Remembering Christmases Past - Part 2

This is a continuation of my Christmases Past memories - the first part was here.

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During the 1950's and 1960's, we would visit Aunt Emily’s (Emily (Richmond) Taylor, a widow by then) house in Kensington (a San Diego neighborhood) every Christmas season. She was my father’s aunt, and she had a daughter Dorothy who was married to Marshall Chamberlain (called “Chuck” by everybody but Dorothy and Emily); Marshall and Dorothy had a daughter, Marcia, who had been my mother’s student at Woodrow Wilson Junior High School in the early 1940’s. This was the only Seaver-related family we had in San Diego. The trip to their house was dreaded and anticipated – Dorothy was very non-traditional – she was an artist, a harpist, made her own tree ornaments, and cooked different dishes that we didn’t particularly like. This was also the only time we had to dress up in a shirt and tie. Emily fawned over us, and Chuck was gruff and ornery (in retrospect, a fun “uncle”).

The best part of the visit for us was playing in the backyard – they had a nice fish pond, some cats, and a big awning swing. We had great games of hide and seek there. They also subscribed to National Geographic, and I loved looking through them for pictures of naked women and to steal the maps. In retrospect, I think Chuck placed the really good issues on top where I could easily find them.

Another tradition that we really enjoyed during the 1950’s was the box of Christmas presents that arrived from the Seaver families in Leominster, Massachusetts. They were usually toys, board games for the boys and candy for the family, which we loved. These were sent without fail by our Grandmother Bessie (Richmond) Seaver (Emily’s sister), my father’s brother Ed (and wife Janet) Seaver and their sister Gerry Seaver.

As I grew older, I realized that the true spirit of Christmas meant that I should also give presents to my family. It was easy buying toys and sports gear for my brothers but it was a struggle to find appropriate gifts for my mother and father. Sometimes Stan and I would go together to buy a gift for both of them - I remember one year we bought a new mailbox for them.

During the fall and winter, we had the 'O' gauge Lionel train tracks set up through the living room and into our bedroom with many switches and crossovers. We (my dad, myself, my two brothers) would take turns trying to crash our trains into the other guy's train at high speed. The track layout was elaborate, but the decoration was nil. It was all about speed and crashes, and was competitive. For several years, our Christmas presents included new train track and boxcars and engines.

After I moved out on my own in 1968, and married Linda in 1970, I now had someone else to do the hard work of shopping for the family, and she did it extremely well. We usually went to the 30th Street house for Christmas Eve dinner and gifts with Mom and Dad, Stan and Sheryl, Scott, Gram and Gramps. I usually shopped only for Linda – mainly nice clothes, fine jewelry and kitchen things. I always enjoyed this shopping – the giving part was more fun for me. Of course, once she started her angel collection, the challenge was finding new and better angels for her.

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I'll finish next time with my family memories on Monday.

Traffic report -- The Top 40 Genealogy web sites

www.alexa.com compiles traffic reports for Internet web sites, and has catalogued them by subject.

The Genealogy traffic report is at http://www.alexa.com/browse?&CategoryID=366. The top 10 genealogy sites are listed on the right, and the categories of genealogy sites are on the left. You can get higher numbers by clicking on the link available. I can't find any blogs in the categories - they must be hiding somewhere!

The Top 40 (remember the Top 40 song lists from the 1950's?) for Genealogy are:

1. www.ancestry.com (1417 overall ranking)
2. www.rootsweb.com (2398)
3. www.legacy.com (3185)
4. www.genealogy.com (8909)
5. www.familysearch.org (11239)
6. www.newspapersearch.com (18959)
7. http://genforum.genealogy.com (8909, part of #4)
8. www.geneanet.org (22066)
9. http://boards.ancestry.com (1417, part of #1)
10. http://brandis.com.au (41084)

11. http://genealogy.about.com (83, part of About.com)
12. www.jewishgen.org (47867)
13. www.familytreemaker.com (8909, part of #4)
14. www.cyndislist.com (54874)
15. www.ellisisland.org (58541)
16. www.worldvitalrecords.com (69562)
17. www.theroyalforums.org (71714)
18. www.familytreedna.com (71336)
19. www.kabalarians.com (77656)
20. www.genealogics.org (53927, part of another site?)

21. www.onegreatfamily.com (96611)
22. www.casareal.es (122799, a Spanish site)
23. www.last-names.net (109021, part of another site?)
24. www.thepeerage.com (125383)
25. www.eogn.com (120260)
26. http://searches.rootsweb.com (2398, part of #2)
27. www.recordsireland.ie (168833)
28. www.cousinconnect.com (146191)
29. www.kindredkonnections.com (130209)
30. www.tribalpages.com (135067)

31. www.genealogylinks.net (138284)
32. www.gencircles.com (151841)
33. www.distantcousins.com (145186)
34. www.newenglandancestors.org (177124)
35. www.1901census.nationarchives.gov.uk (29601, part of another site)
36. www.genopro.com (201486)
37. www.scotroots.com (173029)
38. http://genealogue.blogspot.com (182340)
39. www.lineages.co.uk (215033)
40. www.bh.org.il (274257, an Israel site)

I don't understand the numbers completely - some individual sites are part of a suite of sites owned by the same person, and their numbers are lumped together.

There are quite a few sites there that I have never visited, but I'm going to just to see what they offer.

There are several of my "favorite" genealogy sites that are not on the list. So I looked for them:

www.usgenweb.org (389785)

www.linkpendium.com (371657)

www.stevemorse.org (165686, must be part of another site)

It is sad that more researchers don't visit these sites, but waste their time on some of the other sites that don't provide original records or advanced search capabilities.

Genea-Musings is No. 945,511

I finally figured out how to get site rankings at http://www.alexa.com, so I plugged my site in and found out my ranking, among all web sites, is 945,511, with 2 sites linking to it. The ranking is up over 59,000 from three months ago.

My reach (visits per one million users) is 0.85 for the last three months. If there are 91 million users, that's about 77 visitors per day, which matches my stats from Sitemeter pretty well.

For comparison, http://genealogue.blogspot.com (Chris Dunham's excellent site) is No. 182,340 of all web sites, and No. 38 for all genealogy web sites, with 56 sites linking to it, and 7.8 visits per million users (about 710 visits per day).

Richard Eastman's site, www.eogn.com, is ranked No. 120,260 overall, and No. 25 in genealogy web sites, with 203 sites linking to it, and 15.0 visits per million users (about 1365 visits per day).

www.Ancestry.com is the number 1 genealogy site, and No. 1417 overall, with 4143 sites linking to it, and 353 visits per million users (about 32,123 visits per day).

Interesting, eh? It doesn't take many visits to get into the top million web sites. It takes over 50,000 visits to crack the top 1,000 web sites.

New Technology and Trends in Genealogy

I try to check in on Roots Television once a week or so to see what videos have been added, but I've not done it for several weeks due to everything else happening in my life.

There are new videos almost every week. The one I watched tonight - 4 segments for a total of 50 minutes - was Alan Mann talking about New Technology and Trends. The link to the How-To page player is http://www.rootstelevision.com/players/player_howto.html. From here, click on the "Lectures" tab and scroll down to the four lectures. This lecture was given several months ago, but it is very interesting, still timely and very well done, although Alan had some problems getting links to work in the conference room in Provo Utah.

Also in the How-To page in the "Research Process" tab is a 26 segment series on the Research Process - it looks great to me for beginning genealogists and those looking for refresher courses.

There are many other videos at www.RootsTelevision.com - go explore all of the tabs, and the tabs within the main tabs. You can watch them all - it might take a day or so! You do have to sit through a 10 second commercial for each of them - I figure it's worth my time because the real content is free. I can always blog while the commerical plays.

I really like www.RootsTelevision.com because it has a lot of content, is educational and has lots of variety, including three genealogy blogs - one by Megan Smolenyak, another by Rick Crume and a third by a guy called Og (I think...). I also think that Roots TV is the future of genealogy education - online programs like the Alan Mann lecture are far and above listening to a lecture on an MP3 player or iPod, or reading a syllabus - if you can't be there in person (or via a webcast). Isn't genealogy fun?

"Different" Occupations in the 1880 Census

The 1880 US census search function is unique - you can search on "occupation" on Ancestry.com. Others have found strange and funny occupations in the 1880 US census, and the 1881 UK census, including this article on Juliana Smith's 7/24 Family Circle blog.

I can't help myself sometimes...so I spent a few hours yesterday, in between dodging popcorn coming off the ceiling and picking through the garage stuff, throwing words into the Occupation box in the 1880 US census and seeing what comes out. Among the usual farmers, servants, bankers, mill workers, engineers, baseball players, there were also:

* H.F. Koenig of Manhattan NY who "works in a space mill" What is that?

* Jos M. Wilkins of Titusville PA was "engineer in a slave mill." Probably an error - a stave mill?

* Elwin Willard of Silver Creek NY "works in smut shop." He's probably Hugh Hefner's grandfather (just kidding).

* John Sowers of Newark NJ was a "brass cock maker." Just what I always needed...

* Stephene H. Martine of Tanner Creek VA was a "proprietor of monkey house."

* Jos. Seymour of Manhattan NY was a "shit manufacturer." Shirt?

* W.T. Scott of Buena Vista CO was a "bull whacker." I'll bet the bull was mad!

* Horace Greeley (age 25, born NY) of Wichita KS was an "Oklahoma Boomer." Is this the Horace Greeley who went west?

* Mary Toomey of Boston MA was a "cash girl (fancy bust)" I'll bet!

* William Haller of Cincinnati OH was a "peddler & philosopher." He probably wanted a penny for his thoughts.

* Wellington Beatty of Monroe LA was a "farmer & thinker."

* Adolph Schuarymann of Brooklyn NY was "publisher of Puck." Was that a magazine?

* Tarrant Putnam of Wilton MN works at "anything that's honest." Diogenes reincarnated, eh?

* Oliver Ewing of Fort Scott KS "steals for a living."

* Benjamin Trulon of Bordentown NJ was "too lazy to do anything."

* Sally Vaughn of Louisa VA was a "trick woman." Hmmm...

* Both Anna Bren and Agnes Bren of Brutus NY were "ladies of pleasure" (residing in a hotel).

* Laura Johnson of LaCrosse WI was a "pleasure girl" (residing in a "house of ill fame" with others with the same occupation.)

* A.E. Lindhofer (and 23 others) of Hammond IN "work in stink factory." I thought there was enough back in 1880 that they didn't have to make it.

* Briget Malone of Bradford PA was a "pot wrestler." Probably a kitchen worker with a sense of humor.

* Austin Robbins of District 8 TN was a "perfect idiot."

* Edwin Marsh of Roundhead OH was an "idol." Probably the first "American idol."

* James Oxford of Gardner MA job was "laziness to perfection." His father must have been mad at him that day.

* J. William Miller of Rye NY was a "speculator" and his wife Ellen's occupation was "hoarding." Teamwork!

* Tom Johnson of Navasota TX job was "beating tin can from morning to night." Poor tin can, but I'm sure his wife was happy, unless the noise got to her.

* Bernard H. McCabe of Rosendale NY was a "hotel moper." Probably sat around all day...

* John MacGaal of Brooklyn NY was a "mad weaver." His wife was probably looming...

* Amanda Williams of Nile OH "boards in grim house."

* Matilda Adar of Springfield OH was a "mad wife." Her poor hubby...I hope it wasn't John MacGaal.

* Charles Young of Virginia City NV was a "lover" residing in a whore house with lots of prostitutes. I guess it kept him young...

* Peter Hogg of St. Louis MO was a "cat. drover." Is this the same as a cat herder? Isn't that impossible?

Well, that's enough for today - I love this stuff!

Remembering Christmases Past - Part 1

They say that your life is in four parts – in the first part YOU BELIEVE in Santa Claus, in the second part YOU DON’T BELIEVE in Santa Claus, in the third part YOU ARE Santa Claus, and in the last part YOU LOOK LIKE Santa Claus. I have enjoyed each part – at least so far!

Christmas is usually the very best of times. It has been for me.

Like most children, I looked forward to Christmas time mainly for the presents from my family. The family dinners, songfests and trips to relatives were to be endured, with the reward being Christmas morning. However, it is the visits that are remembered and cherished most, although some special gifts are fondly recalled.

We lived on the second story of a two-story house at 2119 30th Street in San Diego from the time I was 4 until I left home in 1968 at age 25. The house did not have a fireplace, so my brother Stan and I could never figure out how Santa Claus could bring the presents under the tree.

My maternal grandparents, Lyle and Emily Carringer (“Gram and Gramps”), built a beautiful home on Point Loma in 1951, and Christmas Eves were spent there for many years – and it had a fireplace! Our stockings were hung there in hopes that Saint Nick would fill them to the brim. Before bedtime, my grandmother would lead us in Christmas carols while we lay in bed – it was a wonderful way to fall asleep. In the morning, the presents were there by the fireplace, and we relished unwrapping all of them before my grandparents were awake.

Santa was always good to us, probably because, in retrospect, we were usually good boys – mischievous but not criminal, loud but not abusive, whirlwinds but not destructive. We usually received toys that were all the rage of the day, plus the usual boring clothes, and fruit, candy and small toys in our stockings. The most memorable gifts were the "good" toys, of course. BB guns and Davy Crockett coonskin caps in 1954, Flexible Flyers (sleds on wheels) in 1955, bicycles in 1956.

Of course, Santa Claus isn’t mysterious forever. The Point Loma house had a two car garage that my grandfather had filled with generations of stuff – it was a wonderful place to hide, explore and search. We found the bicycles that year, but didn’t tell anybody else. Sure enough, on Christmas morning they appeared by the fireplace and Christmas tree marked “from Santa Claus.” Aha! So, we knew, but being rather smart we didn’t tell the folks – why kill the golden goose? I don’t recall when we stopped staying over at Gram and Gramps on Christmas Eve – it was probably in the early 60’s when Scott was a young child.

University of Houston Digital History web site

One of the most intriguing web sites I've seen recently is the University of Houston digital history site at http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/

There are pages for textbooks, reference books, documents, exhibits, teacher guides, resource guides and multimedia resources. There are interactive sections for timelines, "A House Divided" and "America's Reconstruction." This site looks great to me - a favorite now.

There is a collection of historical maps at http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/maps/maps.cfm that is intriguing and useful.

Check it out!

The Benefits of having children

I received this in email today, and I can't resist putting it in the blog -

The government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140 for a middle income family. Talk about sticker shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition.

But $160,140 isn't so bad if you break it down. It translates into:

* $8,896.66 a year,
* $741.38 a month, or
* $171.08 a week.
* That's a mere $24.24 a day!
* Just over a dollar an hour.

Still, you might think the best financial advice is don't have children if you want to be "rich." Actually, it is just the opposite. What do you get for your $160,140?

* Naming rights. First, middle, and last!
* Glimpses of God every day.
* Giggles under the covers every night.
* More love than your heart can hold.
* Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.
* Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.
* A hand to hold, usually covered with jelly or chocolate.
* A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites
* Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.

For $160,140, you never have to grow up. You get to:

* finger-paint,
* carve pumpkins,
* play hide-and-seek,
* catch lightning bugs, and
* never stop believing in Santa Claus.

You have an excuse to:

* keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh,
* watching Saturday morning cartoons,
* going to Disney movies, and
* wishing on star's.

You get to:

* frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets
* collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas,
* receive hand prints set in clay or Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters for Father's Day.

For $160,140, there is no greater bang for your buck. You get to be a hero just for:

* retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof,
* taking the training wheels off a bike,
* removing a splinter,
* filling a wading pool,
* coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and
* coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.

You get a front row seat to history to witness the:

* first step,
* first word,
* first day of school
* first bra,
* first date, and
* first time behind the wheel.

You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great grandchildren. You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match.

In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God. You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits,

So, one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost. That is quite a deal for the price!!!!!!!

Love & enjoy your children and grandchildren!

Six word memoir contest

Have you entered the six-word memoir contest at http://www.smithmag.net/sixwords/index.php? This is the antithesis of the NaNoWriMo 50,000 word contest, and certainly appealed to me. So I entered with one about me:

"Descendant of obscure American colonial ancestors." - Randy Seaver

Six words, no more, no less. There are some interesting and funny ones on the web site. And some scatological too (I can see everyone rushing over there now...). There is a prize for the best one - a 4 gB red iPod, but you have to sign up for a free Twitter account.

Chris Dunham at http://genealogue.blogspot.com found this web site, and I posted this biography on Chris's blog:

"Son, husband, father, carpenter, soldier, citizen." - Norman Seaver (1734-1787) of Westminster MA.

What would yours be? Go post it at the web site and tell me what it was.

Rootsweb Mailing List Search function improved

Hugh Watkins scoops the genealogy blog world again - with a link to the NEW Rootsweb/Ancestry Mailing List Archive search engine that is being tested at http://archiver.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/search . Hugh likes this "improvement."

After working with this a bit, I think that it is excellent. It replaces the real clunky search process that Rootsweb still has linked on their main page - where you have to search by list, and then by year.

With this new search engine in the Keyword tab, you can search on keywords - and get results from all mailing lists. The "Search tips" read:

* Search for a phrase by putting quotes around a group of words, like "john jones"

* Perform a single character wildcard search using "?". For example, j?nes will find jones and janes

* Perform a multiple wildcard search using "*". This will look for zero or more characters, so jon* will find jon, jones, and jonson

* Use "AND" to require the search to find all words or phrases.
"john AND jones" will only return results with both words

* Use "NOT" to exclude words or phrases. For example "john NOT jones" will return all results with the word john but not jones

If you use the Advanced Search tab, then you can narrow the search to words in the title, words in the body, an email address of the submitter, a specific mailing list, or a date range. That is a MAJOR improvement over the previous search capability.

I counsel patience as Rootsweb/Ancestry improve their products - and if you want to make constructive suggestions to their Help Desk at http://helpdesk.rootsweb.com/ I think that they will listen!