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
With all admiration I award the Ancestor Approved badge to
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!
