Saturday Serendipity (August 9, 2014)

The following are recommended for inclusion on your reading list this weekend: 

1.  Having just posted an obituary this past week, I recognize the value of finding these bits of genealogy gold.  Kenneth Marks of The Ancestor Hunt blog, has done us the service of formalizing a list of 30 different kinds of information you could find in the obituary of an ancestor or relative.  Read Kenneth's post here.  

2.  This week, UpFront With NGS gave a well-deserved shout out to one of the bloggers I follow. It was  for a 2013 post on how to use RootMapper.com.  Jana Last of Jana's Genealogy and Family History blog posted on October 15, 2013 about the ability to use RootsMapper to visually represent the migration routes of one's ancestors. This is a colorful and easily grasped graphic as Jana demonstrates in her post.  You need to have a Family Search account to use the RootMapper application.  Have a look at Jana's demonstration here.  

3.  Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings blog has an interesting post responding to Russ Worthingon's questions about recording data from Census Records . . .  What Census data do you record and how do you record it?  You can read Randy's response here and get a link to Russ Worthington's post originating the questions.  

4.  Is the exploration of DNA evidence now properly considered an element of the first factor of the Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS) -- to conduct a reasonably exhaustive search?  The Legal Genealogist, Judy Russell, weighs in on this question and, as always, provides an informative and thoughtful post on the question here.  

5.  Early in my career working for a firm in the Washington, D.C. area, I had many occasions for doing research at the Library of Congress (LOC) on Capitol Hill. Among the resources I used in those days before computers and digitized databases came into being, was the newspaper reading room in the John Adams Building of the LOC.  The reading room had a copy of every newspaper published in the U.S. and usually had them available within a couple of days of publication.  They also maintained a library of back issues in the non-public stacks that could be called up for viewing. Now James Tanner of Genealogy's Star blog has a post the reminds me of this great resource as a tool for genealogy research -- and it is available on line at the LOC website.  Read about this tool here. 

6.  Denise Levenick at The Family Curator blog, has come up with a short summer reading list for those interested in genealogy.  See Denise's picks here.  

7.  Having just returned from a trip to Iceland a few weeks ago, I found the post "Little Secrets AboutScandinavian Research" on K.C. Reid's Deeper Roots Genealogy blog  interesting.  The comparative table for Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden was particularly useful.  I thank Jana Last for her mention of the post and I am going to update my post of this past Thursday to suggest readers go to  K.C. Reid's post for additional information on Scandinavian naming conventions/laws. 

8. What were the odds? As part of a World War I commemoration project in Stockton, England, a group of young girls in Brownies selected the name of one of the 1,245 sailors and soldiers from Stockton who died in The Great War. Keira Wilson was given the name of William Brown and did she get a big surprise!  Thanks to a tip from The Weekly Genealogist of NEHGS, you can read about it here. 

9.  An finally, for those who were around and remember the events of Watergate (and for those who were not around and do not remember), today marks the 40th anniversary of the only resignation by a sitting U.S. President.  At noon on August 9, 1974, Richard M. Nixon resigned as President and the only unelected President of the U.S., Gerald R. Ford, took the oath of office. I was in downtown Philadelphia at the time of the resignation and every store had a radio or television tuned to minute-by-minute progression of the transition of power. 

It is time for our annual summer trip to the Adirondacks, so Saturday Serendipity and The Prism will be on hiatus this coming week.    

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Copyright 2014, John D. Tew

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Friday Fotos (August 8, 2014) -- Oscar Herbert Hasselbaum: Born One Hundred Twenty-five Years Ago Today

Two weekends ago I visited my parents and was delightfully surprised by some old photographs they had uncovered in going through some of their possessions as they prepare to move into their new apartment in a continuing care community in Pennsylvania.  The photograph above is one that I had never seen before and is one of only two or three photos I have of my paternal grandmother's only brother, my grand uncle Oscar Herbert Hasselbaum.

Oscar Hasselbaum was the only son of my great grandparents, Anton Hasselbaum (1857 - 1916) and Maria Johanna Richter (1859 - 1948). Anton and Maria had five daughters:  Mary (1888 - 1914); Olga (1896 -    ); my grandmother Huldah (1898 - 1983) and her twin sister Josephine (1898 - 1990); and Helena (1901 - 1982).

Oscar was born on August 8, 1889 in Providence, Rhode Island --  125 years ago today! He died on March 16, 1974 in Springfield, Massachusetts at age 84. 

As the photograph above shows, Oscar served during World War I.  He is the man on the left in the photograph.  The taller man on the right is unknown and the date and location of the camp are also unknown. Oscar was not quite 28 years old and living in Fresno, California when he registered for the draft on June 5, 1917.  He was married at the time and he was employed as an automobile electrician.

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Original photograph from the family collection.

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Copyright 2014, John D. Tew

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A Glacier, Trolls, Genealogy and Exotic Cuisine in Iceland (August 7, 2014)

This is actually a glacier near the 2010 volcanic eruption that brought European air travel to a temporary halt.  The black piles are volcanic dust from the eruption that filled holes and cracks and are now left to form a starkly beautiful black and white landscape atop the glacial ice as the ice continues to melt around the accumulated deposits.

I am still thinking back on our amazing trip to Iceland in July and so I am taking the opportunity to post just a few more photos taken on the trip, but in order to do so I am going to stretch a bit to make a genealogy connection.  

No, the couple above are not Icelandic relatives or typical of Icelanders in any way! They are large sculptures of trolls outside a store in downtown Reykjavik.  I avoided photographing them for days until we heard the stories about the role trolls play in Icelandic culture.  The Old Norse tales were used by J.R.R. Tolkien in the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.  If you recall the scene in the recent Hobbit movie installments where three trolls capture Bilbo and his dwarf companions, they are saved when the sun comes up and turns the trolls into stone.  This is right out of Old Norse/Icelandic stories and legends.  In Iceland many of the lava formations are said to be trolls that were out partying or otherwise carrying on too long and got caught out of their caves when the sun came up and so were turned to stone.  An example follows . . .

While you might be excused for thinking that this is a photograph of rock formations just off shore, these are actually a family of trolls who got carried away partying and did not get back before the sun came up and turned them to stone!

With respect to the genealogy connection for this post, it is quite interesting that in Icelandic genealogy they have what to our family nomenclature is a different and perhaps more confusing system for surnames --patronymics.  It seems to me that their system would give an extra challenge to mapping out genealogies, but it clearly works for them and they are a very genealogy-focused culture. According to one of our tour guides, Icelandic genealogy is very different due to their naming conventions and is probably difficult and confusing for those of us used to consistent family surnames across generations down male lines.  The traditional Icelandic surname system works as follows . . . 

With apologies to any Icelanders out there who will notice my mixing of Scandinavian names and my departure from common Icelandic names . . . 

Traditionally in Iceland a son takes as his surname the first name of his father so that Bjorn son of Olaf would be Bjorn Olafson (Olaf's son), whereas his male first cousin Per, who is the son of Olaf's brother Kristian would be Per Kristianson. Even though both Olaf and Kristian are brothers and as sons of Sven share the same surname Svenson, their sons who are first cousins have different last names. And just to make it more confusing, Bjorn's sister Sigriour would not be Sigriour Olafson -- she would be Sigriour Olafsdottir (Olaf's daughter).

Greenland shark meat being "processed."

And this last photo brings us to the subject of Icelandic cuisine.  The photo shows part of the processing of what some have called the most disgusting food in the world. Molly and I tried some and came away convinced that it is the preparation of the food that gives this delicacy its bad reputation and the unappetizing name that some have tagged it with -- "rotted shark." The taste was not bad at all and in fact was somewhat disappointing -- not disgusting at all and not overwhelmingly "fishy" as one might have expected.

The photo shows slabs of Greenland shark in an open air shed.  After having been cut from the shark and set into slatted wood bins to sit outside for about six weeks (for the bacteria and elements to work on it while the weight of compression helps to drain off liquids from the flesh), the slabs are hung from nails on rafters in the open shed -- for four or more months!  The bacteria and elements continue to work on the flesh until it turns the leathery color you see.  After this processing the outer part is cut away and a soft yellow-colored flesh is left to be consumed.

Why all the trouble to process the shark meat in this way? Well because otherwise the flesh is poisonous to humans.  The Greenland shark does not have kidneys to filter toxins and so the toxins are absorbed into the flesh of the animal -- unprocessed meat contains the poisons and so can kill.  We were left to wonder who decided to come up with the brilliant idea of putting the uncovered slabs of shark meat outside for about six months and then decided to actually eat what was previously known to be deadly!?  And who volunteered for that job?? 

A 100-year old female Greenland shark caught about three days before
this photo was taken.  It was part of by-catch that a traditional shark meat processor obtained.

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All photographs by the author (July 2014)

For more information about patronymics in Scandinavian genealogy and for a very useful chart comparing the traditions and laws in the Scandinavian countries, see K.C. Reid's recent post here http://finddeeperroots.wordpress.com/2014/08/05/little-secrets-about-scandinavian-research/ 

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Copyright 2014, John D. Tew

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Wordless Wednesday (August 6, 2014) -- Elisha Tew

Elisha Tew (July 30, 1856 - April 9, 1936)

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Scan of photograph and newspaper obituary from copies generously provided courtesy of cousin Don Benoit.

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Copyright 2014, John D. Tew

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And Oh What A Gift It Is . . . (August 5, 2014)

One of the major appeals of the pursuit of genealogy is the number of really kind, thoughtful and helpful people involved in the field either as amateurs or as professionals. But then this should not be a surprise for genealogy is after all all about family and family values!

Recently I made contact with Charlene Butler of West Greenwich, Rhode Island after finding a hint to a member of my Carpenter family on one of her trees at Ancestry.com. Surprisingly -- and thrillingly -- Charlene had a photograph of my 3X great grandmother in a Christmas card  sent by her granddaughter (my 1st cousin 3X removed).  Charlene's great great grandfather, Samuel Buffum Bullock (1810 - 1889) was a younger brother of my 3X great grandmother, Nancy Mason Bullock Carpenter (1793 - 1880), pictured in the card above and immediately below.

The 1908 holiday card containing Nancy Mason Bullock Carpenter's photograph was sent to an unknown recipient by Anna Carpenter Garlin Spencer, Nancy's granddaughter.  Anna inscribed the card containing the photograph, Grandma Carpenter from A.G.S. "In her mouth was the law of kindness." [1] The small card insert states,  With Christmas greetings is memory of one who embodied the spirit of Peace and Good will.  Dec. 25th 1908 Anna Garlin Spencer. 

I have written about Anna Carpenter Garlin Spencer several times here at The Prism.  Most recently was yesterday's post immediately below this entry, but see also the post of April 17, 2013 titled, The Remarkable Anna Carpenter (Garlin) Spencer.  Seeing both a photograph of an ancestor five generations back from me and the handwritten card from Anna made the discovery of Charlene's Bullock tree a thrill and Eureka moment for me. I emailed Charlene immediately and introduced myself.  Even though Charlene was out of town she answered me within hours and we have since exchanged emails and genealogy information several times. And, it turns out that Charlene and I are distant cousins through both my mother's Carpenter line and my father's Tew line!

The thrill of discovery of a photograph of an ancestor five generations back that I had never before seen and the accompanying handwriting sample of Anna C. Garlin Spencer was intensified by also discovering a double cousin, but there was yet more to come. Ten days ago on July 26th -- in the midst of an email exchange with Charlene she absolutely floored me with her kindness and generosity when she wrote, "I will be happy to send the card and picture to you since you're a direct descendant.  Please give me your address and I'll send it along."  Nancy Mason Bullock is also Charlene's 2nd great grand aunt and so is a fairly close relative, but Charlene unhesitatingly offered it to me once we established our relationship.  I never would have presumed to ask Charlene for the original photograph and card as I was thrilled just to have an electronic copy to add to my tree (with credit given to Charlene).  

The card and photograph from Charlene arrived in the mail four days ago and it has immediately become one of my most treasured genealogical artifacts. 

THANK YOU CHARLENE!!  

YOUR THOUGHTFULNESS AND GENEROSITY ARE OVERWHELMING!     

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Scanned image of the card and photograph from the original generously gifted to the author by Charlene Butler in late July 2014.

[1]  The quote written by Anna appears to come from "A Fragment" at p. 279 of The Universalist and Ladies Repository: 1833/1834, Volume 2.  

" . . . She was the most comely personage that ever my eyes beheld. She was the very personification of goodness, gentleness, and compassion, mildness, generosity, benevolence, forgiveness, charity -- for these shone conspicuously in all her actions. She seemed to breath the very atmosphere of love, and to hold converse with angels. In her mouth was the law of kindness.  Kindness beamed from her eyes, and pity seemed to flow in copious effusions, upon all the sons of grief, and unto all the children of affliction. As a mother, she was tender-hearted -- as a sister she was kind and obliging -- and as a wife, the heart of her husband did safely trust in her, and his confidence was never disappointed." 

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Copyright 2014, John D. Tew

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A Report Card Can Reveal So Much More Than Mere Grades (August 4, 2014)

Anna Carpenter Garlin Spencer ( 1851 - 1931)

Anna Carpenter Garlin is my 1st cousin 3X removed.  Her mother was the older sister of my great great grandfather, Samuel Carpenter.  Her grandparents, Joseph and Nancy (Bullock) Carpenter, are my 3X great grandparents.

Anna was born in Attleboro, Massachusetts in April 1851 and she died on February 12, 1931 in New York.  I have written about her previously here at The Prism.  A review of that earlier post will convince you that she was indeed a remarkable woman and I wish I could have met her.

Anna was an active suffragette, the first female ordained minister in Rhode Island, a professor at Columbia University, an academic author in sociology, and one of 19 women and 42 men who signed the "Call for the Lincoln Emancipation Conference in 1909" (later known simply as The Call).  The Call was a manifesto signed by a group of prominent African American and caucasian civic leaders and it is generally credited as being the founding document for what became the NAACP. Anna was a committed, activist woman and remarkable for her time or any time.

In May 1863, Anna Carpenter Garlin was twelve years old and she was attending Fountain Street Grammar School in Providence, Rhode Island.  She was a handful of years away from beginning almost two decades of employment as a writer for the Providence Daily Journal and six years away from four years of private college tutoring in Providence schools.  Below is the report card that Anna brought home for the grammar school term ending in May 1863. It is an interesting and revealing document about a pre-teen girl who was to become a noted social activist, academic and leader in the liberal religious and international peace movements of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

There were 21 students or "scholars" in Anna's class in May 1863 and she ranked 16th for the term ending that May.  Her "Percentage of Scholarship" was a mere 62% for the first half of the term and an even more disappointing 55% for the latter half of the term. Not exactly a budding academic!

But . . . one must read the report more closely to discern the additional information provided in the top half of the report. Anna missed a total of 34 days (almost seven weeks!) of the school term that ended in May 1863. So far there is no known record of the reason for the absences, but one can assume she must have been ill with a series of illnesses or a serious health crisis that took her out of school for a long block of time.  The report card tells us from her "Excellent" grade in Deportment that she was not absent due to some dislike or fear of school; it was something else and it was not because she had to struggle with the learning -- indeed it was quite the opposite.

Anna's teacher provides the proof that Anna was an excellent student and performed at the top of her class -- when she was present!  As the teacher stated, "Anna is a fine scholar & for the time she was present ranked one -- her percent being 98." 

This report card provides an elegant example of why we must read fully and deeply any historic genealogical document we come across.  There are many clues and questions just laying there to be found, interpreted and researched further.  From this simple bit of everyday information of 151 years ago, we are able to deduce that Anna Carpenter Garlin probably had some serious illness, series of minor illnesses, or some other complication that kept her from attending seven weeks of school when she was twelve years old.  A mystery awaiting a potential solution . . . 

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Photograph of Anna Carpenter Garlin and scan of Anna's May 1863 grammar school report card from  materials in the Anna Garlin Spencer Papers (DG 034), Swarthmore College Peace Collection.

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Copyright 2014, John D. Tew

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Saturday Serendipity (August 2, 2014)

In a first for this weekly post series, I am recommending only a single item for your reading/viewing this weekend.  It will take less than 5 minutes for you to read this brief introductory description and view the CNN video . . . but I suspect the story will stay with you for many hours afterward and will probably be recalled often as this 100th anniversary year for World War I transpires in the coming months.  

Please DO pass this story on to others so that these brothers -- like their American World War II counterparts -- are not forgotten.    

    Here we are 100 years after the start of World War I.  On June 28, 1914, Austria declared war on Serbia.  On August 1, 1914, Germany declared war on Russia and on August 3rd Germany invaded Belgium and declared war on France.  Then the next day, on August 4, 1914, Great Britain declared war on Germany and suddenly, irrevocably, the first "world war" -- the war to end all wars -- was on.

     On April 15, 2013 I wrote here about the Blue Star Mothers of America (founded in 1942 during World War II) in a post focusing on the WWII service of my father-in-law and his three brothers -- all of whom returned home after the war.  The post was also an opportunity to tell briefly the story of the five sons of Thomas and Alleta Sullivan of Waterloo, Iowa.  All five of their sons signed up to serve in the Navy on the condition they serve together -- and they all died together when their light cruiser, the USS Juneau, was torpedoed twice during the Battle of Guadalcanal and its immediate aftermath.

(Lto R) Joseph, Francis, Albert, Madison and George Sullivan.
Photo taken on board the USS Juneau 14 February 1942.

    Few here in America have ever heard of the four Shallis brothers from England who died one-by-one in The Great War (as the British called it). As we now officially begin the week that marked the start of the war to end all wars 100 years ago, I highly recommend that you take a few minutes to watch this poignant video report about the Shallis brothers of England and the ultimate sacrifice that the Shallis family made a century ago.  View the video here.  It is only 4 minutes long. 

The four sons of George and Kate Shallis from Halston, North London, England: Burt, Leo, Harry and George.

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The photograph of the five Sullivan brothers on Valentine's Day 1942 is in the public domain as a work created by an officer or employee of the United States as part of his or her official duties.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sullivanbrothers.jpg 

 The photographs of the four Shallis brothers is a screen shot taken from the CNN video at the link provided above.           

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Copyright 2014, John D. Tew

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Friday Fotos (August 1, 2014) -- Arnold G. Tew, Sr.

Arnold G. Tew, Sr.

The date of this photograph is unknown.  It was recently discovered by my parents in a scrapbook where it was simply labeled "Picture of my Father" in a child's block printing.

The man in the photograph is my paternal grandfather.  He was born October 15, 1896 in Central Falls, Rhode Island. He died suddenly during a business trip when he suffered a massive heart attack in Berlin, Connecticut on February 28, 1958 at age 61.

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Original photograph from the family collection.

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Copyright 2014, John D. Tew

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