My Blog

My Great Big Family

I had a first time experience recently.  A person who visited my blog recommended a website for me to write about.  This is really exciting...I actually have a reader!  To keep my reader happy, I decided to visit the site (My Great Big Family) and see what I could do.  I was actually surprised that my reader's recommendation was a web hosting service specifically geared to genealogy.  About 4 years ago I was looking for such a site...but never found one.  I eventually signed up with a web hosting service called APlus.net.  On this hosting service, I created my family history site, but it wasn't easy.  Most web hosting services are geared towards e-commerce.  When I was trying to set up my site on APlus, none of the design templates really fit my needs for a genealogy website.  It was very frustrating.  I ended up making one fit, but as I said, it wasn't easy...and I have never really been able to get it exactly the way I want it.

Memorial Day Weekend at Gettysburg

Greetings from Gettysburg, PA where we will be spending most of the Memorial Day Weekend.  We usually never travel anywhere on these long weekends because the traffic is horrible when everyone tries leaving the Washington DC area at the same time.  This holiday weekend is different because my son's soccer team is taking part in the annual Blue Gray Cup soccer tournament.  Let me tell you, with the thousands of people coming in here for the tournament AND with all of the Memorial Day activities at the battlefield, I think this little town is more crowded than it was 145 years ago. 

I have not been to Gettysburg for at least 12-13 years and it's changed quite a bit.  The last time I was here the main destination was the battlefield park and there wasn't much to the town.  All that has changed.  Much of the town center has been restored and this is now a pretty little place.  I hope to spend a little time at the battlefield if time permits.  I'd really like to see the new visitors center and roam around the battlefield a little.

My son plays 4 games today and around 3-4 on Sunday...no sleeping in this weekend.

Stress Management Secret to Long Life?

Edna Parker is turning 115 today and is a part of a study to find out the secrets of a long life.  Edna was widowed in 1938 and lived alone until she was 100.  She has 5 grandchildren, 13 great grandchildren, and 13 great great grandchildren.  Her grandson said "We don't know why she's lived so long, but she's never been a worrier, and she's always been a thin person so maybe that has something to do with it."  The director of this study said "the secret to a long life is now believed to be a mix of genetics and environmental factors...They [also] seem to manages their stress better than the rest of us."

Here's another post I wrote last August that mentioned Edna Parker.

NEHGS Locates Rare Photo of Hellen Keller

A New England Historic Genealogical Society staffer located a rare photo of 8 year old Helen Keller, and her teacher Anne Sullivan, in a recently acquired collection according to a story in the Associated Press.  An NEHGS press release has a bit more on the photo.  According to the article, the photo was in a family collection owned by 87 year old Thaxter Spencer who said "It just seemed like something no one would find very interesting."  I guess he was wrong...

US Immigration Laws Too Lax...in 1904

After I rediscovered the New York Times Archives were still free, I did some searching and found this little gem about the influx of immigrants into the US in 1904.   This is a "letter to the editor" and it probably captures the general views towards Italians common during the time.  There are a couple interesting comments in this letter not far off from what one hears from the fringe of the anti-immigration movement..."The majority of Italian immigration is from Southern Italy [my grandparents] - Naples, Palermo, and Messina.  Most of these immigrants are undesirable from the standpoints of morality, cleanliness, and citizenship." 

There are stories in my family about how Italians were treated in the mining camps and towns during the early 20th century that kind of match the attitude coming through in this letter - namely that Italians were immoral and dirty.  Another comment I find interesting is where the letter writer calls Italians "...this ignorant, but very cunning people..."  It still amazes me people actually looked at my grandparents this way.  The strange part about this letter came when I read all the way to the bottom and saw the name of the writer...I felt like grabbing this guy and shaking him!

I'm glad readers cleared up my initial thought that the New York Times Archive stopped being free.  I just love finding interesting articles like this one.   

George Washington Trivia Question

This story is driving me crazy right now.  It's about four strands of George Washington's hair being auctioned for $17,000.  The part of this story driving me crazy is where it says " The hair is believed to have been snipped from Washington when he was briefly disinterred in 1837."  What I want to know is why was he disinterred in 1837?  Google has failed me here...I can't seem to find anything online to answer my question unless of course I'm not thinking clearly now as I write this at 4:30 am.  Can someone please tell me why our first president was removed from his grave 38 years after his death?

NY Times Archive - No Longer Free?

Boy was I disappointed this evening.  I went to the New York Times Archive to search for some Ellis Island immigration articles and I discovered this is no longer a free service.  You can now buy a single article for $3.95 or a 10 article pack for $15.95.   Am I in the Twilight Zone or did anyone else notice this?  It's a sad day...I loved that archive...I had a lot of fun playing around with it.  I do realize they are in this to make money, but I am disappointed none-the-less. 

The Demise of the Semicolon

Is the semicolon an anachronism in writing?  The New York Times has this discussion in an article on this little understood punctuation mark.   Apparently it's not used very often these days because most people don't know  how to use it.   I happen to like the semicolon.  I didn't really learn how to use it until I was in an English composition class in college and have used it ever since.  I know there are many uses for it, but I learned to use a semicolon when you need something stronger than a comma in a sentence.  I'm not sure if this is completely correct, but it's what I remember.  I have noticed whenever I  draft a document at work, any semicolons I used are usually removed.  As the article states, it's not used in writing much anymore, but the internet made it popular in another way -    ;-)

Addicted to Blogging?

I found this on a blog I usually read (Civil War Memory)...I'm only 50% addicted as determined by 14 questions.   Give it a try and see how addicted you are...click on the badge above and follow the instructions...just wish I could figure out how to center this thing on the page

Catching Up...

I don't know why, but I just haven't been able to do much blogging or blog reading lately.  It's probably a combination of a busy life and lack of good ideas...probably more a lack of good ideas.  I am somewhat surprised, however, that the traffic to my blog has actually increased...maybe I will do better if I don't write!  Anyway, I decided to take a day off from work and catch up on my blog reading thinking maybe I could find a topic to inspire great thoughts. 

So far, those great thoughts are avoiding me, but as I was visiting my favorite places I did discover that Lisa Cooke at Genealogy Gems Podcast mentioned my blog in one of her episodes.  I'm always humbled when other bloggers write about something I've posted, and am always appreciative of the links, but hearing Lisa talk about my blog in her podcast is a really cool experience.  Thanks, Lisa.  I'm sorry it took so long for me to acknowledge your podcast...I do appreciate it.  Lisa is up to 40 episodes now and anyone interested in genealogy should pay her a visit.  She's got a great sense of humor and her site is filled with interesting family history information.

Now, back to searching for inspiration...