Genea-Resolutions for 2011

Jasia put the topic for January's 101st edition of the Carnival of Genealogy up for a vote and planning won. I am the world's worst at keeping New Year's resolutions, but I am highly motivated to continue the projects begun in 2010.

Postcard from 1908, via Wikimedia Commons

2010 was my year to begin organizing and sharing my genealogical research. I made some progress - this blog, a good start on a family history web site which WILL be online in 2011, and another failed attempt to organize the generations of papers I've inherited. Those papers are threatening to take over the entire house so tackling them is top of the list for my 2011 genea-resolutions.

Organizing Research goals -

• Design archives storage/filing system and IMPLEMENT! The first step must be to corral all the papers into one room. 
• Process at least one box per month of family papers. Remember, not everything must be kept. This will become my mantra. 
• Finish designing and publish the genealogy website (R O O T S T O C K). 
• Continue to update pedigree database with biographical sketches and blog post information. Review and standardize source listings. Do NOT attach any multimedia files.

Blog goals -

• One biographical sketch a month - starting with the grandparents.
• One brickwall post a month outlining the issue or research status, beginning with the Hamptons.
• Continue posting photographs and document transcriptions from the family "archives" (aka the boxes that ate my house).
• Blog reading and commenting - limit to 30 minutes each morning.  You may finish in the evening. No peeking in between! Much as I love reading what everyone else is writing it has eaten into my day. 

Research goals -

• Just say no! No more research until the website is up and running, until the streamlined pedigree database is complete, until the "archives" are organized. 
• Except... there are the road trips! Do organize research plans for the Family History Expo in July (Kansas City), the FGS conference in September (Springfield, IL), the Czechoslovak Genealogical Society International conference in October (St. Louis, MO - not really a road trip) and ...
• The spring tour of Maryland, Virginia and D. C.  Plan research days at the Library of Virginia, The Mary Ball Washington Historical Society, the Maryland Historical Society and the National Archives. Research Catholic archives, especially in Baltimore, to see which might have additional records for Merediths, Palmers and Yerbys. 
• Examine and digitize the Maria Palmer Smith papers. Develop storage plan for papers. 

Whew! It's a lot to do, but there are some carrots in with the sticks - not the least of which is reclaiming our home.

Happy 2011 to Geneabloggers near and far!

Submitted to the 101st edition of the Carnival of Genealogy.

Advent Calendar: Holy Night Supper

Christmas Eve for my Rusyn ancestors was celebrated on January 6th. While I celebrated many Easters with my father's family, I was never able to celebrate Christmas with them. School holidays were over and my parents were wary of a hurried drive to upstate New York in January.

In 1979 my aunt gave me a cookbook prepared by the wives of priests in the Scranton Deanery of the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Greek Catholic Diocese (how's that for a mouthful?). It describes the traditional Holy Night supper served on Christmas Eve. It is the last meal of the forty day Advent fast and is prepared without meat or dairy products. Twelve dishes are served (representing the twelve Apostles) including bread and wine which represent the Last Supper. A candle, representing the Star of Bethlehem, lights the table which is covered with a white cloth representing the Virgin Mary. Garlic, honey and salt are placed on the table. After dinner special Christmas prayers are said, carols sung and the family goes to Church.

A sample menu: 

Wine and Bread

Split Green Peas with Záprašhka

Lima Beans with Záprašhka

Mushroom Soup with Záprašhka

Sauerkraut with Záprašhka

Mashed Potatoes

Lenten Píroghi

Fish

Bobaľki

Fruit Compote

Stewed Prunes

Stewed Apricots

Nuts

Tea or Coffee

Píroghi are similar to ravioli only filled with potatoes or prunes. Záprašhka is a brown roux made from flour and oil that thickens the soup or liquids served with the vegetables. Bobaľki, or small dough balls boiled in water, can be sweet or savory. Sweetened, they are served with honey and poppyseeds. Savory bobaľki are tossed with sauteed cabbage and onions.

Over the years I've tried to incorporate some of these foods into our Christmas Eve menus. Each effort has been an abject failure. My very American husband and children could never see bringing in Christmas with mushrooms and cabbage nor, I must admit, have I been impressed with my offerings. The worst was a sauerkraut and pea casserole that even the dog wouldn't eat. Perhaps one year I'll manage an elegant meatless and dairy-free Christmas Eve supper worthy of my roots.

Merry Christmas. Christos Razdajetsja! Slavite Jeho!

Source: Paňis' Cookbook. No place: no publisher, 1977. Printed privately to benefit Camp Nazareth, Mercer, PA. 

Advent Calendar - Evening Bells

It's simply not Christmas unless there is music playing throughout the house. This is the first and last carol I play. It's playing as the tree goes up, as I bake cookies or make nut rolls, as we wrap and unwrap presents. It's the Christmas recording I would want were I stranded on the proverbial desert island. I can sing all the other carols I love. I cannot sing this. Only the incomparable Ivan Rebroff can.  

Sunday's Obituary: Thomas James Meredith (c.1815-29 August 1855)

Thomas James Meredith, called James by his family, was the eldest child of Maj. John Meredith of Lancaster county, Virginia. According to the 1850 census James was born in 1815. In December, 1832 he was living and working at a store near Totuskey Bridge in Richmond County, Virginia. He remained there for over a decade, living with first his uncle, Joseph Meredith, then with his aunt, Caroline Meredith Shearman. He assumed responsiblity for his younger half-sister and brothers following the deaths of his father in 1834 and stepmother in 1835. (You can read about his sister Margaret here and here and about his brother William here.) By 1847 he had moved to Baltimore to work directly with his uncle, Thomas Meredith, at the firm Meredith & Spencer. He appeared in the 1850 census with a wife, Elizabeth and two young children. Elizabeth appears alone, widowed in the 1860 census with three children. 

Much of my knowledge of James is drawn from the letters he wrote from Totuskey Bridge to his uncle Thomas Meredith in Baltimore. The letters are part of the Thomas Meredith Papers at the Maryland Historical Society. They are warm and affectionate, painting a picture of a devoted brother and nephew, as well as an active merchant.

From the Library of Congress

A search of Google Books yielded a horrible clue to James' fate. An 1856 New Jersey legislative report included reports from the railroad and canal companies that listed a Thomas I. Meredith of Baltimore as a fatality in an August 29, 1855 railroad accident. Since James was indexed as Thos I Meredith in the 1850 census it seemed probable that he was the Meredith listed in the report. News reports from the Baltimore Sun and New York Times confirmed that he was one of twenty-two killed when a train derailed near Burlington, NJ. Dozens more were injured. The accident was headline news during early September while the coroner's inquest was held. 

The Baltimore Sun published an update on August 31st (p. 4) that read

The papers of yesterday contained the particulars of the terrible railroad accident on the Camden and Amboy road, by which two of our most estimable merchants were suddenly hurried into eternity, viz: Mr. John Dallam, of the firm of Dallam & Miller, and Mr. Thomas J. Meredith. Both of these gentlemen were about forty years of age, and leave families to morn their loss -- Mr Dallam leaving a wife and two children, and Mr. Meredith a wife and three children. Their partners, Messrs. Spencer and Miller, left yesterday morning, in the early train, for the scene of the disaster, for the purpose of bringing __ the remains. They were expected at an early hour this morning, and arrangements were made for the purpose of interring them in Greenmount Cemetery upon their arrival.

Should the funeral not take place until a later hour, we learn that the merchants on Baltimore Street and in the vicinity of the stores of the deceased, will close their establishments during the hours of the internment as a mark of respect.

James' widow Elizabeth remained in their home on Biddle Street until marrying a widower, Alexander Wolf, in 1868. Their children Thomas, (b. 1847), Kate (b. 1848), and Florence (b. 1854) appear with their mother on 1863 I.RS. Tax Assessment lists and with Alexander and Elizabeth Wolf in the 1870 census. Kate and Florence appear on the 1880 census as Kate and Florence Wolf, living with their mother Elizabeth, who was apparently widowed again. Thomas may be the Thomas J. Meredith (b. 1847, Maryland) who appears in Gloucester County, Virginia in the 1900 census.

Advent Calendar: Grandmother's Tree

When my mother was growing up her mother would on rare occasions tamper with the Christmas tree formula (and it was a formula - see below). One year there was a flocked tree with blue balls - not a favorite. Grandmother was no longer decorating the tree when this one was put up in 1989. But  her caregivers brought out the boxes and put up the tree for her. If you'll look carefully you'll see glass balls with writing on them. There was a set of seven ornaments, each painted with the name of one of her grandchildren. The set was given to her sometime between 1960, when her 7th grandchild was born, and 1968 when her eighth surviving grandchild was born.

When I was helping to clean out her house after her death in 1993 I found the set - now eight balls. Seven neatly painted plus one more scratched out with a knife bearing the name of our dearly loved number eight. I wrapped them carefully and sent each off (with a few other souvenir ornaments) to the appropriate cousin. I smile every time I think of my youngest cousin sitting there, nail file or pen knife in hand, etching out his name and hanging the ball on the tree.

***************
Mother's formula for decorating a Christmas tree - Divide lights and ornaments into sixths. Three-sixths of the lights and ornaments go on the bottom third of the tree. Two-sixths go on the middle third of the tree. One-sixth goes on the top third of the tree. Young children were excused from knowing and executing the formula - but their ornaments were likely be moved once they were abed.

Happy Day! Great Blogs Abounding

Perhaps it's a factor of the delightful chaos of the Christmas season, or my rapidly diminishing ability to keep ANYTHING in order - my desk, my dogs, my muddled brain. Perhaps the stars realigned during last night's meteor showers which I really, really wanted to see but did not because it was just too cold. For whatever the reason, I am more than befuddled today - I'm stunned, flabbergasted and having an awful time wiping a really goofy grin off my face.

I have been nominated as one of the 40 best genealogy blogs by Family Tree Magazine in the New Blogs category. Luckily I was seated when I learned this.

My initial response was to laugh and pull a General Sherman or Groucho Marx. I mean, really? I have a pretty healthy (inflated) sense of my own worth, but I know how many great bloggers there are on the other side of this keyboard and monitor. I can spend entire mornings reading them. No way am I in their class. Then I looked at the list of nominated blogs. The blogs I spend mornings reading - they're there. The blogs I quote to my husband and children - they're there. The blogs I want to write when I grow up - there. The blogs I send links to my non-genie friends with the note "I never do this but you HAVE to read this" - there.

Forget Groucho - I'm hugely honored to be on the same page with these blogs and thank those that nominated me. And sorry Sherman, but having been nominated, I will serve with pleasure if elected.

Geneabloggers has posted a list of all the nominees with links (thank you, Thomas). Check them out, then vote, if you wish, here. It's a great group - all keepers.

Blog Caroling 2010 - Christmas Bells

FootnoteMaven has invited geneabloggers to a virtual carol sing this Christmas. One of my favorite carols began as a poem written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow during the Civil War. It was twice set to music and then a third time in 1956 by Johnny Marks, who also wrote Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Longfellow's original poem, with stark references to the Civil War raging, can be found here.

It has been recorded many times, but my favorite version was recorded by Harry Belafonte in the 1960s.  Merry Christmas!

Christmas Bells

(Adapted from a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)

I heard the bells on Christmas Day

Their old familiar carols play,

And wild and sweet

The words repeat

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,

The belfries of all Christendom

Had rung so long

The unbroken song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;

"There is no peace on earth," I said;

"For hate is strong,

And mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: 

"God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!

The Wrong shall fail,

The Right prevail,

With peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Remembering Mother

Today is the 82nd anniversary of my mother's birth. A red letter day, in my book. She was, and remains, the person who's had the greatest influence on my life. I often forget the anniversary of her death. It is not a day I care to commemorate or celebrate in anyway. But today is a day for rejoicing and remembering.

This is my favorite photograph of her. It's not the best, but it captures an aspect of her personality I adored - her curiosity and interest in the world. She didn't care all that much about day-to-day life or people (other than those she loved or admired - a group which included her family and friends, the New York Yankees, the Knicks of the early 1970s, Jussi Björling and those authors, artists or composers who created works worth knowing). But she was fascinated by history, science, nature and art.

The picture was taken when we were at the Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island just as the roseate spoonbills were flying in to feed.

Today, in her memory, I will read a poem, listen to an opera (or at least a couple arias), have two glasses of wine and embellish a story or two. I'll think about baseball, plan a trip, overcook a pork chop, look at something extraordinarily beautiful and laugh with my family. If I have any time left I'll do the New York Times crossword.

Love you, Mom.  Happy Birthday.

Blogging Heaven - Carnivals, Calendars and Awards, Oh my!

This day has completely escaped me. It's a blogger heaven day. Or maybe I'm just in Iowa...

Jasia's 100th Carnival of Genealogy has been released. I'll need an oxygen tank because I'm not coming up until I'm done, elf duties be damned. Terrific reading.

I am so enjoying the Advent Calendar posts. Thank you Thomas - and again Jasia - for this delightful treat. There are dozens of outstanding posts here, but if you missed Amy Coffin's Holiday of Horrors! or Greta's I KNEW it! I KNEW Santa was real! stop reading this and read those. Far better than anything I'll ever write.

Assuming you're still with me, however, there are some other wonderful blogs out in the world. 

Yesterday I was greeted with emails from TWO bloggers that they had given me the Ancestor Approved award. Thank you to both Dee at Shakin' the Family Tree and Debbie at Mascot Manor Genealogy. Their lists alone show why I so enjoy reading their blogs.

Leslie Ann at Ancestors Live Here started this award last spring with this request - "As a recipient of this award I ask that you list ten things you have learned about any of your ancestors that has surprised, humbled, or enlightened you and pass it along to ten other bloggers who you feel are doing their ancestors proud."

My list - in no particular order

1. We're more closely linked to the past than we think. My grandfather's father was a boy during the Civil War. His grandfather was born in 1795 (or thereabouts). I sat on the lap of a man who's own grandfather was born in 1795. That takes my breath away. 

2. I'm part-German (a little less than 1/16th) which was a shocker. Sally Killian, my gg-grandmother was predominantly German. 

3. My Union soldier gg-grandfather Samuel McAdams came from a slave-owning family. 

4. Going back to Sally, I was thrilled to find she was a midwife and surprised that she was married before she married my gg-grandfather Archie Sawyer(s). Archie was married earlier, too. (The information on Sally came from her daughter's Civil War Widow's Pension file generously shared by a newfound cousin.)

5. Family secrets keep coming to light. I can't share them (secrets, remember), but they do amaze me. 

6. My husband is a genealogist's dream (at least this one's!). His family is full of educated, literate men and women who wrote and saved letters, bibles, family heirlooms and treasures yet to be discovered. 

7. I can decipher a baptismal record written in Cyrillic letters thanks to my grandfather and aunt keeping and handing down family documents. I bless you both.

8. Not all family stories are true. My great-grandfather was not Jewish, did not change his name, did not run off to marry a Christian girl. The jury's still out on HIS grandfather, though.

9. Life was hard in the 19th century. It didn't matter if you owned a plantation or homesteaded in Nebraska. Children, mothers, fathers all died and died young. Our 1950s nuclear family didn't exist then.  Those who survived to old age often had multiple spouses, children, step children, grandchildren, nephews and nieces in their households. (I love probate records!)

10. The Civil War had as much impact on individual families as it did on the nation - especially in Missouri and Tennessee. My husband's gg-grandmother, Cansada Jones Stokes Sisco Caulk Sweely, was widowed during the War. Her third husband was a Union veteran who suffered the remainder of his life from a war injury. Her gallantry, her hard work to care for her family amaze me. 

As to passing it on... The bloggers I first think of are those that have been unfailingly supportive and generous to me during these first months of blogging. They write great blogs, are exceptional researchers and active members of the genealogy blogging community. To no one's surprise they've all been Ancestor Approved before. Still a huge thank you to 

Carol at Reflections from the Fence

Greta Koehl at Greta's Genealogy Blog

Barbara Poole at Life from the Roots

With all admiration I award the Ancestor Approved badge to 

Brandt Gibson at Brandt's Rants
D. Kay Strickland at d kay s days
Linda McCauley at Documenting the Details

Kristin Williams for both of her blogs, Finding Eliza and My Cleages and Reeds
Cynthia Shenette at Heritage Zen

Elizabeth O'Neal for Little Bytes of Life

Yvonne at The Mashburn Collection

CeCe Moore at My Tangled Vine
Nick Gombash at Nick Gombash's Genealogy Blog

Margel at 2238 W. Washington Blvd.

Finally, a huge WHOOPS and belated thank you to Barbara for the Genea-Angel she gave me last September. I know. September! I hang my head in shame. Susan Petersen at Long Lost Relatives.net started this last August to recognize those who'd helped in one's research or provided guidance or inspiration. I've struggled with this because those who've helped with my research efforts don't blog and wouldn't necessarily appreciate being named publicly. As for inspiration - see all of the above. But today, as I pore over one after another of the outstanding posts for the 100th Carnival of Genealogy, it's become clear to me that my Genea-Angel must be passed onto Jasia. Long may she reign!

Advent Calendar - Christmas Greetings from the Old Country

My grandfather's brother Ivan settled in Satu Mare (present day Romania), a little less than 70 miles from Berezovo, their home in what is today's Ukraine. I believe he sent this card in 1936. Ivan and his brother wrote to one another in Hungarian.

The front reads "Christmas Greetings!"

I've not been able to translate the back fully, or even make out all the letters. It was written in Satu Mare on 15 Dec 1936 and opens with Merry Christmas (thanks to Nick Gombash for helping decode this!) and includes a message of love (szeretettel) and ends with a word meaning the family of (csaladja). I have many letters from Ivan, but this is the only Christmas card.

Advent Calendar - Ornaments

Our tree isn't up yet and I thought there would no point in writing about ornaments (about which I am almost as passionate as genealogy) without being able to take pictures. However, I had to bring a couple boxes up to put together a care package for our newly wed son and daughter and was able to snap a photograph of one of my favorite ornaments. Then Heather wrote about baseball (about which I am more passionate than genealogy), and I was off and running.

Isn't it beautiful?  It is not the only cardinal or Cardinals ornament we have. There's the obligatory 2006 World Series ball which I'm not so fond of because it was an enormously frustrating season capped off by a bizarre post-season. I suppose we earned that post-season because in 2004, when the Cardinals played the most beautiful baseball I have ever seen (and I've seen lots), they inexplicably vanished for four games. Boston fans may remember them.

This bell is from 2004. It was a tough year for my family. Following the Cards, watching Edmonds, Rolen and Pujols (our MV3s) play superlative baseball night after night helped bring us through. There was heartbreak in the end, but I will never forget all those glorious games before. It was my favorite baseball season ever.

There is a family history link to baseball. My grandfather and great-uncle  played minor league ball and instilled a deep love of the game in my mother which she passed on to us.

There are lots (LOTS) of other ornaments yet to come up - ones from grandmothers' trees, dixie cup angels, lighthouses we've loved, straw ornaments from Slovakia, and more. But this is as special as any of them. Can't wait to get it up on the tree!

Advent Calendar: Foods fit for Presidents

Food. I'm a big fan. But I must admit that few of my Christmas memories involve food. Music, parties, trees, candles - absolutely. Not much food.

My mother certainly cooked. She simply didn't enjoy it much. Her best recipes came from friends or family (not sure we would have made it to adulthood without the recipes sent by her mother and sisters). She did have a couple go-to recipes she pulled out every Christmas that were outstanding. Both came straight from the White House (via my grandmother) - Mamie Eisenhower's Million Dollar Fudge and Jackie Kennedy's Baked Fruit.

We would make pans full of the fudge and set them in the garage (often sitting on top of the car) to cool. At the time it seemed reasonable. I can't imagine doing it today - but then my garage isn't even fit for a car. It was great fudge and I am forever grateful to Mrs. Eisenhower for that sweet memory.

Jackie's baked fruit is still one of my favorite recipes. I, too, trot it out over the holidays. I believe she served it as a dessert, but in our home it was and is a side dish. Easy, yummy and spiked. What more could one want?


Jackie's Baked Fruit Casserole
(serves 6-8)

Grate rind of 1 orange and 1 lemon.
Add to 1/2 c. light brown sugar, packed, and 1/4 t. nutmeg.
Slice orange and lemon into thin slices. Remove seeds.

Drain: 1 8 oz. can apricots
           1 8-3/4 oz. can pineapple slices
           1 8-3/4 oz. can sliced peaches
           1 17 oz. can pitted Bing cherries
           1 8 oz. can pears

Combine fruits. Butter a 1 qt. casserole and arrange fruit in layers sprinkling each layer with some brown sugar. Top with 1/4 c. kirsch.

Bake 30 minutes in medium oven. Serve warm.  

Photographs: 
Mamie Eisenhower by White House photographer, via Wikimedia Commons
Jacqueline Kennedy by Shaw, Mark (1922-1969), photographer [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.  
                                      

There's One in Every Family - Treasure of Treasures

Jasia's dedicated work with the Carnival of Genealogy and her fabulous 100th Edition celebration has inspired me. My first effort focused on a colorful ancestor, but I kept thinking of a newfound treasure. As a long-time family history researcher I've dreamed of THE find - a letter, Bible or family record hidden in a trunk or closet that unlocks the past.  I've had some successes, but none more exciting than when I learned recently that my husband's aunt has an 1832 family Bible.  Once I picked myself and my jaw off the floor I spent a few hours photographing and poring over Leonard Smith's Bible.

Leonard Smith is my husband's gg grandfather. He was born 29 March 1794 to John and Elizabeth Fenwick Smith and died 2 July 1849. Leonard married Eliza Jamison on 3 Oct 1815. Eliza was born 19 December 1795. While I've had these dates before, I have never been able to adequately document the information. I suspected the dates were from a family Bible, but had no idea which Bible or where it was. Now I know.

An aside - my husband is from a large extended family and our visits have often been group gatherings. This trip we had a chance to visit quietly with his aunt and it was then that she remembered the Bible and other documents she had stored. Moral of the story - find some quiet time to talk to the senior members of the family!

Leonard's Bible includes a family record of both his parents' children and his own children. But it also held a number of papers tucked in its pages that give a fuller picture of the family.  Included are a number of certificates of prayer intentions for the family, confirmation and first communion certificates, sheet music for a Confederate song, and a lace-trimmed prayer written in 1852 for Rev. Mother Delphina, who I quickly discovered was a Carmelite nun and Leonard's sister (born Elizabeth Smith).

An 1833 first communion certificate for Leonard's daughter at St. Joseph's may help locate the family in the 1830 census (though not as yet).  Inside the back cover are still to be analyzed pedigree charts for the family. It's a Smith family treasure trove of information that I will happily be working on for months to come. I could not be more grateful that this one is in the family!

Leonard Smith Bible (dated 1832), The Holy Bible, Translated from the Latin Vulgate... Clementine Edition of the Scriptures (Baltimore: Fielding Lucas, Jr.). Privately held. Digital Images.

Submitted to the 100th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy.

Amanuensis Monday: Iva's History of Johnson City (part 2)

Thanks to John at Transylvanian Dutch for providing a framework (and nudge) for transcribing family records, news clippings and other treasures.

This is part two of a transcription of school report on Johnson City, TN written by Iva Williams. I am estimating Iva was 10-12 years old when she wrote this, which would put the date at 1910-1912. The report has corrections made in pencil. I have not included them but have maintained the spelling, grammar and punctuation Iva used. 

In the early eighties a boom started in Johnson City. General John T Wieler started this boom. The C.C.C. railroad was wanted run through Johnson City. On April 9, 1887 the people voted bonds. 445 votes were cast in favor of the bonds and not one against it. The people where so happy they fired over 100  guns. The whistles all over the town blew and the tar barrels were lighted after dark. General Wieler the Vice President of the company gave Mayor W. A. Dickinson $125 to get up a supper for the voters.

Along about this time the Water Works were brought to Johnson City. A Reservoir was built and 5000 feet of pipe was laid over the town. Then electric lights were put in. Mr. C.K. McCallum was at the head of the light company. Just after the electric lights were put in the telephone was put in. About this time grounds for five large blast furnaces and a Bessemer Steel works. The people thought they would have 30,000 people in Johnson city in five to eight years. The bill for all there works went through both houses, The House of Senate and the house of Representatives.

During the Boom Carnegie was bought and laid off. A little town was started. Two or three stores were built and the large Carnegie hotel. The street car was run down to Carnegie. The cars also run two miles out of town to Lake Watausee. Out here was a nice park where they had many picnics.

The Crash was in 1893 and lasted for about four years. The railroad failed, workers stopped working, the bank failed, the street car company failed and their line was torn up. Everything was dull for about four years. Then things began to revive a little. Railroads wer started and built 35 miles. It started at Unaka Springs and went about 5 miles north east of town to the Union Church.

A Thanksgiving Blessing and Recipe

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays, but it became my absolute favorite when our son was born one Thanksgiving morning. I delivered the relish tray and our daughter to a friend at dawn and our son several hours later. He arrived as the doctor rushed in from filing a police report after his car was stolen overnight and just after the television broadcast of the Macy's parade ended (along with my colorful commentary). It was quite the entrance - and one of the great blessings of my life.

Birthday and Thanksgiving have melded together - both joyous. We've put candles in pumpkin pie, had birthday cake the day after with turkey leftovers - all possible variations on the themes. But what says Thanksgiving and birthday to him more than anything else are the turkey cookies we made in lieu of cupcakes for his school classmates when he was young. Actually, we assembled them from various forms of corn syrup sweetened treats. Health food they are not. I've never managed to eat one, but my children swear they are delicious. So in his honor here they are. I won't vouch for their taste, but they are festive!

Gobbler Cookies

Ingredients:   Oreos
                     Hershey Kisses
                     Red Hots
                     chocolate frosting
                     candy corn

Spread frosting over each cookie and place Hershey Kiss on top slightly off center. This is the body. Arrange 5 or more candy corn pieces in a fan around the Kiss to make the tail. Stick a Red Hot onto top of the Kiss (on the opposite side from the tail) with more chocolate frosting to make the Gobbler's neck.

And if it's for a birthday - you can put a candle on one with even more frosting!

Happy Birthday, my love!

Thanksgiving: Our American Story

Cynthia Shenette at Heritage Zen wrote the loveliest post last week linking her family's history with our nation's history and issued a gentle challenge that we write about our American experience. Now I should be chopping veggies, straining turkey stock, finishing the cranberry sauce or even working on the Christmas craft project that for some insane reason I started this week. But not wanting to disappoint Cynthia (and apparently completely willing to disappoint my family), here goes...

For my children...

Our family's history is America's history. Not every moment of it's history, to be sure. But we have brushed against history makers, fought and died in the wars, built the roads and expanded the boundaries of this nation. A few of us made history. All of us lived it.

We came from England, France, Ireland, Scotland, Switzerland, Germany, Haiti and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Photo by Desiree N. Williams

Our earliest immigrants landed in Virginia in 1621. We were settling Virginia and Massachusetts when, in 1634, our ancestors arrived on the Ark and the Dove and established Maryland. Over the next century and a half we pushed forward into the new world. It was not a peaceful expansion. Much blood was spilled as we took over native American lands and established our homes. Our ancestors and their children were killed in raids in Massachusetts and Virginia. We fought and killed native Americans in King Philip's and King William's Wars and fought and died in the French and Indian War.

Photo by Diorama Sky

We established homes in New England towns, plantations in Maryland, Virginia and the Carolinas, built cabins in the Appalachian Mountains. We were swept up in the Great Awakening and left our homes to preach the gospel along the frontiers. We moved with Daniel Boone and the Long Hunters into the wilderness of today's Tennessee and Kentucky.

By 1776 our ancestors were living in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland, Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia and in the territories beyond. Ancestors from each fought for independence. Cousins argued in the House of Burgesses in Williamsburg and Pennsylvania State House in Philadelphia. We were Minutemen from New England. We died at Trenton. We wintered at Valley Forge.  Some cousins sided with the King and left, moving south into the Spanish territories.

As our country grew we worked in mills in New England, were merchants in Baltimore and Virginia, physicians in Maryland, plantation owners in Virginia and built farms in the hills of Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky. We traveled west by wagon and flatboat to Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, and Kansas searching for land to farm. We were missionaries and preachers in Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri and Louisiana. We owned slaves and were abolitionists. We fought and died in the Mexican-American War. We were in Kentucky with Lincoln as a boy and in Springfield, Illinois when he was a young lawyer. And when he grew up, your ancestors, uncles and cousins came from Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Virginia and Tennessee to fight for and against him during the Civil War.

Photo by video4net

In the new century we left our homes in the mountains of eastern Europe and boarded ships for America. We sailed past the Statue of Liberty, sailed into Baltimore and Philadelphia and made our way to the coal mines of Pennsylvania and West Virginia, to the factories of New Jersey, Illinois and upstate New York. We had deeply established roots in East Tennessee and western Maryland where generations of our family lived and worked. The wanderers among us continued west and were ranchers and merchants in Kansas and Wyoming. We struggled during the Depression, but were more fortunate than many. We had homes and jobs, though some of us were forced to live with cousins and other relatives during those hard times. When World War II came we served in the Pacific as soldiers, sailors and nurses and shared our rations on the homefront.

We were witnesses to some of the great events during the last sixty years of America's history. We served in Europe as it rebuilt, were government agents during the Cold War, and helped push computers into all corners of our society. We were in Dallas in 1962, in Chicago in 1968, and in Philadelphia on July 4, 1976 when our nation celebrated its two hundredth anniversary.

For all of our family, all of that history I am enormously thankful this Thanksgiving Day.

Amanuensis Monday: Iva's History of Johnson City (part 1)

Thanks to John at Transylvanian Dutch for providing a framework (and nudge) for transcribing family records, news clippings and other treasures.

This is part one of a transcription of school report on Johnson City, TN written by Iva Williams. I am estimating Iva was 10-12 years old when she wrote this, which would put the date at 1910-1912. The report has corrections made in pencil. I have not included them but have maintained the spelling, grammar and punctuation Iva used. 

Johnson City is a thriving little city in one of the valleys of East Tennessee. It is about the sixth largest city in Tennessee.

The old Johnson brick house was about the first house in Johnson City. Mr. Johnson lived in half of this house and kept the Post office in the other half. On the west side of the square is were this building stood. Opposite this building stood the depot which was a small frame building. This was called Johnson station. Johnson City got its name from Mr. Johnson, who ran the Post office.

The old Hoss and Wilburn houses were about next to be built. They were down toward where Carnegie now stands. Another old house was the the Tipton Jobe house. It stood where the Bank of Commerce is now. Tipton street got its name from this man.

West of town was a spring known as Camptown spring, Jobe and City springs were in the center of town. These three springs give water for all of the city for a good while. The Jobe and City springs are now both filled up.

There was one railroad run through Johnson City. It was called the East Tennessee, Virginia and Georgia. In 1880 some time later Johnson City was nothing but a watering tank.

He weren't no saint...

When Jasia announced the 100^th Carnival of Genealogy I immediately knew my subject. My ancestor Philip Mulkey (b. 1732) was a powerfully charismatic backwoods Separate Baptist preacher in South Carolina when he ran afoul of his neighbors and church for reasons only recently made clear.

I was raised on stories (note the word) of Philip's religious fervor, patriotism and virtue. His church at Fairforest (founded in 1760) grew rapidly and fueled the Baptists' rapid expansion in South Carolina's backwoods to the frustration of the Anglican authorities. Charles Woodmason wrote of Mulkey after he toured the area in the 1760's attempting to win back the Baptist converts.

Would any Mortal three Years past have dreamd or imagin’d that such a Person as the infamous Mulchey [sic], who came here lately in Rags, hungry, and bare foot, can now, at his beck, or Nod, or Motion of his finger lead out four hundred Men into the Wilderness in a Moment   At his speaking the Word---Without asking any questions or making the least Enquiry for what or for why….[i]

Later the Welsh Baptist minister Morgan Edwards wrote

… neither is there anything extraordinary in his [Mulkey’s] natural endowments, except a very sweet voice, and a smiling aspect; that voice he manages in such a manner as to make soft impressions on the heart and fetch down tears from the eyes in a mechanical way… [Others] might learn from Mulkey to spin that sound and mix it with awe, distress, solicitude, or any other affection.[ii]

But there were also references to gross misconduct during his lifetime, excommunication in 1790 and evidence of Loyalist sympathies uncovered by 20th century Mulkey researchers.

My grandmother and her Mulkey cousins set great store by their descent from Philip. They included him in their D.A.R. applications, referring to his participation in Col. William Christian's Cherokee Expedition in 1776 (citing Summer's Annals of Southwest Virginia, 1769-1800). They defended him against the calumnies of what they perceived as jealous minds and bigots.[iii] Wonderful family historians and histories were damned should they even suggest Philip might have strayed from the paths of virtue and revolutionary fervor. I admit to some trepidation writing this even now, almost two decades after my grandmother's death. For she and her cousins were wrong.

Mulkey's political loyalties leading up to the Revolution were divided. He publicly avowed his loyalty to the Crown several times in 1775 as tensions rose. He was present in September when the backcountry loyalists signed the Treaty of Ninety-Six, agreeing not to actively support the British against South Carolina. He apparently left for Tennessee (where his son Jonathan had settled) soon after. He was not arrested in South Carolina, nor is there evidence that his lands were confiscated. Indeed, he returned there following the war and spent many more years preaching. His motives for supporting the Crown and then joining the Cherokee Expedition the next year are unknown, but Philip Mulkey Hunt suggests he may have been less interested in politics and more concerned about the results of the political confrontations on his church members. Thus he might side with the loyalists in South Carolina where many felt the colonial government had been more abusive than the King and fight with the Col. Christian the next year to protect his family and neighbors from the Cherokee raids.[iv]

Mulkey’s reputation suffered far more from the rumors of improper behavior than his political leanings. As early as 1772 Morgan Edwards suggested as much when he wrote “a thorn was put into his flesh about 4 years ago which will … teach his votaries that he is but a man.”[v] By 1790, Mulkey had been excommunicated by the Charleston (SC) Baptist Association and its members warned of his

enormous crimes; such as adultery, perfidy and falsehood, which have been attended with very aggravating circumstances, often repeated and continued in for years; and part of the time, united with his highest pretensions of zeal and piety.[vi]

These were no light charges and historians writing about Mulkey agree that he ended his days an outcast and wanderer. His apologists (sorry Grandmother) have suggested the charges were rooted in his political disputes in South Carolina and maintain no evidence existed to support these charges. Not so.

In June, 2009 Chris DeMarco posted a link to a 1767 letter in the Brown University archives on the Mulkey Family Genealogy Forum.  The letter, written by Oliver Hart, a Baptist minister, to James Manning, president of the newly founded Brown University makes it clear that Philip Mulkey (married since 1750) had recently had an illegitimate child.

The greatest appearance we have had, for some years pass, has been among the Separatists: and especially under one Mr. Philip Mulkey. But He, poor Man, has sadly fallen, having become the Father of a spurious Child by a widow woman, a member of his own church. On account of which religion has suffered much, especially in those parts; and among that People.[vii]

That’s as clear a piece of evidence as we are ever likely to find supporting Edward’s 1772 “thorn” reference and leads me to believe there were other transgressions over the years that had nothing to do with the American Revolution or politics. It seems the Charleston Baptists were simply stating the facts when they warned their members.

Philip Mulkey, though an extraordinarily gifted preacher, had far more in common with today’s fallen televangelists than any reputable minister. He’s the most colorful and interesting ancestor I’ve come across, and though proof of his perfidy may set Grandmother spinning, I suspect a few other members of my family are grinning. We needed a scoundrel to offset all those generations of virtue and propriety. 

---

[i]The Carolina Backcountry on the Eve of the Revolution: The Journal and Other Writings of Charles Woodmason, Anglican Itinerant, Richard J. Hooker, ed., ( Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1953), p. 112.

[ii] John Sparks, The Roots of Appalachian Christianity: The Life and Legacy of Elder Shubal Stearns (Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 2001), p. 83.

[iii] See Ella Mulkey Range’s pamphlet The Life of Reverend Philip Mulkey, His Ancestors and Descendants, 1650-1950 (n.p.).

[iv] Philip Mulkey Hunt, The Mulkeys of America (Portland, OR: n.p., 1983) pp. 56-60.

[v] Sparks, p. 83.

[vi] “1790 Minutes of the Charleston Baptist Association”, cited by Floyd Mulkey in The Strange Career of the Rev. Phlip Mulkey (Chicago: n.p., 1976).

[vii] “James Manning papers, 1761-1827,” Brown University, Brown Archival & Manuscript Collections Online (http://dl.lib.brown.edu/bamco/ : accessed 17 Nov 2010), letter, “Oliver Hart to James Manning, 23 Dec 1767,” p. 2.

Treasure Chest Thursday: Charmed!

Once, in the midst of a "conversation" with my son about our old cars, his ancient video game system, and the used ski boots I was about to buy to replace the ones he was rapidly outgrowing, he made some allusion to family values. I had been explaining the economic concept of opportunity cost and that families made different economic choices. I snapped back, "Travel is our family value!" The conversation ended. Even he, toes pinched, was not willing to trade our travels for new boots.

Bruges Lacemaker

I was fortunate to to live overseas as a young child when my father was stationed in Europe during his military service. I have no memories of the time, but we came back to the States with some treasures, including my mother's charm bracelet. It was enormous - heavy silver charms on every link. It jangled and shone, snagged sweaters and even scratched hands. Some charms moved and each represented a spot Mother or Daddy visited. She had a story about every one.

Swiss Chalet

When she died I inherited the bracelet. It was far too big and noisy for me to wear - impossible at work, church or school. I had collected my own charms, though my bracelet was a puny thing next to hers. Ultimately I decided to combine the two into a necklace. I wear it regularly and am reminded of treasured memories - Mother and our journeys.

Woods Hole Drawbridge

It was my go to classroom management tool when substituting in elementary schools. Few children could resist the reward of handling the charms and picking out one to learn about at the end of the day. I wear it to most family events - my own way of keeping Mother at the party.

And there's room to add more charms as we continue to explore.

Almost Wordless Wednesday: Birthday Girls

"All birthday girls"

Lillian Knight, Eunice Holt Sawyer, Flavia Tweed Sawyer and Sara Elizabeth "Aunt Boss" Conway Dawson

This photograph is from a collection belonging to Mary Kathryn Sawyer McKenzie. Eunice was married to Mary Kathryn's first cousin Joe Henry Luther Sawyer, Flavia was her sister-in-law and Aunt Boss was her mother's sister. I don't know what, if any relationship Lillian Knight had to Mary Kathryn beyond friendship. 

Flavia and Eunice were both born on September 1st. The birthdays of Lillian and Aunt Boss are unknown. The picture was probably taken after August, 1947 when Flavia married Conway Sawyer. The location is in Cocke or Greene Counties, TN. 

Source: Birthday Girls, Photograph, date unknown. Digital Image.  Privately held by Nolichucky Roots [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE], 1997.

Amanuensis Monday: Twenty-Five Years A Priest

Thanks to John at Transylvanian Dutch for providing a framework (and nudge) for transcribing family records, news clippings and other treasures.

This article is from the Morning Star and Catholic Messenger (New Orleans), Sunday, Sept. 8th, 1878 issue, and was found through the Chronicling America project of the Library of Congress.

TWENTY-FIVE YEARS A PRIEST.

_______

St. Louis Watchman

On the 22nd August, Rev. W. V. Meredith, C. SS. R., celebrated the silver jubilee of his priestly ordination. Father Meredith is pastor of St. Alphonsus' church in St. Louis, and superior of the religious community attached thereto, positions he has occupied uninterruptedly almost since the advent of the Redemptorists into St. Louis. The occasion was one of joy to the large congregation worshiping in the Rock Church, and was the subject of a special celebration by the members of the Holy Family of which he is spiritual director. The latter presented with a neat and feeling address.

Father Meredith is an American by birth, and, we believe, a convert to our holy faith. During the whole course of his ministry he has been a faithful and devoted priest, and an honored member of the Redemptorist order. Personally he is the most affable and most considerate of men, a kind father to his community, a wise counsellor to his people and a devoted friend to the poor. He is a man with whom it is impossible to be in antagonism long. He sways the minds of men by mildness, or subdues them by a bluff honesty in which there is no element of hauteur or anger. There is not a more popular clergyman in the whole city than Father Meredith.

It is principally to the community over which he presides, that his worth is made manifest in all its fullness. Religious communities, not being subject to the control of bishops, are dependent for guidance upon those within their own bodies to whom God has granted the rare gift of administrative wisdom and foresight. Young religious priests need constant curbing. Fed for years on the highly-seasoned and rich pabulum of the tyrocinium, they come to to the work of the ministry with the fiery spirit of untamed zeal. They are "sons of thunder" and like the "Son of Thunder" among the apostles,are liable to rush headlong where wisdom bids them pick their steps. The Jesuits have an admirable method of disciplining their recruits, and, as a result, one of them seldom raises an issue which the whole order throughout the world is not ready to sustain. Young priests, with more courage than prudence, are, among them, taught now and then to pluck a few feathers from the wings of their zeal and insert them in the tail of their discretion. The Redemptorist Fathers of this city are a most excellent body of priests - holy, zealous, laborious and kind. They have made some slight mistakes since they came to this city, but they are mistakes of well-meant endeavor, and will soon be forgotten. One thing we do not hesitate to assert, had Father Meredith's advice been taken in those matters those blunders had never been committed. A religious community is not a thing of a day or a year, but of centuries. The tree planted by Father Meredith and his companions on Grand Avenue will continue to grow and bring forth fruit long after its planters shall have gone to their account. In this light the vains of a life like that we now honor in  the person of Father Meredith is beyond computation. If planted in the soil of obedience, and be watered with the sweat of holy zeal, and the blood of generous sacrifice and mortification, it will grow to be a vast tree and under its sheltering branches generations yet unborn will sit be refreshed. Father Meredith is comparatively a young man, and, if God spares his health, capable of further and great labors in the vineyard of the Master. That his health may be thus spared, and his usefulness prolonged is the prayer of the thousands who know and revere him.

Notes:

Father William Vincent Meredith is my husband's 3x great-uncle, Margaret Meredith Palmer's younger half-brother Willie. He did not live long, unfortunately, but died six years later during a yellow fever epidemic in New Orleans.

St. Alphonsus Rock Church is one of the most well known parishes in St. Louis. Built originally to minister to a German immigrant population it now ministers to a primarily African American community. Its liturgies are filled with references to and expressions of African American tradition. The church itself, an outstandingly beautiful structure, was heavily damaged by fire in 2007.

I have to admit to real curiosity about Father Meredith's publicist (a Jesuit, perchance?) and the "slight mistakes" made by the Redemptorists in St. Louis.

Source: 

"Twenty-Five Years a Priest," The morning star and Catholic messenger (New Orleans [La.]), September 08, 1878, Chronicling America online archive (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86086284/1878-09-08/ed-1/seq-3/ : accessed 18 September 2010), Page 3.