Saturday Night Genealogy Fun -- Hallowe'en Memories and Family History

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: 

 It's Saturday Night again - 

time for some more Genealogy Fun!!

Here is your assignment if you choose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music, please!):

1) This only the second Saturday Night Genealogy Fun about Hallowe'en for some reason.  Since it's Hallowe'en...

2)  What are your Hallowe'en memories from childhood or adulthood.  How did you celebrate the day?  Do you have any photographs?

3)  What about haunted houses?  Are there any in your family history?  Black cats?  Creepy neighbors?  Or witches - are there any in your family history? 

4)  Tell us all about it in a blog post of your own, in comments on this blog post, or in a post on Facebook or Google+.  Be sure to link to them in a comment on this blog post.

Here's mine:

I'm too old (or too senile) to remember favorite Hallowe'en costumes, parties, carnivals or pranks from my childhood. I do have one Hallowe'en costume photo - but I'm not in costume (except as a teenager):

That's my brother Scott in the lion costume in about 1960.  Note my flattop haircut - that's me on the left.

I don't recall spooky places in my neighborhood, although the house that Austin and Della   Carringer built at 2115/2119 30th Street in about 1895 in San Diego, that I grew up in, might qualify.  There were little nooks and crannies, and a crawl space beneath the house that I never visited.  We always had cats, but they were usually gray, not black, and were often flattened on 30th or Fern Streets. No bats. No scarecrows in the city. My grandmother served Squirt! as a drink, not a magic potion.

I have hoped for visions or dream(s) with ghosts or messages (even obscure hints would be nice!) from my brick wall ancestors (Thomas J. Newton,  Hannah (Smith) Sawtell, John Richman, William Knapp, Ranslow Smith, etc.) giving me leads to their parentage - but, alas, either my tweeter and snoozer aren't working or these elusive ancestors are happy staying hidden from me.

Ah, a witch! There is one person in my ancestry who was hanged as a convicted Salem witch -- my 9th great-grandmother Rebecca (Towne) Nurse was accused in 1692 and hanged after a trial in Salem. I visited the Francis and Rebecca Nurse house in Danvers MA back in 2004 and it was an interesting place to visit and see - especially the house itself with period furnishings and a docent who told stories about the house and the family.  But then, she wasn't really a witch - just accused of being one. She was found not guilty by the jury, but the magistrate sent them back to reconsider.

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Copyright (c) 2015, Randall J. Seaver

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