Thursday, April 13, 2023

Treasure Chest Thursday -- 1732 Death Record of Christopher Champlain in Westerly, Rhode Island

  I looked in my digital image files to see what treasures I can find for my family history and   genealogy musings for Treasure Chest Thursday.

The treasure today is the 1732 death record of  Christopher Champlain in Westerly, Rhode Island:
The death record is the last entry in the Champlain listings:

The transcription of this death record is:

"[Champlain] Christopher, died Apr. 2, 1732"

The source citation for the death record is:

James N. Arnold (editor), The Narragansett Historical Register, A Magazine Devoted to the Antiquities, Genealogy and Historical Matter Illustrating the History of the Narragansett Country, or Southern Rhode Island, Volume 1, 1882-1883 (Hamilton, R.I. : The Narragansett Historical Publishing Company, 1882-1883), "A List of the Births and Deaths of Westerly," page 68, Christopher Champlain death entry, 2 April 1732; accessed on FamilySearch Books (https://www.familysearch.org/library/books/).

This record is a Derivative Source, with Primary Information and Direct Evidence of the death of Christopher Champlain (1656-1732).  The original entry is in "Town records 1706-1819 [Westerly, Rhode Island]" on FamilySearch digital microfilm 930813.

Christopher Champlin (1656-1732) was the son of Jeffrey and Ulalia (Garde) Champlin of Newport, Rhode Island.  He married (1) --?-- --?-- (c1658-c1718) in about 1682, and they had six children.  Christopher married (2) Elizabeth (Whitehead) Davol (1670-1722), widow of William Davol, and they had no children together.

Christopher and --?-- (--?--) Champlin  are my 7th great-grandparents. I am descended through their son, William Champlin (1687-1778) who married Joanna --?-- (c1692-c1762) before 1720 in Rhode Island.

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The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2023/04/treasure-chest-thursday-1732-death.html

Copyright (c) 2023, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post. Share it on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest using the icons below. Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.
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Wednesday, April 12, 2023

Genealogy Education Bytes - Week of 6 to 12 April 2023

 Welcome to Genealogy Education Bytes, posted on Wednesday afternoon for the past week, where we try to highlight the most important genealogy and family history education items that came across our desktop since the last issue.


1) Upcoming Conferences, Institutes and Seminars

* Conference Keeper Calendar

* 2023 GSNJ Spring Conference - 22 April 2023 - In-Person (West Windsor, New Jersey)

* Ohio Genealogical Society (OGS) 2023 Conference - 26-29 April 2023, Virtual and In-Person (Sandusky, Ohio)

* New England Regional Genealogy Consortium (NERGC) 2023 Conference - 3-6 May 2023, In-Person only (Springfield, Mass.)

* 2023 National Genealogical Society (NGS) Family History Conference -- 31 May to 3 June 2023, Virtual and In-Person (Richmond, Virginia).

* International German Genealogy Partnership 2023 Conference - 9-11 June 2023, Virtual and In-Person (Fort Wayne, Indiana).

2 ) Upcoming Seminars, Webinars and Online Classes (times are US Pacific):

* Conference Keeper Calendar

* Legacy Family Tree Webinar Series

* MyHeritage 2023 Webinar Series

* Legacy Family Tree Webinar’s 2023 Mexico Research Series

* Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree 2023 Webinar Series

* Utah Genealogical Association Pro Talk Webinar Series

* RootsTech 2023 On-Demand Sessions

* Family Tree Webinars - Thursday/Friday, 13-14 April:  24-Hour genealogy webinar marathon

* Family Tree Webinars - Tuesday, 18 April, 5 p.m.:  Urban Mapping Tools by Rick Sayre.

* Family Tree Webinars - Wednesday, 19 April, 11 a.m.:  Surname Origins – Why? When? Why then? by Wayne Shepheard

3) Recent Podcasts/Radio Shows:


4) Recent YouTube and Facebook Videos:

* Aimee Cross - Genealogy Hints:  Are Ancestry Hints WRONG? Are they messing up your family tree?

*  Allen County Public Library:  10 Genealogy or DNA Videos




*  Denys Allen, PA Ancestors:  Meet the Lenape of Pennsylvania






*  Storied_Social:  Stories from an Event Journaling



5) Did you miss the last post in this series - Genealogy Education Bytes - 30 March to 5 April 2023?

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The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2023/04/genealogy-education-bytes-week-of-6-to.html

Copyright (c) 2023, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post. Share it on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest using the icons below. Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.
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Our 1970 Honeymoon in Acapulco -- Post 763 of (Not So) Wordless Wednesday

 I can't help it, I can't do a wordless post! This is one of my favorite photographs:

Finally!  The honeymoon!  In Acapulco.  We booked the Hotel La Riviera in March 1970 for $21 a night, with breakfast and one meal included.  With a 76 stair rise to Room 41 near the top of the stairs.  It had twin beds (which we fixed immediately). 

The hotel was in the Las Playas area of Acapulco above the bay, with a view of downtown Acapulco to the north-northeast.   It had a nice pool, a nice outside bar and a restaurant.  And a bus ran down the main street (Avenida Costera Miguel Aleman).  We saw the cliff divers at Le Quebrada, shopped in downtown and other hotels, ate dinner in several restaurants, and relaxed, and had fun.  

We arrived on 22 March and stayed until 27 March.  We pretty much lived in bathing suits unless we went out to dinner or shopping.  In this photo, we are at the poolside bar.

This is all part of our family history.


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Note: The photo is on the website - click the URL below. Feedly isn't showing my images now.

The URL for this post is:  

Copyright (c) 2023, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post. Share it on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest using the icons below. Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.
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Tuesday, April 11, 2023

Genealogy News Bytes - Week of 5 to 11 April 2023

Welcome to Genealogy News Bytes, posted on Tuesday afternoon for the past week, where we try to highlight the most important genealogy and family history news  items that came across our desktop since the last issue.    


1)  News Articles:




2)  Book Notices and Reviews

4)  New or Updated Record Collections:






5)  Did you miss the last post in this series - see Genealogy News Bytes - Week of 29 March to 4 April 2023.

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Copyright (c) 2023, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.
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Seavers in the News -- Otto W. Seaver Dies in Illinois in 1972

 Here is this week's edition of "Seavers in the News" - a weekly feature from the historical newspapers about persons with the surname Seaver that are interesting, useful, mysterious, fun, macabre, or add information to my family tree database.

This week's entry is from the Quad-City [Davenport, Iowa] Times newspaper dated 15 December 1972, page 30:

The transcription of the article is:

"Otto Seaver

"Services for Otto W. Seaver, 71, Reynolds, will be 2 p.m. Saturday in the Crummy Funeral Home, Reynolds.  Burial will be in Reynolds Cemetery.

"Visitation is at the funeral home.

"Mr. Seaver died Tuesday in Mercer County Hospital, Aledo, Ill.

"Mr. Seaver worked as a self-employed repairman.

"He was born in Kempton, Ind.  He married Grace Dunker in 1926 in Monmouth, Ill.

"Mr. Seaver is survived by his wife; a daughter, Mrs. Harold Mendenhall, Dayton, Ohio; seven grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; and a sister, Mrs. James Jackson, Kempton."

The source citation is:

"Otto Seaver," Quad-City [Davenport, Iowa] Times newspaper, Friday, 15 December 1972, page 30, column 7, Otto W. Seaver obituary,   Newspapers.com   (https://www.newspapers.com : accessed 10 April 2023).

This obituary identifies his name, residence, age, date and place of death, names of his wife, daughter and sister, and occupation, but no military or association information.  

Otto Watson Seaver (1901-1972) was born 11 December 1901 in Kempton, Indiana, the son of Frank Buchanon and Harriet Olive (Watson) Seaver.  He died 12 December 1972 in Reynolds, Illinois.  Otto W. Seaver married (1) Ruby Mae Henderson on 10 September 1919 in Kempton, Indiana.  The had two children:

*  Anita Mae Seaver (1922-1957), married 1940 Eugene Robert Quist (1916-1977).
*  Helen Ruth Seaver (1923-1981), married 1940 Harold Earl Mendenhall (1916-1989).

Otto W. Seaver married (2) Grace E. Dunker (1902-1990) on 28 December 1926 in Rock Island, Illinois.  They had no children.

I am not related to Otto Watson Seaver (1901-1972).  He is a 2nd great-grandson to Henry and Elizabeth (--?--) Seaver who settle in Virginia in about 1770. 

There are over 10,000 Seaver "stories" in my family tree - and this was one of them.   Life happens, accidentally and intentionally, and sometimes a person has a short obituary. I am glad that I can honor Otto Watson Seaver today.  

You never know when a descendant or relative will find this blog post and learn something about their ancestors or relatives, or will provide more information about them to me.

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Disclosure:  I have a complimentary subscription to Newspapers.com and have used it extensively to find articles about my ancestral and one-name families.


Copyright (c) 2023, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook,  or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.
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Monday, April 10, 2023

Genealogy Pot-Pourri - Week Ending 9 April 2023

 Here are the highlights of my family history and genealogy related activities over the past week.  

1)  Attended the Chula Vista Genealogical Society (CVGS) Board Meeting on Zoom on Wednesday, and reported on the Newsletter, Research Group and DNA Interest Group.

2)  Wrote, edited and published the April 2023 edition of the "Family Tree Gazette" - the CVGS monthly newsletter.  

3)  Attended the San Diego Genealogical Society  (SDGS) Program Meeting on Saturday on Zoom.  Melissa Barker presented "The Home Archivist: Preserving Family Records Like A Pro!" and "10 Things a Genealogist Should Do Before Leaving a Library or Archives".

4)  Transcribed the one page "1886 Will and 1899 Codicil of Charles H. Seaver (1829-1901) of  Chicopee, Hampden County, Massachusetts" for the Amanuensis Monday series.

5) AncestryDNA now has 42,873 DNA matches (up 59 from 3 April) for me today, with no new ThruLines.   I added 0 Notes to my new matches.  MyHeritageDNA now has 11,273 DNA matches (up 2 from 3 April) for me, with no new Theories.  Reviewed the new DNA matches on AncestryDNA, MyHeritageDNA, FamilyTreeDNA and 23andMe.  

6)  Occasionally matched RootsMagic 9 profiles to FamilySearch Family Tree.  I have matched 49,371of my RootsMagic persons with FamilySearch Family Tree profiles (up 4).  

7) Used Web Hints and Record Matches from Ancestry, MyHeritage, Findmypast and FamilySearch to add content and source citations to my RootsMagic profiles. I now have 70,932 persons in my RootsMagic file (up 3), and 145,885  source citations (up 3). I TreeShared no new or modified profiles with my Ancestry Member Tree, and I resolved 44 Ancestry Hints. My Ancestry Member Tree has Ancestry Record Hints with 177,094 to be resolved, but I work on them several times a week.  I resolved no MyHeritage Record Matches but I work on them occasionally.  

8) Wrote 14 Genea-Musings blog posts last week (Monday through Sunday), of which three were a press release. The most viewed post last week was Here Comes the Bride -- Post 762 of (Not So) Wordless Wednesday with over 118 views.  Genea-Musings had about 9,350 views last week.  

9)  Real life:  This is week 161 (over three years!) since COVID restrictions started.   I stayed home except for visiting Linda every day at the skilled nursing/memory care facility. Went grocery shopping on Monday and Friday.  Lori, Logan and Gaby visited from Wednesday to Sunday; Lori sorted a lot of stuff to toss, keep or give away.  I bought a weedwacker and we worked on the backyard tall grass/weeds - about 25% done.  I finished reading Run Rose Run by James Michener and Dolly Parton.  Watched the Aztecs championship game in the NCAA tournament  and they lost 76-59 to Connecticut;  Boo! The Padres season continued, and I watched all of the games this past week.  They are 6-4 so far (4-2 this past week) and in first place. 

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The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2023/04/genealogy-pot-pourri-week-ending-9.html

Copyright (c) 2023, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post. Share it on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest using the icons below. Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.
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Amanuensis Monday -- 1886 Will and 1899 Codicil of Charles H. Seaver (1829-1901) of Chicopee, Hampden County, Massachusetts.

 This week's document for transcription is the 1886 Will and 1899 Codicil of Charles H. Seaver (1829-1901) of  Chicopee, Hampden County, Massachusetts.

1) Hampden County [Massachusetts] Probate Records - Volume 113, page 166, 1886 Will and 1899 Codicil of Charles H. Seaver - Image 533 of 838:

The transcription of this will is (starting on the left-hand page):

Case #24953
Charles H. Seaver Will

Know all men by these presents, that I, Charles H. Seaver 
of Chicopee, Hampden County, Massachusetts, being of sound
and disposing mind and memory, do make and publish 
this my last Will and Testament here revoking all other
wills by me a any time heretofore made.

1.  I direct that all my just and lawful debts and funer-
al expenses be promptly and economically paid, the year 
of my death inscribed on the Tablet standing on my burial
lot in the Cemetery, and a Head Stone to mark the place of
my burial, which I request may compare favorably with
those now standing on said lot.

2.  I give will and bequeath to Alice L. Ames and Carrie I.
Kimball - nieces of my wife A. Maria Seaver, deceased, joint-
ly and equally all my estate real, personal, and mixed of
which I may die possessed, and

3.  I appoint and constitute said Alice L. Ames, to  be the sole ex-
cutrix of this my last will, and I request that this appoint-
ment be confirmed by the Probate Court, and that no Bonds
be required by said Court for the performance of said trust.

In Testimony whereof, I hereunto set my hand this Third
day of March A.D. 1886, in presence of the witnesses named blow.
                                                            Charles H. Seaver

Signed, published and declared by the said Charles H. Seaver,
as and for his last Will and testament, in presence of us, who 
in his presence and in presence of each other, and at his re-
quest have hereunto set our names as witnesses.
                                                            Norris R. Wood
                                                            W'm. P. McFarland
                                                             Henry J. Boyd.

I, Charles H. Seaver of Chicopee, Massachusetts, make this
codicil to my last will heretofore made by me and dated
March 3'd 1886 which will I hereby ratify and confirm in all
respects save as the same may be changed by this instrument.

Whereas Carrie I. Kimball, niece of my deceased wife named
in my said will has deceased to avoid any mistake or mis-
understanding as to my desire as intended to be expressed in
said will I hereby give devise and bequeath all the estate of which
I shall die seized and possessed, real and personal, to Alice L.
Ames niece of my deceased wife to have the same forever.
Witness my hand this eleventh day of December A.D. 1899.
                                                         Charles H. Seaver

Signed and published by the said Charles H. Seaver as a
codicil to his last will in the presence of us, who in his presence
and in the presence of each other have hereto subscribed our
names as witnesses.
                                                        Chas. C. Spellman
                                                        Abbot L. Cooley
      A true record                              Jennie H. Spellman
                                    Attest       Sam'l S. Spooner   Register
           
The source citation for this probate case file is:

"Massachusetts, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1991," indexed database with record images, Ancestry.com (https://www.ancestry.com), Hampden County, Guardian Appt; Wills Receipts, Misc. Appointments, Vol. 148-150, 1883-1903, Item 2, Volume 149, Page 454 (image 533 of 838), Charles H. Seaver of Chicopee, 1899;  original data: Massachusetts County, District and Probate Courts.

Note that this volume of probate records in Hampden County is a court clerk's copy (with very nice handwriting!!).  FamilySearch has Hampton County estate files on digital microfilm from 1809 to 1881, but not after 1881.   I did not find this probate record on American Ancestors probate records for Hampden County.

Charles H. Seaver (1829-1901) was born 6 January 1829 in Cavendish, Vermont, the son of Samuel and Hannah (Hatch) Seaver.  He married Ann Maria Carpenter (1830-1885) in Chicopee on 17 January 1856.  They had no children.  Charles H. Seaver died on 28 November 1901 in Chicopee. 

The will of Charles H. Seaver was written on 3 March 1886, and the codicil was written on 11 December 1899.  No date of presenting and proving the will is available in this record.  Alice L. Ames was named the executrix; she was the niece of Ann Maria Carpenter, as was Carrie I. Kimball, who died before the 1899 codicil to the will of Charles H. Seaver.   

Charles H. Seaver (1829-1901) is a 4th cousin 5 times removed.  Our common Seaver ancestor is my 8th great-grandfather Shubael Seaver (1640-1730).

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NOTE: Genea-blogger John Newmark (who writes the excellent TransylvanianDutch blog) started a Monday blog theme years ago called "Amanuensis Monday." John offers this definition for "amanuensis:"

"A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another."

Read other transcriptions of records of my ancestors at Amanuensis Monday Posts.

Copyright (c) 2023, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post. Share it on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest using the icons below. Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.
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Sunday, April 9, 2023

Best of the Genea-Blogs - 2 to 8 April 2023

 Scores of genealogy and family history bloggers write hundreds 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 daily blog prompts or 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:

*  Artificial Intelligence and Genealogy by Dr. Mac on A Week of Genealogy.

*  20 Best Genealogy, DNA, and Family History Apps for 2023 by Thomas MacEntee on Genealogy Bargain$.

*  Genealogical Clusters by Alicia Crane Williams on Vita Brevis.

*  Daniel’s Favorites: 7 Historical Record Collections on MyHeritage That You Should Bookmark by Daniella on MyHeritage Blog.

*  Trail Resources by Marcia Philbrick on Heartland Genealogy.

*  Autosomal DNA Test Results: Using Ethnicity Estimates to Generate Genealogical Hypotheses by Paul Woodbury on Legacy Tree Genealogists.

*  Does Your Genealogy Have A Future? by Ellen Thompson-Jennings on Hound on the Hunt.

*  Considering the Reliability of Books by Jacqi Stevens on A Family Tapestry.

*  How to Access Ancestry’s 1,202 Free Collections by Kenneth Marks on The Ancestor Hunt.

*  The Two Meanings of TG by Jim Bartlett on Segment-ology.

*  Ancestry's New Tree Edit History Feature and Tool Icons by Diane Henriks on Know Who Wears the Genes in the Family.

*  DNA: In Search Of…Your Grandparents by Roberta Estes on DNAeXplained - Genetic Genealogy.

Here are pick posts by other geneabloggers this week:

*  Friday's Family History Finds by Linda Stufflebean on Empty Branches on the Family Tree.

*  Friday Fossicking 7 April 2023 by Crissouli on That Moment In Time.

Readers are encouraged to go to the blogs listed above and  read their articles, and add the blogs to your Favorites, Feedly, another RSS feed, or email if you like what you read. Please make a comment to them also - all bloggers appreciate feedback on what they write.

Did I miss a great genealogy blog post? Tell me! I currently am reading posts from over 900 genealogy bloggers using Feedly, but I still miss quite a few it seems.

Read past Best of the Genea-Blogs posts here.

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The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2023/04/best-of-genea-blogs-2-to-8-april-2023.html

Copyright (c) 2023, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.  

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Easter Name-Whacking on Ancestry.com

 


Arise, ye Genea-Musings readers and Graveyard Rabbits, and spread the good news!  Happy Easter! 

In a spare hour many years ago (like 2010?), I happened to notice that Ancestry.com shows:

* Easter Bunny, born about 1908 in North Carolina, was the daughter of John and Mary Bunny in Marion county, South Carolina in the 1910 U.S. Census. I wonder if Easter lived to a ripe old age?  And spread  colored eggs, or chocolate candy, around the countryside?

* Easter Bunny, born about 1826, resided in Yorkshire, England in the 1841 U.K. census.

* Easter Eggers, born about 1820, resided in Cole County, Missouri in the 1850 U.S. census.

* Easter Morning, born about 1905, resided in Williamsburg, Virginia in the 1930 U.S. Census.

* Easter H. Easter, born about 1825, resided in Cherokee County, Texas in the 1850 U.S. census.

* Easter Chick, born about 1910, resided in Cape May County, New Jersey in the 1910 U.S. Census.

* There are several persons named Easter Flowers, Easter Day and Easter Hunt in the U.S. census records.

* Felix Easter resided in Rusk County, Texas in the 1880 U.S. Census.

* There are a few persons named Easter Lily and Easter Lilly in the U.S. Census records.

*  Bunny Sue Easter died in 1972 in Multnomah County, Oregon.

* I found no persons named Happy Easter, Easter Sunday, Easter Rabbit, or Easter Egg in the U.S. census records.

*  There is an Easter Eggers, born in 1914, in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, in the 1920 U.S. census.

* Peter Rabbit, born about 1833 in Ireland, was residing in New Orleans, Louisiana in the 1880 U.S. census.

* Peter Rabbit, born about 1840 in Ireland, was residing in New York City in the 1880 U.S. census.

* Several other Peter Rabbit persons hop in and out of the U.S. census over the years!

* There are plenty of persons named Peter Cotton in the U.S. census, but no Peter Cottontail persons. Too bad!

*  Luke Easter was a major league baseball player in the 1950s and played in San Diego for the minor league Padres.

* A person named Peter Easter resided in Bourbon County, Kansas in the 1880 U.S. Census.

Lorine McGinnis Schulze on the Olive Tree Genealogy blog has the family tree of Easter Bunny, along with a letter from Uncle Wiggly providing the family history. 

What other names can you find that appear in the Census Records that pertain, at least remotely, to Easter?

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Copyright (c) 2023 Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.
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Saturday, April 8, 2023

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun -- Summertime Fun As a Child

 Calling all Genea-Musings Fans:

It's Saturday Night again -
time for some more Genealogy Fun!!

Here is your assignment, should you decide to accept it (you ARE reading this, so I assume that you really want to play along - cue the Mission Impossible music!):

1) Let's talk about what we did as children (not teenagers or young adults) on our summer vacations from school.  

2)  Write about your life as a child in the summertime (say, any age between 5 and 12).  Where did you live, what did you do, how did it influence the rest of your life?

3)  Write your own blog post, or leave a comment on this post, or write something on Facebook.

Here's mine:

I grew up in San Diego, California, in the Burlingame neighborhood on 30th Street just east of Balboa Park.  Other than delivering newspapers on Thursday and Saturday, I, with my brother Stan, were free as birds.  And we flew all over the city, it seemed.  We rode our bikes, we went hunting for baseball cards at grocery stores, we played bike tag with other kids in the neighborhood, we played "Stop and Go" on our Flexy Flyers (sort of a Cops and Drivers game), we played hide and seek on the block, we went to the Morley Field swimming pool, we went down to Grape Street Park (4 blocks away) on our bikes or flexies and played baseball (Three Flys Up), we hunted golf balls down near the Municipal course, or created forts and paths in the brush.  

We always knew about what time it was because the carillon chimes in Balboa Park could be heard for miles.  They always chimed on the hour, so at noon we went home for lunch, and at 5 we went home for dinner.  My best friend's name was Noble Earl, and his mother's call could be heard half a mile away, it seemed.  

The scariest thing we did in the summer was on our flexies.  Ivy Street west of 29th Street was a two block long downhill run, with a barrier at the bottom of it.  The barrier had a decorative "hole" in it that was about ten feet wide and two feet high.  We had great fun racing the flexies down the hill and crossing the finish line.  One time, Stan didn't stop in time, hit the curb in front of the wall, and catapulted through the hole in the wall and landed about ten feet below the wall on the rocky ground surrounded by jacaranda trees.  It was a close call.  We never told our parents about it.  

At night, we listened to the baseball games on the radio - home and away (re-created by the announcers based on a telegraph feed).  Once in awhile, we would take the bus downtown to go to the minor league Padres games at Lane Field.  Sometimes, we played board games or word games with our parents before bedtime, or ran the Lionel model trains around the house.  

If I was bored, I would study San Diego street maps to plot my next bike adventure, or make imaginary street maps of a city, laying out the terrain, naming the streets, plotting stop signs and traffic lights, planning bus routes.  I wanted to be a city planner, I guess.  Or a baseball announcer - I made up a dice game to simulate baseball, made my own lineups (Padres vs. another PCL team), rolled the dice and somehow the Padres always won!  I announced the games to the whole house - my folks and brother probably thought I was nuts.

Our summers were pretty carefree.  We just played and competed and explored - it was a great environment to be a kid.  It was never very hot in San Diego in the summertime.  

How did this affect my later life?  I really enjoyed the freedom and the responsibility that went with it (e.g., be home on time) and tried to instill that into my children after I married.  I love having fun at home or at an entertainment center, or at a baseball game.  I have always had hobbies or interests outside of school and work to keep my brain active and always learning new skills or subjects. 

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