Saturday Serendipity (July 25, 2020)

This will be the last Saturday Serendipity for about two weeks while we take our annual break paddling, hiking and swimming in the wonderful outdoors of the Adirondacks.  Suggested reads for this week are as follows .  .  .

1.   American Ancestors/NEHGS has a major sale going on for genealogy and history related books.  The discounts being offered are up to 50% off usual prices.  The deeply discounted books are not all New England-centric.  You can look over the eight pages of offered books here.

2.   Diane MacLean Boumenot, of One Rhode Island Family blog, is back with a post this week!  Read "What Was Your Rhode Island Ancestor Doing in 1834?" and find a list of 2,200 names on a petition that just might help you answer that question if you have Rhode Island roots.   You can read Diane's post here.  

3.   With the recent news that AncestryDNA is going to eliminate many small segment matches from its matching algorithm, The Legal Genealogist, Judy Russell, posted this week about the controversy and says simply, "Chill!"  Read why here. 

4.  Laura Mattingly, of The Old Trunk in the Attic blog, posted (in these days of another raging pandemic) a timely and poignant piece this week about one of her relatives.  Read "A Few Days Illness" here.   

5.   Staying with a pandemic theme, another timely post this week was by Jen, of The JenGenX Files blog.  With the incongruously controversial polemics surrounding the opening of our schools during a raging pandemic, Jen provides a glimpse backwards to the Great Influenza of 1918-19 to provide what should be seen as an object lesson for us today.  Read, "Pandemic of the past" here.

6.   As any dedicated family historian/genealogist knows (or soon learns), delving into family history can reveal the good, the bad, the unexpected, and the ugly; but a full and true family history has to live with the facts or avoid them and live with an incomplete or potentially false narrative about the family's evolution over time.  It is with this issue in mind at some level that after much discussion the Indiana Historical Society has made the 1920s KKK membership records from Hamilton County, Indiana (which includes Indianapolis) available to the public.  Some 1,660 membership cards are now able to be reviewed.  You can read more about this collection here.  [Note that to gain full access to the article you might have to answer a one quetion consumer survey, such as "Name as many mattress manufactureres you have heard about."  Quite painless to gain access to the full article.]    

7.   And finally, as we are all now living through what has been called a once-in-a-century disease pandemic, it is always interesting to learn (a) that our pandemic is really not unprecedented, and (b) that this pandemic could get a whole lot worse than it currently is if we do not act now and learn from what happened in 1918-1919.  Read here Marian Burk Wood's post at Climbing My Family Tree blog.  Marian writes this week about the discovery of a relative of her husband's who enlisted in the Union Army and lived until 1919 when he died of the influenza during the Great Influenza pandemic (misnamed and often still refered to as the "Spanish Flu").  We now have over 4 million cases of COVID19 in the US and the death toll is over 145,000 and climbing, but in 1918-19 the U.S. death toll reached at least 675,000 so we are presently only at just over 1/4th the number of flu deaths in 1918 and counting upward each and every day.  Be smart, Stay safe, and Stay healthy! 

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Copyright 2020, John D. Tew

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Saturday Serendipity (July 18, 2020)

This week's suggested reads follow.  If like us you are experiencing the dog days of summer with air temperatures into the 90s with enough humidity to make it feel like 100+, then it is a good time to spend in the air conditioning reading and working on your genealogy.  😀

1.   For those of you who are members of NGS (National Genealogical Society founded in 1903), I highly recomend reading the articles, "Inconvenient Facts" and "The Zeitgeist and Serendipity" in the June NGS Monthly.  As someone who is old enough to recall 1960 and especially the years of that decade, I was shocked to read "Inconvenient Facts."  Access to the articles might require an NGS membership.  Perhaps your local library has a subscription, if not you can try this link and see if it works. 

2.   Of the facts that genealogists hunt in their research of the lives of ancestors, perhaps the details of what their everyday lives were like are among the most difficult to find (unless you are lucky enough to have a skilled and dedicated diarist in the family tree).  The details of what the day-to-day experience of an occupation was like is an example that can elude a researcher seeking to understand what an ancestor described as a "mechanic" in a census actually did to support himself and his family.  Another everyday detail that can get lost is the actual culinary experience of ancestors at a given period long the family history timeline.  Many of us know bits and pieces about what ancestors ate since there are menu items we know because they were great grandma's recipe.  [In my own family from Rhode Island, Johnny cakes is an example that came down the generations.]  So this leads to an article highlighted in The Weekly Genealogist of American Ancestors/NEHGS.  If you have American ancestors in the years 1838-1865 and they were affluent enough to dine out at well-established restaurants, then you should read "The First American Restaurants' Culinary Concoctions" here and see how many of the dishes you have atually experienced.  Lamb fries anyone?

3.   Judy Russell, of The Legal Genealogist blog, often addresses issues of copyright and this week she answered a question about the ability to copyright a very old photograph where the photogragher is unknown (and perhaps unknowable at this point) and even the people in the photograph are not identified.  Many of us have been faced with folks who get very touchy about sharing old photographs and claim ownership that comes across as tantamount to a claim/threat of having an actual copyright when it is obvious they are not the "creator."  The Legal Genealogist post here sheds light on how such touchiness could be handled with some diplomatically provided facts about copyright.  [Be sure to read the comments and responses to the post!]

4.   For those with Irish roots--especially around the time of the 1901 and 1911 censuses–Mr. Barry Griffin has developed maps showing the location of Irish surnames based on the enumerations from those census years.  You can use his search engine to see maps for any Irish family surnames you are looking for.  Mr. Griffin's website is located here.  Be mindful that exact spelling counts when entering a surname in the search bar!

5.   If you have had a DNA test done on yourself or some family member(s), then you really should read a few posts this week by Jacqi Stevens, of A Family Tapestry blog.  Jacqi read the news that Ancestry DNA is moving to cull matches they consider to be possible or probable "false positives" and she took action.  Read "Save Your Sevens" here and then read Jacqi's posts over the following two days. 

6.   Heather Rojo, of Nutfield Genealogy blog, posted a piece this week that really caught my eye.  It is about the Nurse Cadet Corps during WWII.  My 93-year-old mother was one of the young nurses in that program and I have posted about her membership and service here (where a photo of her in uniform can be seen).  Heather's aunt was recently honored for her service as shown in Heather's post, but Heather also puts out a call to support legislation to give the women of the Cadet Corps some long delayed recognition and honor for their service.  Read Heather's post here.  [My late father was a graduate of Kings Point, the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, and he served as an officer in the Merchant Marine delivering supplies and munitions during WWII.  Even though the Merchant Marine suffered the highest per capita losses of any uniformed service during WWII, it took a long time for the service of those men to be fully recognized and honored too, so I understand the push for legislation to grant the women of the uniformed Cadet Corps to received similar recognition and honor.  I hope readers will register their support for the legislation that Heather brings to our attention by contacting their representatives in Congress .  I know I will.]    

7.  And finally, another interesting article this week from The Weekly Genealogist.  It is about the role of the English coroner in determining what is and is not considered "treasure" and–perhaps more importantly–which finders get to keep the find or not.  The English coroner had a very different role and influence than the American holding the same titled office.  Read here about the English coroner.  

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Copyright 2020, John D. Tew

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Friday Fotos (July 17, 2020)

The photo above was taken in 1929 around the start of the Great Depression after the major fall in stock prices on September 4, 1929 that then led to the stock market crash of October 29, 1929. 

The boy sitting on the steps is my late father, Arnold G. Tew, Jr.  He is sitting beside his paternal grandmother, Margaret "Maggie" (Conner) Tew, on the steps of the Woonsocket home of my grandparents, Arnold G. Tew, Sr. and Huldah (Hasselbaum) Tew.  The home was a rental located on South Main Street in Woonsocket, Rhode Island.

My father was seven years old at the time the photograph was taken and his grandmother was sixty-nine.  She died six years later in 1935.

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Image from the original snapshot in the possession of the author.

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Copyright 2020, John D. Tew

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Saturday Serendipity (July 11, 2020)

Here are a few recommended reads for this weekend.

1.   Don't drink bleach and don't microwave library books to kill possible corona virus!  One would think this is unnecessary advice on both counts, but a library in Michigan had to issue a warning after a book was burned in an attempt to kill any lurking corona virus.  Read the article here courtesy of a link in The Weekly Genealogist newsletter of American Ancestors/NEHGS.  Any metal in a book (including metal in the RFID–"radio frequency identification" tags frequently used by libraries) will cause burning.

2.   Judy Russell, The Legal Genealogist, posted an intriguing piece this week about a possible genetic risk factor for respiratory failure–a particular worry with COVID-19.  It seems the genes responsible for this potential increased risk have been around for a long time.  Read here to see what the possible genetic risk factors are and see where the gene(s) seem to have come from.

3.   James Tanner, of Genealogy's Star blog, has compiled a list of Genealogy Rules that numbered a nice round dozen--until this week.  He has "discovered" another rule and now has a baker's dozen of rules.  Go here to learn about newly discovered Rule No. 13.

4.   Linda Stufflebean, of Empty Branches on the Family Tree blog, posted a link to her Friday Finds this week that caught my eye.  Go here to read, see, and listen to the piece found by Linda and titled, "My grandfather belonged to Thomas Jefferson."

5.   Jaqui Stevens, of A Family Tapestry blog, posted a piece titled, "A Different Way of Looking at the Odds."  She shares her thoughts on the odds of finding a cousin through DNA testing. Go here to read Jaqui's thoughts and get some useful links.

6.  Also via a link in The Weekly Genealogist this week was connection to a Yankee magazine aticle on the recollections of folks who lived through the news that WWII was finally over.  Read the collection of brief memories here.  

7.   Janine Adams, of Organize Your Family History blog, posted an interesting and useful piece on how she uses Newspaper.com and processes articles she finds there. You can read her post and see the illustrated examples here.

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Copyright 2020, John D. Tew
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Friday Fotos (July 10, 2020)

My paternal grandfather, Arnold G. Tew, Sr., was a member of various organizations and among them was the Kiwanis Club of Woonsocket, RI, which completed its organization on May 17, 1917.  He was also a member of the Woonsocket, R.I. Lodge No. 850, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.  One of his B.P.O.E. membership cards was recently brought to light from a box of miscellaneous materials saved by my late father.

As advised in the lower right corner of the membership card, the stated member's home address should appear on the reverse side of the card-- and indeed it does.

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All images are from the original membership card in the personal collection of the author.

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Copyright 2020, John D. Tew

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Saturday Serendipity (4th of July 2020)

Happy Independence Day to all!  On this 194th anniversary of the deaths of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams within hours of one another fifty years to the day after the Declaration of Independence was formally adopted, here are just a few recommended reads as we all (hopefully) do our best to avoid crowds and responsibly look out for each other.

Skydiver dropping into the opening ceremony of the 2010 Boy Scout 

National Jamboree, Ft. A.P. Hill, VA.

A better idea of the scale of the flag.

Chimney Rock outside Asheville, NC (Oct. 2012)

1.   To begin with, The Weekly Genealogist of NEHGS/American Ancestors linked to an interesting piece titled "10 Things You Didn't Know About the Fourth of July."  You can read the article here.  Do any readers eat salmon with green peas on the 4th of July as a long standing tradition??

2.   In DNA news, Florida is first out of the gate in passing a privacy protection law on use of DNA.  Insurance companies providing life, disability, and/or long-term care policies are blocked from accessing genetic data for coverage purposes.  You can read an article on the new law here.

3.   The Legal Genealogist, Judy Russell, posted an illuminating reminder of how we can miss important information and facts about even the ancestors and relatives that are closest to us in time and that we knew and talked with.  It is also a reminder that those city and town directories can provide more than just a residence address and phone numer.  Read "Documenting our own" here.

4.   Marian Wood, of Climbing My Family Tree blog, posted about her creation of a family history coloring book based on an instructional article in Family Tree Magazine by Lisa Alzo.  You can read Marian's post here.  There is still plenty of time to create some as holiday presents.

5.   With news of "hotspots" now part of our daily news feeds, Peter Muise, of NEW ENGLAND FOLKORE blog, posted this week about New England being a regional hotspot.  No, not a COVID19 hotspot since the northeast is doing better than most other areas of the country now (with VT and RI being the only two states to have lowered the number of new cases this week).  New England is a real hotspot for UFO sightings and four of the New England states ranked in the top ten for sightings last year–and when RI is added it means that five of the six New England states are in the top 14!  You can read Peter's post here.

6.   And finally, speaking of New England, for all those with genealogical roots in Rhode Island–and especially if there are those who insisted punctiliously on always referring to Little Rhody by it formal name, "State of  Rhode Island and Providence Plantations"–official executive branch documents will no longer use that title.  By executive order on June 23rd, Governor Gina Raimondo ordered that the phrase "and Providence Plantations" will not longer be used in gubernatorial orders, citations, all official correspondence, state employee paychecks, or on any executive agency websites.  You can read about this change and about how the phrase even became part of the official state name by going here.

Stay home.  Stay safe.  Protect yourself and others.

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All photos above by the author.

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Copyright 2020, John D. Tew

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