Barn sign near Cottage Grove Oregon
Slide show Bruce/Flickr

“O.F. Knox Dead.

O.F. Knox, a prominent citizen of Lane County, died at his Eugene home, Sunday, August 11, 1901, of pneumonia. Mr. Knox was a son of Samuel Knox, deceased, who was one of the earliest settlers in Lane county, the old donation claim being located in the upper Willamette valley near Cottage Grove, where the subject of this sketch was raised. For several years O.F. Knox engaged in school teaching, later he went into the hardware business at Cottage Grove in which he was engaged until about a year ago, when he sold out and went to Eugene to reside, still giving his fine farm near Cottage Grove considerable of his personal attention.

At the election a year ago he tied H.R. Kincaid for the office of county judge of Lane county, Mr. Kincaid being given the office on the official count. Mr. Knox served as mayor of Cottage Grove several terms, was a man of sterling qualities and was held in the highest esteem by all who knew him.

He leaves a wife and five children to mourn their great loss, besides numerous other relatives and friends.  The funeral services were held at Cottage Grove Monday and were very largely attended.” Junction City Times, August 11, 1901, pg. 5, col. 5.

This is another example that if there is not a newspaper on file for the place your family member lived – check for newspapers in surrounding areas.  Junction City is another small community about 4o miles north of Cottage Grove carried this informative obituary for Mr. Knox.

As much as religion gets a bad rap, I must profess that I love religion. Religion is responsible for a great many advancements that we now take for granted: Science is one of the biggest. In the ancients human world of ‘trying to figure things out before I get my ass eaten by something bigger than me,” determining cause and effect was crucial to survival. Religion is also responsible for some of the great many tragedies of contemporary life: Fallout from the Crusades and the Inquisition are still present in the seemingly never-ending conflicts between religious denominations, arguing about the truth written in a book while fundamentalist and literalist adherents pick and choose what they want to follow and what they don’t. But Religion, like a gun, isn’t the problem. The problem is people and politicization.

“Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful.”

Lucius Annaeus Seneca – 4BC – AD 65 (http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/l/luciusanna118600.html#JVDyzF7sovUKLSIZ.99)

Regardless of the authenticity of the quote (as the internet is fraught with false attributions), it is succinct and accurate. A common man who does not question what he is told, who does not look for the flaws in rhetoric, who is indeed told not to think critically about the prescription of faith will not see that the world he lives in is a fabrication of control to keep him from pursuing the power gained by those who spoon feed him the promise of eternal glory after death. Those same people who spout it to that common man reap the very riches that contradict the tenets of that faith. All kinds of post-mortem promises are to be found in every faith: Norse – Valhalla is promised to warriors, where they will fight with their brave ancestors at the Ragnarök; Muslim – 72 Virgins for the martyr (Question: If they don’t put out, is he still in Heaven?); And the everlasting life promised by every branch of mainstream Christianity. The moral of the story is: Pledge allegiance to the book, which conveniently tells you not to challenge authority, and you will get so much stuff after you die. Someone else said “He who dies with the most toys, wins.” This quote conveniently forgets that he who dies with the most toys, still dies.

There’s a big debate about whether a soldier who follows orders is a bad person. If a soldier, in the course of his or her duties, commits an act  of malice that harms an otherwise benevolent person or that person’s property without his or her freely given consent, I consider it an atrocity. That soldier can try to hide behind the fact that he or she was ordered to do so, but in the end of our lives, we judge ourselves by the actions we undertake. The Nazi’s hid behind this mantra at Nuremberg, and the Stanley Milgram experiment showed that everyday people like you and me can and will kill people when told to do so by a perceived authority figure. Does this authority have my best interest at heart? That is a question asked by the Wise in Seneca’s quote.

Questioning authority is essential to ensuring that our everyday lives can be lived freely. It’s a skill to ask those questions in a way that gains attention and highlights an issue. If we never questioned authority, there would never be progress. Without progress things never get better. And if things don’t get better, well, just look around. Capitalist pundits are today telling us that if we don’t trust in God that babies will die because gays love each other. That’s not in the Bible. That’s not a part of the Faith. But it’s part of our desire to be included in the in-group dynamic; to feel like we belong.

Religion is like a well-oiled machine. It must be used according to its instruction manual to work properly and last. Think of it like a car. Today, millions of car-owners are telling other car-owners how to keep their cars in tip-top shape. These same car owners are taking their cars to shops and paying through the nose to keep their cars in good shape, without ever doing the work. The manual in the glove box is the Bible, and it’s hidden behind candy wrappers, condom wrappers, and a couple pairs of broken sunglasses.

As a machine for the soul, a person of faith needs to do the work himself and not listen to a friend that spouts what someone else spouted at Sunday school behind the authority of a podium. If there ever was a miracle on earth, it was having ancestors that made decisions to use their brains and create the wonder of civilization and progress. Using these same brains, I think we owe it to them to make sure dickwads in high-rises don’t ruin their legacy.

Joseph and Florence were married on 17 May, 1896 at Christ Church, Kensington, Liverpool. Both fathers were stated as being deceased, Paul Clegg a fish salesman and James McCartney a painter. When I started looking for Florence’s family in the 1881 census I found that her father had died and her mother was named Jane Clegg, a fish monger’s widow. They lived in what appears to be 13 Caud Street, though this may have been abbreviated, possibly Caudwell Street. The other members of the family were daughters Ann A Clegg (29), Paul (26), Gilbert (12) and of course Florence (6). Interestingly Jane was born in the Isle of Man, but the children were all born in Liverpool. But were they Jane’s children? The ages of the oldest children suggest not. Finding them in the 1871 census was not difficult.

Paul Clegg (55) Fishmonger born Isle of Man
Jane Clegg (33) wife born Isle of Man
Robert Clegg (61) brother born Isle of Man
Elizabeth Clegg (24) dau. born Liverpool
Anne A Clegg (18) dau. born Liverpool
Paul Clegg (16) son born Liverpool
Gilbert Clegg (1) son born Liverpool

Abode: 131 Breck Road

Source: http://www.ancestry.co.uk

With the arrival of Florence in about 1875, we can deduce that her father Paul died in the years leading to the 1881 census. A quick check on http://www.freebmd.org.uk reaveals that a Paul Clegg died in the Liverpool Registration District in the Dec quarter of 1879, aged 64. This matches perfectly a christening date for a Paul Clegg on 7 December, 1815 at Arbory, Isle of Man (“Isle of Man, Births and Baptisms, 1821-1911,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X5GR-R4C : accessed 30 Apr 2013), Paul Clague, 07 Dec
1815).

However, sometime during his early years residing in Liverpool Paul anglicised his name to Clegg. We can see this by examining his marriage records. He was wed 3 times. His first marriage was to Ann Bell on 25 August 1840. (“England, Marriages, 1538–1973 ,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/NF16-G9J : accessed 30 Apr 2013), Paul Clague and Ann Bell, 25 Aug 1840).

Ann would have been the mother of Thomas Bell Clegg, baptised 15 October 1841 at St. Augustine Church, Everton; William (c.1843); Margaret (1844) and Elizabeth (1845). I did find baptism records for children with these names and birth years but I was confused with the entries for their father and his occupation. The Paul Clegg that I was after consistently stated his occupation on the census as a fish monger, and yet on the baptism records they state that he was a pattern maker, which suggests to me that he worked in a factory.

Ann must have died soon after 1845 because Paul married his second wife, Margaret Bell on 29 January, 1849 at St Nicholas Church, Liverpool (“England Marriages, 1538–1973 ,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/N2TY-YQY : accessed 30 Apr 2013), Paul Clegg and Margaret Bell, 29 Jan 1849).

Was she a relation to Ann, his first wife? A sister perhaps? According to the 1861 census, Margaret gave birth to 2 children, Anne Alice Clegg (c.1852) and Paul Clegg (c. 1855). Margaret died soon after (there is a death registration for a Margaret Clegg in Q3 1856 in Liverpool) and we find Paul a widower again in the 1861 census. Not for long! He marries a Jane Clague in 1863 and a closer look at his 1861 census household and we see a 23 year old Jane Clegg, born in the Isle of Man, working as his servant. The similarity in their surnames suggest that there was a degree of kinship between them.  They had 2 children, Gilbert Cummins G. Clegg (1869) and Florence (c.1875), Paul McCartney’s paternal grandmother. It appears that the couple had a child named Gilbert Cummins Clegg born 1864, but died in the West Derby area in Q1 1866.

So, it appears that Paul McCartney had the chance to exist because his great grandfather from the Isle of Man suffered two bereavements from the early deaths of his wives and married for his last wife, his young servant, in the early 1860′s. What happened to Florence’s only full brother, Gilbert?

He married Rose Roberts in the West Derby area in Q4 1891 and they had 6 children, 4 alive in 1911, Jane, Gilbert, John Paul and Joseph Gilbert. Their details are on a public tree on Ancestry. It also states that the G initial in his name stands for Grimes. In 1901 Gilbert senior was working as a dock labourer and lived at 152 Friar Street in the Everton area. By 1911 he was employed as a tram conductor, living at 6 Blyth Street, Everton. He died in 1941.

When I encounter personal names when I’m researching family trees I get quite curious about how they have been chosen. They usually reflect previous generations and are a great help, though not confirmation of, in connecting past generations. The name ‘Gilbert’ stands out in Paul McCartney’s tree and I was determined to find out if there were any links to an ancestor. Who could I find if I went further down in time?

The information contained in this post is the cumulation of the research I conducted last September. The public tree I found yesterday when I was familiarising with my notes has revealed differing information from my research. Whether I am right or not, I think it’s important to state both conclusions, but I will say that my findings has revealed an ancestor with the name Gilbert.

So, who were the parents of Paul Clegg (or Clague)? In the 1871 census mentioned earlier (see above) it states that Paul’s brother Robert was residing with them and that he was 61 years old. Looking for a birth/baptism for a Robert Clague circa. 1810 (and the name would have not have been Anglesised at this early date), I found the following entry on the FamilySearch website:

Robert Clague christened 5 March 1810 Arbory, Isle of Man
Parents: Robert Clague, Elizabeth Commish

Source: “Isle of Man, Births and Baptisms, 1821-1911,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X5GT-CVC : accessed
01 May 2013), Robt Clague, 05 Mar 1810.

I had already established Paul Clague’s christening as occcuring in 1815 (see earlier), and they both have the same parents. The only record I can find on FamilySearch for a marriage between a Robert Clague and an Elizabeth is:

Robert Clague married Elizabeth Corrin on 3 October, 1808 at Malew, Isle of Man

Source: “Isle of Man, Parish Registers, 1598-1950,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XZ11-P94 : accessed 01
May 2013), Robert Clague and Elizabeth Corrin, 1808.

Now, two things could be happening here. It may be that Elizabeth’s surname has been mistranscribed, and being unable to view the original Isle of Man marriage records I can only speculate that this is a possibility. The babtism records for Paul and Robert state her name was Commish, which is a surname commonly found in the Isle of Man in this period. I have also seen the surname Comaish which is very close to what I’ve discovered, and it is similar to the middle name of Cummins given to Gilbert Clegg (see earlier) born 1869. It probably is all down to pronounciation and ignorance the spelling of the name, a common occurance in the history of recording and registering names. Nevertheless, I am satisfied that the correct parents of Paul and Robert Clague was Robert Clague and Elizabeth Commish. I am of the impression that the public tree information stating that the marriage occurred on 19 December, 1807 at Arbory is
the correct one. The babtisms for both Paul and Robert were held at Arbory, as were William Clague (13 November, 1808), Charles (9 October, 1814) and Richard 24 January, 1813). The babtisms for the children of the other Robert Clague and Elizabeth Corrin, itself a surname common on the Isle of Man, were held at Malew, including a Robert Clague on 16 March, 1817 (“Isle of Man, Births and Baptisms,
1821-1911,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X5G6-MYW : accessed 01 May 2013), Robt Clague, 16 Mar 1817). To confuse further, the mother is listed as Elinor Corrin and not Elizabeth. This suggests that this Robert is not the brother of Paul because the discrepancy in their ages is too great.

So, I go on to find the parents of Elizabeth Comish and see what I can find.

Elizabeth Commish christened 6 July, 1783 Arbory, Isle of Man.
Parents: William Comish, Cath Costeen

Source: Unknown!

I found this entry in my notebook which looks like it was transcribed from the FamilySearch databases, but when I looked for it yesterday online there is no entry to be found. Therefore the only source I can quote is a secondary one, probably an Ancestry.co.uk public tree. The entry states that her parents were William Comish and Cath Costeen. Next I enter for a birth for a William Comish to see what comes up and I find this:

William Comish christened 27 November, 1743 Arbory, Isle of Man.

Parents: Gilbert Comish, Margaret Clark.

Source: “Isle of Man, Parish Registers, 1598-1950,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X8S9-KQ2 : accessed 01 May 2013), Wm Comish Clark, 1743.

Could this be the elusive ancestor with the ‘Gilbert’ name that was passed to Paul McCartney’s great uncle Gilbert? It seems to fit, but I’m not conclusively stating that I am right. The reason for this is that there is always the possibility that there are other
Gilberts about at this time. Consider this possibility. On the public tree that I have previously mentioned in this post, it is stated that the William Comish who married Cath Costeen (which I’m happy with) was the son of another William Comish and his wife Anne (Cubon), married on the 1 July, 1735 at Arbory. They had a son called William, baptised at Arbory on 5 July, 1741. So, we have two William Comishes, one born in 1741 and the other 1743, with fathers named Gilbert and William, who might well be brothers with a
father named Gilbert. Perhaps a diagram may explain better.

I am in the awkward position of not really knowing which is the right William, after learning of the existence of the William that was
born in 1741. Making it even more troublesome is that there is only one marriage found on FamilySearch for a Gilbert Comish.

Gilbert Comish married Margaret Kaveen 24 July, 1736, Arbory

Source: “Isle of Man, Parish Registers, 1598-1950,” index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/X8S3-Z88 : accessed 01
May 2013), Gilbert Comish and Margt Kaveen, 1736.

Could this be a wild mistranscription of Clark/Kaveen? Why is there no marriage record for a Gilbert Comish and Margaret Clark, though
that is what is stated in the baptism records of William Comish (1743).

This is, unfortunately, as far as I dare to go!

There is no doubt in my mind that I have found the source of the ‘Gilbert’ ancestor in Paul McCartney’s family tree. I just can’t
conclusively state how he fits into it. My gut feeling is that I am on the right track with the Gilbert/Margaret Clark line. They also
had a daughter, predictably, named Margaret and that name is continued into future generations, though Margaret is a popular name and
Paul Clague’s second wife was also named Margaret.

Addendum

Looking closer to this publicly accessible family tree on Ancestry reveals a Welsh connection in Paul McCartney’s family history. I haven’t checked the facts myself but the researcher has provided copies of marriage certificate for James McCartney, Paul’s great grandfather. He married Elizabeth Williams whose grandfather was a Welsh mariner named William Williams who was born either in the Mold area or a place in Flintshire.

Quentin made this short film of Amanda and Louise and the participants at the Willerby Methodist Hall session, so you can see what went on.

We used music, poetry, local film and storytelling to explore the themes of the My Ancestors were French project. It was easygoing, no pressure and we had lots of good discussion over tea and biscuits.

It’s all part of the Heritage Lottery Funded All Our Stories scheme, in support of BBC2’s ‘The Great British Story – A People’s History’

Work produced at the workshops are displayed at the project exhibitions celebrating the stories uncovered and work created for the ‘My Ancestors were French’ project.

Richard took the photos.

A Huguenot, and feedback

…

Iceland’s earthquakes and volcanoes,
blackened skies, smothered crops, starved livestock
left already poor families
destitute, no means for survival
in a harsh unforgiving landscape
of glaciers, scarce arable land;
only rough terrain for the grazing
of sheep and tough Icelandic horses.

Canada invited immigrants
to settle its prairie provinces,
unite the country from sea to sea.
They needed farmers to break the land,
plant and harvest wheat, barley and rye.
They offered passage by sea and rail
and provided implements to farm,
tools and supplies to last the winter.

In 1900 they left their land
of fire and ice for Saskatchewan,
my Grampa, Magnus Ingimarsson,
and Gramma, Vilborg Gudmundsdottir.
In sea trunks their priceless possessions:
the Lutheran Bible, Prose Eddas,
writings of their distinguished authors
and poets. They had but little else:
household goods, language, culture, courage,
thirst for knowledge, fire in hearts and minds.

Their first shelter dug from prairie sod;
oiled paper, no glass for windows,
scarce logs supported sod for the roof.
The first winters were harsh with freezing
temperatures, driving snow, blizzards
so fierce they couldn’t see their hands
in front of their faces. Many died
walking from their farmhouses to their barns;
but, they persevered and made their home,
tilled the soil, planted, harvested crops
and, in time, became wealthy with food
and fire for mind as well as body.

126 Drury Lane, London WC2

Jumping ahead to 1851 for a minute, this is where Sophia Yates lived in Drury Lane! Well not exactly. This is the Sarastro Restaurant “the show after the show” which is opposite Drury Lane Theatre . It’s roughly the site of Sophia Yates’ home in 1851. Her husband had died and she was living with her two adult children Charlotte and Charles at 126 Drury Lane.

So, where did we get to in the last blog?

1815 and Georgianna Phebe had just been born in Sherrard Street, Piccadilly!

She was the first of George and Sophia Yates’ children to survive her childhood years. Not too surprisingly, she decided to drop her first name and become plain Pheobe as she grew up! 

Baptism of the Yates family from 1810 – 1815

Click the image for a larger view

As the table below shows, another daughter was born in 1817, Charlotte Frances, by which time the Yates family had moved to Princes Street, Drury Lane. The fact that the census records gives George’s full name, George Skinner Yates, at both the old address in Sherrard Street and the new address in Princes Street helps to confirm they are the same family.

Baptism of the Yates family from 1817 – 1831

Click the image for a larger view

Street name changes – Drury Lane, Princes Street & Kemble Street

At some stage prior to 1878, Princes Street and at least part of Drury Lane were one and the same. When the Princes Street stretch of road later became part of Drury Lane, Princes Street became the name of a new road leading east off Drury Lane.

Princes Street has now become the section of Kemble Street between Russell Street and Wild Street. Very confusing!

Because of the street name changes, it is unclear whether the Yates family lived in one place or moved to new accommodation in the same area over the next few years. Whether they moved or not the family either lived in what is now Drury Lane or in Princes Street (now Kemble Street) that led off it. It is possible that much later on in 1851 when we find the widowed Sophia Yates living at 126 Drury Lane,  she hasn’t actually moved from Princes Street (Drury Lane) – the name Princes Street could have moved to it’s new site. In other words the family may have moved around the Drury Lane area quite a bit or alternatively, once they had moved from Sherrard Street, they may always have lived in the same place – approximately the site of 126 Drury Lane today.

In 1821 Charles Skinner was born and for the first time his baptism record gives the Yates’ street number – 5 Princes Street, Drury Lane. Another daughter, Emily Rose, was  born in 1823 and her baptism record shows that the family have either moved up the road a few houses to number 10 Princes Street, Drury Lane, or there had been a change in the numbering system of the street (which was not unusual).

In 1825 Frances Mary Ann Yates was born and baptised at Piccadilly St James. It is likely that she was yet another of the Yates’ children who died in infancy because George and Sophia’s name their next child Frances as well. And this Frances is our Fanny - Frances Harriet Yates.

Born in 1828, her proper name Frances (she’s not Fanny until later) is used in the 1841 census. This is the census record I only recently discovered; I found the last of George and Sophia’s children -  Sophia Louisa, and got the important confirmation I needed that Fanny lived with her parents in Princes Street at least until she was 13.  The 1841 record had been hard to trace because the family’s surname had been transcribed as Gates instead of Yates.

Here are all the records (baptism and marriage) that I’ve referred to above.

I’ve also discovered a little about Fanny’s grandparents. Her parents, George and Sophia Yates (née Woodness) were both born in 1791 and baptised in the parish of St Marylebone. George’s parents were Thomas and Phebe Yates and Sophia’s were Ralph and Sarah Woodness née Smith.

That’s Fanny’s parents and siblings all accounted for and we know where they lived – so what next?

Having presented all the facts I can find, I still can’t prove that Frances Harriet Yates is the same Fanny Yates that gave birth to my great grandfather Edward Cavendish Yates in St Marylebone, although it does seem quite likely.

Before I leave this line of my family tree and move on to another, I think my next blog should tell the story of the Yates family I’ve discovered. From George Skinner Yates and his wife Sophia to the birth of possibly their illegitimate grandchild, Edward Cavendish Yates. No records – just the story!

April 28^th, 1946

My Darling Nick,

Here I am sitting up in bed writing this to you wishing from the bottom of my heart that you were beside me.  Many thanks sweetheart for another letter I got from you this morning. I hope you are fine darling as this leaves me but minus a heart as you have that.  Everything back here is very much the same.  I went to the dog-races with Joe again to-night but we have both vowed for the last time as we have decided to pack it up.  I only lost about a pound, but Joe lost 4 pounds so we have come to the conclusion that it isn’t a paying game, so you now have a reformed wife darling.  After the races I went home with Joe and we had supper and a jaw, mostly about you of course, what else would I talk about.  Nothing else much happened to-day darling, I cleaned the windows in my room because I felt energetic, I haven’t much chance to using up my energy these days, especially now as I sold my bike, but a little bird tells me that I will be using a lot soon, P.G. What do you think darling? While I sit here and look around the room, I think of all the good times we had here, do you remember that night darling when I was teaching you how to dance and we were dancing with the light turned off, and then when we went dancing you surprised me because you could dance all the time.  I also remember the mornings that Lorne used to come up here and talk to us in bed, do you remember how jealous he was of us being to-gether, what price now, I bet he is enjoying himself with his wife these days, but never mind darling one of these days please God soon they will all be jealous of us two because we will be so happy to-gether.  The other day a customer said to me don’t you get tired of saying “No” and I said that I said Yes once to you darling and never regretted it, so she said she hopes I never will, but I know I never will darling.  Well sweet I guess I had better get down into the covers now as it’s nearly one o’clock and it’s work to-morrow.  So I will say Good-night darling hope to see you and love you soon not from a distance but in person.  God Bless You and pleasant dreams.  Good Luck.  Au-revoir.  All my love to you forever.

Your ever loving wifey,

Rene

I LOVE YOU (in x’s)

April 28^th, 2013

Dear Grama,

Last time to the dog races, eh? Well I’ve not been able to convince anyone to go with me yet (yes, even after 3 months), but I’ve come up with a plan.  Ryan and Suli are coming to visit in June and although the timing may not match up, at least I will be retracing your steps by going to the dog races with my big brother.  I am so excited for them to come for a visit to show them some of the things I’ve discovered over here.  We’ll be sure to take your advice though, and keep the betting to a minimum since it’s not a “paying game.”

Your mention of Papa and the memories you shared before he left make me smile.  It’s hard to believe that Adam will never see my flat here in London, but every time I go by places we visited while he was here, I remember the good memories, too.

One dancing memory I do cherish and will remember forever is a night we danced at a dear friends wedding.  We had only been together for 2 months, and it was that night that I realized that I loved him.  He truly is a dream come true.

You talking about saying “Yes” once and knowing that you would never regret it speaks to some things that have been on my mind lately about marriage.  The truth is, it wasn’t long ago that I wasn’t quite sure about the whole notion of marriage.  I found myself single for the first time in 10 years and not quite sure I even believed in the idea of finding “the one.” Obviously, I feel differently now, having said YES when Adam proposed because my perspective has changed.

I think in my single (and maybe a tad bitter) days, I just saw the negative about marriage.  The divorce rate statistics, the tough stuff that inevitably comes with marriage and the underlying risks there are with making that kind of promise.  The perspective that I choose to be in now, and what you so graciously model, is that it’s worth it.  What I’ve learned from you and papa, and every other amazing couple Adam and I are surrounded by, is that committing to sharing this journey through life together is one of the most beautiful promises you could ever make.  It’s promising to be true to someone through everything.  It’s promising to be authentic and commit to lifelong communication about everything that comes your way.  It’s promising to cherish one another, every single day, and honour the love that will get you through anything.

Grama, of course you know this already, but something else that makes me believe in the power of love, marriage and a promise to share life with one another, is the way Papa smiles and to this day says “I had the best wife in the world.”

With a granddaughter’s love & admiration,

Carly

Xoxox

photo credit: dancing – Matt Lin, b&w – Mike Keo

____________________________________________

Would love to hear marriage advice from all of you lovelies reading my blog. Whether married for 2 months or 20 years.  Would love to hear from you in the comments below! Look forward to hearing from you! xoxo

Both Willis ARTHUR (1791-1856) and Emily “Millie” Jane FREEMEN (1796-1880) were born in Bedford County, Virginia and are my paternal 4^th great-grandparents. Willis’ father, John ARTHUR, Sr. (abt. 1858-1850) was a veteran of the Revolutionary War and lived and died on his beloved land in Goose Creek, Bedford County, Virginia. Like his father before him, Willis followed his father’s example of patriotism and became a veteran of the War of 1812, having served in the 4^th Regiment of the Virginia Militia.

Willis and Millie had seven children. There were four boys, James P., Caleb, Meredith and William, and three girls, Mary Ellen, Sarah Jane and Emily. Willis and Millie had moved around quite a bit early on living in Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio and Illinois at various times during their marriage. But by 1850, the family was all living back in Lawrence County, Ohio. Sometime after 1850 and before 1856, Willis and Millie moved to Clark County, Illinois where Willis passed away in 1856. After Willis died, Millie once again returned to Lawrence County where she resided with her youngest son, William.

Events Leading to the Civil War

In the first half of the 19^th Century, there was a lot of discord among the States. Prior to the Civil War, the country was becoming increasingly divided between the north and the south. There had been talk for years by the southern states of cessation from the Union. Willis had been greatly influenced by his father, his grandfather and his grand-uncle Barnabus ARTHUR.

Barnabus ARTHUR (1735-1815), was living in Goose Creek, Bedford County, Virginia, and had granted freedom to his slaves in his Will upon his death in 1815.

An excerpt to his Will reads:

* *  *

Item: In consequence of long and faithful service of my negro man George and my negro Betty, it is my desire that they be emancipated, whenever the laws of this state will allow it and they have the tract of land I purchased of Benjamin Williamson for and during the term of their natural lives; to live upon and maintain their idiot daughter Amy and until they can be so emancipated it is my will that they shall live upon said land and maintain their said daughter and have all the profits of their labor, under the direction of my son Lewis and moreover that they be furnished with one year provision out of my estate whenever they leave it in consequence of this article and the said negroes are not to be considered or appraised as part of my estate.

Item: The residue of my estate both real and personal, after executing the above bequests together with the part left my wife, after her decease and that left to  my negroes George and Betty, after their decease, I give and bequeath in equal shares to my children . . . .

So, according to his Will, Barnabus made sure that certain of his faithful slaves were to be provided land and sustenance for the remainder of their lives. Barnabus’ then controversial actions drew both anger and affirmations among his neighbors. Willis would have been witness to this and would have shared these ideals with his own children. Eventually they could not escape involvement of the national debate over State’s rights and slavery.

Lincoln’s First Inauguration

One of the primary reasons the southern states were considering cessation was over the issue of slavery. Slavery was prominent in the south but was becoming increasingly banned by the northern states. When Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860, he had run his campaign on a message of anti-slavery. After his election, the South felt it was just a matter of time before slavery was completely outlawed which led to cessation. Click here for some further discussion of events leading up to the Civil War.

In 1859 the abolitionist, John Brown, unsuccessfully attacked the Federal Arsenal at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia, where he was captured. Brown’s trial ended with a conviction and a sentence of hanging for treason. Historians agree that the Harpers Ferry raid in 1859 escalated tensions that, a year later, led to secession and the American Civil War.

President Lincoln Issues a Call to Arms

It couldn’t have been easy for Millie to send three of her four boys to serve for the Union in the Civil War. Their oldest son, James P. ARTHUR (1823-1897), was pushing 40 years and already had five children and another one on the way. There is some evidence that James served as a Pastor of the Solida Creek Missionary Baptist Church but confirmation of this is now impossible as all of the records of the church were destroyed in a fire in 1972. But the timing and location indicate it as a strong possibility. That may be another reason why he chose to stay home.

His three younger brothers heeded the call and left families and loved ones behind to fight for the cause.

CALEB ARTHUR

Caleb ARTHUR (1829-1903). At the time of the 1860 Census, Caleb was married to Sarah HICKS (1830-1875) and they were living in Lawrence County, Ohio with their three young children, Willis, Joseph and Urania. A fourth child, Lynn, would be born in 1861, the same year Caleb was mustered into service 8 November1861). Caleb served in the Civil War with Company G, 2nd West Virginia Calvary. His rank in was Corporal and rank out was Quartermaster Sgt. (29 November 1864).

To All Whom It May Concern:

Know Ye that Caleb Arthur a Quartermaster Sergeant of Captain Joseph Ankrom’s Company G, 2nd Regiment of WV Calvary Volunteers who was enrolled on the twenty-eighth day of August, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Sixty One, to serve three years or during the war, is hereby discharged from the service of the United States, this twenty-ninth day of November 1864 at Wheeling, WV by reason of expiration of term of service. (No objection to his being re-enlisted is known to exist.)

Said Caleb Arthur was born in Wayne County in the State of Tennessee, is 31 years of age, 5 feet 11 1/2″ high.  Rudd Complexion, Blue Eyes, dark hair and by occupation when enrolled, a laborer.

By the 1870 Census, Caleb and Sarah were living in Fayette, Lawrence County, Ohio with their now five children, Willis, Joseph, Lynn, Urania and Jesse. Caleb is now a lawyer and has also been serving as a Justice of the Peace.

MEREDITH “MED” ARTHUR

Meredith “Med” ARTHUR (abt 1835-1900) was married to Roxey BALLARD (1841-1926) and they were living in Fayette, Lawrence County, Ohio on the 1860 Census. At that time they had one son, William H. Arthur. He was a farmer by trade.

Meredith served in the Civil War with Company A, 188th Ohio Voluntary Infantry. He was 32 when he joined on Feb. 15, 1865 to serve 1 year. He was promoted from 1^st Sgt.  to 2^nd Lieutenant on July 10, 1865.  He mustered out with Company A at Nashville, Tennessee on September 21, 1865.

By the 1870 Census, Meredith and Roxey were living in Lemoine, McDonough, Illinois with their son William, now age 11. Meredith is back to farming with the help of his son.

WILLIAM HARVEY ARTHUR

William Harvey ARTHUR (1838-1895). William was still single when he decided to join the Union soldiers. He enlisted in November 1861 in the Ohio 6^th Cavalry and served through Gettysburg in July 1863. In December of 1863 he was discharged at Warrenton, Virginia. He then enlisted as a volunteer in the 14^th KY Infantry. He served until January 1865. The 14^th KY Infantry saw service from 1862 through Sherman’s March to the Sea and garrison duty recalled home by the Kentucky Governor. It was mustered out January 31, 1865.

There were several times during his service that he was absent from duty due to illness. Twice he was hospitalized and once recuperated at home. The same year he returned from the

Meredith Arthur/Roxey Ballard Marriage Record

War, he married Margaret Elizabeth Hanna FULLERTON on September 3, 1865 in Lawrence County, Ohio. The wedding took place in her parents’ home and was officiated by William’s older brother, Caleb, a Justice of the Peace. William was listed as a laborer on the 1870 Census of Lawrence County, Ohio.

The photograph below is from the Reunion of the 14^th and 22^nd Kentucky Regiments held September 23 and 24, 1884 in Ashland, Kentucky. For whatever reason, William is not listed as one of the attendees.

14th KY Infantry Reunion-Ashland, KY

Conclusion

This family was so lucky. All of Millie’s sons returned home safely from War. Although I don’t have copies of their records, I have not found any reports of injuries other than William’s recorded sickness and hospitalizations. They were all able to come home and resume their lives.

I know there are other men from my different family lines who also served in the Civil War. As I progress with my research, I hope to determine that they were all fighting on the same side and not family against family as in many instances.

The Civil War remains the deadliest war in American history, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 750,000 soldiers and an undetermined number of civilian casualties. Historians estimate the death toll at ten percent of all Northern males 20–45 years old, and 30 percent of all Southern white males aged 18–40.

First, we are delighted to announce the publication of a special journal issue on families in the British Empire — the recent Spring 2013 issue of the Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History — which was co-edited by network administrators (Esme Cleall, Laura Ishiguro, and Emily Manktelow). This issue contains five articles that emerged from our 2011 conference, Imperial Relations, and that collectively prompt us towards a rethinking of family and its relationship to empire. These are:

• Rhonda A. Semple, ‘Christian Model, Mission Realities: The business of regularizing family in mission communities in late nineteenth-century north India’
• S. E. Duff, ‘”Unto Children’s Children”: Clerical families and childrearing advice in the Cape Colony’
• Fae Dussart, ‘”To Glut a Menial’s Grudge”: Domestic servants and the Ilbert Bill controversy of 1883′
• Chie Ikeya, ‘Colonial Intimacies in Comparative Perspective: Intermarriage, law and cultural difference in British Burma’
• Andrew J. May, ‘Exiles from the Children’s City: Archives, imperial identities and the juvenile emigration of Anglo-Indians from Kalimpong to Australasia’

The journal is behind a paywall, but you can find the issue’s table of contents, abstracts, and (if you have access) the articles and our introduction here.

Second, a colleague alerted me to a relatively new book published by Leilani Holmes, Ancestry of Experience: A Journey into Hawaiian Ways of Knowing (University of Hawaii Press, 2012). This looks to be of interest to readers interested in family, genealogy, and ancestry; Indigenous experience, scholarly methodologies, and ways of knowing; and the relationship between colonialism and intimacy, and past and present, more generally. The book will be followed by a website (http://www.ancestryofexperience.com/) with supplementary material.

And finally, for those of you who may be in London this summer, I just came across this call for papers for a half-day symposium, ‘Making a Scene: Networks of Intimacy‘ (19 July, 1:30 pm – 7 pm, Institute of Psychoanalysis, Maida Vale, London). Follow the link for the full CFP, but in short: it’s an opportunity to meet, discuss research, network, and foster collaboration with a cross-disciplinary group of people interested in the study of intimacy, broadly defined. Participants are invited to speak for ten minutes about their research and/or field, and the day will end (6-7 pm) with a book launch for the recent Scenes of Intimacy: Reading, Writing and Theorizing Contemporary Literature. Advance registration is required, and cost (£7.50, payable on the day) includes afternoon tea, coffee, and biscuits, and wine at the launch. Contact Dr. Jennifer Cooke, Loughborough University, to register or for more information, and if you would like to give a paper, then send a 150 word description and a 50 word biography to writingsofintimacy@lboro.ac.uk.

Happy reading and proposing!

I recently was notified by ancestry.com that they had an image of the probate record of Capt. Frederic Thornton Peters.

Fritz left an estate of 254 pounds, most of which probably went to pay off loans and debts. The record says the probate went to Rosalind Varley (wife of Cromwell Hanford Varley), which confirms that she was executor (or executrix, as she described herself in a letter to Fritz`s mother) of Fritz`s will. Rosalind Varley said in her letter that she would forward Fritz`s personal effects to his family in Canada when the war was over and sea transport was safe. I recent had an enjoyable phone chat with Rosalind`s daughter Juliet who had many happy memories of Fritz`s regular visits to the Varley home.

The probate went through on Feb. 1, 1943 and was registered at the Llandudno registry in north Wales. They listed the Peters address as: care of the United Service Club, Pall Mall, London, which was the address he noted in his March 1942 letter to his sister Helen Dewdney, the last correspondence the relatives received from him. That same address was also on passenger lists for several voyages Fritz took in the years between the wars.

The date of death in the record was November 13, 1942, further confirming information from the Admiralty Office of Fritz`s date of death in a flying boat crash in Plymouth Sound

I’ll wrap my arms around him,

forgiving him for what he didn’t do.

We’ll paint canvases and houses,

not for money, but for art.

We’ll paint canvases and houses,

for creativity is where we’ll start.

We’ll have lunch in Birmingham diners,

discussing Alabama versus LSU.

We’ll have lunch in Birmingham diners,

discussing photographs and designs too.

We’ll ride through the town of Gadsden,

analyzing the aura of the streets.

We’ll ride through the town of Gadsden,

analyzing the grandparents I’ll never meet.

We’ll entertain my so-called stepmother,

singing Motown and many classic songs.

 We’ll entertain my so-called stepmother,

building our fractured family strong.

We’ll reunite my brother and sisters,

before the sun finally sets in.

We’ll reunite my brothers and sisters,

a picnic with the closest of kin.

We’ll pray on our knees in the hills,

giving ourselves to faith quite warm.

We’ll pray on our knees in the hills,

giving thanks to the use of our arms.

D.J. Whisenant

And what about your parents? Their ways of thinking were shaped by your grandparents, who were  a product of your great grandparents and so on back through the generations of your family. To some extent, this is true whether you parents are blood relatives or adopted. And how you view the world will affect your children, and their children.

In researching my family history, I have learned that much of my world view, including the foundations for my political beliefs, can be traced back at least to my grandparents. Most likely to the generation before them.  My mother, her brother, and one of her sisters all share these views, as do/did their spouses and most of their offspring. But, Mom’s other sister, now deceased, held beliefs at the opposite end of the political spectrum. What caused her “defection”? Something that happened when she was a youth? The man she married? Some experience in her adult life? I’ll never know for sure. But it’s interesting to speculate.

What aspects of your parents’ world view do you share? Where do your beliefs/attitudes vary?

You have likely heard the term “cloud computing” before; but perhaps you have wondered what exactly it is and how it affects you.

It may be a relatively new term, but make no mistake about it… “the cloud” and cloud-based technology solutions are dramatically changing the way data is stored and shared around the globe. And yes, it’s impact is being felt in the world of genealogy too.

So What Exactly is Cloud Computing?

Forget about technology for a moment and think about clouds in nature. What exactly are those white, puffy things in the sky? Well, in the simplest of terms, they are water storage and transportation devices. Moisture is transported from the earth to clouds by way of evaporation; and clouds, in turn, store and transport that moisture somewhere else and ultimately send it back down to earth in the form of rain. Yes, this explanation is rather simple and unscientific; but is accurate nonetheless.

One can explain cloud computing in an equally unscientific but nonetheless accurate manner. That is to say, those imaginary cloud thingies in cyberspace are simply storage and transportation devices — except that they store and transport data instead of moisture. In more technical terms, when you and I interact with “the cloud”, we send data from our computer (i.e., evaporation) and store it in offsite servers (i.e. the cloud). From there, it is transported virtually anywhere in the world; and, ultimately, it is called “back down to earth” when we summon it to our laptop, our smartphone, or our tablet.

The biggest difference between cloud computing and clouds in nature are the words “send” and “summon” in the previous paragraph. That is to say, we humans haven’t yet figured out how to control Mother Nature’s water transportation and storage system. We can’t press a button to cause specific water molecules to evaporate. And we can’t press a button to cause certain clouds to rain back down to earth when we want them to. We DO, however, have such control with cloud computing. We control the data. We control when and where we send it; and we control who has the ability to access it.

This really is a simple concept, right? But how exactly has this “revolutionized” genealogy? In my opinion, genealogy has been transformed by cloud computing in four major ways: the cloud provides greater portability and ease of access to one’s files; it fosters greater collaboration with other researchers; it exponentially increases the amount of original research information readily available; and it offers protection from the tragedy of fire or some other personal disaster.

Portability and Ease of Access

Years ago, when I began genealogy, personal computers didn’t exist. The closest technology came to my research were the copy machines I used to copy materials I had found in libraries and archive rooms, and the typewriter I used to type up my scribbled notes into something worth sharing with others. Years later, personal computers entered the scene and, along with software programs like Family Tree Maker, transformed the way I stored and viewed my files. Yet more years later, my research was again transformed with the advent of the internet.

Through all of these transformative changes, however, one thing remained constant: all my family tree data remained stuck on the hard drive of my clunky computer (which really wasn’t something I could bring with me to a library). Likewise, all of my published historical articles remained in PDF files or Microsoft Word on my computer’s hard drive. Perhaps more telling to how cumbersome my entire process was in the pre-cloud era, most of my files remained exactly that — files — manilla file folders full of my notes and records and stored away in file cabinets and file boxes.

Fast forward to the present… From January 2013, I have been migrating my family tree records to Ancestry.com’s online family tree and data storage system. In addition to my family tree, I have been slowly migrating copies of photos, documents, articles and other valuable information to this online system. Ancestry.com is also the manufacturer of Family Tree Maker software; but I find their online, cloud-based system to be much more efficient and more attuned to the future direction of genealogy overall. (In fact, my personal prediction is that more and more genealogists will use the cloud-based option with each passing year; and portability and ease of access are driving this trend.)

With my busy life, portability and ease of access are very important. It used to be that, to do my research, I had to be tethered to my computer or carry around a briefcase full of paper files and documents. (I did both). Today, thanks to the cloud, I am able to access my files virtually anywhere in the world, as long as I have access to wifi or a cell signal. Whether I am sitting in a library, on my living room sofa at home, on a train or in an airplane, I can use my iPad, my iPhone or my laptop to access and work on my files. And since my files are now being stored in an off-site server (“the cloud”), any changes I make using my iPad are immediately synced and accessible via my laptop or phone. (Of course, this concept of cloud computing isn’t restricted to genealogy alone. In fact, this article that you are reading now was written using cloud technology — as I wrote parts of it on my iPad, parts of it on my iphone and parts of it on my laptop!)

Collaboration

Any genealogist will tell you that some of their most meaningful discoveries actually came about through collaboration with others. Collaboration is, in fact, a critically important part of genealogy overall. In order for two or more individuals to even be able to collaborate, however, they have to first know that the other parties exist. Online forums and message boards are a convenient place to find and connect with such researchers; but forum and message board postings quickly become outdated. (Sometimes, the family records posted are inaccurate and the original poster neglects to post an update when they correct the erroneous information on their own computer. More often than this, however, the contact information for the poster has changed and it becomes impossible to track them down and communicate.)

Cloud-based systems such as Ancestry.com’s online family tree program eliminate the problem of outdated records and contact information. Yes, to be sure, there are just as many errors that inadvertently get posted to cloud-based family trees as those on a forum, message board, or family genealogy website. The difference, though, is that when an error is corrected in a cloud-based system, the updated information is immediately synced and shared with everyone else who is subscribed to that information. In addition, it is much easier in a cloud-based system to identify others who share common ancestors or research interests. (For example, by marking my files as being publicly accessible and including in my online family tree information about my great-great-grandfather, Patrick Tormey, anyone else who is looking for information on Patrick Tormey will see not only that I have his birth, marriage and death information, but that I also have an abundant supply of original documents and other records about him. This alone has revolutionized how quickly genealogists can track down such information and connect with like-minded researchers.)

Exponentially Greater Access to Research Information

In addition to the greater ease of collaboration fostered by cloud-based computing, “the cloud” has created an exponentially larger pool of information that is accessible to researchers. A perfect example of this is Google Books. When Google announced in 2004 that it was beginning to scan historical books and had a goal of digitizing 15 million volumes within a decade, libraries and publishers alike gasped in disbelief. Today, less than a full decade later, it is apparent that Google’s original ambitions were conservative — as, by 2013, they now have some 30 million books available through Google Books. And with each passing year, the amount of historical publications available online is growing exponentially larger. Also positively impacting the genealogy community, when one person finds a rare historical book with valuable family information, that information is disseminated amongst his or her network of fellow researchers instantaneously (thanks to such tools as Ancesstry.com’s “hint” notification system, which is a perfect example of cloud based technology at work).

Protection from Loss

For years, I have been petrified about the impact of a potential home fire or other personal disaster. I am sure I am not alone in this worrisome thinking. After all, when you have been researching your family’s history for as long as I have (33 years now), the thought of losing three decades of hard work is heart breaking at best. Even without a fire, flood or tornado, the risk of loss of digital files is equally worrisome. I know several individuals, for example, who lost entire family trees when their computers failed and they were not able to recover information from damaged hard drives.

Cloud-based computing eliminates these risks of loss (whether loss by natural disaster or loss by computer failure). The reason for this is that, when using a cloud-based system such as Ancestry.com, your family tree and other records aren’t stored on your local computer. Rather, they are stored off-site on Ancestry’s servers and backed up in protected, redundant locations to protect against a larger disaster affecting Ancestry.

Of course, Ancestry.com’s cloud-based system is not the only way to backup your important records. You can (and should) back up your computer files to an external hard drive. In the event your primary PC fails, this will ensure your information is secure. It will not, however, protect you in the event of a fire or natural disaster. (It goes to reason that, if a fire destroys your home and all its contents, it will also destroy your external hard drive along with the PC.) In my humble opinion, therefore, offsite storage, such as is offered with a cloud-based system, is vitally important.

While on the subject of backing up important genealogy files, I will add, it’s a smart idea to print out paper copies of any information you store electronically. Some would argue that it is even smarter to provide a complete set of your printed records to a secure repository, such as those run by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS). In the event of some kind of future doomsday event (such as war), this would offer enhanced protection to files you have worked so hard to accumulate.

Potential Negatives to Consider

No discussion of the advantages of cloud-based computing would be objective or complete without also discussing the potential negatives.

Costs: For some, the cost of paying for cloud-based data storage and retrieval is an issue that needs to be considered. Personally, I estimate that I pay somewhere in the neighborhood of $500 per year for the various cloud-based subscriptions I have. And there is also the cost of the broadband wifi or cellular data transmission to be considered, depending on what type of devices one uses. Personally, I consider the benefits of cloud-based computing to be worth these costs; but this is something that each user has to determine on his or her own.

Loss of Privacy: Cloud-based computing, in and of itself, does not necessarily create a risk of loss of privacy. Many cloud-based services, however, such as Ancestry.com, offer users the choice of whether they want their family trees and other files to be public or private. There are some who, out of an abundance of caution, have elected to make their files private (fearing that someone might get access to information about their family or ancestors). Personally, I have given this issue a lot of thought, and I have come to the conclusion that the benefits of collaboration with other researchers far outweigh any potential loss of privacy I might experience by allowing my family tree files to be publicly accessible. Furthermore, I consider it important to memorialize and share my ancestors’ legacy with as many people as possible. To me, that pays ongoing tribute to my ancestors in a way I feel honors their legacy.

Vulnerability of Cloud Servers to Viruses and Hackers: Just as your own PC can be vulnerable to a virus or malicious hacker, cloud-based servers can also fall victim. It is important, therefore, to deal with a reputable provider that takes precautions against such risks and has redundant backups of all information. Being realistic about the risks posed by hackers and viruses, however, it is fair to say that you are much more likely to lose files due to a fire or because you didn’t back them up than than due to a remote, cloud-based service failing. So, in my opinion, if the goal is to manage risk, then using “the cloud” is clearly preferable to not using it.

Risk that a Service Provider Could Go Out of Business or Discontinue Certain Services: Cloud-based computing only exists as a result of advancements in technology; and the pace of change in technology is always increasing. More than technology itself, however, technology companies are constantly evolving, changing (not always for the better) and being displaced by competitors. Remember the likes of yesterday’s technology leaders, AOL, Netscape and Compuserve? If you care about preserving your genealogy files, you must consider the long-term viability of any service provider you use. Personally, this is one reason why I have decided to use Ancestry.com. They are a well-established and well-managed provider that has the ongoing financial resources to remain viable for many decades to come. (I know that many have griped about the subscription fees Ancestry.com charges — believing that they should offer their services for free or utilize an advertising-based revenue system — but it is these ongoing subscription fees that also contribute to the long-term strength and viability that I depend on them for. )

Conclusion

To be sure, there are pros and cons to cloud-computing (just as there are pros and cons with everything in life). There is no question, however, that “the cloud” has already revolutionized the field of genealogy. Looking forward, all evidence points to further growth of this technology and the benefits it offers — especially considering the growing number of users turning to cloud-based computing every year and the growing amount of research materials being being made available though such services as Google Books.

Of course, I can’t help but see the irony in this. Historians and genealogists look backwards and try to reconstruct and preserve the past; yet, today we are being helped by technology that I couldn’t have even imagined 33 years ago. It makes me optimistic about the prospects for even better genealogical research in the future; and I look forward to technology continuing to open even more doors to my family’s past.

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Suggested format for citations of this article:
Tormey, Michael. “How Cloud Computing Has Revolutionized Genealogy”, “Michael Tormey’s ‘Legacy Blog’”, posted April 27, 2013, (http://legacy-blog.com: accessed [access date]).

I discovered it among the keepsake belongings of a dear aunt who passed away recently – along with copies of wills, and family birth and death certificates going back to the 1850′s. The watch was thunder black and looked quite sorry for itself. The minute hand was missing, the seconds bent, and it wasn’t running.

A quick clean-up revealed a silver cased English Lever, hallmarked 1899. I consulted an old fashioned jeweller who was able to get it going for me. The missing finger was replaced with one that doesn’t really match, but apart from that the watch runs well now – most of the time.

I’ve written about old watches  before, being a bit of a collector – always on the lookout for the half busted, bent and obsolete waifs and strays of a bygone era. I’ve waxed lyrical about their significance, speculated on their archetypal, psychological meanings – and described how at times of inner transition I find myself obsessing over my collection. Then this one turns up – the great grand daddy of them all – the size and weight of a small cannonball, pregnant with history, all of it muddled, mythical, and possibly irrelevant, yet rising from my unconscious like a well aimed torpedo and suddenly sinking me further down into my own past than I’ve ever been before.

And while I consider the story of this old pocket-watch, I feel the currents that normally drive my own fictions are becalmed, as if lost in the balance that follows a deep sigh. Indeed I find myself wondering if there’s another story in me now, or if I’m spent. It would have been unthinkable at one time, this sense of creative emptiness, but now I really don’t care. I’ve tried several fresh avenues since finishing my last novel. I’ve rummaged among the stuff on the back burner, but I find it all trite and foolish, and I’ve set it  aside. Seven novels are enough, I think. So let the muse sleep, and me with her, in some Arcadian bower for a thousand years. And when we wake, let it be without the need to light the darkness with our stories any more.

A mechanical watch is like a human life. You create tension, apply it to a train of events, but without balance it would run down too quickly, deplete itself in a mad whirling blur. So the watchmaker creates balance with the hair spring – such a delicate little thing, like a  heart. Set it beating and away it goes, regulating the life force, playing it out more slowly, more usefully in time. But the balance is also the most vulnerable part  – easily lost, easily thrown out by wear or trauma.

No, I’ve not lost my balance here. That’s not why I’m becalmed. Rather I think this is one of those rare periods in my life when I can say I have attained balance, all be it temporarily  – that I know it by having known the lack of it. And balance seeks no other purpose for itself than the is-ness of the moment. Ambition, thoughts, fears – they all fall away, and the need for stories too. I don’t know anything. Let this watch be what it is, without the need to weave a myth around it, without the need to put a name to it.

And yet,…

Whatever its story, this watch is telling me something else as I write. Its tick is loud, like one of those old Smiths alarm clocks, and it’s pulling me out of the place my thoughts seem most inclined to settle this evening. Of all my old watches, this one speaks with the firmest voice, and it’s telling me I’ve been writing a lot about the fact I’ve not been writing, that I’ve been weaving an elaborate story about how I’ve run out of stories.

Sure, antique English levers have an inescapable and somewhat unsophisticated bluntness about them. They were old fashioned and idiosyncratic even when they were new – a bit like me then, born old and eccentric, and a little unreliable. Yes,  there were finer movements than this in 1899 – Swiss and American – fancy things, bejewelled and more innovative, yet here it is: this old English timekeeper, still ticking. And it’s telling me we’re not done yet, that so long as there exists a void in our understanding, there will always be one more story to fill it.

I can say what I like. It’s just a question of time.

Tracing Your Roots: A reader researching famous ties gets a few pointers for finding Haitian roots from Henry Louis Gates in this article from The Root.

Many of our readers wonder if they have famous kin. This week’s advice is especially useful to people of Haitian descent who are trying to trace their forebears, whether those kin are well-known or simply well-loved.

“Hi, I represent the music rock band the Penelopes. Our band’s lead singer, Axel Basquiat, was born and raised in Paris, but his father (Paul Basquiat) and his grandfather (Vincent Basquiat) are from Haiti. We know the famous artist Jean-Michel Basquiat’s family was also from Haiti, and we wonder if there’s any way to research and see if they are related somehow. We are based in London, so we are not too familiar on organizations in Haiti that might be able to help us. Axel has been wondering about this connection all his life, and we thought we can try to help him find it.” –Winnie Lam

Jean-Michel Basquiat was an internationally acclaimed artist known for neo-expressionist paintings steeped in history, social critique and his origins as a graffiti artist. Sadly, he died young, succumbing to a drug overdose in 1988 at the age of 27. Nevertheless, his mark on the world of contemporary art is indelible. As you noted, he had Haitian ancestry, on his father’s side of the family. His mother was Puerto Rican-American.

The first step in researching a possible connection to Jean-Michel Basquiat is to determine what you already know about Axel Basquiat’s family. First, you need to find out when and where Axel’s father and grandfathers were born, married and — if relevant — died. This information can usually be gathered by talking to family members or by Axel’s own knowledge.

The next step would be to document all of that information with what we call “primary source” material. This would involve obtaining copies of birth, marriage and death records from Haiti. The sole repository of those records in Haiti is the Archives Nationale d’Haiti. Records can be obtained from the archives by contacting them.

Another source of information would be the Bibliothèque Nationale d’Haiti. It was established in 1939 and has manuscript collections and newspapers that might be useful in researching Axel’s family. The Association de Généalogie d’Haiti can also be used for family-roots research. They have a subscription-based website that digitizes records and compiles user-submitted genealogical data and then makes it available to subscribers.

In the case of missing birth records, you might search for baptism records instead, which can be found in churches.

If there are no records available, then family stories may be the only clues you have to follow. They might indicate a specific town that Axel’s forebears were from, and with that information, you could look at additional sources, such as church records.

Another source of Haitian records is the Family History Library. They have digitized their microfilm collection of birth, marriage and death records, titled Haiti, Port-au-Prince, Civil Registration, 1794-1843. Many of these records include the name of the individual, date of the event, parents’ names and witnesses to the event.

Once you have that information, you could contact the estate of Jean-Michel Basquiat for any information they have on his ancestry. If they are unable or unwilling to offer any information, their website provides books about him that may provide more information on his life. You would then need to trace his lineage backward, the same way you did Axel’s, to see if the two families connect.

Henry Louis Gates Jr. is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and the director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African-American Research at Harvard University. He is also editor-in-chief of The Root. Follow him on Twitter.

For the original report go to http://www.theroot.com/views/am-i-related-basquiat

Grandpa Brown 1978

Merry-go-round well loved and living in Montana

One of Grandpa’s most lasting and loved gifts is the creation of this crazy merry-go-round. I don’t know about the rest of the cousins- but that thing made me so sick. Sickness, however, does not keep a kid from fun very often. It’s the thing I looked forward to most (before I was old enough to get intrigued by the hundreds of National Geographic Mags in the garage room). When Grandma and Grandpa Brown’s house sold,- the Merry-go-round moved up to Montana with my Uncle Dean and his beautiful growing family. It was an honor to find a way to pay homage to Grandpa Brown and his work through my own art form and craft. I love that the heart can be translated so exactly through the art of jewelry. If I had to use only one sentence to describe why I choose to lead a studio-metal-artists unpredictable, often lonely, and unrewarding life, it might be that last one.

Brass, copper, enamel

Sadly, I don’t have any memory of time with my grandmother Wanda Holko(mama’s mama), or her mother- Jane Sloss(mama’s grandma). My mom lost these two women unfairly early, so what I have is stories. Sweet stories about these two fiercely dedicated, hardworking polish mamas. It’s very sad to have never heard them speak their native tongue to me in person- but my mom kept a hilarious tradition of saying 5 or 6 polish words and phrases to us kids at night before bed. I think Wanda and Jane would’ve liked that very much. Great Grandma Jane has been on my mind more regularly as I walk back into the making of hats. Last time I allowed my metal art to collide with my hat obsession I was half way through my undergrad study in sculpture. I knew very little of Grandma Jane at that time. That is to say, I knew what she was like as a mother and grandmother, but not as a working woman- outside of the house. As I remember it, I managed to get myself into a real millinery class and somehow it spilled out that Jane too had been a milliner. She worked for J.L. Hudson in Detroit. *A funny aside is that for the length of my 11-12 year friendship with my close friend Rhea she has called me Jane. For no particular reason. I take it all as heart connection. Once again, the line from one to the next that we all need to see at certain pivotal moments in our lives- was given to me. I needed to have more color in my story. My story of my great grandmother, my story of my own career. And most importantly, the story between us that exists because we are blood, not just based on how much real time we had or didn’t have together.  I hate that I never got to meet her, but I relish that there is something we understand about each other through the art of adorning the head. I like to think that we both understand the confidence and poise, and daring it takes to wear- and to make a great hat.

Grandma Jane Sloss

May flowers Headpiece 2013

J.L. Hudson 50′s

These connections are my inheritance.