My colleague Susi passed this to me from the RAOGK Chat forum...
-------------------------
I saw this on CNN's Robin Meade this morning. I did a bit of a search on found the article on google http://cbs2chicago.com/watercooler/world.war.love.2.803209.html . There is a video on the site.
The address on the envelopes is
Mrs Nadine H. Dawson
107 Delores Street
San Francisco Calif.
They are from her husband Claude stationed in the South Pacific during WWII.
Love Letters From World War II Found In Waste Bin
GRASS VALLEY, Calif. (CBS) ― Dozens of love letters from a World War II sailor were found in a thrift store trash can, and now a local historian is
trying to locate the couple who exchanged the messages decades ago.
A worker at the thrift shop run by AnimalSave, an animal rescue charity, pulled a shoebox full of letters from a waste bin.
"I'm always going through the trash because we throw away good stuff," Vicki
Landucci said. "I saw this box of letters there."
At one point, more than six decades ago, they were the most important thing in the world to two people. The letters are all from Claude Dawson to his wife, Nadine, about his experiences in the South Pacific, and of course, about how much he missed her.
"They were so vivid, it was like being there," said Susan Raub. Raud gave the letters to a local historian, but he has not yet been able to track down Claud or Nadine, or their family members.
---------------------------------
That's a fascinating story, isn't it? Just think of how many boxes of letters and photographs have gone into the dumpster and not been saved over the years!
I wonder who the local historian is? There is a Claude Dawson in Oakland CA in the 1920 and 1930 census, unmarried. There is also one in San Diego in the 1930 census, unmarried. Is this a case for The Genealogue? Or the Unclaimed Persons team?
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Corona (CA) "Stones, Bones and Ancient Tomes" Event on 25 October
I received the following information from Jean Wilcox Hibben about a genealogy event on Saturday, 25 October in Corona (CA) in Riverside County:
"The Corona Genealogical Society (CGS) is proud to announce their "2nd Annual Stones, Bones, and Ancient Tomes" Genealogy Event. This event is FREE and open to the public. A combination of presentations and displays, it will be held at the Corona Public Library, 650 S. Main St., Corona, California, on Saturday October 25, 2008.
"From 10 am until 4 pm, our knowledgeable members will have display booths to assist anyone with beginning genealogy, organizing materials, related software, writing family history, restoring/preserving documents and photos, one-on-one help with Internet Searches, Family Tree Maker, Hispanic Genealogical Research, DNA, DAR and much, much more!
"Members of CGS and invited guest speakers will conduct jam-packed mini seminars on various subjects including "Why to do Family History," "Writing Your Life Story," "How-To use Family Tree Maker software," "Beginning Family History," "Cemetery Walks," "The Corona Family History Center," "Using available Corona Public Library Resources," and more.
"For more information, please go to our website: www.CoronaGenSoc.org."
This sounds like an interesting and rewarding set of mini-seminars. I will be interested in hearing how successful this event is in reaching into the community to promote interest in genealogy and family history research.
"The Corona Genealogical Society (CGS) is proud to announce their "2nd Annual Stones, Bones, and Ancient Tomes" Genealogy Event. This event is FREE and open to the public. A combination of presentations and displays, it will be held at the Corona Public Library, 650 S. Main St., Corona, California, on Saturday October 25, 2008.
"From 10 am until 4 pm, our knowledgeable members will have display booths to assist anyone with beginning genealogy, organizing materials, related software, writing family history, restoring/preserving documents and photos, one-on-one help with Internet Searches, Family Tree Maker, Hispanic Genealogical Research, DNA, DAR and much, much more!
"Members of CGS and invited guest speakers will conduct jam-packed mini seminars on various subjects including "Why to do Family History," "Writing Your Life Story," "How-To use Family Tree Maker software," "Beginning Family History," "Cemetery Walks," "The Corona Family History Center," "Using available Corona Public Library Resources," and more.
"For more information, please go to our website: www.CoronaGenSoc.org."
This sounds like an interesting and rewarding set of mini-seminars. I will be interested in hearing how successful this event is in reaching into the community to promote interest in genealogy and family history research.
Family Photographs - Post 20: Austin and Della circa 1940
I'm posting old family photographs from my collection on Wednesdays, but they won't be wordless posts like others do - I simply am incapable of having a wordless post.
Here is one of the most precious (to me) images from my Smith/Carringer family collection:
Last week I posted the wedding picture of Henry Austin Carringer (1853-1946) and Della (Smith) Carringer (1862-1944). This week's photograph is of Austin and Della taken in about 1940, probably in the garden of their home at 2115 30th Street.
It's interesting to me that Austin is still ramrod straight with a nearly full head of white hair and the ever-present mustache. Della is prim and proper, as always, and wears glasses. They are dressed formally - I wonder if the occasion was their own birthdays or anniversary, their son's birthday or anniversary, or the wedding of their granddaughter, Betty Carringer to Fred Seaver? Is Della's blouse buttoned wrongly? It sure looks like it, doesn't it?
This is how my mother remembers Austin and Della - he was "tall and very demanding" in his old age. Della is remembered as "being small and wrinkled." She knew them intimately throughout her early life - they lived next door to her family and she saw them often. I wish that I had been able to meet them and speak to them about their lives. These two were the migrators - the ones who came across the country as children and young adults, settling in San Diego as newlyweds in 1887. 121 years later, the fourth and fifth generations of their descendants are still here (and scattered across California too)!
This photograph was handed down from Austin and Della (Smith) Carringer to their son Lyle Lawrence Carringer, to their daughter Betty Virginia (Carringer) Seaver (who married Fred Seaver) to me, their son.
Here is one of the most precious (to me) images from my Smith/Carringer family collection:
Last week I posted the wedding picture of Henry Austin Carringer (1853-1946) and Della (Smith) Carringer (1862-1944). This week's photograph is of Austin and Della taken in about 1940, probably in the garden of their home at 2115 30th Street.
It's interesting to me that Austin is still ramrod straight with a nearly full head of white hair and the ever-present mustache. Della is prim and proper, as always, and wears glasses. They are dressed formally - I wonder if the occasion was their own birthdays or anniversary, their son's birthday or anniversary, or the wedding of their granddaughter, Betty Carringer to Fred Seaver? Is Della's blouse buttoned wrongly? It sure looks like it, doesn't it?
This is how my mother remembers Austin and Della - he was "tall and very demanding" in his old age. Della is remembered as "being small and wrinkled." She knew them intimately throughout her early life - they lived next door to her family and she saw them often. I wish that I had been able to meet them and speak to them about their lives. These two were the migrators - the ones who came across the country as children and young adults, settling in San Diego as newlyweds in 1887. 121 years later, the fourth and fifth generations of their descendants are still here (and scattered across California too)!
This photograph was handed down from Austin and Della (Smith) Carringer to their son Lyle Lawrence Carringer, to their daughter Betty Virginia (Carringer) Seaver (who married Fred Seaver) to me, their son.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Jean Wilcox Hibben, Ph.D.
I received an email from Jean Wilcox Hibben, one of the very best conference and society presenters, who lives in Riverside County. Jean has received her Doctor of Philosophy Degree in Folklore. Here is some of Jean's email to her friends and supporters:
"The dissertation itself was on family folklore and its value to future generations. The PhD is complete, dissertation bound and submitted, and diploma already received and framed. All the hard work has been followed with the efforts to put away many, many books (some purchased for the project so bookcase space needed to be located) and to post the dissertation to the web.
"This has been accomplished and, in case you have any interest in looking at it, you can do so by going to my website: www.circlemending.org. Click on "Dissertation" and follow the directions there (which explains how it is all organized) and click on the link. That link takes you to another "store and share" site from which you can download the file to your computer and read and/or print it (I strongly advise against the latter unless you really want it - it's 221 pages long). If you have any questions (they can't be harder than my dissertation defense, though), please feel free to contact me."
You can read about Jean's dissertation project and download it using the link at http://www.circlemending.org/dissertationproject.html. I look forward to reading Jean's dissertation and learning more about Family Folklore and its impact on future generations.
Congratulations to Jean for her well-earned degree. I look forward to meeting Jean at the Chula Vista Genealogical Society seminar on 18 October when she will make three presentations to our members and community.
"The dissertation itself was on family folklore and its value to future generations. The PhD is complete, dissertation bound and submitted, and diploma already received and framed. All the hard work has been followed with the efforts to put away many, many books (some purchased for the project so bookcase space needed to be located) and to post the dissertation to the web.
"This has been accomplished and, in case you have any interest in looking at it, you can do so by going to my website: www.circlemending.org. Click on "Dissertation" and follow the directions there (which explains how it is all organized) and click on the link. That link takes you to another "store and share" site from which you can download the file to your computer and read and/or print it (I strongly advise against the latter unless you really want it - it's 221 pages long). If you have any questions (they can't be harder than my dissertation defense, though), please feel free to contact me."
You can read about Jean's dissertation project and download it using the link at http://www.circlemending.org/dissertationproject.html. I look forward to reading Jean's dissertation and learning more about Family Folklore and its impact on future generations.
Congratulations to Jean for her well-earned degree. I look forward to meeting Jean at the Chula Vista Genealogical Society seminar on 18 October when she will make three presentations to our members and community.
Help me out with Genealogy Words
Our Chula Vista Genealogical Society annual picnic is on Wednesday 27 August - the announcement is here on the Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe blog.
For the past few years, I've been the ringmaster for the genealogy-oriented games that we play at the picnic. In the past two years, we've played Genealogy Jeopardy and Wheel of Genealogy Fortune. The group loves the challenge and participation. People almost fought to be Vanna White.
This year, we're playing "Genealogy Password." Remember the game "Password" on TV from the 1960's with Allen Ludden? It has come back several times, and a Million-Dollar Password is in current production with Regis Philbin. The rules are on Wikipedia here.
For the past few years, I've been the ringmaster for the genealogy-oriented games that we play at the picnic. In the past two years, we've played Genealogy Jeopardy and Wheel of Genealogy Fortune. The group loves the challenge and participation. People almost fought to be Vanna White.
This year, we're playing "Genealogy Password." Remember the game "Password" on TV from the 1960's with Allen Ludden? It has come back several times, and a Million-Dollar Password is in current production with Regis Philbin. The rules are on Wikipedia here.
The CVGS "Genealogy Password" game is going to be fairly simple in order not to confuse or tax the brain of "Allen Ludden" - moi! I need your help. I figure that I need about 100 words in order to play a one hour game with several teams, and playoffs, and a lightning round at the end.
Tell me your favorite one-word genealogy terms. I'll try to work them into my list of words. Be creative! I already have ahnentafel, indenture, grantor and pedigree. Oh - I need them by 8 a.m. PDT on Wednesday!!! Thanks.
Tell me your favorite one-word genealogy terms. I'll try to work them into my list of words. Be creative! I already have ahnentafel, indenture, grantor and pedigree. Oh - I need them by 8 a.m. PDT on Wednesday!!! Thanks.
Who's the Genealogy Hottie?
Jimmy Kavanagh at Genealogy Gifts has come up with the ultimate T-shirt for those genealogy hot shots you know...
Now who's going to have the um, well, you know, to wear this at the next conference, cruise or society meeting? He has it in male and female shirts, plus other stuff too. Hmmm, where's the Speedo and Bikini versions?
Name your candidates, folks! Who is your favorite Genealogy Hottie? Will s/he wear the shirt?
Check out the Genealogy Gifts store too - there may be another "gotta-have" genea-shirt there just for you! I have three shirts myself ... and I've worn them all to a meeting. And will do so again and again.
Now who's going to have the um, well, you know, to wear this at the next conference, cruise or society meeting? He has it in male and female shirts, plus other stuff too. Hmmm, where's the Speedo and Bikini versions?Name your candidates, folks! Who is your favorite Genealogy Hottie? Will s/he wear the shirt?
Check out the Genealogy Gifts store too - there may be another "gotta-have" genea-shirt there just for you! I have three shirts myself ... and I've worn them all to a meeting. And will do so again and again.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Genealogicus Interruptus
What is this? Another genealogy related disease? There are several:
* Virus Genealogicus -- the obsession to endlessly perform genealogical research - for an example, see here.
* Genealogicus Terminus -- the insatiable craving when you know it will be several weeks, possibly months, before you get back to the hunt. For an example, see here.
* Genealogicus Interruptus -- when the virus has been temporarily quelled, usually due to family matters, but the virus will soon return stronger than ever!
As daily readers of my The Geneaholic blog know, I have had genealogicus interruptus for a week now, due to all four grandchildren and their mothers visiting us. Lucas (age 4.9) and Logan (age 2.5) came last Tuesday and left on Saturday. Lauren (age 3.5) and Audrey (age 0.3) came on Friday and leave on Wednesday. These are the major reasons for my Genealogicus Interruptus, and lack of Genea-Musings posts, except when I can slip one in while little ones are napping or out for the day (like on last Thursday).
What other genealogy "diseases" are out there? I'm sure you can find more than these!
I'm not complaining here - I love making family history, and the grandkids are precious and fun, but they are a lot of work too, especially if my daughters are away (like since last Friday!). But I wanted my faithful readers to know why Genea-Musings has not been up to my usual quantity and quality of material for your reading pleasure. And I invented a new term in the process!
* Virus Genealogicus -- the obsession to endlessly perform genealogical research - for an example, see here.
* Genealogicus Terminus -- the insatiable craving when you know it will be several weeks, possibly months, before you get back to the hunt. For an example, see here.
* Genealogicus Interruptus -- when the virus has been temporarily quelled, usually due to family matters, but the virus will soon return stronger than ever!
As daily readers of my The Geneaholic blog know, I have had genealogicus interruptus for a week now, due to all four grandchildren and their mothers visiting us. Lucas (age 4.9) and Logan (age 2.5) came last Tuesday and left on Saturday. Lauren (age 3.5) and Audrey (age 0.3) came on Friday and leave on Wednesday. These are the major reasons for my Genealogicus Interruptus, and lack of Genea-Musings posts, except when I can slip one in while little ones are napping or out for the day (like on last Thursday).
What other genealogy "diseases" are out there? I'm sure you can find more than these!
I'm not complaining here - I love making family history, and the grandkids are precious and fun, but they are a lot of work too, especially if my daughters are away (like since last Friday!). But I wanted my faithful readers to know why Genea-Musings has not been up to my usual quantity and quality of material for your reading pleasure. And I invented a new term in the process!
Meredith Vieira discovers her roots
I was feeding the baby this morning, and watching the Today show on NBC, and was surprised to see a segment about the family history of Meredith Vieira, one of the hosts on the show.
You can see the 11 minute video on http://www.msnbc.com/ - Meredith discovers her roots
This was very well done - with stories and pictures about Meredith's family in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, and her ancestral families in the Azore Islands, part of Portugal. The video takes you to the Azores, and Meredith meets distant family members and finds some of the ancestral homes. In the process, she discovers that she has not been pronouncing her surname correctly over the years, and she has a difficult time saying it like the Azoreans do.
It's a wonderful segment, and was a great start to my day. Maureen A. Taylor, the Photo Detective, was the consulting genealogist on this project, but she wasn't in the video. They used Ancestry.com for some of the genealogy work also. I imagine that there will be a news release at some time from Ancestry about their contribution.
The Today show is going to have similar segments for Al Roker and Matt Lauer in the coming days.
You can see the 11 minute video on http://www.msnbc.com/ - Meredith discovers her roots
This was very well done - with stories and pictures about Meredith's family in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, and her ancestral families in the Azore Islands, part of Portugal. The video takes you to the Azores, and Meredith meets distant family members and finds some of the ancestral homes. In the process, she discovers that she has not been pronouncing her surname correctly over the years, and she has a difficult time saying it like the Azoreans do.
It's a wonderful segment, and was a great start to my day. Maureen A. Taylor, the Photo Detective, was the consulting genealogist on this project, but she wasn't in the video. They used Ancestry.com for some of the genealogy work also. I imagine that there will be a news release at some time from Ancestry about their contribution.
The Today show is going to have similar segments for Al Roker and Matt Lauer in the coming days.
Genealympics Medal Ceremony
The Genealympics (the official name is the Genea-Bloggers Group Games of 2008) are officially over, and the closing ceremony has been posted by Thomas MacEntee on his blog Destination: Austin Family in the post Genea-Blogger Games: Closing Ceremony.
Here is the flag I waved at the Opening Ceremony and the Closing Ceremony:
I was awarded two medals in the two events that I participated in. A Diamond Medal for competing in the Organize Your Research! event:
Here is the flag I waved at the Opening Ceremony and the Closing Ceremony:
I was awarded two medals in the two events that I participated in. A Diamond Medal for competing in the Organize Your Research! event:
And a platinum medal for participating in the Genealogical Acts of Kindness event.
You can see a summary of my Genealympics activities here.
Thank you to Thomas MacEntee, Miriam Midkiff, Kathryn M. Doyle and footnoteMaven for organizing the Games. They were great fun, and are one of the very best examples of genealogy bloggers working together to advance the genealogy research skills of each genea-athlete.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Best of the Genea-Blogs - Week of August 17-23, 2008
Several hundred genealogy and family history bloggers write thousands of posts every week about their research, their families, and their interests. I appreciate each one of them and their efforts.
My criteria for "Best of ..." are pretty simple - I pick posts that advance knowledge about genealogy and family history, address current genealogy issues, provide personal family history, are funny or are poignant. I don't list posts destined for the Carnival of Genealogy, or other meme submissions (but I do include summaries of them), or my own posts.
Here are my picks for great reads from the genealogy blogs for this past week:
* The Mystery of Baby Samuel by Elizabeth O'Neal on the Little Bytes of Life blog. You have to read Elizabeth's tale about a special baby - what a great piece of work tying family to research. This story really touched me.
* Baby Samuel: Some Answers, More Questions by Kathryn M. Doyle on the California Genealogical Society and Library blog. Kathryn reports what three researchers at CGS found out about Baby Samuel's family. Another labor of love. Wouldn't it be great if a relative of baby Samuel found these posts and learned more about his/her family as a result?
* The 1918 Flu Epidemic by Gena Philibert Ortega on Gena's Genealogy blog. Gena tells about the flu epidemic in 1918 and how it affected families and society in general.
* The Problem With Pauline - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4 by Sheri Fenley on The Educated Genealogist blog. Sheri tells the story of her search for what happened to Mary Pauline Sheern... and it's a complicated story! One we should all think about in our own research for elusive ancestors. Excellent detective work and writing. [Yes, I know two of these posts are dated earlier than last week - but they weren't published that week, they were finished this week.]
* Database review: Ancestry.com's Map Collection, 1513-1990 by the male person who writes The Ancestry Insider blog. Mr. AI writes about Ancestry.com sourcing and image resolution for their map collection. Interesting comments, too.
* Edmund Bacon Frees an Enslaved Woman by J.L. Bell on the Boston 1775 blog. Mr. Bell has been analyzing the Jefferson-Hemings situation based on documents in the Monticello collection. This particular one is about Harriet Hemings, who married a white man and "passed" in Washington DC society. I wonder if anyone knows who she was? For a fascinating take on the Jefferson-Hemings situation and Monticello, read Mr. Bell's series of excellent and well-researched posts.
* It is Well With My Soul: A Family History in Song and Images by Thomas MacEntee on the Destination: Austin Family blog. Thomas describes the background for the Christian song, has a video of the song, and tells how it has touched his life. Read the Terry Thornton post that inspired Thomas' post too - it has the lyrics to It Is Well With My Soul. A two-fer here!
* Stores of Yesteryear Roundup by Lori Thornton on the Smoky Mountain Family Historian blog. Lori provides the roundup of her meme about the stores we remember from our childhood.
* Road Trip Pt1, Road Trip Pt2 and Yoder's Farm by Bill West on the West in New England blog. Bill goes travelling west (where else?) with his sister Cheryl to Pennsylvania and Ohio and tells us about the trip in these posts. Something tells me that this series has just started! I love genealogy road trip stories!
* DearMYRTLE's Study Group: Update 19 August 2008 by Pat Richley on the Teach Genealogy Blog. I love reading about Pat's study group escapades - they often give me new ideas for our monthly Research Group effort.
* August 22 - Friday from the Collectors: A Thousand Words Lost by guest blogger Bob Franks on footnoteMaven's Shades of the Departed blog. Bob, who writes the Itawamba (MS) History Review blog and several others, tells a sad story about an old portrait, and encourages readers and researchers to go looking in historical society archives for old pictures, photographs and the like.
Thank you to all genealogy bloggers for an interesting and informative week. Did you notice some new blogs on this list? I hope so!
I encourage you to go to the blogs listed above and read their articles, and add their blog to your Favorites, Bloglines, reader, feed or email if you like what you read. Please make a comment to them also - we all appreciate feedback on what we write.
Did I miss a great genealogy blog post? I'm sure I did, because I didn't have much time to read this week. Tell me!
*
My criteria for "Best of ..." are pretty simple - I pick posts that advance knowledge about genealogy and family history, address current genealogy issues, provide personal family history, are funny or are poignant. I don't list posts destined for the Carnival of Genealogy, or other meme submissions (but I do include summaries of them), or my own posts.
Here are my picks for great reads from the genealogy blogs for this past week:
* The Mystery of Baby Samuel by Elizabeth O'Neal on the Little Bytes of Life blog. You have to read Elizabeth's tale about a special baby - what a great piece of work tying family to research. This story really touched me.
* Baby Samuel: Some Answers, More Questions by Kathryn M. Doyle on the California Genealogical Society and Library blog. Kathryn reports what three researchers at CGS found out about Baby Samuel's family. Another labor of love. Wouldn't it be great if a relative of baby Samuel found these posts and learned more about his/her family as a result?
* The 1918 Flu Epidemic by Gena Philibert Ortega on Gena's Genealogy blog. Gena tells about the flu epidemic in 1918 and how it affected families and society in general.
* The Problem With Pauline - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4 by Sheri Fenley on The Educated Genealogist blog. Sheri tells the story of her search for what happened to Mary Pauline Sheern... and it's a complicated story! One we should all think about in our own research for elusive ancestors. Excellent detective work and writing. [Yes, I know two of these posts are dated earlier than last week - but they weren't published that week, they were finished this week.]
* Database review: Ancestry.com's Map Collection, 1513-1990 by the male person who writes The Ancestry Insider blog. Mr. AI writes about Ancestry.com sourcing and image resolution for their map collection. Interesting comments, too.
* Edmund Bacon Frees an Enslaved Woman by J.L. Bell on the Boston 1775 blog. Mr. Bell has been analyzing the Jefferson-Hemings situation based on documents in the Monticello collection. This particular one is about Harriet Hemings, who married a white man and "passed" in Washington DC society. I wonder if anyone knows who she was? For a fascinating take on the Jefferson-Hemings situation and Monticello, read Mr. Bell's series of excellent and well-researched posts.
* It is Well With My Soul: A Family History in Song and Images by Thomas MacEntee on the Destination: Austin Family blog. Thomas describes the background for the Christian song, has a video of the song, and tells how it has touched his life. Read the Terry Thornton post that inspired Thomas' post too - it has the lyrics to It Is Well With My Soul. A two-fer here!
* Stores of Yesteryear Roundup by Lori Thornton on the Smoky Mountain Family Historian blog. Lori provides the roundup of her meme about the stores we remember from our childhood.
* Road Trip Pt1, Road Trip Pt2 and Yoder's Farm by Bill West on the West in New England blog. Bill goes travelling west (where else?) with his sister Cheryl to Pennsylvania and Ohio and tells us about the trip in these posts. Something tells me that this series has just started! I love genealogy road trip stories!
* DearMYRTLE's Study Group: Update 19 August 2008 by Pat Richley on the Teach Genealogy Blog. I love reading about Pat's study group escapades - they often give me new ideas for our monthly Research Group effort.
* August 22 - Friday from the Collectors: A Thousand Words Lost by guest blogger Bob Franks on footnoteMaven's Shades of the Departed blog. Bob, who writes the Itawamba (MS) History Review blog and several others, tells a sad story about an old portrait, and encourages readers and researchers to go looking in historical society archives for old pictures, photographs and the like.
Thank you to all genealogy bloggers for an interesting and informative week. Did you notice some new blogs on this list? I hope so!
I encourage you to go to the blogs listed above and read their articles, and add their blog to your Favorites, Bloglines, reader, feed or email if you like what you read. Please make a comment to them also - we all appreciate feedback on what we write.
Did I miss a great genealogy blog post? I'm sure I did, because I didn't have much time to read this week. Tell me!
*
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