This past Sunday was our one and only real Mormon holiday. We celebrate all the standard holidays Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving--any excuse to reflect, get the family together, and serve food. Pioneer Day is our own. July 24th, 1848 is the day that the Mormon Pioneers first entered the Salt Lake Valley. It's the day that we honor our spiritual, if not biological, forebears who made great sacrifices and demonstrated remarkable courage in the face of overwhelming odds.
There are many, many stories of courageous men, women and children who trekked west to escape persecution and enjoy religious freedom. None of these stories are mine. The closest we have is the ancestor of my ex-husband's step-uncle who started west, said Screw this! and stayed in Iowa. Not terribly inspirational--but that's a story for another post.
My mother was the first Mormon in our family's history. She is our Mormon Pioneer. Her decision to listen to missionaries in Oakland, California has impacted three generations, so far. As a direct result, my son served as a missionary in England and Wales. The ripples continue.
The fact that my mother was even born in the United States and could enjoy religious freedom is a direct result of my grandfather George Carpen emigrating from Romania in 1914--before the Communist regime.
Combine that with the courage of my great-grandmother, Hannah Mary Reynolds Goddard Moore. She was a midwife, mother of 9, and had lost her husband to pneumonia and her eldest son to the war. She took in the church laundry, sold everything to the bare walls and got on the first passenger liner to leave England after World War I.
Because of my family's pioneers, the great cosmic choreography made it possible for me to celebrate Pioneer Day with my little band of Mormon Pioneers.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Newbie Tuesday: I Know You Are But What Am I?
OK, true confessions time. I have to admit it and come to terms with the fact that I am a genealogical newbie.
I have been an amateur genealogist since 4th grade. I thought this blog would allow me to help others who were just starting out to avoid the research pitfalls and enjoy generation after generation of blissfully waving little leaves on their family trees.
NOT! What the bleep do I know?
Here's what I learned this past week. I was reading Megan Smolenyak's Who Do You Think You Are. I felt my batteries recharging (Seriously, Megan, call me. Let's get together for a piece of pie). I realized that when ALL of the experts tell you to look through your home for clues you've already got, there is a reason.
I pooh-poohed that nugget of advice because we've moved so many times, all of my genealogy documents are together in the same accordion files in the same milk crate they've been in for the past three moves. This past week, I started looking at my documents with fresh eyes. I found loads of information that I didn't glean and connections I didn't make.
I can GoogleEarth addresses on censuses. What about poverty maps, like Patsy Kensit used in her episode of WDYTYA? What about starting with what you know and working backwards?
For example, when my great grandparents emigrated from England in 1893 (see previous post) they had already decided to settle in Detroit. My grandfather was a boiler makerDid he already have job prospects lined up? Was he merely banking on the boom of the industrial revolution? Were they escaping Jack the Ripper? Was he Jack the Ripper?
The point is that I have a lot more clues at my fingertips than I thought I did--just because I'm taking another, closer look at what I already have. Maybe you have more than you think you do. You just need to take a closer look.
I have been an amateur genealogist since 4th grade. I thought this blog would allow me to help others who were just starting out to avoid the research pitfalls and enjoy generation after generation of blissfully waving little leaves on their family trees.
NOT! What the bleep do I know?
Here's what I learned this past week. I was reading Megan Smolenyak's Who Do You Think You Are. I felt my batteries recharging (Seriously, Megan, call me. Let's get together for a piece of pie). I realized that when ALL of the experts tell you to look through your home for clues you've already got, there is a reason.
I pooh-poohed that nugget of advice because we've moved so many times, all of my genealogy documents are together in the same accordion files in the same milk crate they've been in for the past three moves. This past week, I started looking at my documents with fresh eyes. I found loads of information that I didn't glean and connections I didn't make.
I can GoogleEarth addresses on censuses. What about poverty maps, like Patsy Kensit used in her episode of WDYTYA? What about starting with what you know and working backwards?
For example, when my great grandparents emigrated from England in 1893 (see previous post) they had already decided to settle in Detroit. My grandfather was a boiler makerDid he already have job prospects lined up? Was he merely banking on the boom of the industrial revolution? Were they escaping Jack the Ripper? Was he Jack the Ripper?
The point is that I have a lot more clues at my fingertips than I thought I did--just because I'm taking another, closer look at what I already have. Maybe you have more than you think you do. You just need to take a closer look.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Who Do I Think I Am Thursday: How I Made My Father Light Up Like a Christmas Tree
My father had a great passion for life-long learning. There is a scripture, Doctrine and Covenants 130:19 which reads,
There are two times in my adult life that I remember making my father beam. Once, after reading The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, he asked me how the Fibonacci Sequence applied to music and I knew the answer. (That's a story for another post).
The other time was shortly after I had bought my first laptop. He had brought a diskette (remember those?) to my house and let me transfer GEDCOM files into PAF. He asked me if I could find immigration records for his grandparents who had come through Ellis Island.
The family in question were my great-grandparents, William Richard Mitchell and Alice Mary Ann Hudson. According to the family legend, William and Alice had 2 sons born in England, 1 born on the passage over, and 2 born in Detroit. The shipboard delivery of my great uncle George would certainly help narrow down their dates of passage.
I rolled up my sleeves and clicked away at www.ellisisland.org. I started with a search for "William Richard Mitchell" and guess what I got? Bupkiss. So I broadened my search and looked for just "Mitchell" Now I got 12,195 hits. Too many to wade through.
Mitchell, W=1003 hits....Hmm...many, many men traveling, not many women.
Mitchell, Alice=68...that's doable. Eliminate the ones that are too old or too young. Limit it to women were born in 1868 and who traveled around 1892, when Uncle George was born. There was only one.
We had found her. Alice Mitchell, age 25, traveling in 1893 aboard the ship Campania. I looked at Dad; he looked at me. He grinned.
Now who was traveling with her? The website did not yet have images of the manifest. So I was going to have to search for the family members one by one.
New Search...Oh look...an advanced search page. Where was that before?
So we searched for people with the last name Mitchell traveling in 1893 on Campania.
Wm. Mitchell age 25
Willie Mitchell age 4
Arthur Mitchell age 3 and
George Mitchell age 0. (Family Myth busted. Uncle George was born 5 December 1892. The ship arrived in New York on 24 June 1893. He was tiny, to be sure, but definitely 6 months post-natal.)
We had found them all. Robert Langdon had nothing on us. Dad's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. That is the look I would give anything to see again.
PS--Months later when an image of the original manifest was available online. I was amazed that anyone was able to accurately transcribe that penmanship. But guess who was traveling with the Mitchells--Mary Hudson-age 70. Alice's mother or grandmother? That's a story for another post.
And if a person gains more aknowledge and intelligence in this life through his bdiligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the cadvantage in the world to come. (http://lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/130.19?lang=eng)It could almost read, "...if a person gains more knowledge...like Don Mitchell"
There are two times in my adult life that I remember making my father beam. Once, after reading The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, he asked me how the Fibonacci Sequence applied to music and I knew the answer. (That's a story for another post).
The other time was shortly after I had bought my first laptop. He had brought a diskette (remember those?) to my house and let me transfer GEDCOM files into PAF. He asked me if I could find immigration records for his grandparents who had come through Ellis Island.
The family in question were my great-grandparents, William Richard Mitchell and Alice Mary Ann Hudson. According to the family legend, William and Alice had 2 sons born in England, 1 born on the passage over, and 2 born in Detroit. The shipboard delivery of my great uncle George would certainly help narrow down their dates of passage.
I rolled up my sleeves and clicked away at www.ellisisland.org. I started with a search for "William Richard Mitchell" and guess what I got? Bupkiss. So I broadened my search and looked for just "Mitchell" Now I got 12,195 hits. Too many to wade through.
Mitchell, W=1003 hits....Hmm...many, many men traveling, not many women.
Mitchell, Alice=68...that's doable. Eliminate the ones that are too old or too young. Limit it to women were born in 1868 and who traveled around 1892, when Uncle George was born. There was only one.
We had found her. Alice Mitchell, age 25, traveling in 1893 aboard the ship Campania. I looked at Dad; he looked at me. He grinned.
Now who was traveling with her? The website did not yet have images of the manifest. So I was going to have to search for the family members one by one.
New Search...Oh look...an advanced search page. Where was that before?
So we searched for people with the last name Mitchell traveling in 1893 on Campania.
Wm. Mitchell age 25
Willie Mitchell age 4
Arthur Mitchell age 3 and
George Mitchell age 0. (Family Myth busted. Uncle George was born 5 December 1892. The ship arrived in New York on 24 June 1893. He was tiny, to be sure, but definitely 6 months post-natal.)
We had found them all. Robert Langdon had nothing on us. Dad's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. That is the look I would give anything to see again.
PS--Months later when an image of the original manifest was available online. I was amazed that anyone was able to accurately transcribe that penmanship. But guess who was traveling with the Mitchells--Mary Hudson-age 70. Alice's mother or grandmother? That's a story for another post.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)