To My Ancestors

I see you toiling down the tedious years
You bearded, bent, and gaunt old pioneers
Sowing and reaping, sowing once again,
In patience for an unborn race of men.

I see you struggling in the wilderness
Where failure meant starvation and success.
A cabin in the clearing, roughhewn, rude,
Garments of homespun, and the humblest food.

Tradition scarcely tells me whence you came,
I only know a few of you by name;
I only know you lived and multiplied,
Quite profligate in progeny, and died.

Yet in my heart, I know that most of you
Were strong and steadfast, and that one or two
At least, had weaknesses that still may be
Traced in the trend of atavistic me.

One, I am sure, was blest with Irish wit;
(I'm thankful he transmitted some of it.)
That helped him dodge Dame Fortune's swiftest dart,
And meet misfortune with a merry heart.

One was a rather worthless wight, I fear,
Who, when the bluebird whistled Spring was near,
Forsook his plow--a shiftless, sluggard one--
And roamed the woods alone, with rod and gun.

And one a gentle dreamer was I know,
Who lured by shadows, let the substance go.
'Twas he who dared the raging western sea--
I'm glad he handed down his dreams to me.

I found this poem in a family history book that my Mother's cousin had started. The caption reads, "From Chicago Tribune Detroit Society for Genealogical Research Bulletin #4 November 13. 1937"

Mini Lesson on Family Relationships

Before I present Lesson #3, which I know I am way behind on, I want to give a little lesson on family relationships.

We have all heard the term "first cousin once removed," but do we all know what that means? Can we identify our first cousin once removed?

In this mini lesson I will try to explain this term and others to help you with your family research.

Terms:

Lineal relationship: this exists between people who are in the same line, such as you and your parents, your children, your grandchildren, grandparents

Collateral relationship: this exists between people who share a common ancestor, but are not in a direct line, such as you and your siblings, your cousins, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncle.

1st cousin: term applied to your aunt's and uncle's children

2nd cousin: people with the same great-grandparents, but not the same grandparents

3rd cousins and so on: third cousins have the same great-great grandparents; 4th cousins have the same great-great-great grandparents.

Double cousins: a term you might hear; occurs when two brothers marry two sisters-their children would be double cousins to each other.

Removed: distant by degrees in relationship

Once removed: difference of one generation, your 1st cousin's child is your 1st cousin once removed

Twice removed: difference of two generations; your 1st cousin's grandchild is your first cousin twice removed

Paternal: pertaining to the father

Maternal: pertaining to the mother

Granduncle/aunt or great uncle/aunt: your mother's or father's uncle or aunt

Grandnephew/niece: your brother's or sister's grandchild

Affinity: relationship by marriage-not a blood relationship

Consanguinity: blood relationship, can be lineal consanguinity or collateral consanguinity

View the chart I found on Rootsweb.

Try to figure out who some of these people are in your family.

My Rebus Postcard

I had the great fortune of acquiring this postcard, copyrighted 1909, from an antiques dealer in Colorado. It is a rebus puzzle postcard, made as an advertisement from the Sawdey and Hartner City Market Seed Co. in Denver CO. It was copyrighted by Mrs. Stella Gilbert from Council Bluffs, IA.

A rebus puzzle is one that uses pictures or symbols in place of words or syllables. On the front of this postcard is "A Farmers Love Letter". See if you can solve the puzzle, it is pretty easy and so cute. On the back is the handwritten name and address of the intended recipient, Miss Bertha Cooper of 306 N. Seventh St Monroe LA. There is also the post stamp dated for Sep 9, and the one cent postage stamp. There is no written or stamped year, so I don't know for sure when it was sent, but I believe the postage for a postcard was one cent between the years of 1898 and 1952.


This postcard has a little more meaning to me other than its obvious charm. The Sawdey in question here is a relative of mine (although not a blood relative), Curtis Isaac Sawdey. He had this seed company in Denver for a while and then moved on the Los Angeles, where he eventually became the president of the Western Growers Protective Association.

He married Minnie H Medaris sometime around 1900 or so. Minnie is the younger sister of Lily, who is my great-grandfather's first wife (she also is no blood to me). Lily had three sons, two of which were quite young when she died. My theory is that when their mother died, these two boys went from their home in Iowa to live with their maternal grandparents in Denver. I also think that when Minnie married Curtis they took in the one boy and raised him as their own.

I have not found conclusive proof of this, but there is a lot of circumstantial proof. The boy I found living with the Sawdeys has the same first name (Burr) and birthday as Lily's son. He is living with Lily's other son, Walstein, with Lily's parents, and they are both listed as their grandsons. However, Minnie claims him as her son. I believe he is at best only her adopted son. Minnie was only 15 when Burr was born and not even married yet. Also, if this boy is actually Minnie's boy, where is Lily's boy? It seems logical that Lily's husband could have sent the two young boys to live with grandparents when his wife died. It seems unlikely that he would have split them up. It seems highly unlikely that Minnie, at 15 and unmarried, had a son who just happened to be born the same month and year as Lily's son and that she named him the same name.

My great-grandfather, Walstein Tyrrell, eventually married a second time and had several more children, including my grandfather, Fitz. Over the years I have known of Burr, but not much. I knew he existed and I wanted to find him. By the time I started researching my family everyone who knew Burr personally had died. He has been quite elusive, but I have been so determined to find out what became of him. He is my grandfather's half-brother. I want to know if he and my grandfather were ever like brothers to one another. I have found only one record of Burr Tyrrell. I have found several of Burr Sawdey. I know that Burr Sawdey moved to Los Angeles, as did all the Tyrrell boys, including my grandfather. Did they meet up? I may not ever find out for sure, but it gives me a pleasant feeling imagining that all the brothers did in fact get to know each other and hung out together.

Getting Started With Research, Lesson #2

In this lesson you will begin to do research. You will conduct your research in your own home. You will be looking at family records, bibles, newspaper clippings, letters, photographs, et c. In addition to these are the stories you've heard-the oral traditions that have been passed down. The objective is to gain the skill and ability to look at these things and other things in a way you haven't before, to glean every bit of information from them, and then to evaluate, analyze, and verify it.

We all have stories that circulate through the family about things that happened way back when and how it used to be in the good ol' days. These stories have sometimes been exaggerated and embellished over time to make an event more interesting. sometimes things are completely fabricated. Other times things are downplayed, especially if of an undesirable nature.

Think about these stories. When did you first hear it? And from whom? Was this person involved, did they witness it first hand? Did it happen a long time age? Most stories are based on a true event, but do not count them as fact until you can verify the information with documentary evidence. Sometimes it isn't possible to verify things, but that doesn't mean you should disregard the story. It is still part of your family's heritage and should be kept and cherished and passed down, just don't pass it on as fact until you can prove it.

Perhaps you are lucky enough to have a family bible that has been passed down. What a treasure this is, especially if someone took the time to actually record events. It may be the only source of some events, stuff that happened before records were being kept by government entities.

Look at your bible. When and where was it published? Try to find out who it originated with and its subsequent owners. Look at the information that was recorded. Did events happen before the bible was published? Is the handwriting all the same? If so, it would indicate that just one person entered all the information and it may not be accurate. Are events recorded in the order they occurred? Were dates or names added in later? Remember these names, dates, relationships, et c. are not facts until you can prove them.

Take these same questions with you when you look at other family records, papers, and photographs. Look for letters, diaries, military papers, photographs, religious certificates, school certificates, organization papers, newspaper clippings, family announcements or newsletters, et c. You need to have an unbiased eye and mind when analyzing these things. Think about answering who, what, where, when, why, and how while going through these things. Look at your photographs. Even if there is no written information on your photos, you can still get some information from it. Can you date it based on the type of photo it is? How about the clothing people are wearing, is there a vehicle in the photo, what time of year is it, is someone pregnant in it, can you tell where it was taken, can you read street signs or license plates? Really look at your photos, use a magnifying glass.

After you have gathered your family papers, stories, and photographs, make a list of where you obtained these things or from whom. Make a list of genealogical information you have found in each. These are the things that will now need to be verified. You will learn how to verify these things in subsequent lessons. For now, just make the list and then put things aside for a couple days. Go back to your items and give them a fresh look-you will probably come up with more information. Read your list-sometimes it will trigger a thought of what to look for in another paper or photograph. Go over all of it again if need be. You will be surprised at the information you can get from these records.

Work on this and be ready for lesson #3 in about a month.

Remembering the Victims of Our Lady of the Angels

1 December 2008 marks the 50th anniversary of one of the most horrific events in recent US history, the deadly fire at Our Lady of the Angels Catholic grade school in Chicago, IL.

This event took place a couple years before I was born. My parents lived in Chicago at the time, my mother pregnant with my older sister, and a nurse at a nearby hospital. My father also worked at a hospital, St. Anne's, where many victims were taken. Our Lady of the Angels was my parents own parish, where they went to church each Sunday. My mother remembers having to work a 3-11 shift that day. She remembers riding the bus to work and hearing the sirens wailing outside. She remembers the unspeakable tragedies that befell the school and overtook the whole city. She remembers the terrible pictures printed in the newspaper, particularly one of a burnt staircase with one small tennis shoe on one of the steps. She has not forgotten and she mourns to this day, as do I.

This fire claimed the lives of 92 children, aged 8-15, and 3 nuns. There is a very informative website dedicated to honoring the victims of the fire. I encourage everyone to please visit Our Lady of the Angels Fire Memorial and read about this terrible event as a way to remember these children, their teachers, and the brave people who tried to save them.

My Thanksgiving Day Greeting

I would like to direct everyone to one of my other blogs for my Thanksgiving Day greeting to all of you, sorry to do it this way, but it is a long greeting and you'll know what I mean when you get there. So please visit Live, Love, and Be Free

I'll be back Friday night!

Caring for Old Photographs

If you are like me you love old photographs. I love them enough to collect and rescue them from thrift shops, yard sales, estate sales, antique stores, et c. when I know good and well they aren’t pictures of my relatives. Some of these photos are labeled with names and locations and I try very hard to reunite a photograph with its rightful owner or descendant.

One such photograph I acquired from free-cycle. A lady gave away a big shoe box full of old photographs. The oldest one was a portrait of a 6 month old baby taken in 1908. I put a query out on Ancestry.com
and got a response several days later. I was totally thrilled and so was this little fella's granddaughter. I sent the photo half way across the country to her. Her family did not have any photographs of her grandfather as a child, much less alone a baby. It was so very fulfilling to make that happen for them.

The subject of this post is how to care for these photographs so they can be honored and enjoyed by generations to come.

Photographs are sensitive to their environment. Changes in the temperature and amount of moisture in the air can cause them to shrink and swell, weakening them. Excessive moisture can cause them to mold, while being too dry can cause the photographs to crack, break, and split. Photographs should be kept in a temperature and humidity controlled environment, such as under air condition, but not too low. They can stand up to lower temperatures, but when brought into a warmer room for viewing condensation forms and that is a problem. Most generally, storing on the first floor of your house on an inside wall is best as it has the least amount of temperature and humidity change. As stated, high humidity is not good, but low humidity, even though it can help prevent certain chemical changes like oxidation, is not good either. Try to keep photographs at 30-50% relative humidity.

Acid is very damaging to photographs. Acid is found in the very paper the photographs are printed on, but it is also found in materials that they are stored in and also on our fingers. You can see this damage when you inspect your photographs, they will be discolored and darkened or yellowed. Acid must be removed from the surroundings or it should be neutralized or buffered.

The best choice is to use archival quality materials for anything that touches the photographs. This means the items are acid-free and lignin-free. These products are widely available from archival supply stores, craft stores and camera supply stores. Look for mat boards, storage boxes, glassine sleeves, et c. Check out Light Impressions or Archival USA, Make sure that any plastic used is polyethylene, don’t use PVC. Never use those sticky magnetic pages, those are sure disaster for photographs.

For framed photographs, use UV protective glass or UV filtering Plexiglas to protect against dust or mishaps, but make sure you use spacers or a mat board to keep some space between the glass and photograph. Metal frames are better for photographs than wooden ones, as wood is organic and releases substances harmful to photographs. Store or hang your photographs out of direct sunlight and rotate them to limit their exposure. Loose photographs can be kept in glassine envelopes and stored flat in acid-free boxes.

Negatives should be stored separately from the photographs for a couple reasons. They release acidic gases as they age which will break down the photographs. They can be stored in glassine envelopes as well. It is also a good idea to keep them separate from the originals in case of fire or some other event.

Consider making copies of your precious originals for display and keeping the originals in dark storage. Only use pencil for writing on enclosures or, only when absolutely necessary, on the backs of photographs. Always wash your hands before handling photographs and consider wearing clean white cotton gloves to prevent oil from fingers to get on photographs.

Following these methods will give your photographs the best chance of a long life.