Last Month: January 2005
May: October 1955
Archive for April 30, 2008
Exam Week
It’s the first week of final exams here, so I’m quite busy with that. And we had some family things out in Missouri to attend to, which I’ll write about soon. And finally, as the footMaven‘s loyal readers know, I’m the guest blogger this Friday at Shades of the Departed.
My final grades have to be turned in by Monday a.m., then school’s out for the summer–except of course for faculty, school’s never really out!
The U.S. States of Polypotamia and Pelisipia?
Being a lover of Geography, I also am infatuated with its sibling, Cartography. Two sites I’ve visited recently will thrill genealogists, geographers, historians, and curiosity-seekers.
The first is The Map Room: A Weblog about Maps. [Caution: there is another site called maproom.com--which is a tavern in Chicago--not the same!]. This is a great blog. Recent posts have described errors in online maps; 250 years of Pittsburgh maps; and how Google Earth is fomenting discord in the Middle East (according to Iran). The posts are strong and substantive, enlightening and entertaining. There are very good book reviews as well.
But don’t miss the blog Strange Maps. This is terrific. Again, the posts give up nothing on the side of good science while being most interesting and entertaining. How about Hitler’s map to re-organize South America? Or a place in Germany completely surrounded by Switzerland? And one of the strangest maps is Thomas Jefferson’s 1784 proposal for ten new states carved out of the Northwest Territories.
1870 Post Office Directory
I love geography. I briefly considered being a geography major in college, before settling on political science and international affairs. Genealogy, however, has taught me a lot about geography and its important place alongside history, sociology, and geopolitics in defining who we are and where we come from.
Recently, I’ve come across a few things that have served my geographical curiosity and my curiosity about curiosities. The first thing is the 1870 edition of the U.S. Post Office Directory. It’s subtitled “List of Post Offices in the United States Arranged Alphabetically and Giving the Salaries of the Postmasters. Also an Appendix Containing the Names of Post Offices Arranged by States and Counties, with Money-Order Offices, and Other Postal Information.” I found this on Google Books as I was looking for something else. For genealogists, geographers, historians and trivia freaks, this is a must-have. Did you know that in 1870, the postmaster of Boston, Massachusetts had a salary of $4,000 a year, while the postmaster of Boston, Kentucky, made a whopping $30 a year?!
The volume also has some information about the organization of the Post Office Department (which then was part of the President’s Cabinet) along with some names of Post Office officials. The directory is 415 PDF pages.
Another curiosity about the directory is a mark on the cover indicating that the digitized copy was given to the Boston Public Library in 1919 by a Mrs. C.W. Ernst. Below that are the words, “The Ernst Postal Library.” Who were the Ernsts?
Carl Wilhelm Ernst was born in Germany in 1845 and came to Boston in the latter part of the 1800′s. He seems to have lived the life of a public intellectual, being described once as one of Boston’s leading philologists (New York Times, May 16, 1899). He apparently was keenly interested in Massachusetts history. And he served for awhile as Boston’s postmaster. In this latter capacity, Ernst apparently crossed paths and perhaps wits, with Lysander Spooner. Spooner was one of the stranger characters of the 19th century, who tried to open a company to compete with the Post Office. This gives an idea of what Ernst thought of Spooner.
Carnival Time: Where’d You Get Those Eyes? Nose? Hair?
The Carnival of Genealogy is back at Creative Gene. The posts discuss inherited traits. It’s a good one! I didn’t play in the Carnival this time for various schedule related reasons, but I commend it to you.
Call for Submissions! The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is: A Place Called Home. It’s time for a geography lesson. Pick out a city/town/village where one of your ancestors once lived and tell us all about it. When was it founded? What is it known for? Has is prospered or declined over the years? Have you ever visited it or lived there? To a certain extent, we are all influenced by the environment we live in. How was your ancestor influenced by the area where they lived? Take us on a trip to the place your ancestor called home. The deadline for submissions is May 1, 2008.
Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy using the carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.
An Indirect Lead to The Elusive Sarah Gilbert?
In the last post, I mention Ancestry.com’s excellent collection entitled, “Missouri Marriages 1805-2002.” As I tried it out, I may have come across an indirect lead to my elusive ancestor, Sarah Gilbert.
The only matters of record that I have ever found concerning Sarah Gilbert are her 1867 marriage to Ezekiel Johnson in Clay County, Missouri, and her residence with her husband and children in Kansas City on the 1880 census. Other than those things, Sarah Gilbert is a phantom. There is no one alive today who knew her or saw her. There are not even any hearsay stories about her, except the persistent and unsupported rumor that she was an Indian. That’s it; that’s all.
Based on the fact that she seems to have disappeared after the 1880 census, I have surmised that she may have died sometime after 1880. No children appear to have been born to her after 1880.
Today, as I checked out the new Missouri marriages collection on Ancestry.com, I came across an 1885 marriage in Jackson County (Kansas City) between Ezekiel Johnson and one Rena Neal. If this is the same Ezekiel Johnson who married Sarah Gilbert, this may lend some credence to the notion that Sarah Gilbert died sometime after 1880. More investigation need on this, but it could be an indirect lead to Sarah Gilbert.
Missouri Marriages 1805-2002 at Ancestry.com
Ancestry.com has recently added a collection called “Missouri Marriages 1805-2002.” Frequently, Ancestry’s state collections have seemed to promise more than they deliver–being limited to just a few counties or even a few years though the title implies many more counties or years.
But this collection seems to be the real deal. Easily searchable, it has many, many, actual images. And it seems to include the excellent collection of marriage records from Jackson County. Indeed, I found one record on this site that’s not in the Jackson County collection. So, kudos to Ancestry for this outstanding addition!
Texas Death Collection at FamilySearch Labs
Record Search at FamilySearch Labs has recently added a collection of Texas death records covering 1890-1976. I’ve tried this and it’s quite a good collection in terms of content and useability. Like all the indexed collections at Record Search, name variations are automatically retrieved in search results. I like the fact that there is a “Copy to Clipboard” link on the record details page, which in one click copies the details–and only the details–to the clipboard. On Ancestry.com, by comparison, you have to go to “View Printer-friendly” and then select and copy the details.
There is a link to a PDF version of the actual death certificate; however, that link seems not yet functional.
All things considered, this addition to Record Search is a solid “A” in my gradebook.
How ’bout Giving a Little WikiLove?
Almost everyone who uses the Internet has heard of Wikipedia. I love it and use it quite a bit. I find that the “collaborative anarchy” keeps it up to date and accurate for the most part. But Wikipedia will exist only as long as people do find it useful and accurate.
I came across a Wikipedia article about a place I once lived. The article was extremely brief and had at least one error in it. So I’m revising it.
Writing for Wikipedia is different from other writing. It is, after all, an encyclopedia. And Wikipedia has a unique culture that one should become familiar with before leaping into writing or revisnig an article. That said, if you use Wikipedia, support it with your knowledge and skills!
My FOIA Request Update
A few weeks ago, I used the State Department’s online “FOIA Request Generator” to request the passport files of my grandmother, Jessie Beatrice Bowie (1909-1973). I received an email acknowledgment fairly promptly. Last week, I got the first actual response. Reasonably enough, the Government wants me to show that she either is dead or authorizes me to see her file. It’s not quite as simple as sending them her death certificate, however. She was married three times and the name under which she applied for a passport was the name she used during her second marriage, Jessie M. Givan. When she died, she was known as Jessie Tidwell. So in addition to proof of death of Jessie Tidwell, I will send her SS-5 (Application for Social Secuiryt account number) which lists her as both Jessie Beatrice Bowie and Jessie Bowie Manson; an extract from the 1940 marriage records of Aransas County, Texas, which shows “Mrs. Jessie Manson” marrying one Exa Givan; and a page from the California State marriage Index for 1964 indicating that Jessie M. Givan married George Tidwell. That should do it, don’t you think?
