This will be a short Follow Friday; it actually goes only through Wednesday, as I will be busy on Thursday and Friday. I hope to include posts from those days in next week's Follow Friday.
In “Is there confidentiality if it’s not your family?” Sue at It’s a long, long journey asks for feedback on publishing the results of research on a family that is not hers (she wanted to pursue a story she had found), especially when the subject is very sensitive.
At Family Stories, Caroline Pointer draws parallels (or not…) between the work ethics of today’s teenagers and our ancestors in “Life’s Not Fair” – jk, the subject is actually about how account books can give a picture of our ancestors’ lives – very interesting!
Amy at We Tree has some great advice for genealogy conference attendees in “The Rock Star’s Guide to Genealogy Conferences.” Gotta get me some cards….
At a3 Genealogy, Kathleen Brandt uses a newspaper article to illustrate the difference “getting the facts” (and all the facts, ma’am) makes in getting the true story in “Don’t Be a Poor Reporter” – a good parallel for our genealogy research and story-telling.
The GeneaBlogger community shows the power of pulling together this week: check out Carol’s Reflections from the Fence and Jennifer’s On a flesh and bone foundation: An Irish History – and please add your prayers and good wishes.
Brett Payne at Photo Sleuth has hit another home run this week: “Dating photos with the aid of trade directories.” His study centers around cabinet portraits that were taken in Detroit studios in the late nineteenth century. As usual, fascinating photographs and outstanding detective work! (Also check out “Move-O-Graph, The Live Portrait.”)
Tina introduces an idea whose time has come – “handex” – at Gen Wish List in “Summer of Genealogy Wishes – Handwriting Search Algorithm.”
Have you ever lived in a house like this? Read “The House Rules” at Donna Pointkouski’s What’s Past Is Prologue. Discuss.
Jennifer at Rainy Day Genealogy Readings writes about a subject that has always fascinated me in “Topics in Research-The Great Grasshopper Plague of ’74.”
A good cause is brought up by Sarah at Geneapprentice: “Petition for Better Access to Pennsylvania Vital Records.”
Happy 4th Blogoversary to Midge Frazel at Granite in My Blood.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Monday, June 7, 2010
Memory Monday: My Brother's Music
Once again, Barbara at Life from the Roots has provided me with inspiration for a post. Thank you, Barbara!
She posted about the Beach Boys. I commented that the Beach Boys and Jan and Dean were the soundtrack to my childhood in Southern California.
But the Beach Boys were my brother’s music. That is not saying that I didn’t adore their music – I did – but I wasn’t the one in the family to “discover” or “own” their music the way I did with the Beatles or the Stones. My brother had the singles and some of the albums; there was no reason for me to ask for my own records. (Even though he would never let me play his music on my own.)
Even though I was a preteen when I discovered the Beatles and the rest of the British Invasion, all of that music was really part of my teenage life.
But my childhood was defined by My Brother’s Music.
He had only singles (45s) until the very early sixties. And he had those little plastic thingies you had to put in the circular hole in the center to put it on the record player spindle. At some point it became possible to stack the records above the record that was playing, and after it had finished and the arm had retracted, the next record would slip down the spindle. I was fascinated by all these motions and by how the record player always knew what to do next.
I cannot remember the earliest music he would play, though one that has stuck in my mind is the song “Searchin’” by the Coasters. I also remember the yellow ATCO label. I must have been about three then. I also remember “Yakety Yak” by the Coasters, “Wake Up, Little Susie” by the Everly Brothers, “Johnny B. Goode” by Chuck Berry, “Blueberry Hill” by Fats Domino, “All Shook Up” by Elvis Presley, “Peggy Sue” by Buddy Holly, and “Chantilly Lace” by the Big Bopper. I remember that my mother loved a lot of these songs, too. Dad was more a pure C&W guy.
But the music that defined my brother’s tastes for me was played by the Beach Boys and Jan and Dean. Perhaps that was because he looked like a surfer. He wasn’t one – we lived in San Bernardino and only got to the beach a few times when I was little – but he had the looks: blond hair, blue eyes, tanned easily. And in that Southern California sun I usually looked like a boiled tomato. More appropriate for a fan of the British Invasion.
My brother Don, who could pass for a surfer
But the music of the Beach Boys was so beautiful. Yes, beautiful. The harmonies of “Good Vibrations,” “Sloop John B,” “Help Me Rhonda,” and “California Girls” still give me chills. Other male groups made high-pitched/falsetto singing a part of their signature, but the Beach Boys made it work. It was a sound not to be spoofed but to be emulated.
And then there were the infectious rhythm and fun of “Surfin’ USA,” “Little Douce Coup,” “I Get Around,” and “Fun, Fun, Fun.” All this music makes me think not so much of the beach, but simply of the bright, glaring Southern California sun, long summer days with nothing to do but play and have fun, running through sprinklers, and that pathetic little blow-up wading pool we had. It makes me remember when we were glad to greet the dreaded 12-week TV rerun season, because who wanted to stay inside watching TV when you could be outside running around and acting goofy at 9:00 p.m. with your friends, music boppin’ in the background, while the sun was finally faded away for the day?
The Beach Boys singing "Surfin' USA"
She posted about the Beach Boys. I commented that the Beach Boys and Jan and Dean were the soundtrack to my childhood in Southern California.
But the Beach Boys were my brother’s music. That is not saying that I didn’t adore their music – I did – but I wasn’t the one in the family to “discover” or “own” their music the way I did with the Beatles or the Stones. My brother had the singles and some of the albums; there was no reason for me to ask for my own records. (Even though he would never let me play his music on my own.)
Even though I was a preteen when I discovered the Beatles and the rest of the British Invasion, all of that music was really part of my teenage life.
But my childhood was defined by My Brother’s Music.
He had only singles (45s) until the very early sixties. And he had those little plastic thingies you had to put in the circular hole in the center to put it on the record player spindle. At some point it became possible to stack the records above the record that was playing, and after it had finished and the arm had retracted, the next record would slip down the spindle. I was fascinated by all these motions and by how the record player always knew what to do next.
I cannot remember the earliest music he would play, though one that has stuck in my mind is the song “Searchin’” by the Coasters. I also remember the yellow ATCO label. I must have been about three then. I also remember “Yakety Yak” by the Coasters, “Wake Up, Little Susie” by the Everly Brothers, “Johnny B. Goode” by Chuck Berry, “Blueberry Hill” by Fats Domino, “All Shook Up” by Elvis Presley, “Peggy Sue” by Buddy Holly, and “Chantilly Lace” by the Big Bopper. I remember that my mother loved a lot of these songs, too. Dad was more a pure C&W guy.
But the music that defined my brother’s tastes for me was played by the Beach Boys and Jan and Dean. Perhaps that was because he looked like a surfer. He wasn’t one – we lived in San Bernardino and only got to the beach a few times when I was little – but he had the looks: blond hair, blue eyes, tanned easily. And in that Southern California sun I usually looked like a boiled tomato. More appropriate for a fan of the British Invasion.
My brother Don, who could pass for a surferBut the music of the Beach Boys was so beautiful. Yes, beautiful. The harmonies of “Good Vibrations,” “Sloop John B,” “Help Me Rhonda,” and “California Girls” still give me chills. Other male groups made high-pitched/falsetto singing a part of their signature, but the Beach Boys made it work. It was a sound not to be spoofed but to be emulated.
And then there were the infectious rhythm and fun of “Surfin’ USA,” “Little Douce Coup,” “I Get Around,” and “Fun, Fun, Fun.” All this music makes me think not so much of the beach, but simply of the bright, glaring Southern California sun, long summer days with nothing to do but play and have fun, running through sprinklers, and that pathetic little blow-up wading pool we had. It makes me remember when we were glad to greet the dreaded 12-week TV rerun season, because who wanted to stay inside watching TV when you could be outside running around and acting goofy at 9:00 p.m. with your friends, music boppin’ in the background, while the sun was finally faded away for the day?
The Beach Boys singing "Surfin' USA"
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Surname Saturday: Mitchell Blackburn and Susan A. Norman Family
Mitchell C. Blackburn
b. 25 Apr 1851, Missouri
d. 8 Jan 1916
& Susan A. “Sudie” Norman
b. 18 Dec 1864, Alabama
d. 20 Jul 1908, Peak, Garland Co., Arkansas
m. 11 Jul 1892, Garland Co., Arkansas
|--Cynthia Lydia Blackburn
|----b. 1 Sep 1893, Arkansas
|----d. 1987
|---& Marcus Lawson Kinsey
|----b. 7 Nov 1887, Arkansas
|----d. 1972
|----m. 20 Dec 1908, Garland Co., Arkansas
|--Rena Blackburn
|----b. 20 Jan 1896, Arkansas
|---& Marshall M. Burden
|----b. 1874, Arkansas
|----d. 20 Jun 1933
|----m. 19 Jul 1916, Garland Co., Arkansas
|--Una Blackburn
|----b. Apr 1899, Arkansas
|---& Benjamin Franklin Powell
|----b. 29 Oct 1895, Arkansas
|----d. 22 Feb 1966
|--Blackburn
|----b. 24 Mar 1902
|----d. 1902
|--Evander Blackburn
|----b. 19 Oct 1903
|----d. 12 Jun 1904
This is the family of my great-grandfather William Henry Norman’s half-sister, Susan A. “Sudie” Norman and her second husband, Mitchell C. Blackburn. This was also Mitchell’s second marriage; his first wife was Josephine Johnson. Sudie was the oldest known child of Joseph Madison Carroll Norman and his second wife, Mary Patterson.
I would love to share information with anyone related to/researching this family; you can contact me at my e-mail address, which can be found by going to my profile page (there is a link to that page in the About Me section to the left).
b. 25 Apr 1851, Missouri
d. 8 Jan 1916
& Susan A. “Sudie” Norman
b. 18 Dec 1864, Alabama
d. 20 Jul 1908, Peak, Garland Co., Arkansas
m. 11 Jul 1892, Garland Co., Arkansas
|--Cynthia Lydia Blackburn
|----b. 1 Sep 1893, Arkansas
|----d. 1987
|---& Marcus Lawson Kinsey
|----b. 7 Nov 1887, Arkansas
|----d. 1972
|----m. 20 Dec 1908, Garland Co., Arkansas
|--Rena Blackburn
|----b. 20 Jan 1896, Arkansas
|---& Marshall M. Burden
|----b. 1874, Arkansas
|----d. 20 Jun 1933
|----m. 19 Jul 1916, Garland Co., Arkansas
|--Una Blackburn
|----b. Apr 1899, Arkansas
|---& Benjamin Franklin Powell
|----b. 29 Oct 1895, Arkansas
|----d. 22 Feb 1966
|--Blackburn
|----b. 24 Mar 1902
|----d. 1902
|--Evander Blackburn
|----b. 19 Oct 1903
|----d. 12 Jun 1904
This is the family of my great-grandfather William Henry Norman’s half-sister, Susan A. “Sudie” Norman and her second husband, Mitchell C. Blackburn. This was also Mitchell’s second marriage; his first wife was Josephine Johnson. Sudie was the oldest known child of Joseph Madison Carroll Norman and his second wife, Mary Patterson.
I would love to share information with anyone related to/researching this family; you can contact me at my e-mail address, which can be found by going to my profile page (there is a link to that page in the About Me section to the left).
Friday, June 4, 2010
Family and Friends Newsletter Friday 4 June 2010
It has been a busy couple of weeks (I see it has been three weeks since I have written a newsletter – too busy and too tired).
Research
As far as genealogy goes, busy in a good way.
Norman
I have finally finished up the current stage of Norman research (not that it’s complete, but I have a good framework for “Descendants of Joseph Madison Carroll Norman”). What a relief!
One interesting item that popped up in this last bit of research was that in addition to the two cousins that I attended high school with – a first and second cousin on my mother’s side (and, of course, I was aware that they were my cousins), I have found a second cousin once removed (on my father’s side) who also attended the same high school, a year before me. Joseph Madison Carroll Norman was her great-grandfather and my great-great grandfather; her grandmother was the youngest of JMC’s children to have descendants and my great-grandfather was the oldest one to have descendants and was about 40 years older than her grandmother.
Another item that turned up when I logged onto Ancestry was a note under “Recent Member Connect Activity” that someone had downloaded a document on Rhuea Mae Brown, my great-uncle Oby Norman’s second wife, whom I always knew as “Aunt Rhuea.” When I clicked on the connection, it took me to a Public Member Tree with lots of pictures of Aunt Rhuea when she was younger. What a treat!
Brinlee
Now it’s onto Brinlee research, and a number of things have been happening to tell me that it’s time to work on the Brinlee line!
I have been contacted by a gentleman who grew up near Bun and Square Brinlee, colorful cousins of my father about whom there are quite a few stories. They lived very interesting lives, and as they lived their later years on the family farm without electricity or other type of power, were viewed as being a bit eccentric. From this gentlemen’s memories, as well as those of another man who actually wrote a book based on the conversations he had with the brothers when he was growing up, they were apparently quite beloved figures in the area. I have really enjoyed the memories that the two men have shared about the brothers.
To see if any of my other cousins on the Brinlee side had any information to share on Bun and Square, I sent out an e-mail. So far no additional information on this account, but one of the cousins did have some fabulous Brinlee research news: a DNA match has been found for one of “our” Brinlees among the descendants of a line of Brinleys/Brindleys/Brindlees in Tennessee – there had been some interest in these families, but we could not prove any connection. This is a whole new avenue to research, quite a bit more than what we had before.
Moore
I have been contacted by two Moore researchers this week, one through Footnote (from the descendant of a heretofore unknown brother of my great-great-grandfather William Spencer Moore) and one through an old GenForum post. I guess this shows that it is a good idea to have “cast a wide net” for information on ancestors. So, along those lines…
Ancestry Public Member Trees
I have not made a definite decision, yet, but I may go ahead and start some PMTs on Ancestry, probably four – one for each of my parents and my husband’s parents. I will not upload any GEDCOMs, but instead will just gradually add information.
So, in short – this has been a great week for finding new contacts and adding information from them!
Research
As far as genealogy goes, busy in a good way.
Norman
I have finally finished up the current stage of Norman research (not that it’s complete, but I have a good framework for “Descendants of Joseph Madison Carroll Norman”). What a relief!
One interesting item that popped up in this last bit of research was that in addition to the two cousins that I attended high school with – a first and second cousin on my mother’s side (and, of course, I was aware that they were my cousins), I have found a second cousin once removed (on my father’s side) who also attended the same high school, a year before me. Joseph Madison Carroll Norman was her great-grandfather and my great-great grandfather; her grandmother was the youngest of JMC’s children to have descendants and my great-grandfather was the oldest one to have descendants and was about 40 years older than her grandmother.
Another item that turned up when I logged onto Ancestry was a note under “Recent Member Connect Activity” that someone had downloaded a document on Rhuea Mae Brown, my great-uncle Oby Norman’s second wife, whom I always knew as “Aunt Rhuea.” When I clicked on the connection, it took me to a Public Member Tree with lots of pictures of Aunt Rhuea when she was younger. What a treat!
Brinlee
Now it’s onto Brinlee research, and a number of things have been happening to tell me that it’s time to work on the Brinlee line!
I have been contacted by a gentleman who grew up near Bun and Square Brinlee, colorful cousins of my father about whom there are quite a few stories. They lived very interesting lives, and as they lived their later years on the family farm without electricity or other type of power, were viewed as being a bit eccentric. From this gentlemen’s memories, as well as those of another man who actually wrote a book based on the conversations he had with the brothers when he was growing up, they were apparently quite beloved figures in the area. I have really enjoyed the memories that the two men have shared about the brothers.
To see if any of my other cousins on the Brinlee side had any information to share on Bun and Square, I sent out an e-mail. So far no additional information on this account, but one of the cousins did have some fabulous Brinlee research news: a DNA match has been found for one of “our” Brinlees among the descendants of a line of Brinleys/Brindleys/Brindlees in Tennessee – there had been some interest in these families, but we could not prove any connection. This is a whole new avenue to research, quite a bit more than what we had before.
Moore
I have been contacted by two Moore researchers this week, one through Footnote (from the descendant of a heretofore unknown brother of my great-great-grandfather William Spencer Moore) and one through an old GenForum post. I guess this shows that it is a good idea to have “cast a wide net” for information on ancestors. So, along those lines…
Ancestry Public Member Trees
I have not made a definite decision, yet, but I may go ahead and start some PMTs on Ancestry, probably four – one for each of my parents and my husband’s parents. I will not upload any GEDCOMs, but instead will just gradually add information.
So, in short – this has been a great week for finding new contacts and adding information from them!
Follow Friday: Rainy Day Genealogy Readings
One of my “reliable reads” for web-savvy and originality is Rainy Day Genealogy Readings, written by Jennifer from the Bay Area in California. The blog has a strong focus on online research, including newspaper research (her “Extra! Extra! Rethinking Newspaper Research” is a must read), photos online, and particularly “how-to” and “how-to-do-even-better” posts for online tools; I have found the tips about making the most use of Google for research very helpful. And there is also occasional fun and silliness (“Pimp Your FB Status”) interspersed with the research reports, transcriptions (particularly “Transcription Tuesday,” featuring old Oakland Tribune articles), and tool tips.
Two of Jennifer’s most recent posts on specific research problems have been very intriguing: “Topics in Research – Was Iva Mae Insane?” and “Topics in Research – The Veteran Who Never Served.”
Jennifer is not a “saturation blogger,” but if you are passionate about making the most of the various research resources that are out there, you must definitely check out Rainy Day Genealogy Readings.
This Week
At a3Genealogy, Kathleen Brandt provides some useful information on “Native American Research and Resources” – these are some that I need to look into!
At Life From The Roots, Barbara writes of a special connection she helped to make that has special relevance on Memorial Day in “Sentimental Sunday – Two Soldiers Connect.”
There were many wonderful Memorial Day tributes this week; one that touched me in particular was “James Jay Huber 1952-1973” at Betty’s Boneyard Genealogy Blog.
The importance of having an accessible copy of all genealogy-related e-mail is addressed by Lorine McGinnis Schulze at Olive Tree Genealogy Blog in “Can You Teach an Old Genealogist new Tricks?” and followed up by Jasia at Creative Gene in “Email, Vulnerable Family Information.” Possible solutions are suggested by them and by readers in the comments.
In a meditative vein, Daniel Hubbard at Personal Past Meditations – A Genealogical Blog returns to a favorite theme among genealogists – the reasons we do genealogy – in “Not How-to but Why-do?” And Bart Brenner of Stardust’n’Roots responds and continues the meditation in “Why Do I Do Genealogical Research?”
Fact, faith, time (as in past, present, and future), and genealogy: how they intersect and interact are addressed by Chery Kinnick at Nordic Blue in “History by Fact, or by Faith?”
At Genea-Musings, Randy asks, “What is the Best Place to Leave ‘Cousin Bait’?” The results from various word combinations are interesting. I tried an experiment like this a couple of years ago, but will have to check again.
The May issue of Shades of the Departed Magazine is out at Shades of the Departed. It is simply amazing. Again.
Happy First Blogoversary to Hummer at Branching Out Through the Years!
Happy Third Blogoversary to Paula Stuart-Warren at Paula’s Genealogical Eclectica!
This week I started following these blogs:
Finding Eliza
Gen Briand
Illinois State Genealogical Society Blog
Two of Jennifer’s most recent posts on specific research problems have been very intriguing: “Topics in Research – Was Iva Mae Insane?” and “Topics in Research – The Veteran Who Never Served.”
Jennifer is not a “saturation blogger,” but if you are passionate about making the most of the various research resources that are out there, you must definitely check out Rainy Day Genealogy Readings.
This Week
At a3Genealogy, Kathleen Brandt provides some useful information on “Native American Research and Resources” – these are some that I need to look into!
At Life From The Roots, Barbara writes of a special connection she helped to make that has special relevance on Memorial Day in “Sentimental Sunday – Two Soldiers Connect.”
There were many wonderful Memorial Day tributes this week; one that touched me in particular was “James Jay Huber 1952-1973” at Betty’s Boneyard Genealogy Blog.
The importance of having an accessible copy of all genealogy-related e-mail is addressed by Lorine McGinnis Schulze at Olive Tree Genealogy Blog in “Can You Teach an Old Genealogist new Tricks?” and followed up by Jasia at Creative Gene in “Email, Vulnerable Family Information.” Possible solutions are suggested by them and by readers in the comments.
In a meditative vein, Daniel Hubbard at Personal Past Meditations – A Genealogical Blog returns to a favorite theme among genealogists – the reasons we do genealogy – in “Not How-to but Why-do?” And Bart Brenner of Stardust’n’Roots responds and continues the meditation in “Why Do I Do Genealogical Research?”
Fact, faith, time (as in past, present, and future), and genealogy: how they intersect and interact are addressed by Chery Kinnick at Nordic Blue in “History by Fact, or by Faith?”
At Genea-Musings, Randy asks, “What is the Best Place to Leave ‘Cousin Bait’?” The results from various word combinations are interesting. I tried an experiment like this a couple of years ago, but will have to check again.
The May issue of Shades of the Departed Magazine is out at Shades of the Departed. It is simply amazing. Again.
Happy First Blogoversary to Hummer at Branching Out Through the Years!
Happy Third Blogoversary to Paula Stuart-Warren at Paula’s Genealogical Eclectica!
This week I started following these blogs:
Finding Eliza
Gen Briand
Illinois State Genealogical Society Blog
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Wordless Wednesday (Almost): Catching Up
... with garden photos, that is. I'm behind, so today and for the next few weeks, the photos will be about two weeks behind (that is, these were taken a couple of weeks ago).
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
About That Paragraph at the Bottom of This Page …
I mean it.
“If you see your ancestors on this blog … contact me! I am always happy to share information. My e-mail address is in my profile (the link under the section entitled “About Me”).”
This is not just filler. There is a reason that same sentiment is expressed at the end of every one of my Surname Saturday/Featured Family Friday posts: “I would love to share information with anyone related to/researching this family.”
This blog has many purposes – some foreseen when I created it, some not – but the main purpose is to share information with fellow researchers.
I have seen the benefits to be derived from putting genealogical information out there on a blog many times and through it have already made many wonderful contacts with relatives and fellow researchers. And I have read about similar experiences described by my fellow geneabloggers. These contacts have added greatly to our research and enriched our genealogy experience.
So there is no reason to be shy: please do not hesitate to contact me! I post the information and you are free to copy it. But there is more where that came from; these are only the “bare bones”! If the feeling that you are a beginning researcher and don’t have much to contribute is holding you back, don’t let it! I still consider myself a beginning researcher, and once I was a real newbie. I basically knew my parents’ immediate families and little else. Yet I dared to write to a couple of experienced researchers who I was certain had information on my mysterious great-grandfather. I had one piece of information to trade: I knew his mother’s maiden name. And we continue to trade information.
But you do not need even that. I am simply happy to find out a little about you and your family connection, if that is all you know. You may have a piece of information I have been searching for. And I also believe that I should treat people searching for information with as much consideration as those first two contacts and many others have treated me.
“If you see your ancestors on this blog … contact me! I am always happy to share information. My e-mail address is in my profile (the link under the section entitled “About Me”).”
This is not just filler. There is a reason that same sentiment is expressed at the end of every one of my Surname Saturday/Featured Family Friday posts: “I would love to share information with anyone related to/researching this family.”
This blog has many purposes – some foreseen when I created it, some not – but the main purpose is to share information with fellow researchers.
I have seen the benefits to be derived from putting genealogical information out there on a blog many times and through it have already made many wonderful contacts with relatives and fellow researchers. And I have read about similar experiences described by my fellow geneabloggers. These contacts have added greatly to our research and enriched our genealogy experience.
So there is no reason to be shy: please do not hesitate to contact me! I post the information and you are free to copy it. But there is more where that came from; these are only the “bare bones”! If the feeling that you are a beginning researcher and don’t have much to contribute is holding you back, don’t let it! I still consider myself a beginning researcher, and once I was a real newbie. I basically knew my parents’ immediate families and little else. Yet I dared to write to a couple of experienced researchers who I was certain had information on my mysterious great-grandfather. I had one piece of information to trade: I knew his mother’s maiden name. And we continue to trade information.
But you do not need even that. I am simply happy to find out a little about you and your family connection, if that is all you know. You may have a piece of information I have been searching for. And I also believe that I should treat people searching for information with as much consideration as those first two contacts and many others have treated me.
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