Lots of genealogy-related news these days! Last time I mentioned my fondness for cemeteries, a sentiment shared by many family historians. The comment was prompted by the PBS program, "Cemetery Special," which aired on KQED last week. It was not a first-time presentation, and may well be shown again, so watch for it. It was just an interesting visit to several cemeteries of various kinds around the country, and some fascinating bits of lore about the cemetery / graveyard / churchyard customs. The city of Colma is featured, among other places. (Here's a non sequitur for you: I have a friend whose polling place is the Columbarium in San Francisco's Richmond District.)
Then the Aug. 25 edition of the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat featured a story on the Spring Hill Cemetery, west of Sebastopol. Guy Kovner wrote of the ongoing efforts to restore the old cemetery, and the discovery, so far, of 16 headstones and footstones, beneath layers of leaf mold and omnipresent sprawl of vinca minor. The entire story can be read at the Press-Democrat website by searching back to the August date and the headline "No longer forgotten."
Of course I love libraries even more than cemeteries, so was quite pleased to read in Leah Garchik's Chronicle column last week that San Francisco's Public Library is sponsoring the reading of "Cane River," for its current "One City One Book" selection. The author, Lalita Tademy, "began doing some family genealogy and wound up writing this novel based on the stories of four of her mother's ancestors, beginning with forebear Elisabeth, who was sold as a slave seven generations ago."
A stash of family photos, found by a woman remodelling her Oakland home, is the subject of a front page story in today's Chronicle (Sept 10, 2007). The article, by Kevin Fagan, relates in some detail what is know about these pictures, some dating as far back as the 1880s. It has been determined they are of members of a Lima family, apparently Portuguese immigrants, but so far no present-day relatives have turned up.
The remodeller, Gailen Runge, is still looking, and has had the expert help of Oakland Librarian Steven Lavoie and others. It is fascinating saga, and, I think, one we can all relate to. Anyone with clues or information is invited to contact author Fagan at kfagan@sfchronicle.com
In other news, I recently came across this, on the LDS Familysearch website:
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH—Thousands of published family histories, city and county histories, historic city directories, and related records are coming to the Internet. The Allen County Public Library (ACPL) in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Brigham Young University Harold B. Lee Library, and FamilySearch's Family History Library in Salt Lake City announced the joint project today. When complete, it will be the most comprehensive collection of city and county histories on the Web—and access will be free at www.familyhistoryarchive.byu.edu.
Having online access to these volumes will be a boon for all of us. If you would like to read the entire announcement, go to the familysearch.org website, and under News and Events on the opening page, click on "Local histories to go online."
Showing posts with label cemeteries. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cemeteries. Show all posts
Monday, September 10, 2007
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Family pictures
In the process of meandering about in my family history files while working on ancestral descendants, I have reacquainted myself with some names and connections. A flood of documentation, paper and electronic, has been retrieved, and I find myself ever more intrigued by these people and their lives.
One great-great uncle, Eli Cain, remained in the Indiana county where he, his parents and seven brothers had settled in the 1820s.. It is said they walked to Franklin County, on the Indiana/Ohio border, from Delaware. Of the eight boys, one moved on to Tennessee, and the others scattered to various other parts of Indiana.
I am fortunate to have a portrait of four of these brothers, (including Eli) taken in Connersville, in 1899. A cousin helped me confirm the identification of all four (I knew a couple and he knew the others). They were in their late 80s and early 90s by then. Good genes or virtuous living? Perhaps both.
I have been trying to find descendants of Eli and his brothers for some time, which, while going against the preferred practice of working back in time, is an interesting, wide-ranging project. Cain is not a particularly common name, but so many of the boys were named John or Edward or William! And there are a number of girls named Sarah, Mary and Elizabeth, with the associated nicknames. It makes determining the connections something of a task. Sarah becomes "Sadie" even on her tombstone. Elizabeth can be Lizzie, Betsy or Bess. Laura is called Lulu. And middle names are sometimes just mysterious initials, or become the given name of choice.
This project has given family pictures a new aspect for me. There are some as far back as the 1880s, and while there was identification for most of the people, my recent research has given them much more meaning. Elmer and Ellsworth, my father's twin cousins, looked like scamps as youngsters, ready to slip away the minute the photographer finished. I notice, in two family pictures, another child sits between them – perhaps to hold them in check? (An aunt told me one did jail time as an adult)
I am still trying to devise charts that show the Big Picture, with the help of chart-making programs and my big magnetic dry-erase board. Eventually ...
***
If you are as intrigued by cemeteries as I am, you won't want to miss the KQED-TV program Sept. 5, titled "Cemetery Special."
One great-great uncle, Eli Cain, remained in the Indiana county where he, his parents and seven brothers had settled in the 1820s.. It is said they walked to Franklin County, on the Indiana/Ohio border, from Delaware. Of the eight boys, one moved on to Tennessee, and the others scattered to various other parts of Indiana.
I am fortunate to have a portrait of four of these brothers, (including Eli) taken in Connersville, in 1899. A cousin helped me confirm the identification of all four (I knew a couple and he knew the others). They were in their late 80s and early 90s by then. Good genes or virtuous living? Perhaps both.
I have been trying to find descendants of Eli and his brothers for some time, which, while going against the preferred practice of working back in time, is an interesting, wide-ranging project. Cain is not a particularly common name, but so many of the boys were named John or Edward or William! And there are a number of girls named Sarah, Mary and Elizabeth, with the associated nicknames. It makes determining the connections something of a task. Sarah becomes "Sadie" even on her tombstone. Elizabeth can be Lizzie, Betsy or Bess. Laura is called Lulu. And middle names are sometimes just mysterious initials, or become the given name of choice.
This project has given family pictures a new aspect for me. There are some as far back as the 1880s, and while there was identification for most of the people, my recent research has given them much more meaning. Elmer and Ellsworth, my father's twin cousins, looked like scamps as youngsters, ready to slip away the minute the photographer finished. I notice, in two family pictures, another child sits between them – perhaps to hold them in check? (An aunt told me one did jail time as an adult)
I am still trying to devise charts that show the Big Picture, with the help of chart-making programs and my big magnetic dry-erase board. Eventually ...
***
If you are as intrigued by cemeteries as I am, you won't want to miss the KQED-TV program Sept. 5, titled "Cemetery Special."
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