Dear Genea-Man,
I understand the SLC FHL will not lend books. I don't think the Chula Vista Library would have the following book. How do I obtain an interlibrary loan (or find out if it is available re interlibrary loan)? John Mallet, the Huguenot, and Descendants. Author: Anna S. Mallett. Publication: Harrisburg Publishing Company, 1895.
Dear Colleague,
Just ten years ago, Inter-library loan was about your only option, it seemed. Now, there are more options, including:
1) Chula Vista Public Library has an Inter-library loan (ILL) service. You can find out which libraries hold a certain book by using http://worldcat.org/. Scroll down to the Search Box. You can input "john mallett" or "anna s mallett" and find matches for the book you want. Click on one of the matches, and you will get a list of libraries that have the book you want. You could print this off and take it to the CVPL and get an inter-library loan. I don't know what the ILL fee is now, but it's reasonable.
2) Another option is to check the LDS Family History Library Catalog (FHLC) at http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/FHLC/frameset_fhlc.asp. I chose an author search, and input "mallett" for the surname and "anna" for the given name in the search box. A page with a list of her single book - the one you want - came up. I clicked on the book title, and got a "Title Detail" page about the book, which is on the shelf at the FHL in Salt Lake City. They also have the book available for loan on a microfilm - click on the "View Film Notes" in the upper right hand corner. The film number for this book is FHL US/CAN Film 0,982,137 Item 3. You can print that page off (use the printable version link), and take it to the FHC down in Mission Valley and order the microfilm for $6.25 rental fee.
3) Some books in the FHLC are now available online. For the John Mallett book, there is a link on the "Title Detail" page that says "To view a digital version of this book, click here." If you click on this, it takes you to a book in the BYU Family History Archive at http://patriot.lib.byu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/FH16&CISOPTR=41480. This is a digitized version of this book, page by page. You can print the pages on your home printer, or save them to your computer, or just read them online.
4) If you want some pages from a database, book or microform at the LDS Family History Library, you can print out the form here and submit it by mail to the Family History Library. You will need specific pages, book call numbers, microform number and item, but it can be done for a price. Obviously, you can get many microforms at the FHC on rental and copy pages yourself, but for those resources not on microform, this service beats a trip to Salt Lake City. Thanks DearMYRTLE for the suggestion.
5) Google Books (http://books.google.com/ ) has only a "snippet" view of pages from this book. www.Ancestry.com has the complete book on their subscription side.
There are other web sites with digitized out-of-copyright books on the Internet.
As we can see, there are several good choices that genealogy researchers can make to find published works, especially those published before 1923.
UPDATED 9 PM: Drew Smith suggested I use the simpler http://worldcat.org for the Catalog - done! Thanks, Drew.
DearMYRTLE suggested that pages from books or microforms can be ordered from the Family History Library using forms found here. In my 20 years of going to the FHC, I've never used this service, nor was I aware of it. I could not find that web page by browsing through the www.FamilySearch.org site (even using the Site Map). They have hidden it very well! Thanks MYRT!
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Day 16 - Christmas Parties
On the 16th day of Christmas,
my relatives acted hearty
at a family Christmas party.
1) Did your family throw a holiday party each year?
When I was a kid, we didn't have a separate holiday party that I recall - just celebrations with my grandparents and my cousin Dorothy's family.
After we were married, my parents, my brothers and us would have a Christmas party either on the weekend before Christmas, on Christmas Eve or on Christmas Day with the traditional dinner. As the children grew, these became great fun watching the little ones open gifts, show off for grandma and grandpa, and play out in the yard.
Our family would fly (on Christmas Day) or drive (several days before Christmas) to San Francisco to celebrate the holiday with Linda's parents and brother. They would invite their living aunts and uncles to dinner and Paul (Linda's brother) and I would often go pick them up and take them home. Sometimes, we would go down the peninsula to visit the aunts, uncles and cousins. There was always lots of laughs, sharing of memories, interesting gifts and lots of good food at these events.
2) Do you remember attending any holiday parties?
Besides the family parties, there were Christmas parties at church and with colleagues at work. The church couples group adopted a New Year's Eve "progressive dinner" party, with white elephant gift giving, rather than a pre-Christmas party. This was done because everybody had a busy schedule with their kids and family, needed a sober New Year's event to attend, and we could get rid of useless but valuable gifts at the New Year's party.
We also attended a pre-Christmas party with our Marriage Encounter board couples with a white elephant gift exchange. If we didn't like the gift we got here, we took it to the New Year's party. Fruitcake, especially!
For many years, my work group got together for an evening pot luck party with much drinking and telling stories about people who didn't attend. These were always at someone's house, and it was a good way to meet the spouses of your colleagues, stand under the mistletoe and be spurned, and to see how they lived. I don't have many specific memories of these, of course, except that Linda had to pour me into bed more than once.
Linda's teaching colleagues also had a pre-Christmas party at someone's house, which was similar to my work colleague party, except it was more interesting because the families were in different income brackets. The group was much more diverse and the people more interesting. There was a designated gift giving at these parties - each teacher drew a name at school to give a gift to.
This post will be part of the "Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories" carnival - organized by Thomas MacEntee at the Destination: Austin Family blog. Please go to Thomas' blog and read the submissions for each day.
my relatives acted hearty
at a family Christmas party.
1) Did your family throw a holiday party each year?
When I was a kid, we didn't have a separate holiday party that I recall - just celebrations with my grandparents and my cousin Dorothy's family.
After we were married, my parents, my brothers and us would have a Christmas party either on the weekend before Christmas, on Christmas Eve or on Christmas Day with the traditional dinner. As the children grew, these became great fun watching the little ones open gifts, show off for grandma and grandpa, and play out in the yard.
Our family would fly (on Christmas Day) or drive (several days before Christmas) to San Francisco to celebrate the holiday with Linda's parents and brother. They would invite their living aunts and uncles to dinner and Paul (Linda's brother) and I would often go pick them up and take them home. Sometimes, we would go down the peninsula to visit the aunts, uncles and cousins. There was always lots of laughs, sharing of memories, interesting gifts and lots of good food at these events.
2) Do you remember attending any holiday parties?
Besides the family parties, there were Christmas parties at church and with colleagues at work. The church couples group adopted a New Year's Eve "progressive dinner" party, with white elephant gift giving, rather than a pre-Christmas party. This was done because everybody had a busy schedule with their kids and family, needed a sober New Year's event to attend, and we could get rid of useless but valuable gifts at the New Year's party.
We also attended a pre-Christmas party with our Marriage Encounter board couples with a white elephant gift exchange. If we didn't like the gift we got here, we took it to the New Year's party. Fruitcake, especially!
For many years, my work group got together for an evening pot luck party with much drinking and telling stories about people who didn't attend. These were always at someone's house, and it was a good way to meet the spouses of your colleagues, stand under the mistletoe and be spurned, and to see how they lived. I don't have many specific memories of these, of course, except that Linda had to pour me into bed more than once.
Linda's teaching colleagues also had a pre-Christmas party at someone's house, which was similar to my work colleague party, except it was more interesting because the families were in different income brackets. The group was much more diverse and the people more interesting. There was a designated gift giving at these parties - each teacher drew a name at school to give a gift to.
This post will be part of the "Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories" carnival - organized by Thomas MacEntee at the Destination: Austin Family blog. Please go to Thomas' blog and read the submissions for each day.
Friday, December 7, 2007
Ancestry Survey Reveals Lack of Family Knowledge
Ancestry.com has a press release titled "Survey Reveals Americans' Surprising Lack of Family Knowledge" - read the whole thing here. The findings are summarized as --
-- Young Americans are looking to their roots - 83 percent of 18- to 34-years-old are interested in learning their family history. Following closely are the 35- to 54-year-olds at 77 percent and Americans ages 55+ at 73 percent.
-- Half of Americans know the name of only one or none of their great-grandparents.
-- Twenty-two percent of Americans don't know what either of their grandfathers do or did for a living.
-- Although America is known as a nation of immigrants, 27 percent don't know where their family lived before they came to America.
-- Seventy-eight percent of Americans say they are interested in learning more about their family history.
-- Fifty percent of American families have ever researched their roots.
-- In comparing regions, Southerners know the least about their roots. Only 38 percent know both of their grandmothers' maiden names, compared with 50 percent of Northeasterners. Also, only 47 percent of Southerners know what both of their grandfathers do or did for a living, while 55 percent of Northeasterners know both grandfathers' occupations.
Are you surprised by these findings? I'm not. Look at the state of the world today -- with
* many children born out of wedlock who do not know their biological fathers,
* many raised by single parents or foster or adoptive parents,
* many divorced couples,
* many family members spread out all over the world due to immigration and occupation.
Frankly, I'm amazed that so many people do know about their grandfathers' occupations and their grandmothers maiden names.
Those same reasons for the lack of knowledge are why there is the interest in family history - they want to know more about their family and how they came into being. There is a yearning for knowledge about identity and genetics - a desire to know "where do I belong?"
There is an opportunity for genealogy societies and researchers to help these people in their quest. The challenge is to find the best way to help people find their family history. I think it lies in education - especially using audio-visual methods - and in finding and telling family history stories that people can relate to.
The Ancestry press release has some questions for inquisitive people to ask their family members during the holidays - it's a good list. I hope that more people take the opportunity to ask the questions and video or write down the answers.
Do you agree? What else can be done to help those inquirers, and genealogy societies deal with them?
-- Young Americans are looking to their roots - 83 percent of 18- to 34-years-old are interested in learning their family history. Following closely are the 35- to 54-year-olds at 77 percent and Americans ages 55+ at 73 percent.
-- Half of Americans know the name of only one or none of their great-grandparents.
-- Twenty-two percent of Americans don't know what either of their grandfathers do or did for a living.
-- Although America is known as a nation of immigrants, 27 percent don't know where their family lived before they came to America.
-- Seventy-eight percent of Americans say they are interested in learning more about their family history.
-- Fifty percent of American families have ever researched their roots.
-- In comparing regions, Southerners know the least about their roots. Only 38 percent know both of their grandmothers' maiden names, compared with 50 percent of Northeasterners. Also, only 47 percent of Southerners know what both of their grandfathers do or did for a living, while 55 percent of Northeasterners know both grandfathers' occupations.
Are you surprised by these findings? I'm not. Look at the state of the world today -- with
* many children born out of wedlock who do not know their biological fathers,
* many raised by single parents or foster or adoptive parents,
* many divorced couples,
* many family members spread out all over the world due to immigration and occupation.
Frankly, I'm amazed that so many people do know about their grandfathers' occupations and their grandmothers maiden names.
Those same reasons for the lack of knowledge are why there is the interest in family history - they want to know more about their family and how they came into being. There is a yearning for knowledge about identity and genetics - a desire to know "where do I belong?"
There is an opportunity for genealogy societies and researchers to help these people in their quest. The challenge is to find the best way to help people find their family history. I think it lies in education - especially using audio-visual methods - and in finding and telling family history stories that people can relate to.
The Ancestry press release has some questions for inquisitive people to ask their family members during the holidays - it's a good list. I hope that more people take the opportunity to ask the questions and video or write down the answers.
Do you agree? What else can be done to help those inquirers, and genealogy societies deal with them?
Were they in the Poorhouse?
Each of us searching for "elusive ancestors" has to think "outside the box" in order to find the dates, places, siblings and parents of these "brick wall" ancestors. Resorting to "cluster genealogy" techniques, often found in books and the published journals and periodicals, may find some of them with their families in a variety of records..
Usually, however, there are unusual sources that may contain one or more clues to solve the puzzle. They are almost always located in the places where the "elusive ancestor" lived, and it can be a challenge to find them. They may be in genealogy society files, historical society files, a local library, a local business or church, a school or university, or in someone's private collection.
One excellent example of an online source that might unlock some secrets is a Poorhouse register. Linda Crannell has gathered a wealth of information on her web site - The Poorhouse Story - at http://www.poorhousestory.com/. Read her own story about looking for and finding her great-great-grandmother, Emma Warner Thorn Pinchin here. Linda has a Letter to Genealogists also, detailing what types of records might be in these records, including:
* Homeless Families (who may have been burned out or flooded out of their homes)
* Destitute Families (who, for a time, could not afford to buy food, clothing or fuel)
* Victims of Domestic Abuse
* Unwed Mothers
* Orphans
* Elderly People (who were frail or ill and had nobody to care for them)
* Seasonally Unemployed Workers (who often were single men needing housing for the winter)
* Occupationally Injured Workers (who often worked in factories or on the canals or roads, or as lumbermen, etc.)
* Handicapped People (mentally ill, mentally retarded, blind, physically handicapped)
* Sick People (who had no money for treatment and may have suffered temporarily from the frequent epidemics of contagious diseases or from chronic diseases)
While we all hope that none of our ancestors lived in a Poorhouse, it is very likely that some of them did at some time in their lives, and Poorhouse records might unlock your own "brick wall" puzzle.
Linda has a link for the History of Poorhouses, and a page of links for Poorhouses by State. She also has a page of Tips for searching for these records. You might want to explore her web site and see if there are resources on her list that might help you in your research.
Of course, this is not the only place to look. A search of PERSI for poorhouse records in your state or county of interest might be fruitful, and USGenWeb county sites might have a list of Poorhouse records. Historical and genealogy society web sites or catalogs might also have them noted.
A search of the LDS Family History Library Catalog (FHLC) using the keyword = "poorhouse" resulted in 5,454 titles available in book or microform at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City (microform are available for loan at a local Family History Center for a fee). You could narrow the search by adding your county of interest to the keyword search.
Ancestry's Learning Center has 24 titles with information about researching Poorhouse records. These articles are free. A search of the Ancestry Database Card Catalog found no use of the word "poorhouse*" in a database title.
In our pursuit of "elusive ancestors," we need to leave no record unopened - and Poorhouse records may be just the resource you need to crash through your brick wall.
My thanks to my colleague Penny B. for sending me the link to Linda's Poorhouse Story web site, and my compliments to Linda Crannell for doing such a wonderful job of sharing her story and compiling all of the great information.
Usually, however, there are unusual sources that may contain one or more clues to solve the puzzle. They are almost always located in the places where the "elusive ancestor" lived, and it can be a challenge to find them. They may be in genealogy society files, historical society files, a local library, a local business or church, a school or university, or in someone's private collection.
One excellent example of an online source that might unlock some secrets is a Poorhouse register. Linda Crannell has gathered a wealth of information on her web site - The Poorhouse Story - at http://www.poorhousestory.com/. Read her own story about looking for and finding her great-great-grandmother, Emma Warner Thorn Pinchin here. Linda has a Letter to Genealogists also, detailing what types of records might be in these records, including:
* Homeless Families (who may have been burned out or flooded out of their homes)
* Destitute Families (who, for a time, could not afford to buy food, clothing or fuel)
* Victims of Domestic Abuse
* Unwed Mothers
* Orphans
* Elderly People (who were frail or ill and had nobody to care for them)
* Seasonally Unemployed Workers (who often were single men needing housing for the winter)
* Occupationally Injured Workers (who often worked in factories or on the canals or roads, or as lumbermen, etc.)
* Handicapped People (mentally ill, mentally retarded, blind, physically handicapped)
* Sick People (who had no money for treatment and may have suffered temporarily from the frequent epidemics of contagious diseases or from chronic diseases)
While we all hope that none of our ancestors lived in a Poorhouse, it is very likely that some of them did at some time in their lives, and Poorhouse records might unlock your own "brick wall" puzzle.
Linda has a link for the History of Poorhouses, and a page of links for Poorhouses by State. She also has a page of Tips for searching for these records. You might want to explore her web site and see if there are resources on her list that might help you in your research.
Of course, this is not the only place to look. A search of PERSI for poorhouse records in your state or county of interest might be fruitful, and USGenWeb county sites might have a list of Poorhouse records. Historical and genealogy society web sites or catalogs might also have them noted.
A search of the LDS Family History Library Catalog (FHLC) using the keyword = "poorhouse" resulted in 5,454 titles available in book or microform at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City (microform are available for loan at a local Family History Center for a fee). You could narrow the search by adding your county of interest to the keyword search.
Ancestry's Learning Center has 24 titles with information about researching Poorhouse records. These articles are free. A search of the Ancestry Database Card Catalog found no use of the word "poorhouse*" in a database title.
In our pursuit of "elusive ancestors," we need to leave no record unopened - and Poorhouse records may be just the resource you need to crash through your brick wall.
My thanks to my colleague Penny B. for sending me the link to Linda's Poorhouse Story web site, and my compliments to Linda Crannell for doing such a wonderful job of sharing her story and compiling all of the great information.
Day 17 - Christmas Cookies
On the 17th day of Christmas,
my honey presented me
a whole plate of sugar cookies.
1) Did your family make Christmas Cookies?
My mother, my grandmother, my wife and my daughters all made or make Christmas cookies. They all had or have a set of the classic cookie cutters - a snowman, a Santa, a tree, a sleigh, etc.
In olden times (pre-1990 or so), they would make the dough somehow (always a mystery to me), roll it out with a rolling pin (who has one these days?), and try to get as many cookies out of the flat dough as possible. Then they would take the scraps and mash them together, roll it out again and cut out more. Pop them in the oven and then sprinkle them with colored sugar crystals, or cover them with colored frosting and maybe M&Ms or red-hots, when they come out.
Now, the cookies seem to be packaged - you put a blob of dough on the cookie sheet and put it in the oven, bake it and mark it with R (hmmm, wrong song), and dress it up if necessary.
2) How did you help?
I was, and am, a champion cookie eater. I made every female in my life feel good about their culinary skills by devouring their baked goodies. It contributes mightily to my "look like Santa" thing.
I did help my mother when I was a kid by being creative with the cookie cutters, and by lavishing extra frosting and sugar on the baked cookies.
3) Did you have a favorite cookie?
I think my favorite Christmas cookie is a Christmas Tree sugar cookie with green sugar crystals on them. Close behind is a Santa cookie with red sugar crystals. Third is a Snowman cookie with white sugar crystals. I don't count chocolate chip cookies with red and green M&Ms in them, or Oreos with red or green filling (why hasn't Oreo come up with a red and green cookie?). I like those too, of course, but they aren't my favorite at Christmas - just the rest of the year? Yummy.
I haven't had any Christmas cookies yet - my first taste will probably be on Monday at the CVGS holiday luncheon (see, there is some genealogy in this series!).
This post will be part of the "Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories" carnival - organized by Thomas MacEntee at the Destination: Austin Family blog. Please go to Thomas' blog and read the submissions for each day.
my honey presented me
a whole plate of sugar cookies.
1) Did your family make Christmas Cookies?
My mother, my grandmother, my wife and my daughters all made or make Christmas cookies. They all had or have a set of the classic cookie cutters - a snowman, a Santa, a tree, a sleigh, etc.
In olden times (pre-1990 or so), they would make the dough somehow (always a mystery to me), roll it out with a rolling pin (who has one these days?), and try to get as many cookies out of the flat dough as possible. Then they would take the scraps and mash them together, roll it out again and cut out more. Pop them in the oven and then sprinkle them with colored sugar crystals, or cover them with colored frosting and maybe M&Ms or red-hots, when they come out.
Now, the cookies seem to be packaged - you put a blob of dough on the cookie sheet and put it in the oven, bake it and mark it with R (hmmm, wrong song), and dress it up if necessary.
2) How did you help?
I was, and am, a champion cookie eater. I made every female in my life feel good about their culinary skills by devouring their baked goodies. It contributes mightily to my "look like Santa" thing.
I did help my mother when I was a kid by being creative with the cookie cutters, and by lavishing extra frosting and sugar on the baked cookies.
3) Did you have a favorite cookie?
I think my favorite Christmas cookie is a Christmas Tree sugar cookie with green sugar crystals on them. Close behind is a Santa cookie with red sugar crystals. Third is a Snowman cookie with white sugar crystals. I don't count chocolate chip cookies with red and green M&Ms in them, or Oreos with red or green filling (why hasn't Oreo come up with a red and green cookie?). I like those too, of course, but they aren't my favorite at Christmas - just the rest of the year? Yummy.
I haven't had any Christmas cookies yet - my first taste will probably be on Monday at the CVGS holiday luncheon (see, there is some genealogy in this series!).
This post will be part of the "Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories" carnival - organized by Thomas MacEntee at the Destination: Austin Family blog. Please go to Thomas' blog and read the submissions for each day.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
The Waldseemuller Map from 1507
From the Wikipedia article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldseemüller_map:
The Waldseemüller map, Universalis Cosmographia, is a wall map of the world drawn by German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller and originally published in April 1507. It was one of the first maps to chart latitude and longitude precisely, following the example of Ptolemy, and was the first map to use the name "America". Waldseemüller also created globe gores, printed maps designed to be cut out and pasted onto spheres to form globes of the Earth.
The Waldseemüller map, Universalis Cosmographia, is a wall map of the world drawn by German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller and originally published in April 1507. It was one of the first maps to chart latitude and longitude precisely, following the example of Ptolemy, and was the first map to use the name "America". Waldseemüller also created globe gores, printed maps designed to be cut out and pasted onto spheres to form globes of the Earth.
The wall map consists of twelve sections printed from wood engravings measuring 18 x 24.5 inches (46 x 62 cm). Each section is one of four horizontally and three vertically, when assembled. The map uses a modified Ptolemaic coniform projection with curved meridians to depict the entire surface of the Earth.
Cool map. Read the whole thing - I'm amazed by the detail involved. And puzzled by some of the large errors in East Asia. I don't think Australia is shown either.
Want a research challenge? Try the Forensic Genealogy contest!
One of the best programs we've had at CVGS was Colleen Fitzpatrick on "Forensic Genealogy." Colleen has a web site with a weekly contest at http://www.forensicgenealogy.info/contest.html. You are given a picture, and asked some questions about it. The challenge is to use your research skills to find the answer and post it to Colleen.
This week, the contest has this picture:
This week, the contest has this picture:
The questions are:
1. Where was this picture taken?
2. What date was it taken on?
3. Who took it?
Isn't this a wonderful picture? Look at the prices for food, and the prices for barber services. Amazingly, you can find many pictures like this on the Internet in historical society or art collections.
This one was fairly easy for me - I got lucky in my search. Some of the previous week contests are very difficult.
If you want an occasional challenge, try to solve Colleen's puzzles. They will really help you solve your own photograph puzzles by honing your searching and researching skills.
Besides, it's FUN!
Day 18 - Christmas Weather
On the 18th day of Christmas,
I want everybody to know
That it doesn't snow (much) in San Diego.
This is the first "Christmas Grab Bag" edition of the Advent Calendar, which I really appreciate!
Jasia asked several days ago "Did you ever see snow on Christmas" in a comment to my Day 24 post. The short answer is "Yes -- on television - on the weather report, the national news and the football games. Not outside our window ever."
Our weather in San Diego at sea level on Christmas Day is typically partly cloudy, with a high in the low 60's and a low in the high 40's. We have had sunny and warm (highs in the 80s) Christmas Days before, and have had rain all day on occasion. We don't usually have real cold (for us - temps in the 30s) weather in December - it usually happens in January. The record low temperature in San Diego is 25 F, which happened in 1923 - the water froze in the fountain at the downtown Plaza. The temperatures on the coast are always warmer than inland - if you go 10 miles inland, the low temps are always 5 to 10 degrees colder than the San Diego city temperature. The Laguna, Cuyamaca and Palomar Mountains to our east and north (all are over 6,000 feet high) get snow occasionally, even at Christmas time. The TV stations always show folks parked on the sides of the roads, sliding down hills and throwing snowballs. Every 5 years or so, we get a snow fall down to 2,000 feet elevation but rarely at sea level.
It has snowed several times in my lifetime in San Diego. At sea level. In January 1949 (I think), it snowed while I was walking to school (I was in kindergarten and it made a big impression on me). In December 1967, it snowed on my way to work. This time, the snow stuck for most of the day in the suburbs, and many San Diego kids (including the 25 year-old Randy) had a lot of fun. It snowed again in late December 1987 in San Diego, but we were on the way home from San Francisco and missed it. In every case, it snows at sea level early in the morning when a fast-moving cold front follows a clear and cold night.
In all the years that we went to San Francisco at Christmas time, it never snowed on us there, much to my disappointment. In 1987, it did snow on us at King City (south of Salinas) on Highway 101 and we stopped and had a wonderful snow ball fight. In 1985, we went to Yosemite after visiting San Francisco, and stayed several nights in that icy wonderland. We marveled at the frozen ponds, the waterfalls shedding ice, and had a glorious day sledding and snowballing at Glacier Point, a ski resort.
I have been in snow on occasion on trips to Portland in 1968, Boston in 1968, Cincinnati in the 1990's, and Topeka in 1987 and 1996. Each time, I am filled with wonder. Others (the natives) laugh at me - my lack of preparation (no hat, no gloves, no boots), my giddiness, my sliding on ice (unaware of the dangers). For me, snow is really special - a treat.
Our daughters live in areas that have snow occasionally, but we haven't been there when it has snowed. At least my grandchildren will have some memories of playing in the snow as children. We travel to their homes at Christmas time every other year - we might get lucky and really have a fun snow time with the little ones.
As a kid, I was very jealous that we did not have snow, at least on occasion, just so I could enjoy what other kids all over the country enjoyed. We didn't even have snow clothes, and still don't. We got Flexible Flyers (sleds with wheels) for Christmas, not snow sleds. When there was snow in the mountains, my folks never took us because of the crowds. I did go several times with the church youth group when I was 10 to 12 years old - it was cool! Wet. Cold. Fun.
We don't have snow tires, or own chains, or ice scrapers. We try to avoid driving where it is snowy and icy. We didn't take the kids to the snow when they were young because of our lack of proper equipment. The kids did go with their youth group several times, so they weren't totally deprived.
These days, I look forward to the absolutely clear days that follow a storm that dumps snow on the mountains. We can see Mount Cuyamaca (an Indian name, pronounced "kwee-ah-mack-ah") from all over San Diego County, and it occasionally has a snow mantle down to 4,000 feet. It is majestic and beautiful - I will try to get a picture the next time I have a chance.
Last Saturday, it was a cold, rainy and windy day up in Julian (temperature in the mid-30s with intermittent downpours and hail). Linda and I had our overcoats on and we bought gloves, and tried to find refuge in the little shops and stores along Main Street. We finally went to lunch at a restaurant with large windows facing the street. It was spitting snow while we ate. We hurried up to finish our meal and get out in it, and hoped to gather some up in our hands and laugh and throw it at each other. Alas, the moment passed, the little bits of frozen water melted quickly, and we were disappointed. But we saw snow fall, and it was a special moment - we will always remember it. Funny how that works, isn't it?
UPDATED 12/13: The San Diego Union-Tribune published an article today "The day it snowed in San Diego" describing December 13, 1967 - the day I remembered in my post above. There is also a list of other San Diego snow days - including January 11, 1949 and December 24, 1987. The article is at http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20071213-9999-1n13snowday.html I don't know if it will be accessible for a long time. I saved it to my hard drive. The opening paragraphs:
“ 'This is something you tell to people who are from out of the area. They have a hard time believing it,' said Ken Ayers, a county native who was a dazzled 7-year-old on that wondrous day.
“ 'It's the California Christmas dream.'
"The dream came true 40 years ago this morning, when gale-force winds blew a Canadian cold front far, far off course. Across San Diego County, residents woke up to see the air shimmering with something cold, white and unfamiliar."
Cool!
I want everybody to know
That it doesn't snow (much) in San Diego.
This is the first "Christmas Grab Bag" edition of the Advent Calendar, which I really appreciate!
Jasia asked several days ago "Did you ever see snow on Christmas" in a comment to my Day 24 post. The short answer is "Yes -- on television - on the weather report, the national news and the football games. Not outside our window ever."
Our weather in San Diego at sea level on Christmas Day is typically partly cloudy, with a high in the low 60's and a low in the high 40's. We have had sunny and warm (highs in the 80s) Christmas Days before, and have had rain all day on occasion. We don't usually have real cold (for us - temps in the 30s) weather in December - it usually happens in January. The record low temperature in San Diego is 25 F, which happened in 1923 - the water froze in the fountain at the downtown Plaza. The temperatures on the coast are always warmer than inland - if you go 10 miles inland, the low temps are always 5 to 10 degrees colder than the San Diego city temperature. The Laguna, Cuyamaca and Palomar Mountains to our east and north (all are over 6,000 feet high) get snow occasionally, even at Christmas time. The TV stations always show folks parked on the sides of the roads, sliding down hills and throwing snowballs. Every 5 years or so, we get a snow fall down to 2,000 feet elevation but rarely at sea level.
It has snowed several times in my lifetime in San Diego. At sea level. In January 1949 (I think), it snowed while I was walking to school (I was in kindergarten and it made a big impression on me). In December 1967, it snowed on my way to work. This time, the snow stuck for most of the day in the suburbs, and many San Diego kids (including the 25 year-old Randy) had a lot of fun. It snowed again in late December 1987 in San Diego, but we were on the way home from San Francisco and missed it. In every case, it snows at sea level early in the morning when a fast-moving cold front follows a clear and cold night.
In all the years that we went to San Francisco at Christmas time, it never snowed on us there, much to my disappointment. In 1987, it did snow on us at King City (south of Salinas) on Highway 101 and we stopped and had a wonderful snow ball fight. In 1985, we went to Yosemite after visiting San Francisco, and stayed several nights in that icy wonderland. We marveled at the frozen ponds, the waterfalls shedding ice, and had a glorious day sledding and snowballing at Glacier Point, a ski resort.
I have been in snow on occasion on trips to Portland in 1968, Boston in 1968, Cincinnati in the 1990's, and Topeka in 1987 and 1996. Each time, I am filled with wonder. Others (the natives) laugh at me - my lack of preparation (no hat, no gloves, no boots), my giddiness, my sliding on ice (unaware of the dangers). For me, snow is really special - a treat.
Our daughters live in areas that have snow occasionally, but we haven't been there when it has snowed. At least my grandchildren will have some memories of playing in the snow as children. We travel to their homes at Christmas time every other year - we might get lucky and really have a fun snow time with the little ones.
As a kid, I was very jealous that we did not have snow, at least on occasion, just so I could enjoy what other kids all over the country enjoyed. We didn't even have snow clothes, and still don't. We got Flexible Flyers (sleds with wheels) for Christmas, not snow sleds. When there was snow in the mountains, my folks never took us because of the crowds. I did go several times with the church youth group when I was 10 to 12 years old - it was cool! Wet. Cold. Fun.
We don't have snow tires, or own chains, or ice scrapers. We try to avoid driving where it is snowy and icy. We didn't take the kids to the snow when they were young because of our lack of proper equipment. The kids did go with their youth group several times, so they weren't totally deprived.
These days, I look forward to the absolutely clear days that follow a storm that dumps snow on the mountains. We can see Mount Cuyamaca (an Indian name, pronounced "kwee-ah-mack-ah") from all over San Diego County, and it occasionally has a snow mantle down to 4,000 feet. It is majestic and beautiful - I will try to get a picture the next time I have a chance.
Last Saturday, it was a cold, rainy and windy day up in Julian (temperature in the mid-30s with intermittent downpours and hail). Linda and I had our overcoats on and we bought gloves, and tried to find refuge in the little shops and stores along Main Street. We finally went to lunch at a restaurant with large windows facing the street. It was spitting snow while we ate. We hurried up to finish our meal and get out in it, and hoped to gather some up in our hands and laugh and throw it at each other. Alas, the moment passed, the little bits of frozen water melted quickly, and we were disappointed. But we saw snow fall, and it was a special moment - we will always remember it. Funny how that works, isn't it?
UPDATED 12/13: The San Diego Union-Tribune published an article today "The day it snowed in San Diego" describing December 13, 1967 - the day I remembered in my post above. There is also a list of other San Diego snow days - including January 11, 1949 and December 24, 1987. The article is at http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20071213-9999-1n13snowday.html I don't know if it will be accessible for a long time. I saved it to my hard drive. The opening paragraphs:
“ 'This is something you tell to people who are from out of the area. They have a hard time believing it,' said Ken Ayers, a county native who was a dazzled 7-year-old on that wondrous day.
“ 'It's the California Christmas dream.'
"The dream came true 40 years ago this morning, when gale-force winds blew a Canadian cold front far, far off course. Across San Diego County, residents woke up to see the air shimmering with something cold, white and unfamiliar."
Cool!
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Santa has a blog!
Becky at the Kinexxions blog posted about the Santa Claus blog at http://www.clauschronicles.blogspot.com/. Very cool stuff! Funny, organized, from the CEO perspective. I can't figure out North Pole Time, though. I added it to my Bloglines immediately.
Nothing about Santa's family history. I wonder if he is related to this real Santa Claus?
Thanks, Becky (BTW, I like your blog color scheme!).
Nothing about Santa's family history. I wonder if he is related to this real Santa Claus?
Thanks, Becky (BTW, I like your blog color scheme!).
Dear Genea-Man: What do those markings mean?
Dear Genea-Man,
What do the handwritten markings mean on this passenger list? I'm interested in Alfred Wm. Wilson, line #16 on this list. There is a number 7-185009 and a date 10/24/41 marked on his line.
ANSWER: Genea-Man is not very experienced with passenger lists and naturalization records, but he has a very informative book on the subject.
What say you? Did I get this right?
What do the handwritten markings mean on this passenger list? I'm interested in Alfred Wm. Wilson, line #16 on this list. There is a number 7-185009 and a date 10/24/41 marked on his line.
ANSWER: Genea-Man is not very experienced with passenger lists and naturalization records, but he has a very informative book on the subject.
Looking at the book "They Became Americans: Finding Naturalization Records and Ethnic Origins" there is a section on page 161 about Certificates of Arrival. It says:
"Probably the most common reentry annotations are related to an immigrant's first step toward naturalization. Verifying that all petitioners for naturalization were legally admitted immigrants was one of the reforms instituted by the Basic Naturalization Act of 1906. Smith further notes that
" 'under the 1906 statute, the naturalization procedure required a step whereby the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization checked ship manifests to verify the legal admission of every applicant for citizenship who had Declarations of Intention or Petitions to a naturalization court. On these forms, the immigrant named the port, date and ship of his or her arrival. Copies of the form were forwarded to the appropriate ports of entry to be checked by verification clerks who located the immigrants arrival record among their immigration manifests. If the record was found, INS issued a Certificate of Arrival and sent it back to the naturalization court.'
"Between 1906 and 1924, the certificate of arrival was a critical identifying factor connecting the immigrant to the port of arrival. Beginning 1 July 1924, the INS began collecting immigrant visas, which subsequently became the official arrival records. One could not be admitted without an immigrant visa, and only a permanent admission could be used to issue a Certificate of Arrival, which would support a naturalization. According to INS historian Smith, an immigrant visa leads to permanent admission, which leads to a certificate of arrival, which leads to naturalization. The alien's immigrant visa file then became the first place to search for proof of legal entry into the United States."
The above was obtained from
"Probably the most common reentry annotations are related to an immigrant's first step toward naturalization. Verifying that all petitioners for naturalization were legally admitted immigrants was one of the reforms instituted by the Basic Naturalization Act of 1906. Smith further notes that
" 'under the 1906 statute, the naturalization procedure required a step whereby the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization checked ship manifests to verify the legal admission of every applicant for citizenship who had Declarations of Intention or Petitions to a naturalization court. On these forms, the immigrant named the port, date and ship of his or her arrival. Copies of the form were forwarded to the appropriate ports of entry to be checked by verification clerks who located the immigrants arrival record among their immigration manifests. If the record was found, INS issued a Certificate of Arrival and sent it back to the naturalization court.'
"Between 1906 and 1924, the certificate of arrival was a critical identifying factor connecting the immigrant to the port of arrival. Beginning 1 July 1924, the INS began collecting immigrant visas, which subsequently became the official arrival records. One could not be admitted without an immigrant visa, and only a permanent admission could be used to issue a Certificate of Arrival, which would support a naturalization. According to INS historian Smith, an immigrant visa leads to permanent admission, which leads to a certificate of arrival, which leads to naturalization. The alien's immigrant visa file then became the first place to search for proof of legal entry into the United States."
The above was obtained from
Loretta Dennis Szucs, "They Became Americans: Finding Naturalization Records and Ethnic Origins," Ancestry Inc., 1998, page 161.
The passenger list image was obtained from
Manifest, S.S. Majestic, 25 November 1908, page 11, line 16, for Alfred Wm. Wilson (age 2), digital image, New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006. Original data: Year: 1908; Microfilm serial: T715; Microfilm roll: T715_1174; Image 11, Line: 16 (http://www.ancestry.com/, accessed 5 December 2007).
Consequently, I think that there is an excellent chance that Alfred Wm. Wilson's Certificate of Arrival was number 7-185009, and that it was signed on 24 October 1941. There is probably a naturalization record for him (and his parents) in a court house someplace near where he lived in the 1940's.
What say you? Did I get this right?
This is a good lesson for all of us who haven't done much immigration and naturalization research. I learned something! Maybe I'll learn more from more experienced researchers. I'm going to use this as a show and tell at the next CVGS Research Group meeting.
UPDATED 12/8, 9 PM: Pete Small had helpful suggestions in Comments, viz.
"Passenger Lists were micro-filmed 1942/43. A researcher will not find annotations for an ancestor who began the Naturalization process after these years.
"Verification clerks began to record Verification & Certification activities on Passenger Lists in 1926. All annotations refer to Naturalization activities that occurred in 1926 or later.
"You can find much more than you probably need to know at:
http://www2.jewishgen.org/InfoFiles/Manifests/occ/"
"Verification clerks began to record Verification & Certification activities on Passenger Lists in 1926. All annotations refer to Naturalization activities that occurred in 1926 or later.
"You can find much more than you probably need to know at:
http://www2.jewishgen.org/InfoFiles/Manifests/occ/"
Thanks, Pete!
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