New Year's Resolutions and Other Hopes.

I am hoping that this year by writing goals, I will not be found sleeping like my grandson through great opportunities.

My first goal is to be active in pursuing correct informaion.  (My friends like Lori are aiding me in that task).

The second goal is to make posts that are informative as well as pertaining to families I am researching at the time. ( Since I have become a member of the genealogy bloggers, I have had wonderful examples of how to present posts in this manner) Thanks to all.

The third goal is making time to research in the library.  Online is great, but I love browsing through the books and films.  Sometimes indexers and abstracters can miss an important bit of information. (Like the name of a son).

Fourth and last, I am not pushing the envelope.  I know my limits.  I will finish the task of organizing my files of family history so that they can be accessed for sharing with others and my family would not be left wanting if something happened to me.

Wordless Wednesday Bible Gifts

Copy of Yell Bible pages.

Original image owned by Gistoware1

Tombstone Tuesday Porter Ancestor

The great grandfather of Elizabeth Angeline Porter Vance.  The grandfather of Lydia SR Davidson Porter.  Father of Elizabeth Bradford Davidson. 

A Wee Bit of Christmas Fun

Since everyone has been off on Christmas blogging fun, I thought I would share this poem a friend sent me.  She received it in an email as I did and does not know the author.  I can not find the author on the internet.  Maybe one of you knows who wrote this.  It is cute and really sums up the true Genealogist inner thinking of his family search....Hope you enjoy.....

    

A Christmas Incident  'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the charts The lines that were empty would sure break your heart. The pedigree chart was laid out with care, In hopes that St Nicholas would know who or where. As searcher I nestled all snug in my bed While visions of ancestors danced through my head. Others sound asleep both upstairs and down All in a nightcap and ankle length gown. when out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, I jumped from my bed to see what was the matter. When much to my wonderment there did appear Good old St Nicholas with a grin to each ear. His bulk was tremendous, his eyes full of glee He laughed as he picked up the sad pedigree. He shouted and roared and ripped it to bits While I swallowed my heart and went into fits. "Dash it all, dash it all," I heard him then say, "This clutter and mess is just in my way." He said not a word as he started his job He sat down at once and his pencil did jog. A new pedigree he filled out in two winks Giving names, dates, and places and all missing links. Clear back to Adam, and down to the last... For ageless was he, having served in the past. I thought, "Oh, how wonderful it would all be If he did for others what he did for me!!: As he finished and blotted the ink not quite dry A sadness came over me and then I did cry! He gave me the details and seemed to have such fun But now all my ancestor chasing was done!!! He bounced out the window and I heard him say, "For others I'll do the same any old day, Just tell them my number and be good and kind," But then, a sure thought came into my mind... Nobody wants ancestors that fast and so good I'll let everyone else do the job just as they should.

Tombstone Tuesday Simple and Sweet

Dec 15, 1941 Bill of Rights

Today is Bill of Rights Day. In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared December 15 to be Bill of Rights Day.  This was to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights. Most of us do not even know this is a "holiday". The link on "holiday" gives all the rights in the Bill of Rights.  Many do not know the Bill of Rights, although it is a great piece of our constitution and history of our United States.
The Bill of Rights are key amendments to the U.S. Constitution, that protect an individual's rights.

Those of you with Alexander Hamilton in your tree, know he was an advocate of the Constitution and was opposed to adding the bill of rights.  Those with Patrick Henry in their tree know he was opposed to the constitution and this was an answer to his misgiving of the constitution. Fascinating reading on the factors that went into the making of this nation America.

On March 4, 1789, the Constitution of the United States of America was ratified by the (former)13 colonies, and went into effect. States and individuals were concerned that the Constitution did not properly cover and protect a number of rights of individuals. The Constitution was signed by the original 13 states with the requirement, or understanding, that a Bill of Rights would be created, amending the new U.S. Constitution.

On September 25, 1789, the First Congress of the United States proposed to the state legislatures 12 amendments to the Constitution.
10 of these amendments were added to the Constitution on December 15, 1791.
Most of the delegates agreed that this was a needful action.

The picture of the original Bill of Rights and the letter below of George Washington  to Marquis de La Fayette
are from the Library of Congress.

Wordless Wednesday

BryAntics: The Age of the Apron

BryAntics: The Age of the Apron

A Quest For Knowledge of the Apron

 I have looked at many of your Christmas blogs and I see pictures of a Grandmother in an apron, a mom in an apron, so I decided to write about the apron.  I associate an apron with my grandmother who raised 13 children and 2 grandchildren,  Mattie Whitson.  Mattie became a widow when her twins were 2 years of age.  She had 6 children in her home to raise the others had gone to war.  She would eventually raise two of her grandchildren with her twins.  I love her indomitable spirit.

Here she is (on the right) with her sister Fay Roberts Perkins sitting visiting on the front porch.  Great Aunt Fay lived to be 90 years of age.  You notice the apron that she has on.  

Memories of my grandmother revolve around the kitchen and cooking.  That will be for future posts.  To me, she was what I called real.

The other person I associate an apron is my mother-in-law who is 90 this year.

She has always been the proper example of society.  She had an apron in her drawer for every holiday occasion and party.  I love her sweet way of guiding my daughters and sons in social etiquette.
Below is a well worn apron email poem that I found on an Alberta Centennial site.

That plagiarized story of Grandma's Apron is based on a poem by Tina Trivett, a poem that is one of the most beautiful eulogies that were ever written, a eulogy that celebrates the life of Tina Trivetts' grandmother.  It  has been around for years on the Internet, as have been many other abridged plagiarized versions of the story and even abridged plagiarized poems (I have yet to read one that comes close to meeting the quality of Tina Trivett's original) with the same title. :  From a post by Walter H. Schneider that was presented at the Alberta Centennial. 

Grandma's Apron

by Tina Trivett

The strings were tied, It was freshly washed, and maybe even pressed.
For Grandma, it was everyday to choose one when she dressed.
The simple apron that it was, you would never think about;
the things she used it for, that made it look worn out.

She may have used it to hold, some wildflowers that she'd found.
Or to hide a crying child's face, when a stranger came around.
Imagine all the little tears that were wiped with just that cloth.
Or it became a potholder to serve some chicken broth.

She probably carried kindling to stoke the kitchen fire.
To hold a load of laundry, or to wipe the clothesline wire.
When canning all her vegetables, it was used to wipe her brow.
You never know, she might have used it to shoo flies from the cow.

She might have carried eggs in from the chicken coop outside.
Whatever chore she used it for, she did them all with pride.
When Grandma went to heaven, God said she now could rest.
I'm sure the apron that she chose, was her Sunday best.

I miss you Grandma...
A friend who posts her shared her poem about the apron.  I love it! Click here to read it.

As I started my search of information about aprons, I find that many are interested in fact there is a whole blogsphere out there that posts around and creates aprons.A wonderful post on Aprons. 

Which makes me think that Avis Yarbrough was sadly mistaken when he said in "A History of 1950's Aprons" in September 28, 2007 that the apron would never reach popularity like it had in the 1950's.

I go into the fabric store and there a mulitude of retro and new apron patterns available.  One of my favorites is a Daisy Kingdom pattern by Simplicity.

In my search about the apron's historical use, I have found a variety of information and many opinions.  One writer, David Graham, had the opinion that aprons were symbols of oppression, relating them to domestic servants, then he seemed to change his mind after reading Aprons: Icons of the American Home by Joyce Cheney, who in his words, 'lumps aprons in with hearth and home commodities such as picket fences and apple pie'.  My humble opinion is women are smart, they find the apron useful in their "gourmet" cooking to protect their clothes and there is a bit of nostalgia that comes from the relationships with family members of by-gone eras.

I was fascinated with the styles of the different era's.  The early 1900's were much like my favorite apron, more of a smock which covered most if not all of the dress.  Click here for a great site if you are looking to identify period dressing.  They have great examples.  Here is another great historical pattern site.  Below is the 1675 - 1760 New France Girls Pattern

Well, my quest has been a long one, I don't know if I have enlightened anyone else, but I have had fun researching such a nostalgic subject for me.  I was amazed to find out that the bib overall we have now that mostly farmers wear, was a full fitting bib apron that men wore while working in a shop in the early 1700-1800's.
As I was searching, I asked my daughter where her aprons were.  I was met with a blank stare.  Of course, I had to make her an apron.  I have started on a matching on for my granddaughter.  They must keep the tradition of gentility and family values as represented by an apron.  Below you see my product of piecing and quilting scraps my daughter had in her fabric boxes. 

 

I hope you have enjoyed the journey with me.  I thank you for dropping by, and leave a comment about your feelings about aprons if you are so inclined.

A Date Which Lives In Infamy...

Sixty-eight years ago today, at about 7:55 a.m., Japanese bombs began falling on the United States military installations Wheeler Field and Hickam Field in Hawaii, signifying the beginning of the attacks on Pearl Harbor.
That attack, which killed 2,390 sailors, airmen, soldiers and civilians, officially brought America into World War II. Until Sept. 11, 2001.  The attack, at the time, was the deadliest on American soil (2,976 died that day). When war was declared on Japan the next day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt called it, “a date which will live in infamy…”
 The picture taken above was  from the brownie camera of a sailor who was on the USS QUAPAW ATF-11O. in Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941.  It is a time we need to take note of and pay tribute to those who died in this attack.

My father always remembered each of the WWII days when he was alive.

My father was affected by this act as was many.  He is pictured here with his wife Faye Jenkins Langley in 1941.  When war was declared,  he was a superintendent on the domestic railroad in construction, he was exempt from going off to serve overseas.  His duty was to keep the railways open in the US.  There was trouble in the winds, though, he had a discontented wife.  She hid his papers the government required him to fill out to say he was still working for the railroad.  As a consequence, he was sent a draft notice and went down to enlist in the army corp of engineers.

He served in the European Theater although his ship was diverted to the Phillipine Islands on his way home.

When he got home he was divorced because of things that happened while he was gone.  Not a pleasant time, but it ended in him finding and marrying my mom.

To his death he was proud of serving his country and stood up for the men who served.  I would need to do the same.

Thanks to all who did and do serve this wonderful country.