A Liebster Award for The Prism

Leslie Ann, of Ancestors Live Here, has very kindly presented me with the "Liebster Award."  Now that the weekend is here, I am able to send Leslie a sincere "Thank You!" and respond to the questions she has posed to me.  My evolving thoughts on awards such as the Liebster follow my responses to Leslie.

Leslie Ann's eleven questions to me and her four other awardees . . . 

1. What is the most unique occupation you have run across in researching your family history?  I HAVE HONESTLY NOT RUN ACROSS A TRULY "UNIQUE" OCCUPATION AMONGST MY ANCESTORS OR RELATIVES AS YET, BUT I DID DISCOVER THAT MY GREAT GRANDFATHER WAS AN ACCOMPLISHED CABINETMAKER AND TAXIDERMIST.  [SEE MY POST AT THE PRISM TOMORROW.] 
2. If you could follow one ancestor's footsteps, who would it be and where would you go to see where they lived and worked?  I THINK I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW MUCH MORE ABOUT JOSEPH CARPENTER AND HIS WIFE NANCY.  THEY ARE MY 3X GREAT GRANDPARENTS AND THEY WERE MARRIED FOR 67 YEARS BEFORE DYING WITHIN MONTHS OF ONE ANOTHER.  JOSEPH WAS A VETERAN OF THE WAR OF 1812.  HE AND NANCY HAD 14 CHILDREN.  THEY WERE BORN IN REHOBOTH, MASSACHUSETTS AND LIVED IN PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND AND ATTLEBORO, MASSACHUSETTS.  I WOULD LOVE TO BE ABLE TO KNOW WHAT THEIR LIFE WAS LIKE DURING ALL THOSE YEARS THEY HAD TOGETHER WITH SUCH A LARGE FAMILY.  [FOR ONE IMPORTANT EVENT IN THEIR LIVES THAT I DO KNOW ABOUT, SEE MY POSTS AT THE PRISM FOR JANUARY 14, 2013. http://filiopietismprism.blogspot.com/2013/01/echoes-from-door-rebellion-1842.html and http://filiopietismprism.blogspot.com/2013/01/what-is-dorrite-1842-aplincarpenter.html ] 
3. Which institution or facility do you want to go to over any other to rifle through their archives?  HANDS DOWN IT HAS TO BE NEHGS IN BOSTON.  WHILE I HAVE BELONGED TO NEHGS FOR A FEW YEARS NOW AND HAD AN ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN AMERICAN ANCESTORS, [SEE THE PRISM, JANUARY 14, 2013] I HAVE YET TO ACTUALLY VISIT.  MAYBE 2013 WILL BE THE YEAR!  :-)
4. Do you subscribe to any genealogy magazines, and if so are they helpful?  OTHER THAN THE MAGAZINES AND JOURNALS I RECEIVE AS A RESULT OF MEMBERSHIP IN THE ORGANIZATIONS I LIST IN THE "ABOUT ME" POST AT THE PRISM, I HAVE A SUBSCRIPTION TO FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE THAT WAS A GIFT FROM ONE OF MY SONS AND HIS WIFE.  I HAVE FOUND THE MAGAZINE INTERESTING AND HELPFUL WITH RESPECT TO BROADER GENEALOGY HOBBY ISSUES AND SOURCES. 
5. Do you blog as you go, or schedule ahead?  I HAVE SO FAR TRIED TO SCHEDULE AHEAD, IF BY THAT YOU MEAN DO I WRITE POSTS AHEAD OF TIME AND THEN POST FROM THE STOCK OF COMPLETED PIECES I HAVE PREPARED.  I AM NOT SURE IF I WILL BE ABLE TO CONTINUE THIS PRACTICE CONSISTENTLY, BUT FOR NOW I MAINTAIN A WRITTEN LIST OF BLOG POST IDEAS AND I ADD TO THE LIST AS I THINK OF SUBJECTS AND HIGHLIGHT THE ONES I HAVE COMPLETED.
6. What's your favorite historical time period?  THIS IS A VERY HARD QUESTION.  I AM A HISTORY BUFF OF SORTS AND ALMOST ALL PERIODS COVERED BY MY KNOWN ANCESTORS (BACK NOW TO THE LATE 1500s) INTEREST ME.  IT IS HARD TO PICK A FAVORITE, BUT ONE BURNING QUESTION FOR ME IS WHY DID MY ANCESTOR, RICHARD TEW, AND HIS PREGNANT WIFE, MARY (CLARKE) TEW, DECIDE TO HAZARD A LONG, DANGEROUS VOYAGE FROM MAIDFORD, ENGLAND TO AMERICA IN 1640 WHEN THEY APPARENTLY OWNED NO PROPERTY HERE AND KNEW NO ONE THAT I AM AWARE OF.  I SUSPECT IT HAD A LOT TO DO WITH THE RELIGIOUS AND CIVIL TURMOIL IN ENGLAND AT THE TIME AND I WOULD LOVE TO BE ABLE TO FULLY UNDERSTAND THEIR TIMES AND MOTIVATIONS.  
7. What kind of books do you like to read? MOSTLY HISTORY, HISTORY AND HISTORY; BUT THEN I GET SATIATED AND WILL TURN TO AUTHORS LIKE DEMILLE, RICHARD NORTH PATTERSON AND SOME CLASSICS.  
8. Any black sheep in your family tree?  DOES THE POSSIBILITY OF A REAL PIRATE COUNT??  :-)  SEE MY RE-POST OF A GUEST BLOG I DID FOR HEATHER WILKINSON ROJO'S NUTFIELD GENEALOGY AT THE PRISM ON JANUARY 2, 2013. 
9. Are you lucky enough to have any genealogy libraries in your neck of the woods? YES I AM VERY LUCKY TO HAVE THE THOMAS BALCH LIBRARY IN LEESBURG, VIRGINIA -- LESS THAN TEN MILES FROM MY HOME.  [I FEEL LIKE I AM BEING SHAMELESSLY SELF-PROMOTING, BUT SEE MY BLOG POST AT THE PRISM FOR JANUARY 12, 2013. http://filiopietismprism.blogspot.com/2013/01/do-you-want-to-know-secret.html]
10. Have you been cemetery hopping?  YES I HAVE VISITED CEMETERIES IN RHODE ISLAND WHERE MANY OF MY ANCESTORS AND RELATIVES ON BOTH MY MOTHER'S AND FATHER'S SIDES OF THE FAMILY ARE BURIED.
11. Do you dream about genealogy?  NOT THAT I RECALL SO FAR, BUT WHEN I DO IT MIGHT BECOME THE SUBJECT OF A POST ON THE PRISM.  :-)

"Liebster" in German means "dearest."  I suggest you check Leslie Ann's blog for the nice links she provides about the history of the Liebster Award and issues surrounding such blog "awards."  I am new to genealogy blogging and have only had a presence here since December 31, 2012.  I am only just now expanding the "library" of genealogy blogs I know about and read.  Recently when The Prism was nominated for the "Blog of the Year 2012" award I followed the rules closely and passed on my nominations with a bit of hesitance NOT because I questioned the deserving nature of the blogs I mentioned, but because I felt as though I was perpetuating a new form of chain letter.  I did get sincere thanks and appreciation from those I nominated, but there were also explanations about these type "awards" that raised issues about their chain letter nature and politely explained why some of the nominees did not pass on the nominations and rules.  While I sincerely appreciate Leslie Ann's presentation of a Liebster to The Prism, I am persuaded by the concerns about the chain letter nature of such awards and will not be passing on the "award," rules or any newly formulated questions from me.  I will use this post, however, to answer Leslie's questions as a means of sincerely thanking her and perhaps informing present and future readers a bit more about me and The Prism. 

Many thanks Leslie Ann!! 

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Copyright 2013, John D. Tew

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Gobsmacked!

It is insufficient to say that I was merely "surprised" by the email I

received from Heather Wilkinson Rojo (author and owner of Nutfield Genealogy).  I was "gobsmacked" in the most positive sense of the word ["utterly astonished; astounded"].  In fact, it has taken me a week to absorb Heather’s news and to compose this “thank you” and response.

Heather very kindly wrote to tell me she had nominated The Prism and several other blogs for a “Blog of the Year 2012” award. http://www.nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/01/surprise-ive-been-honored.html  Her Nutfield Genealogy was recently nominated and the rules require a sort of "pay it forward" by having nominees pass on their own nominations.  More information about the award and the rules are found here http://thethoughtpalette.co.uk/our-awards/blog-of-the-year-2012-award

The basic rules are . . .

1.         Select the blogs you think deserve the Blog of the Year 2012 Award

2.         Write a blog post and tell us about the blogs you have chosen – no minimum or maximum number of blogs required- and present them with the award

3.         Include a link back to the award page http://thethoughtpalette.co.uk/our-awards/blog-of-the-year-2012-award/

4.         Include these rules in your post (please don’t alter the rules or the badges!)

5.         Let the blogs you nominate know that you have given them the Blog of the Year award and share the ‘rules’ with them.

6.         You can now join the Facebook group – click ‘like’ on this page Blog of the Year 2012 Award Facebook Group and then you can share your blog with an even wider audience.

7.         As a winner of the award, add a link back to the blog that presented you with the award and then proudly display the award on your blog and sidebar… and start collecting stars…

Heather's outstanding genealogy blog is absolutely deserving of Blog of the Year nomination and recognition.  Her kind nomination of my nascent blog as one of several new blogs she likes is appreciated in the extreme, but I also have to point out that technically The Prism only posted a single entry in the past calendar year given that it was born on December 31, 2012.  

While I am truly gobsmacked by Heather's nomination, I found myself wondering if The Prism should even qualify for a 2012 nomination.  I am still learning the art of genealogy blogging and the features of Blogger.  I can only aspire to the consistency and quality of a blog such as Nutfield Genealogy.  I am also still exploring and feasting on the smorgasbord of blogs offered by the genealogy community -- and so I feel somewhat constrained by the Blog of the Year rule to name other blogs that I believe should be nominated.  But gobsmacked and inexperienced as I am, I nonetheless do not want to break the nomination chain or appear to be in any way ungrateful – so I am taking Heather's wonderful nomination as a vote of confidence in the POTENTIAL that The Prism has for the future rather than being based on the extremely limited posting I did in 2012.  On that basis, I am happy to accept and display the Blog of the Year badge in the hope The Prism justifies in 2013 the confidence expressed by the present nomination.

I hereby proceed to comply with the nomination rules by passing on my nominations . . .  

1.         Nutfield Genealogy (for a 2nd Gold Star) by Heather Wilkinson Rojo at http://www.nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com

2.         Genea-Musings by Randy Seaver at http://www.geneamusings.com

3.         Leaves for Trees by Heather Kuhn Roelker at http://leavesfortrees.blogspot.com

4.         One Rhode Island Family by Diane MacLean Boumenot at http://onerhodeislandfamily.com

5.         GeneaBloggers by Thomas MacEntee at http://geneabloggers.com