Saturday Serendipity (June 7, 2014)

Here are a few recommendations for inclusion on your reading list this week:  

1.  Those of us who are interested in (or absorbed by) genealogy are perhaps more conscious than others about the precious time each of us has on this planet. We genealogists study the time our ancestors and relatives spent and the things they did before shuffling off this mortal coil.  With this in mind, you really MUST take a look at  "Your Life In Weeks" at Wait But Why blog.  http://waitbutwhy.com/2014/05/life-weeks.html  In a very real sense, we genealogists are involved in the process of asking of our ancestors, "What did you do with your allotted weeks?"  And in so doing we might ask of ourselves, as the Wait But Why author suggests, "Are we making the most of our weeks?"  Have a read and maybe this article can serve as a writing prompt for you to post your thoughts on your blog.

2.   UpFront With NGS has a fascinating infographic on the history of languages in the United States.  Since we are largely a nation of immigrants that brought a number of languages with us to add to the native languages already here, you will find this infographic interesting and perhaps useful to your research.   http://upfront.ngsgenealogy.org/2014/06/many-languages-one-america-neat.html

3.   What could a penny buy back in  1949?  Well, penny candy was still a reality and bought more than a single piece of sweets.  Apparently it also bought the postage stamp necessary to send a not so subtle velvet-gloved guilt trip to a 3 1/2 year old who missed Sunday School.  I not only never got one of these, but I never knew they even existed -- until Donna Catterick of This I Leave blog shared it with us this past week.  Have a look at this obvious commercialized tool for Sunday School teachers to encourage attendance.  Does anyone else recall ever receiving one of these or have an example of another such "reminder?"

4.  If you have not heard or read about it yet, Ancestry announced that they will no longer be doing mtDNA or Y-DNA tests.  They have stated that they will focud on autosomal DNA testing.  If you have used Ancestry to do any DNA testing for family members, you should read Heather Rojo's post at Nutfield Genealogy blog here  http://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/06/a-new-hampshire-yankee-at-jamboree-day.html and consider your options for making sure you do not lose your DNA samples.

5.  At the risk of engaging in shameless self-promotion, if you have any family connection to Phillips Academy -- Andover, Massachusetts you might want to check out the companion posts at Barbara Poole's Life From The Roots blog and the post this past Thursday here at The Prism.  You can see some "then and now" photographs of the Phillips Andover campus from 1912-13 and 2014.

6.  Diane MacLean Boumenot of One Rhode Island Family blog posted a very  persuasive review of a new book titled, Advanced Genealogy Research Techniques.  Diane makes the case for why this is a different kind of genealogy research text and why it would be a good addition to one's genealogy library.

7.   Elizabeth Handler of From Maine to Kentucky blog posted a very useful summary of  genealogy and history related podcasts back on May 9th.  I am still catching up on my blog reading from a nearly month long hiatus in May and so I am late in recognizing and recommending this post.  If you have not seen it already, I recommend you go here and have a look.   http://frommainetokentucky.blogspot.com/2014/05/follow-friday-listen-to-podcasts.html

8.  And finally, thanks to a tip from NEHGS,  here is an interesting item that caught my attention for two reason: (1) it was about Johnny Appleseed (John Chapman) who I find to be an interesting real life character; and (2) it made me think about how we might be able to paint pictures of some of our ancestors where we also do not have actual photographic or other images to show what they looked like physically.  The writer of this article raises the possibility of "word pictures" based on descriptions left by those who knew or encountered him.  Well before I reached the last lines of the article ["I have yet to see a realistic portrait of Johnny Appleseed that came close to combining these eyewitness accounts.  Artists, take note."] I found myself thinking, "Why not assemble these word pictures and take them to a forensic artist to get what could be the closest accurate image of Johnny -- or some of our own ancestors using a similar process?"       

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Copyright 2014, John D. Tew

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The Best of Times For Genealogy -- With or Without Conference Attendance (June 6, 2014)

Harold Henderson of Midwestern Microhistory: A Genealogy Blog is a source for thoughtful and sometimes controversial opinions about genealogy, genealogy blogging, and genealogy education and certification among other subjects.  His post of several thought "Items" this past Thursday gave me some pause and reason to ruminate.  

Item three of "Wandering through the wilderness"  in particular was thought provoking.  I am a member of NEHGS, the "largest US genealogy society" to which Harold referred.  I pay my dues.  I read The Weekly Genealogist and often mention it in my Saturday Serendipity round-ups.  I respond to more of the weekly NEHGS polls than not -- and I have had a small piece published in American Ancestors.  But I am also among those who responded to the survey about genealogy conferences and admitted I was not planning on attending one in 2014.  

By the end of Harold's post, I got the distinct impression that perhaps I and my ilk were not learning because we were not planning to attend a genealogy conference this year.  I wondered briefly if I was indeed a genealogy slacker who should be ashamed.  But then I said to myself, "Wait a darned minute John. Perhaps Harold is missing another alphabetized series of possibilities and he is leaping to conclusions about the dedication to genealogy education (or lack thereof) that you and your ilk have simply because you do not plan to attend a genealogy conference during this particular trip around the sun."  To wit . . . 

(a)  Attendance at genealogy conferences can be expensive and run hundreds of dollars and more when the cost of transportation, lodging, meals, and conference fees are taken into account.  Not everyone with a deep interest in genealogy can devote limited resources to travel to a genealogy conference or conferences even once in a while, let alone each year.

(b)  Those who are not retired and still have to answer to that pesky activity called "one's day job," often (if not usually) have limited time off each year to divide among responsibilities such as family, home upkeep, vacations, etc.  Attending conferences takes time from these other responsibilities and is especially difficult if the conference is during the normal work week and at a distant location requiring travel, lodging, meals, and so on.  Unless one's occupation is as a professional genealogist, genealogy pursuits have to be done around the demands of making a living and functioning as a member of an existing family.  And many non-professional genealogists already struggle with spouses and children who tend to believe too much discretionary time and family resources are spent on genealogy and not enough on living breathing family. 

(c)  Regularly reading the available genealogy resources of society journals, organization magazines, and even the content of genealogy blogs surely has educational value for those who cannot attend conferences.  And what about the increasingly available and marketed genealogy webinars and livestreaming of conference sessions?  Do these count as conference "attendance?" 

(d)  The payment of annual dues to the likes of NEHGS, NGS and state and local genealogical societies is more than just the price of a membership card.  It brings with it the resources of access to extensive research databases, journals/periodicals, magazines, webinars, and opportunities to self-educate outside occasional conferences.  Imagine the percentage of those who make use of all these resources but cannot take the time or expend the funds to attend a conference at least once a year!

After engaging in my own  wanderings through the conference Item raised by Harold I felt much better.  In fact, I came to the belief that for genealogy this is not the best of times and the worst of times -- it is the best of times.  Indeed, it is a Golden Age with more resources available to more people at less expense than ever before -- and a conference is just one of myriad resources for genealogical education.  

It is hard to avoid the conclusion that, "You can lead a genealogist to conferences, but a pencil must be lead!"  

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Conference room image from http://www.sciencesurvivalblog.com/miscellaneous/predator-conferences-and-open-access-publishers_6826

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Copyright 2014, John D. Tew

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Phillips Andover in the Early 20th Century (June 5, 2014)

Arnold G. Tew's Phillips Andover urn (circa 1912)

As I have written previously here at The Prism, my paternal grandfather, Arnold G. Tew, lost his father in a tragic train accident when my grandfather was just three months past his sixth birthday.  His father was hit and killed by a train in Providence while on his way to work one day.  About 7 or 8 years later my grandfather was accepted to attend Phillips Academy -- Andover (“Phillips Andover”) prep school in Andover, Massachusetts.

A.G. Tew (kneeling) with classmate on
Phillips Academy -- Andover campus
circa 1913.

Since the family was of very modest means and probably barely considered middle class, it has always been an unsolved mystery about how my widowed great grandmother was able to afford to pay for her son’s attendance at Phillips Andover.  There is speculation that there might have been some insurance settlement for the death of my great grandfather, but that is unexplored and remains mere speculation.

My grandfather was lame from a congenital defect in one knee that could not be corrected despite at least two surgeries.  As a result of his knee malady, he was not able to play sports and so he read with a passion and skipped one or two grades prior to high school based on his academic performance.  The family circumstances and his scholastic ability probably contributed to his being accepted at Phillips Andover in about 1910.

1913 photo believed to have been taken by my grandfather.

In 1912, my grandfather was one of eight students at Phillips Andover from Rhode Island.  He was a “Junior Middler” or sophomore in the Classical Department.[1]  His mother, Margaret "Maggie" Tew, ran a rooming house in Andover and my grandfather was living in that home along with at least two other Phillips Andover students (William Joseph Hever of New York, NY and Phillip Williams Burges of Petersham, MA).  Unfortunately, the address of my great grandmother’s rooming house in Andover in 1912 is not yet known and perhaps never will be.

Phillips Andover had several school-owned dormitories or "cottages" in 1912 -- Bancroft, Bartlett, Eaton, Abbot, Andover, etc. – but there were also several rooming houses in addition to “Mrs. Tew’s.”  There was Mrs. Clark’s, Mr. McCurdy’s, Mr. Fletcher’s, Miss Merrill’s and Mrs. Whitney’s to name just a few.  All together the cottages and rooming houses provided a residence for the 566 Phillips Andover students in 1912.

Period post card from CardCow.com showing some of the student resident cottages at Phillips Academy -- Andover.

A.G. Tew's room in 1913-1914 -- Andover Cottage 9.

For some unknown reason, I have never yet visited Phillips Andover, but my blogging friend, Barbara Poole of Life From The Roots blog,  has generously shared some current photos of the campus taken during her recent visit there.  Barbara's photos can be viewed here.  I do have two of my grandfather’s yearbooks – Pot Pourri – from 1912 and 1914, several photographs from my grandfather’s time at Phillips Academy, and some images from a vintage postcard website (credited below).  Between Barbara’s blog post showing Phillips Academy today, and the photos shown here, a sense of the changing face of Phillips Andover over the last century can be seen.

The Academy Building (1912)

The new indoor swimming pool (1912)

South Hall under construction (April 26, 1912)

The new baseball diamond (1912)

A period post card from CardCow.com showing some of the academic buildings at Phillips Andover in the early 20th century.

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[1]  The four years at Phillips Andover consisted of the “Junior” or what would be called the freshman year in most high schools today (when the PA students were then called “preps”); the “Junior Middle” or sophomore year; the “Middle” or what would be recognized as the junior year in most high schools today; and the final “Senior” year.

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Photos of the Andover urn and of A.G. Tew and his classmate from the personal collection of the author.

Period post card images from CardCow.com as described.

Photographs of the Academy Building, the new indoor swimming pool, the construction of South Hall, and the new baseball diamond are all from the author's copy of the Phillips Andover 1912 "Pot Pourri" yearbook that belonged to his grandfather, Arnold G. Tew, Sr.

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Copyright 2014, John D. Tew

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Saturday Serendipity (May 31, 2014)

Here are a few recommendations for inclusion on your reading list this week:  

1.  Barbara Poole of Life From The Roots blog has been posting a very interesting and useful series -- photo tours of libraries in Massachusetts.  Not only are the photographs a pleasure to look at -- capturing the varying architecture of the library buildings inside and out -- but Barbara provides a very useful list of all the Massachusetts libraries she has visited that have genealogy departments.  This is a "must keep" list for anyone with family roots in Massachusetts and New England!

     

2.  Congratulations to Jana Last of Jana's Genealogy and Family History Blog on the two-year anniversary of providing weekly Friday lists of her "Fab Finds" -- articles and posts of interest to the genealogy blogosphere.  You should make Jana's blog a routine stop on Fridays.  Yesterday was Jana's 100th Fab Finds post.  Fabulous Jana . . .  Blog On!!      

3.   Diane MacLean Boumenot of One Rhode Island Family blog always posts interesting, useful and well-written items on her blog.  In the useful category was her post of May 18th about the Rhode Island Census of 1782.  Then there are Diane's posts that are step-by-step tours to the solution or exploration of a genealogy puzzle she is working on.  These posts are always an instructive pleasure to read and they are invariably accompanied by photo illustrations.  Such is the post of May 28th titled "Finding New Sources for Asa Aldrich."  Have a read and see what I mean.     

4.  I am often transfixed by photographs that capture a moment in time in the lives of people and also manage to illustrate something of the times in which they were taken.  A blogging friend from north of the border, Celia Lewis of Twigs and Trees blog, posted a photograph of her father holding up Celia's one-year-old older sister when he was home on leave during WW II.  The photo captures a smiling moment and a Canadian neighborhood in January 1943.  Look at the photo here.      

5.  Do you have Jewish roots in your family?  Here is a resource mentioned in Upfront With NGS this week -- an alleged site for the origin of almost all Ashkenazic Jewish names.  You can visit the site and begin researching Ashkenazic Jewish names in your family names here , but be aware that the article has been criticized by some in the Jewish community.  Be sure to read the post comment at Upfront by Emily Garber who provides web links so you can further investigate the controversy. 

6.  I was gratified to see that Upfront Mini Bytes this week recommended bookmarking one of my very favorite history/genealogy sites and one I often mention here -- The Vault on Slate.  An interesting resource posted by The Vault this week is an item about "redlining" -- the refusal of a loan or insurance to someone because they live in an area deemed to be a poor financial risk.  Read this post to learn about maps created by the Home Owner's Loan Corporation -- a New Deal governmental agency -- and maps by other organizations to understand how they categorized neighborhoods on so-called "security" maps to show the best and the hazardous areas.  These maps could be a tool to unlock some buried data and perhaps implications about the experience of one's ancestors if one has an address of former residences during the Depression and post-Depression era.  

7.  Are Getty Images now free for non-commercial bloggers to use?  Before you rush to start downloading, here are two posts you should read.  UpFront's recent Getty Images post here and the recommended post by the always current and informative Judy Russell, The Legal Genealogist.     
    
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Copyright 2014, John D. Tew

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Tombstone Tuesday (May 27, 2014) -- Abby Hunt Miller (1807 - 1893)

The tombstone pictured above was in bad shape when it was photographed in late March 2010 in the Cumberland Cemetery on Dexter Street in Cumberland, Rhode Island.  Time and the elements had worked on the stone so that the engravings were barely legible.  The stone reads. . . 

                                          ABBY MILLER

                                               Wife of

                                             Eber Miller

                                       Born March 17, 1807
                                       Died April 23, 1893

Abby is my 3rd great grandmother and she has been something of a mystery until just recently. Her parents were unknown and the only facts I had were those engraved on her headstone and family records and an artifact that indicated her maiden name was "Hunt."

Abby is going to be the subject of a future post.

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Photograph by the author (March 2010).
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Copyright 2014, John D. Tew
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Military Monday -- Heather's Honor Roll Project (Memorial Day, May 26, 2014)

Wallingford, Connecticut Town Hall

Among the Honor Roll memorials located on the grounds of the Wallingford, Connecticut Town Hall is one for "Fallen Men Of The Civil War From Wallingford."

The wording on this particular memorial is important to note because it points to the distinction between Memorial Day and Veterans Day here in the U.S.  While Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for the men and women who died while serving, Veterans Day celebrates those who served.

Originally Memorial Day was known as "Decoration Day."  Decoration Day was initiated after the American Civil War to commemorate both Confederate and Union soldiers who died while serving in the Civil War. The origins of Decoration Day and the claim to various "firsts" surrounding the holiday are varied if not controversial. You can read more about the background of Decoration Day and how the name for the holiday changed to Memorial Day beginning back in 1882 here at Wikipedia.  The name of the holiday was officially changed to Memorial Day by federal law in 1967 and in 1968 the "Uniform Monday Holiday Act" established Memorial Day as the last Monday in May each year.

In honor of Decoration Day/Memorial Day it is altogether fitting that this year's contribution to Heather's Honor Roll Project is a Civil War memorial located in Wallingford. Connecticut.  Credit for the photographs of the memorial go to  my cousin, Bruce Marquardt, who took photos of the Civil War, World War I, World  War II, Korean and Vietnam War memorials located on the grounds of the Wallingford Town Hall.  The World War I memorial was posted for Veteran's Day last year.  Future holiday posts will feature the memorials in Wallingford for World War II, Korea and Vietnam.    

There are 24 Wallingford, Connecticut men who died in service during the Civil War.  The names of  those who died are by rank and are not in overall alphabetical order.  While the name and ranks are clearly visible and legible in the photographs above, for purposes of searchability the names of the fallen transcribed below.

                           Arthur H. Dutton                                              Oliver S. Munson

                           George N. Bailey                                              John H. Boughton

                           Oscar Crusias                                                    Delevan W. Ives

                           Austin Phelps                                                    Patrick Condon

                           George V. Dagle                                                Edward B. Dolph

                           Bernard Dougherty                                            Demetrius S. Dowd

                           Patrick Dunn                                                      Edward Early

                           Edward Hazard                                                  William Maschmeyer

                           Frederick Mayer                                                Patrick Lynch

                           Thomas Lynch                                                   Harry Parson

                           Samuel Richards                                                Jonathan Swift

                           Edward Westerhood                                           William H. Moore

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Memorial Day image from http://nationalharbor.com/event/memorial-day.

All Memorial photographs by, and courtesy of, Bruce O. Marquardt.

Photograph of Wallingford Town Hall by the author.

Honor Roll name transcription by the author.

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Copyright 2014, John D. Tew

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Saturday Serendipity (May 24, 2014)

The month of May has turned into the first significant hiatus from blogging sine Filiopietism Prism was born in December 2012.  The combination of trips and paperwork to assist my parents with selection and application to a continuing care community in Pennsylvania, and travel to the Adirondacks to examine and submit an offer on a lakeside property (along with a little necessity called "a job"), have consumed almost this entire month and, sadly, left no time to blog.  Today marks a return to The Prism and some more regular posting I hope. 

Here are a few accumulated recommendations for inclusion on your reading list this week:  

1.  Readers of The Prism know of my long-time interest in the 1918 influenza epidemic [http://filiopietismprism.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-most-lethal-plague-in-history.html and http://filiopietismprism.blogspot.com/2013/01/the-great-influenza-pandemic-of-1918.html].  The Weekly Genealogist by NEHGS published about the "The Great Influenza Epidemic" recently and subsequently published reader accounts of how the epidemic affected families.  These posts make for fascinating reading for those interested in this world-wide catastrophe and for those who want to learn about a significant event that might be buried and undiscovered in their own genealogies.  You can see these posts here and here. 

     

2.  The families of veterans of the Revolutionary War had to prove their relationship to a veteran when applying for government pensions.  Many of them sent their proof in creative and beautiful ways.  You can see some examples of their relationship proofs at this article from The Vault.       

3.  A little-known and very sad chapter in U.S. history was the stripping of U.S. citizenship from thousands of American women who fell in love with and married men who were non-citizens.  This was all done pursuant to laws in the early part of the last century.  Since this was applied to thousands of women, many of us might have female ancestors or relatives who were mistreated in this way. Read about this injustice and the belated resolution of "regret" by the U.S. Senate here.  

4.  As mentioned here at The Prism and many other places, 2014 is the 100th Anniversary of the start of World War I.  Much attention is being devoted in the genealogy world to this signal event in many family histories.  To aid in your exploration of ancestor and relative memories and writings about this horrific war, you might find this piece on the slang names for German munitions of interest and of help in deciphering accounts of the war. For example, find out what Flying Pigs, Hissing Jennies, Jack Johnsons, Rum Jars, Sneeze Gas and Turtles were.     

5.  Do you have new arrivals to your family on the way in 2014?  If so, you might want to see what folks were naming their babies in 2013 -- either to emulate and join the crowd or to avoid overly popular names.  Go here to see the top male and female names for 2013 according to the Social Security Administration. 

6.  One of the most devastating storms to hit the northeast United States was the September 21, 1938 hurricane.  My father was 16 years old and living in Woonsocket, Rhode Island the day it arrived almost without warning.  He remembers well running around the neighborhood with a hastily donned leather football helmet looking for his missing younger brother -- who was discovered playing in a friends cellar completely oblivious to the storm raging outside.  A cache of essays about experiences during the storm has now been discovered in Fairhaven, CT.  You can read about them here.

7.  And finally, this "must-read" post by Heather Rojo on Nutfield Genealogy raises good points about the nature of genealogy blogs and blogging as well as the importance of speaking up when one believes an error has been made.  Like many things in life it is not what you say, but how you say it -- so berating comments, sarcasm, insults and the like are not acceptable, but well-intentioned inquiries and suggested corrections should always be welcomed.  As Heather points out, "The give and take of ideas and information is part of the whole blogger format."       
    
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Copyright 2014, John D. Tew

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Happy May Day (May 1, 2014) -- May Baskets Reprised. . .

The following is a reprise of a post from May 1, 2013 about an all but lost May Day tradition. 

In the minds of many people today (perhaps especially Baby Boomers and their parents), the 1st of May has come to be more associated with images of the huge military parades of the former Soviet Union through Moscow's Red Square -- and with International Workers' Day celebrating the international labor movement in more than 80 countries -- than with the ancient roots of the day as a  festival signaling the beginning of summer in the Northern Hemisphere and the rebirth, renewal, romance and reproduction associated with the warm growing season.

Many northern cultures around the world have festivities and traditions related to early May and the marking of the beginning of summer.  The celebrations and traditions go back millennia to pagan holidays such as the Celtic Beltrane, but they are also expressed in rites and traditions such as Morris dancing, the Maypole and the crowning of a May Queen.  For more about the variety of May Day celebrations and traditions, go here. 

In the United States, May Day traditions and celebrations have fallen into disfavor among many groups because of associations with the May Day parades of the USSR and/or association with perceptions of socialism and unions.  But, there was a time when the tradition of May Day baskets was widely practiced in America and the tradition survives in some areas of the country today.  The tradition most widely followed was the making of baskets to be filled with flowers (usually by children), which were then delivered to friends and neighbors -- especially adults and the elderly -- through a ding-dong-ditch method.  Ding-dong-ditch involved hanging the basket on the front doorknob, ringing the doorbell (or delivering a loud knock) and then running away quickly before being discovered or caught.  In the more romantic version of this tradition among young people, the recipient of the basket tried to catch the messenger and, if successful, a kiss could be exchanged.

Back in 1849 New England the tradition of May Day baskets was apparently widely known and seems to have been part of a rather staid courting tradition that might or might not have included such public displays of affection as kissing among the young participants.  Below is a nice example of the use of May Day baskets in young flirting or courting traditions in the early part of the 19th Century.  It is from my 2x great grandmother, Martha Amanda Shearman, to her future husband and my 2x great grandfather, Mason Freeman, on May 1st, 1849.  

Martha Shearman's May Day Basket note to Mason Freeman, her future husband.

The trasncription of Martha's note is as follows . . .

          Friend Mason

       This Basket Please except [sic] and flowers as a token of highest esteem from one that is your friend.  I know not in what light it may be considered or how it may be received but if it is acceptable please return it in your possetion [sic] as a token of acceptance and remember that she who hangs it wishes you health happiness and every other blessing which earth can afford and now friend I must bid you good night and as often as you look upon this basket cast one thought upon her who hangs it upon your door.

                                              May 1st 1849

              To Mr. Mason Freeman

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Photograph of the original note and envelope in the collection of the author.

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Copyright 2013, 2014,  John D. Tew

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