Saturday Serendipity (November 9, 2019)

Below are some suggested reads for this weekend.

1.  DNA profiles can be faked??  This week James Tanner of Genealogy's Star blog posts about why this is possible based on an article in Forensic Science International: Genetics (FSI Genetics).  You can read the post here and get a link to the FSI Genetics article.  The post also references a New York Times piece about fabrication of DNA evidence.  You can check the NYT piece where a lead scientist states that with access to a DNA profile in a database, "You can just engineer a crime scene. Any biology undergraduate could perform this."  You can see the NYT article here.

2.  A new Guinness  World Record has been announced -- the oldest living married couple in the world.  Go here to see a photo of the couple and learn how long they have been married, their present ages, and where they live.

3.  Janine Adams of Organize Your Family History blog is asking for input from other genealogists on the subject of her upcoming Roots Tech presentation on the subject of perfectionism as an impediment to progress in genealogy research.  Learn more here and see how you can comment and perhaps assist Janine in preparing her talk titled, "The Imperfect Genealogist."

4.  And there is another blogger this week who would appreciate any assistance other genealogists could lend.  Laura Mattingly of The Old Trunk in the Attic blog periodically posts old photos that need information about the identity of those in the picture.  Laura would like to not only identify those in the photos, she would like to reunite the photo with existing descendants.  See Laura's latest orphan photo here and get a link to past photos also needing assistance.

5.    The Legal Genealogist, Judy Russell, posted another thought provoking useful piece this week titled, "When it's not online."  Go here to read Judy's post and the list of alternatives she suggests when a source document one needs is not available on the web. [N.B. As is often the case, readers should also pay attention to the comments made on this post.]

6.  There are many stories now about the amazing discoveries that DNA technology and commercial testing have made possible.  People magazine had one such story recently and The Weekly Genealogist of NEHGS linked to it this week.  You can read the article here.  It involves a man who found the biological parents he thought died 50 years ago.

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Copyright 2019, John D. Tew
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A Goose Here, A Goose There Every Day, But Never The Elusive Moose! -- Friday Fotos (November 8, 2019)

In the early 1970s, Molly's parents bought a lakeside Adirondack "camp"[1] out Mt. Whitney Rd. on Lake Placid.  They had the camp for just over three decades.  Our sons went up there every summer from the year each was born until the early 2000s when the camp was donated to Cornell University (where both of Molly's parents attended undergraduate and/or graduate school).

Molly's parents' camp on Lake Placid

The Adirondack Park in upstate New York is a gem of protected nature and wilderness.  It encompasses about a third of New York State's total land mass. [2]  It is unique within the United States.  The Park was created by the state legislature in 1892 and now comprises about 9,375 square miles (six-million acres) of northern woodlands and lakes.  This means the Park is about the size of the state of Vermont and it is three times the size of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming; in fact it is larger in size than Yellowstone, Everglades, Glacier, and Grand Canyon National Park combined!  The park is a combination of both public and private land and more than half of its land mass is privately owned.  About 45% of the land has been designated as "forever wild" in the New York state constitution.  The private land is committed to 105 towns and villages, farms, businesses, etc.  The year round population in the Park is around 130,000 and another 200,000 seasonal residents arrive in the summer.  About 10 million people visit the Adirondack Park each year and unlike national parks there are no entrance toll booths and no fees for entering the Park.

The Adirondack Park -- especially in the forever wild areas and in areas that have not been over developed with camps -- has a wide variety of wildlife.  Over the years we have seen deer, coyotes, beavers, otters, eagles, black bears, a Great Horned owl, loons, Canada geese, herons, skunks, hawks, and other wildlife too numerous to list here.  But, despite the numerous signs such as the one below warning of moose in the area -- and our constant vigilant eyes when in "moosy areas" -- we never saw a moose in the wild .  .  . until this past August when we visited Molly's sister Kathy who lives in Saranac Lake, NY.

A typical Adirondack roadside sign warning of moose habit ahead

When we arrived in the late afternoon, Kathy announced as soon as we pulled into her driveway that a moose had been sighted numerous times in late afternoon feeding in the shallows on the banks of the Saranc River north of the village.  She had seen it and so we got back into the cars and went off to finally find and see an Adirondack moose.

It is estimated that there are only between 500 and 700 moose in the entire state of New York, but the only population outside the Park is near Lake Desolation south of Great Sacandaga Lake, which is in the southern-most part of the Park.  With that said, sightings of an Adirondack moose are rare and in more than 40 years of trying to see one we failed until this past August!  They are out there, but they are basically very shy and not comfortable near human populations.  Yet, the greatest danger to the moose is collisions with fast-moving vehicles on roads in the Park.  Luckily for us, the five most likely places within the Park to see a moose include the Saranac Lake area (the other four are Vermontville, Limekiln Lake -- Cedar River Road,  and Lake Lila).

We drove slowly up along the Saranac River a couple of times and finally on the last pass Kathy spotted the moose.  We parked and walked back on the shoulder of the road.  I was armed with my digital camera and two telephoto lenses.  Below is the result .  .  . FINALLY!  😊😊

      

Three views of the real Adirondack moose in the wild finally caught on camera

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Copyright 2019, John D. Tew
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[1]   In the Adirondacks a lakeside or woodland cabin is often referred to as a "camp" rather than a cottage or even a cabin.  The so-called "Great Camps" were not the summer camps for children that we most often think of when talking about camps today.  Instead, a Great Camp was a lakeside, grandiose compound of a main residence and associated cabins for guests to sleep in or for other uses.  One Great Camp even had an outdoor bowling alley with a roof and open sides.  The Great Camps were mostly built in the late 1800s and early 1900s as summer homes for the wealthy to enjoy cooler weather, swimming, boating, fishing and other activities in nature's wilderness areas.  [For more info on Great Camps see, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Camps]  As the lakes and woods of the Adirondacks developed, just as "a man's home became his castle," the later more modest summer homes on a lake or out in the woods became known as a "camp" rather than a cottage or cabin."

[2]  See https://parks.ny.gov/regions/adirondack/default.aspx

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Saturday Serendipity (November 2, 2019)

The following are recommended reads for this weekend.

1.  The Weekly Genealogist of NEHGS highlights a "Story of Interest" this week from Smithsonian.com about the Center for American War Letters at Chapman University in California and a project to preserve a million war letters.  You can read the article here. 

2.  Much as we all know that we should back-up our genealogy files, it is instructive and a good reminder tool to read the frequent stories and blog posts about the failure to back-up.  This week Russell Worthington of Family Tree Maker User blog shares his experience with a version of FTM when he discovered that his source citations were gone.  It is a back-up caution tale, but "Cousin Russ" also explains his plan for rectifying the situation.  You can read the original post here and then read his updates as he posts them.

3.  With Halloween occurring this past week, there was a plethora of posts on the subject.  Janice Brown of Cow Hampshire: New Hampshire's History Blog posted "An 1873 New Hampshire Halloween" that describes the Scottish Halloween tradition of Hallowmas.  Janice also helpfully appends an explanation of "Halloween Sports and Customs" that appeared in an 1885 volume of Harper's Young People Magazine.  You can read the post and addendum here.

4.   For those of us who like to use our devices until they are worn out or we are forced by the technology giants to update/renew or die, Apple has been publicizing a warning regarding older iPads and iPhones (those from 2012 or earlier).  Genealogy's Star author James Tanner obligingly posted a good explanation of the notice with helpful instructions.  If you think this warning might affect you and you do not want to lose the ability to connect to the internet on an affected device, you better read the post here.  You have to act before  midnight UTC on November 3rd (meaning midnight tonight)!  Mr. Tanner also has a new series called "Photography basics for Genealogists" that is interesting and useful.  You can read the first installment here and then check out Part 2 from this past week here.

5.  Judy Russell, The Legal Genealogist, had a post this week that illustrates a few lessons.  Her primary point for the post was to give an example of why one should always consider local jurisdiction laws a valuable research tool.  Another implicit lesson could be the need for caution in accepting indexing transcriptions when the transcription is unfamiliar and the handwriting is not easily read by you.  Judy's example is an index transcription of a woman's occupation as a "Public Shafter."  The handwriting and spelling leave much to be desired, but to me it clearly did not say "Public Shafter."  In fact it looked to me like the handwriting was three words not two.  See what you think before reading down to the ultimate reveal in the comments (with which I agreed) and keep this one in mind next time you come across indexing transcriptions that just do not look right. Read the post here. 

6.  Did you know that you can have your immigrant ancestors' names carved into the Ellis Island Wall of Honor?  I did not know that this was possible until I read a post by Marian Wood of Climbing My Family Tree blog this week.  There is a cost associated with ordering an ancestor's name to be carved into the wall and, as Marian informs us, there are only five panels left in the memorial wall.  If you have immigrant ancestors, you might want to read Marian's post here.

7.  This week Barbara Poole of Life From the Roots blog celebrated 10 years of blogging, 30 years of doing genealogy, and 50 years of life with her travel companion, genealogy partner, and husband.  Read about these ongoing adventures here.  

8.  And finally, reminders for two annual November events by genealogy bloggers.  Heather Rojo of Nutfield Genealogy is also the originator of the Honor Roll Project to gather the names from all war memorials and honor rolls to be put into a searchable database.  Read about the project and an explanation of how to take part by going to Heather's notice posted here.  There is just over a week left to participate in the Veteran's Day posts.  Bill West of West in New England blog hosts an annual genealogy poetry challenge.  You can read about how to participate by going here.  Bill posts the submissions on Thanksgiving Day (November 28th this year), but he needs your submission by on or by November 21st!

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Copyright 2019, John D. Tew

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Friday Fotos -- Three generations of Cider Fun (November 1, 2019)

Freshly washed drops ready to make into apple cider.

Last weekend we gathered "drops" at a local pick-your-own apple orchard.  Drops are those apples that have dropped from the trees due to wind, wildlife foraging for apples, or people who dislodge apples while apple picking and then do not want to pick up apples that have touched the ground OR have picked a blemished apple and upon realizing it simply drop the apple and pick another unblemished one.  Many drops are perfectly fine apples or merely blemished.  They are excellent apples for making cider because the chopped apples are caught in a filter bag before crushing and therefore stems, leaves, blemished skins, etc., are caught and do not make it into the juice runoff.  More importantly, drops are usually sold at a much lower cost than pick-your-own prices ($3.00/basket as opposed to $1.25/pound at our local orchard).  Many, if not most, apple orchards are happy to have drops cleaned up by hunters who use apples as bait or cider makers who don't mind blemished apples or apples that have been sitting on the ground.

Getting apples for cider with our two granddaughters.

Today Molly and I and our daughter-in-law with our two granddaughters made some cider on a manual press that has been in the family for decades.  Our granddaughters are the third generation to make gallons of homemade, unadulterated autumn apple cider.  It seems it is becoming a Tew family tradition.

The girls crushing the apple mash to make the fresh cider.

In the above photo, apples have been placed in the black hopper at the top center of the press.  The wheel to the left was then turned so that the drum with metal teeth inside the hopper grabs and chops up the apples into a mash that then drops through the bottom of the hopper into the filter bag in the round, wood-slatted basket.  The girls are lowering a long screw that will then press a wooden block inside the basket against the apple mash to squeeze the juice out of the fruit mash and .  .  .  produce the wonderfully fresh apple cider that is shown running out of the collection tray into a stainless steel pot before it is divided into half gallon plastic jugs.

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All photos by Pamela Winkler Tew.

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Copyright 2019, John D. Tew

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Witch and Warlock?? -- How a Genealogy Journal Article Led to an Accused Witchy Woman and Her Warlock Husband Hiding in My Genealogy (October 28, 2019)

                          

I've been waiting for an appropriate time to post this recent genealogy discovery and, given the subject matter, the month of October seems to be just right.  The timing also coincides with two items on this blog in recent Saturday Serendipity posts: (1) Item #7 in the September 28th Saturday Serendipity noting a New England Folklore story related to the Salem Witch Trials; and (2) Item #1 in the September 21st Saturday Serendipity about the value of reading academic genealogy journals published by various genealogical organizations.  This post gives me the opportunity to weave together items of interest from some Saturday Serendipity posts with recent probable additions to my genealogy.

The story begins with the fact that one of my 4th great grandmothers is Amey Bishop.  Amey was born in Cumberland, Rhode Island on April 22, 1781.  She married Asquire/Asquare Miller before 1800 when the first of their children, Aurin Miller, was born on April 22, 1800 (his mother's birthday).  Amey died in Cumberland on October 31, 1864.  Both Amey [Bishop] Miller and her husband Asquare/Asquire Miller are buried in Rhode Island Historical Cemetery, Cumberland 3 [1]   located on Dexter Street  in Cumberland, RI.  The cemetery is a short walk from what was the Miller homestead at 551 High Street (also now known as Rte. 114) in Cumberland.

    

Amey [nee Bishop] Miller's parents were Naamon/Namon Bishop and his wife, Hannah [nee Grant] Bishop. Hannah [Grant] Bishop (1753 - 1805) is also interred at Rhode Island Historical Cemetery, Cumberland 3.

Cumberland Cemetery 3 was incorporated by an Act of the Rhode Island General Assembly in 1870. Among the eight incorporators of the cemetery was Eber Miller (1805 - 1877), my 3x great grandfather and the son of Amey [Bishop] Miller (1781 - 1864) and Asquire Miller (1775 - 1825).   Eber Miller and his wife, Abby Hunt (1807 -1893) are also interred in Cumberland Cemetery 3.  I have known for some time about my Bishop ancestors and that they are interred in the historical Cumberland Cemetery 3 along with several of my Miller and Carpenter ancestors and relatives. [2]  

As many genealogists habitually do, I review all the genealogy journals I receive as a result of membership in genealogy organizations, and I peruse other genealogy journals I come across in libraries or elsewhere.  Whenever I browse such journals, the first thing I am looking for is surnames that I know are in my genealogy.  It is not often that I come across a familiar surname that appears to deserve additional attention and research to determine if there is a family connection, but recently I did just that with the Bishop surname.

Because of my Bishop ancestors, when I received the Winter 2019 issue of The Register the first item that caught my eye in the table of contents was the article by Nancy R. Stevens, "Edward Bishop (ca. 1618 - 1697) of Salem and Beverly, Massachusetts." [3]  

The goal of the Nancy Stevens article (hereafter "Stevens") was to further clarify the confusion found in the well-known work, New England Marriages Prior to 1700 by Clarence Almon Torrey.  Torrey's original compilation of marriages lists a total of five Edward Bishops who lived at one time in Salem, Massachusetts. Three of the five Edward Bishops are designated as Edward [1] and the two others are designated as Edward [2] and Edward [3], respectively. [4]  The Third Supplement to Torrey's New England Marriages Prior to 1700 by Melinde Lutz Sanborn (2003) adds yet another Edward Bishop who is noted as being "not Edward [1]."  The Supplement addition of the Edward Bishop who was not the same as Torrey's Edward [1] was undoubtedly based on the 1981 - 1982 work of David L. Greene [5] who established that a sawyer named Edward Bishop married Bridget Playfer/Wasselbe/Oliver in Salem sometime before 1680.  As both Greene and Robert Charles Anderson [6] noted, Bridget Playfer/Wasselbe/Oliver/Bishop had the unfortunate fate to be the first person executed during the 1692 Salem witch trials.  Torrey had originally (and erroneously) attributed the marriage of "Bridget (Warsilbe) (Oliver)" as the second marriage of Edward [1], widower of Hannah Bishop.  [Stevens also points out in her article that the third marriage Torrey originally attributed to Edward [1] -- that to Elizabeth (Lambert) Cash -- "is probably for Edward the sawyer as well."]

In reading and re-reading the Stevens article, it was the carefully documented story of Edward [1] that grabbed my attention and sent me to my maternal Carpenter/Miller/Bishop line to do further research on my 4th great grandmother, Amey Bishop's, paternal genealogy.  The Stevens article had as its central purpose the indentification of "records created by or about Edward [1] Bishop and [to] present a genealogical summary of his children and grandchildren."  My purpose was to try to work backwards from Amey's parents to see if her genealogy (and thus mine) connected to Edward [1], and particularly his son Edward [2] who left Salem and moved to Rehoboth, Massachusetts where he was an innkeeper until he died in Rehoboth on May 12, 1711. 

The presence of Edward [2] and his wife Sarah in Rehoboth was of great interest to me because my 2x great grandfather, Samuel Carpenter, was born in Rehoboth as were both his parents and all his male line back five additional generations.  Samuel Carpenter (1828 - 1904) married Ruth Ann Miller (1828 - 1893) of Cumberland, Rhode Island who was the granddaughter of Amey [Bishop] Miller and her husband, Asquire/Asquare Miller.  And Amey Bishop's father, Naamon Bishop, was born in Rehoboth in 1746.    

The basic biography for Edward [1] was summarized by Stevens as follows: "Edward [1] Bishop was born about 1618 (age in 1680 and 1681), probably in England, and died by 7 November 1697, probably in Beverly, where he lived.  He married probably in Salem about 1645, Hannah _____."

Through careful analysis of the record trail left by Edward [1], Stevens established his presence in Salem and then Beverly from about 1641 until his death in 1697.  Edward [1] and his wife Hannah had three children (two daughters and one son) who were all baptised in Salem: Hannah Bishop married Wiliam Raymond and had five children; Edward [2] Bishop married Sarah Wild and had eleven children; and Mary Bishop married Robert Coburn and had eleven children.

All of the eleven children of Edward [2] Bishop and his wife Sarah [Wild] Bishop were born in either Salem or Beverly, Massachusetts according to the Stevens article.  But only two of their nine sons had any stated connection to Rehoboth -- Jonathan Bishop, who married Abigail Averill, died in Rehoboth in February 1752, and John Bishop, who married twice, died in Rehoboth in September 1748.  So the question for me became, "Did Amey [Bishop] Miller's father Naamon Bishop, who was born in Rehoboth, have any genealogical connection to either Jonathan Bishop (abt. 1675 - 1752) or his younger brother John Bishop (1689 - 1748) and thus to Edward [2] Bishop and his wife Sarah [Wild] Bishop who moved to Rehoboth in 1703?" 

Naamon Bishop's parents were Gould Bishop (born 1703 in Beverly) and Mary [Pullen] Bishop (1712 in Rehoboth - 1756).  Gould Bishop's parents (and thus Naamon's grandparents and Amey [Bishop] Miller's great grandparents) were .  .  .  Jonathan Bishop and his wife Abigail [Averill] Bishop!  And so the answer to my question is that there was a genealogical connection between my 4x great grandmother Amey [Bishop] Miller and both Edward [2] Bishop and his father Edward [1] Bishop.  It appears that Edward [2] Bishop and Sarah [Wild] Bishop are my 8x great grandparents.

So why did the possibility of this genealogical connection back to Edward [1] and Edward [2] interest me so much?  It is because both of these Edward Bishops lived in Salem, Massachusetts during the period of February 1692 to May 1693 when the Salem witch trials occurred.  During that time more than 200 people were accused and 19 were found guilty and executed by hanging (14 women and 5 men).  In addition, one man was crushed to death for refusing to plead and five other people died in jail. [7]

Neither Edward [1] nor his wife Hannah were among the accused during the Salem witchcraft hysteria even though both of them signed a petition in defense of Rebecca Nurse.  Tragically, Rebecca was nonetheless executed on July 19, 1692 for witchcraft involving the killing of seven babies supposedly by using her spirit!

Edward [2] and his wife, Sarah [Wild/Wildes] Bishop daughter of John and Priscilla [Gould] Wild, were not so lucky because both of them were accused of witchcraft and imprisoned in the spring of 1692!  They were transferred to the jail in Boston, but escaped in October 1692. [8]  Eventually they removed to Rehoboth where Edward [2] became an innkeeper.  Both of them died in Rehoboth.  Their son Jonathan Bishop, a sadler, also died in Rehoboth and he and his wife, Abigail [Averill] Bishop, had a son Gould Bishop (who appears to have been named after his great grandmother, Priscilla [Gould] Wild).  Gould Bishop married Mary Pullen in Rehoboth on March 15, 1733 and the second of their three sons was Naamon Bishop born in Rehoboth on January 24, 1746.  Naamon married Hannah Grant in Cumberland, Rhode Island on December 24, 1778.  Naamon and Hannah had two daughters -- Nancy Bishop [9] and Amey Bishop.  As mentioned at the top of this post, Hannah [Grant] Bishop is buried in Cumberland Cemetery 3 and so is her daughter Amey, who is buried with her husband Asquire/Asquare Miller [10]. 

And so, with Halloween and depictions of witches and warlocks popping up on lawns, in stores, and in the costumes of trick-or-treating children, 'tis the season to contemplate the existence of witchcraft.  While I do not believe my 8th great grandparents were a witch and warlock couple, clearly some in Salem, Massachusetts in the spring of 1692 believed they were and accused them of such fabricated evil.  The accusations were taken seriously enough by the supposedly godly powers that governed Salem and nearby communities, that Edward [2] Bishop and his wife Sarah were imprisoned to await trial and possible execution -- but they were fortunate enough to escape and live a full life in Rehoboth, Massachusetts!  

All of the above having been said, however, perhaps I might reconsider if a witch and warlock are sitting in my geneaology IF on Halloween night either of my young granddaughters twitches her nose and things start flying about the room.

😉

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[1]  See the six-part series on Cumberland Cemetery 3 beginning with the initial post of May 20, 2016 and the documents and photos presented there.

[2]  As explained in my blog series on Cumberland Cemetery 3, my mother's father (my maternal grandfather), Everett S. Carpenter (1891 - 1962), was the last Secretary/Treasurer of the Cumberland Cemetery and it was from him that all the documents relating to the Cumberland Cemetery eventually came to me so that the information and names contained in them could be published and shared with others.  See also, John D. Tew, "Discoveries About Cumberland Cemetery 3," Rhode Island Roots, Journal of the Rhode Island Genealogical Society, 43 (December 2017): 211 - 226.

[3]  Nancy R. Stevens, "Edward Bishop (ca. 1618 - 1697) of Salem and Beverly, Massachusetts," The New England Historical and Genealogical Register -- The Journal of American Genealogy 173 (Winter 2019): 52 - 65.

[4]  With respect to Edward [2] and Edward [3], Stevens observes that the one entry in Torrey's original compilation for each of these Edwards "have stood the test of time" and they are the son of Edward [1] and the grandson of Edward [1] respectively.

[5]  David L. Greene. "Salem Witches I: Bridget Bishop," The American Genealogist 57 (1981): 129 - 138; 58 (1982): 163.

[6]  Robert Charles Anderson, "Bridget (Playfer) (Wasselbe)(Oliver) Bishop: Her Origin and First Husband," The American Genealogist 64 (1989): 207.

[7]  See, "Salem witch trials" at Wikipedia.

[8]  See, "Edward Bishop (Salem witch trials)" at Wikipedia.

[9]  My 2x great grandfather, Samuel Carpenter (who married Ruth Ann Miller, daughter of Eber Miller), had tthree children: my great grandfather Samual Eber Carpenter and his two sisters Abby Laura Carpenter, and Nancy Bishop Carpenter.  Nancy Bishop Carpenter was named after her great grandmother Amey [Bishop] Carpenter's sister, Nancy Bishop.

[10]  My Miller ancestors in Cumberland, Rhode Island also originally came from Rehoboth.  The Millard/Miller family had been living there for four generations when Peter Miller (who was born in Rehoboth) married Anne Aldrich of Cumberland in November 1766 and relocated to Cumberland.  It was Peter Miller who built (sometime around 1767) what became the Miller/Carpenter homestead on High Street in Cumberland. 

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Copyright 2019, John D. Tew

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Saturday Serendipity (October 26, 2019)

1.     Since the month of October is on the wane and temperatures are dropping in many areas of the country, it is the time of year to talk about "when the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock."  If you have never read the poem that is the source for the fall expression "the frost is on the pumpkin," then Bill West of West in New England blog has done the favor of posting James Whitcomb Riley's entire poem this week.  You can read it here.

2.     I'm not the only one who has wondered just how Randy Seaver keeps up the blogging pace he has maintained for years.  At some point I even wondered if Randy had a secret staff that read and fed him articles, posts, and links for all the amazing content he manages to include on his blog.  This week Randy responded to the specific inquiry of some other John (not me) about how he gathers his weekly Best of the Genea-Blogs and his bi-weekly Genealogy News Bytes.  It turns out Randy does not have a hidden staff and he reveals his secret in a post this week that you can read here.

3.     With Halloween a mere five days from today, an interesting post was contributed this week by Peter Muise of New England Folklore blog.  Peter explains about special names associated with the actual Day of Halloween and the few nights before Halloween.  The author's mother remembers that in the 1940s there were three nights associated with Halloween in Haverhill, Massachusetts!  I lived in Salem Depot, NH and then Concord, NH in the late 1950s through 1965 and I only recall Halloween as the night of October 31st.  The worst thing associated with Halloween in Concord was the older teens who stole candy from younger kids.  Back then, many of us used old cloth pillow cases as our bags for collected candy.  Teenagers with no costumes except some kind of mask would come up and talk nicely asking if we had any good candy, etc. and then in a flash they would knife our bags so the candy scattered.  They quickly collected the best of the candy they could locate.  It was dangerous and outright mean.  But when my family moved to south central New Jersey I was exposed to "Mischief Night," which was the night before Halloween when kids would egg houses, throw toilet paper into trees, soap car windows, spray shaving cream all over anything they desired, and commit other acts of vandalism such as smearing fudge or butterscotch toppings on house picture windows.  I guess the grocery stores saw exploding sales of eggs, TP, shaving cream, soap bars, and dessert toppings in the days before the week of Halloween, but home owners hated it and often stood watch over their properties until past midnight -- and that in many cases just added to the challenge.   Read about the special names associated with the time of Halloween by reading "Pickets, Cabbages, and the Pigman: Halloween Lore" by going here.

4.     They say that drinking warm milk can help one fall asleep.  But what does drinking warm goat milk the way Heather Wilkinso Rojo illustrates in a family photograph do for someone?  Perhaps it is what one does after having a lot of wine with your friends? 😀  See Heather's funny Photo Friday here.  [Oh, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Heather.]

5.     This week Judy Russell, The Legal Genealogist,  posted a very interesting photo of an unknown antique device.  Have a look here first and then scroll down to read the comments.

6.     At some point all genealogists come to learn about the extremely sorrowful destruction of the 1890 Federal Census "due to a fire in the building where the records were stored."  And that usually is as far as the explanation goes.  This week The Weekly Geneaologist of NEHGS provided a link to an article that gives us all a more detailed explanation of the loss of the 1890 Census due to two fires (1896 & 1921).  You can read it here.

7.     And finally, most genealogists are fascinated by photographs (and especially old photographs).  Another "Story of Interest" highlighted in The Weekly Genealogist by NEHGS is an article titled "19 Of The Oldest Photographs From The History of Photography."  Have a look here.

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Copyright 2019, John D. Tew

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Saturday Serendipity (October 12, 2019)

The following are suggested reads for this weekend .  .  .

1.     With the advent of genetic genealogy, genealogists have been given a powerful new tool for researching their biological families.  Use of the DNA tool has been growing exponentially since at least 2016 as found by two different MIT Technology Review articles.  In 2017 the number of people who had their DNA tested by direct-to-consumer genetic genealogy kits more than doubled -- and then in 2018 more people purchased consumer DNA tests than in all previous years combined! But as we have all read or heard by now, genealogists and those merely interested in the entertainment value of discovering their ethnic make-up are not the only ones fascinated by genetic gnealogy.  Law enforcement has entered the era of forensic genealogy for purposes of solving otherwise unresolved crimes.  In one high visibility case, that of the so-called "Golden State Killer," genetic genealogy led to the arraignment of Joseph James DeAngelo, age 73, for the kidnapping and murder of thirteen people.  Since the famous break in the Golden State Killer case, dozens of rapes and killings have now been resolved through the use of genetic genealogy.  This has prompted both privacy and constitutional questions -- and in at least one early case using genetic genealogy techniques one man was misidentified as a murder suspect.  For those interested in this topic, a must read/listen is last weekend's radio broadcast of The Center for Investigative Reporting's Reveal News.org presentation of "Catch a Killer With Your DNA."  Follow the link to either read the transcript or listen to the radio broadcast.

2.     If the issues surrounding use of genetic genealogy and the links above intrigue you and you want to learn more about the fallout from law enforement's discovery and use of genetic genealogy databases, then you should also read an article highlighted in the most recent Weekly Genealogist by NEHGS.  "The Messy Consequences of the Golden State Killer Case" recently published in The Atlantic can be read here.  The article reviews how genealogy and crime fighting make for an uneasy mix and the reaction and actions taken by some genetic genealogy sites are presented.

3.     And if you are still interested in pursuing more genetic DNA stories, The Weekly Genealogist brought another DNA story to our attention this week.  The piece is a feel-good story that also raises yet another case of first impression and novel issues as fallout from the advent of genetic genealogy.   A woman in Chicago, who is now 45, met a young man, 25, for the very first time after she took an AncestryDNA test in 2017.  The results showed she was an exact match for an unknown man to whom she had no known family connection.  He was not a biological son and there was no known genealogical connection .  .  . and yet the DNA test was accurate, there was no testing error.  They had the same shared DNA -- and the DNA originated with the young man.  If you are intrigued, read the article here.  

4.     If you have (or perhaps wonder if you have) ancestors or relatives that graduated from Lowell High School in Lowell, Massachusetts around 1837 - 1878, then you should be aware that the New England Historical Genealogy Society (NEHGS)/American Ancestors just annouced the addition of a new database containing the names of more than 25,000 students at Lowell High School (LHS) during the 51 years between 1837 and 1878.  LHS was the first integrated co-educational high school in the country.  The database images list the LHS students and other information such as class rank, teachers names, and names of administrators. You can learn more and see the search application here.

5.         While Russell Worthington, aka "Cousin Russ" of Family Tree Maker User blog has been posting about the newly released FTM 2019 for a while now, the pre-ordered downloads have begun rolling out in the order the early purchases were made.  Earlier this week I received an email notice that my order was available for download.  The download is on my to-do list for this afternoon.  For those who already use and pre-ordered FTM 2019, this is a reminder that the orderly release for pre-orders is underway.  If you did pre-order or if you intend to order FTM 2019, I suggest you check our the various posts about FTM 2019 on Family Tree Maker User blog.  You can start with Russ's post "FTM 2019 -- Before You Install" and then surf to his other posts about some of the new features in the upgrade.  [Links are easily found in the alphabetical listing of topics on the left side of the blog page.]

6.     It has been quite a while since I mentioned a very interesting and informative blog called Heirlooms Reunited by Pam Beveridge.  Pam's blog is self-styled as a way for her to "bring to life the heirlooms [she] has collected over a lifetime."  The blog has an easy search engine and Pam goes to the effort to make surname and geographical locations simple to locate and get to.  Often she does research to discover more about the people associated with the photographs, autograph books, bibles, family registers, correspondence, etc. that she has and posts about.  Many of the items she has are available for purchase.  [I have no connection to Pam or her blog other than I like to browse it and see items that could relate to some of my ancestors or relatives.]  I recommend a visit when you have time to get drawn into purusing the site.  You never know what you might find that connects to your genealogy!  The most recent post from today can be viewed here.

7.     Janine Addams of Organize Your Family History blog had a post this week that provides excellent advice about using census records in your research.  I'll admit that some years back it took me a while to develop the simple little habit Janine addresses, but it one that any user of census records should absolutely adopt.  Curious what the simple habit is?  Find out here.  [Oh, and be sure to read the comments for more good advice.] 

8.     And finally for this week, Bill West of West in New England blog has a nice post about contributing memorials and information to Find-A-Grave.  Bill joined Find-A-Grave eight years ago and soon began taking gravestone photos.  He then began creating memorials of older graves where none had been posted before.  Bill has developed his own rules for making Find-A-Grave contributions and they are well worth reading whether or not you contribute yourself.  You can read Bill's post here.

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Copyright 2019, John D. Tew
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Saturday Serendipity (October 5, 2019)

The picks for this week's Saturday Serendipity are as follows .  .  .

1.     Marion Wood of Climbing My Family Tree blog, has a nice post about research creativity and tenacity.  Marian describes and illustrates her use of the 1915 and 1925 NY state census, a cousin's imaginative detective work in the 1900 US Census, Marian's use of the subsequent 1920 Census, and a map of the Bronx.  Did I mention this work was in search of determining when her maternal great aunt, Regina Farkas, was awarded a "Penmanship Certificate for General Proficiency in Muscular Movement Writing?"  A cousin of Marian's sent her the undated certificate and Marian's well developed genealogy curiosity sent her on a mission to determine when the certificate was awarded.  To read the well-documented research journey Marian embarked on -- and to see if she answered her question -- read the blog post "Researching Regina's Penmanship Award."

2.     This week The Weekly Genealogist of NEHGS had three interesting links to stories worth reading.  (1) A short piece by Laura Roselle, a Political Science professorat Elon University, discusses the importance of telling family stories and offers four guidance tips for writing the stories.  Read "How to tell family stories." (2)  Many New Englanders will be aware of the famous Boston Post cane.  As a PR advertisement idea in 1909, the newspaper created and sent out to 700 New England towns an ebony cane with an engraved 14-karat gold knob head.  The canes were to be presented to the oldest male in each town (in the 1930s the rule changed so that the oldest woman was included also).  The Boston Post no loger exists but some of the canes still do and are purportedly presented to the oldest citizens in towns to this day.  The town of Ashland, Massachusetts had its cane until the 1970s when it somehow disappeared.  Read "Ashland recovers long-lost Boston Post Cane," see photos of the cane, and learn what will be done with the cane.  (3)  If you are curious about the only season in the English language to have two widely accepted and used names, read the seasonally appropriate piece, "The Reason Why Americans Refer to Autumn as Fall."

3.     Vita Brevis, the NEHGS blog, also had an interesting piece this week.  Titled, "Understanding Leaf Hints," the article could be subtitled "Beware The Leaf Hints." Author, Christopher C. Child, presents an engaging and very interesting research quest to find a descendant of Benjamin Pierce (1757-1839) Governor of New Hampshire and father of President Franklin Pierce, who might have inherited the hereditary membership eligibility in the Soceity of the Cincinnati.  The quest started on Ancestry.com and continued based on a leaf hint.  As the author writes, it became a wild goose chase after a false match.

4.     One of the exciting eureka moments in genealogy research is finding information beyond the basic vitals of birth, death, marriage, children, divorce, baptism, etc. etc.  The discovery of reliable intel that gives detailed insight to the everyday experiences of an ancestor or relatives is pure genealogy gold.  It fleshes out the person and the life he or she actually lived and experienced.  It evokes in a way that simple, dry data points can never do.  It is the closet thing you can get to a conversation with a departed ancestor or relative where you can ask, "Well what was it like to _______?"  This week Nancy Messier of My Ancestors and Me blog shares the discovery of just such genealogy gold.  See if you agree by reading A 600 Bushel Harvest.

5.     Hmmmm, a genealogy with 498,980,000 individual entries?  That is a mere 1,020,000 folks short of half a billion ancestors in a family tree!  Wow.  James Tanner of Genealogy's Star blog brings this amazing claim for having the largest single interconnection family tree to our attention in "The Largest Single Family Tree."  The tree is "part of the FamilySearch.org Family Tree."  The mind boggles at the idea of a tree of nearly half a billion people. 😀

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Copyright 2019, John D. Tew

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