout out to these sites and the folks who take the time to pass on their finds! 

          Jana Last's "Fab Finds" on Fridays at Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog

          Diane L. Richard's "Upfront Mini Bytes" bi-weekly at UpFront With NGS

          Thomas MacEntee daily at Geneabloggers with his Blogging Prompt links, Blogging Events
          links, New Genealogy Blogs links, Items of Note links, etc., etc., etc.

          Heather Kuhn Roelker's "Follow Friday - Favorites" on Fridays at Leaves For Trees

          Randy Seaver's "Best of the Genea-Blogs" on Sundays at Genea-Musings

          Julie Cahill Tarr's "Friday Finds" on Fridays at GenBlog

          Lynn Betlock, Jean Powers and Valerie Beaudrault, Editors of The Weekly Genealogist
          newsletter from NEHGS, on Wednesdays --  especially for their "Stories of Interest"

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Copyright 2013, John D. Tew

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