Carnival of Genealogy: Gulf Coast Summer 1962

Right: Craig and The World's Smartest Sister at the beach in Rockport, Texas, August 1962.


As far as I recall, my first time at a beach was in the summer of 1962. Later that year, at age 8, I did my first major writing project. It's presented here just as it was written 46 years ago, including photographs (the notes are new).

From the book My First Vacation Trip, copyright 1962, by Craig Manson


The Book Cover


My brothers, sister, and I live in New Mexico. On July 28, 1962, my Nana¹ came for a visit. She wanted to take my sister and I on a trip to Texas. Arrangements were made. So my Father, Aunt², and I went to buy my sister and I some "swimming clothes." When we came back, Nana sat down at the sewing machine and made us some beach jackets. Father readied my fishing line.

At last the day came. On Sunday, August 5, 1962, we left for Houston, Texas. The ride was comfortable³,. . . . .Next morning, I was up at 4:00 with Nana and later my sister got up at 5:00. I changed clothes in the men's room. Sister combed her hair, and Nana got ready too. At 11:00 we arrived in Houston. The train backed into the station. On the platform we met Uncle Herman⁴,. I relaized that in Texas, it's quite hot! Uncle Herman drove us to his house. At the house, we met Aunt Ida⁵.

Left: Sister with Uncle Herman Walker

[After several days in Houston, it's time for our travelers to move on!]

. . . Mrs A. Dolphin⁶ took us to the Greyhound bus depot where we would leave on a bus bound for Rockport, Texas. There we would meet my other Aunt Ida⁷ and Uncle Johnny⁸. It took us 5 hours to get there. . . . When we met Aunt Ida and Uncle Johnny, it was quite joyous because we had not seen each other since 1958. After we had unpacked, Uncle Johnny took us down to the beach where we went swimming as we did every day.

Above Right: We play in the Gulf

When we went fishing, I caught mostly catfish, but sometimes I caught perch and trout. Sometimes we went to visit cousin Ethel⁹ and Rabbit¹⁰.
One day Rabbit took us to Taft where we met Aunt Pearl¹¹. Aunt Pearl owns a motel and cafe in Taft. So we stayed at her motel. When we got back [to Rockport], Aunt Maria¹² and her husband¹³ came to take us to Corpus Christi.

In Corpus Christi, I long talked with Uncle Leroy¹⁴ who I had not seen once before in my life. After staying in Corpus Christi one day, we started back to Houston.

Right: On the shrimping dock



Below: Modeling the "beach jackets" Nana made

NOTES

¹My paternal grandmother, Jessie Bowie Manson (1909-1973), then known as Jessie Manson Givan.

²My mother's sister, Delorise Annrie Gines, then 22 years old, and spending her summer break from college with us.

³In pre-Amtrak times, "the ride" was the Atchison,Topeka & Santa Fe RR's Super Chief.

⁴Herman Walker (1906-2002), Nana's brother.

⁵Ida Mouton (1910?-1992), Uncle Herman's wife.

⁶Alice Dolphin, who was a major figure in my fathr's early life story.

⁷Ida Bryant (1895-1991), widow of Nana's uncle, Sam Bryant (1881-1951).

⁸I have no present clue as to this person's identity or actual relationship to me.

⁹Ethel Bryant (1903-1996), daughter of Isaac Bryant (1879-1936), Nana's uncle.

¹⁰I have no present clue as to this person's identity or actual relationship to me.

¹¹Pearl Bryant Richardson (1897-?), Nana's mother's sister.

¹²Should be "cousin Maria." Maria Bryant (1905-?) was Ethel's sister (see note 9).

¹³I do not know his name.

¹⁴Leroy Goins, aka Leo R. Bryant (1924-1983), Nana's brother.

Carnival Carousel: Harvesting & Sharing the Bounty

Through a series of unfortunate circumstances, I've been blessed with a bounteous trove of genealogical riches, nearly more than one person can handle. We've been slowly and carefully going through boxes of documents and photographs (and at the rate we're going, we're likely to spend the next 15 years at this!

For this Carnival, I thought I would give you a glimpse of some of the stuff. You'll see the challenges and the joys ahead. You can enlarge any image by clicking on it.

First, there is this curious picture below, which I call "Children in Wagon." I think that there are actually two, maybe even three adults in the picture. I have no idea when or where the photo was taken. I do suspect that it was taken in either Illinois or Missouri. On the back of the original is the handwritten notation "For Francis." That could refer to a number of family members, none of whom seem to be in the picture. Or it may refer to someone other than a family member. The problem is that the people most likely to know have all passed away.

"Children (?) In Wagon" (Photographer unknown; original in possession of Craig Manson, Carmichael, California)

The photograph on the right I labelled "Young Woman." Again, we have no idea of the woman's identity or when the photo was taken. We do have several clues, however. On part of the original which I have covered with the frame here, there is the embossed name and address "Maxwell, 2607 Lawton Ave, St Louis, Mo". This apparently refers to photographer William C. Maxwell, who had a studio in St Louis from at least 1910 until at least 1915. See Early St. Louis Photographers. I haven't found any evidence that the business still exists.

The other potential clues about "Young Woman" are that this was actually a post card. I've come across several post cards with identifiable family members in them, leading me to believe that this was a popular way in which to send pictures in the early part of the twentieth century. Below is the "Young Woman" post card. You can see what kind of shape the photograph is in by looking at the post card back.




There is an address on the post card. To me, it appears to be:

"Miss B. Mc. Quin
2828 Morgan
St Louis
Mo"

And I'm not sure that it isn't "McQuin." There were families named Quin and McQuin in St Louis in the period that Maxwell could have made the portrait. But beyond that, nothing else is known to me about the photo.



The next photograph I call "Surly Woman, Distracted Man." I have no idea who these people are or when or where the photograph was made. I presume that their clothes are a clue. Notice how the man has his right hand tucked inside his coat. And what does the sign behind the man's head say? Another challenge for you photo-sleuths!








Finally, I've come to realize that a lot of the material may be valuable to researchers looking at other families. So from time to time, I'll share some things that may be of broad interest. Today, somewhat apropos of a Carnival, here's a list of couples who were feted on their 50th (or greater!) wedding anniversary in the Archdiocese of St Louis in 2001. See if one of your surnames is there! [Click on pages to enlarge].

Carnival of Genealogy: 106 Years in America--And More!

One ancestor I'm really trying to learn more about is my great-great-grandfather William ("Billie") Sanford. He was born in 1809 in Virginia and died in 1916 in Texas at the age of 106! A book I read says that he is the oldest person buried in the "colored" section of the Old City Cemetery in Rockdale, Milam County, Texas. (170 Years of Cemetery Records in Milam County, Texas, by N.H. Holman).

William Sanford was born a slave in a part of Virginia that is now West Virginia. He either was born as, or later became, the property of the James Sanford family. The Sanfords moved to Williamson County, Tennessee some time before 1820. James Sanford died in 1849; his son, Reuben, had died in 1846. Reuben's widow, Mary Wood Sanford, relocated her children and her slaves to Milam County, Texas in 1854. Those slaves included Billie Sanford. At some point in Texas, he married Emily Scott from North Carolina and they had four daughters, one of whom was my great-grandmother, Betty Sanford.

On Billie's death certificate (below), the term "old age" is mentioned not less than three times!

William Sanford's death certificate
(click to enlarge)

There's some longevity on my mother's side of the family as well.

William Henry Long, my mother's uncle, was born on March 21, 1889 and died on August 26, 1990, at age 101, in Kansas City, Missouri. The 1930 census says he was a truck driver.

Christina Alta Long Neal, sister of William Henry Long, was born on April 2, 1898, and died on September 14, 2000, at age 102, in Kansas City, Missouri.

Tina and Will's sister, Rosetta Bell Long, was nearly a centenarian. She was born on May 28, 1900 and died on March 17, 1994, at age 93, in Kansas City, Missouri. "Rosie" never married but had a companion of over 50 years. I don't know much about him, except that his name was "RJ." After working in a laundry all of her life, Aunt Rosie retired at age 65. She taught herself to play the piano, and at age 68, she was ordained a minister by the Metropolitan Spiritual Church of Christ. She was pastor of Good Shepherd Spiritual Church in Kansas City for more than 20 years.

To her, age really was just a state of mind.

Top Cat

Top Cat! The most effectual
Top Cat! Who's intellectual
Close friends get to call him T.C.
Providing it's with dignity.

Yes he's a chief, he's a king,
But above everything,
He's the most tip top, Top Cat.

In September 1961, Hanna-Barbera premiered another of their primetime cartoons on ABC. Like The Flintstones, Top Cat was a hit that the whole family could watch and enjoy. Once our homework was done on Wednesday nights, we could turn on Albuquerque's Channel 7 and laugh at this gang of alley cats and their crafty leader as they tried to outwit Police Officer Dibble, but just as often ended up outwitting themselves. The show only ran for the 1961-62 television season, but it was a cultural phenomenon in its own way.

Fast forward to October 1966. My brother and I are coming out of our Scout meeting and see Dad leaning against his Renault with the engine he and I would later re-build, waiting to take us home. But as we approach, it appears that Dad has something in his hands. It is a kitten, probably not more than four weeks old and it's crying loudly. Dad says, "I found him under the car." The Scout meeting place is far from any residential areas at Sandia Base where we lived. So it's a bit of mystery as to how the kitten got out there and where his mother and the rest of the litter are.

Dad puts the kitten in my arms for the drive home and I know he's thinking what I'm thinking, "What's Mom gonna say?"

The cat is a jet black Persian-Siamese. Even at a young age, his hair is long, his eyes what we came to call "Green Bay Packer" yellow and green.

When we do get home, Mom sees me carrying the animal, and says to my father, "You are not bringing that thing in my house!" At first glance, she believes that my father has actually lost his mind and bought the monkey he often had joked about buying. The kitten is clinging to my sweater and I can see how he looks a bit like a tiny monkey. But even when she realizes it's a kitten, Mom is none too happy. My sister and brothers, however, are thrilled.

Dad explains again how he found the kitten under the car. Mom warns us against getting too attached to him, because, she says, he obviously belongs to somebody else. We'll have to put up signs and advertise to see if anyone lost a kitten. In the meantime, Mom says, he'll have to stay in the garage, not in the house. My Mom, darling of the Kansas City NAACP as a teenager, says, "When it comes to people and animals, I'm a strict segregationist!"

Predictably, the kitten cries all night for several nights and predictably, nobody comes to claim him. So Mom eventually relents and agrees that we can keep him. "What are going to call him?" Dad asks a few days later. My sister immediately says, "Top Cat!" And so begins a cat's adventures.

We had had "ornamental" pets up until then, a fish, a parakeet. Now we had a pet who took over the family. And as he grew, Top Cat transformed the neighborhood, quickly establishing himself as the Alpha animal on the block. Everybody knew "TC." In the summers, when the desrt heat reached into the triple-digits, Top Cat found a large stand of weeds across the street from the houses in the vacant mesa in which he would sleep for hours. The patch was known throughout the neighborhood as "Top Cat's Jungle." It had been formed by excess watering and perhaps a broken pipe.

In the Jungle, TC would find lizards also trying to escape the heat, and he would bring them, usually tailless or headless, home to show us.

In 1967, Top Cat suddenly disappeared from his jungle. We were certain that he would return and every day, I waited for him to show up. Days turned into weeks, weeks into months and seasons, and I came slowly to accept that Top Cat was gone. It was my job to keep my siblings sagging spirits up. The other neighborhood families were similarly depressed, especially the family across the street who owned Pumpkin, an orange cat who has TC's favorite playmate.

We never talked about getting another cat because somehow that would feel disloyal to Top Cat.

Eighteen months after Top Cat disappeared, my father, then an Army major, was called for duty as a member of a court-martial panel. Several soldiers, Military Policemen in fact, were on trial for theft. What were they stealing? Pets. Yes, pets! Most of the pets they stole they sold to other families. One of the pets they had stolen was Top Cat! After the trial, Top Cat was recovered in good condition from the backyard of one of my sister's classmates--whose house we walked by every day on our way to school!

After a year and half away from home, TC returned with his same swagger and ruled the neighborhood once more. Then came a real test. My dad was ordered to temporary duty in California and we would be going along to see relatives. What about Top Cat? Well, of course, said my "strict segregationist" Mother, he'd have to come along too! And he did. The back cargo bay of the Rambler station wagon was his, complete with litter box. That mean that we couldn't use the foldup seat in the back of the Rambler, so all four children had to squeeze into the passenger seat.

Top Cat came with us on two vacation trips to California and one to Kansas City. Then when we moved permanently from New Mexico to California, he came along again. In our first house in Monterey, he loved chasing the gophers that seemed to be everywhere. After I had gone off to college, my parents moved twice more and Top Cat moved with them. Top Cat was with them when my parents took in my dying grandmother's German Shepard mix and later when they took in my brother's dog while he spent three years in Germany.

Top Cat was the cleverest pet I've known. He was fun and funny and crafty like his namesake. When he was finished playing, he would assume a regal posture on his favorite chair to let everyone know he was still in charge. By then, my mother was his biggest fan.

In December, 1983, I was a captain in the Air Force stationed in England. I came home one already dismal winter evening to find the telephone ringing. It was my mother calling from California. "We thought you'd want to know sooner rather than later . . . Top Cat passed away today . . . " And for the first and so far only time, my mother and I cried together . . . .

Dad and Top Cat in the den, c. 1980

Carnival is Back!

The 47th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is posted at Jasia's Creative Gene. The theme this time was "A Place Called Home," and thirty-two writers have described places that their ancestors called home. The submissions are very diverse, ranging from the now-extinct Markham Township, Ontario, to Weaver's Creek Bottom, Mississippi, to towns in Croatia, Lithuania, and Poland.

I didn't play this time because of time constraints. But I have been planning for awhile to do a series on places.

All of the Carnival articles this time are very informative and well-written. I would urge each writer to consider taking the basic facts of their piece and creating or adding to a Wikipedia article.

Having just done it a few weeks ago, I know that Wikipedia writing may not appeal to everyone, but for those who find it doable, it would be a great service to other researchers.

Call for Submissions! The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is: Mom, how'd you get so smart? We'll examine our mothers' education. What schools did your mom attend? Did she graduate high school or attend the school of hard knocks? Did she attend a one room school house or was she home-schooled? Was she the first in the family to attend college? Maybe your mom took self-study courses or was an avid reader. Tell us all about how a mother figure (mother, grandmother, mother in law, godmother, etc.) in your life became so brilliant! The deadline for submissions is May 15th.

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 the blog carnival index page.

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.

The Family Cars, 1955-1969: Part II--The Rambler

My dad had bought his first car, a 1953 Ford, in 1955 during his first assignment in the Army. The Ford had taken to Kansas City from Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri several times; from Kansas City to Houston and back to KCMO; and from KC to Brooklyn. It came with us to Germany in 1958. In Germany, we'd taken the Ford on a couple trips to France.

In 1961, Dad was ordered to Albuquerque, New Mexico. He decided it was time for a new car, so before leaving Germany, he sold the Ford which he'd had for six years to another GI. In late August, 1961, we departed Germany aboard a commercial airliner and, after a refueling stop at Shannon, Ireland, landed at McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey. The next day, we were on a train headed for Kenosha, Wisconsin, and the American Motors Company factory there.

Dad had ordered a 1961 Rambler station wagon from the factory before we left Germany. The plan was to pick it up at the factory and drive on to Kansas City for a family visit, then on to our new home in Albuquerque.


Rambler Station Wagon built by American Motors Co. Pictured is a 1962 model, virtually identical to our 1961 model.


Kenosha turned out to be remarkably picturesque for an industrial town. It is on the western shore of Lake Michigan--which I had never seen until then. In Kenosha, we were given a tour of one of the town's two American Motors assembly plants--quite a thrill for me and my next younger brother. I don't think my four year old sister and youngest (3 years old) brother were quite as impressed. In fact, my sister said recently that she had no recollection of the factory trip at all!

The car wasn't ready until the next day. Nobody in the family had ever had a brand new car. This one was custom-built to my dad's preferences. The Rambler was blue with a white top. There was a luggage rack of sorts on top. The cargo area in back converted into another seat which faced to the rear--another thrill for me and my brother! There were no seat belts. The car had a "push-button" three-speed automatic transmission and whitewall tires.

As soon as the car was ready, Dad picked it up and brought back to the motel for loading. We headed south out of America's Dairyland (as it said on our Wisconsin license plates). Our route would take us through Chicago, then southwest on U.S. Route 66 to Springfield, Illinois. This was the first of many times the Rambler would travel Route 66, either east to Missouri or west to California. We'd then depart Route 66 and head west to Kansas City.
Rainfall track of Hurricane Carla,
September 1961. Click to enlarge.



We hadn't gotten very far past Chicago when a terrific rain began. Between Chicago and Springfield, the rain continued to get heavier. Before we got to Springfield, the Illinois State Police had stopped all traffic on the highway. It was too dangerous to go on. We were caught in the north-bound remnants of Hurricane Carla, one of two Category 5 storms during 1961, and at the time, the strongest storm on record in the Atlantic basin. We found a motel (no problem this time) to wait out the storm.

A day later, it was still raining, but the highway authorities had deemed the roads safe. The Rambler faced its first test and got us to Kansas City safely. After a few days with my mother's family, we headed on to Albuquerque, eventually back on to Route 66.

We kept that Rambler for eight years. During that time we took it on two trips to California and two trips to Kansas City. On the California trips along Route 66, gasoline would jump to 40 cents a gallon soon after we crossed into Arizona. "Highway robbery!" Dad would exclaim. "There ought to be a law!"

On the California trips in 1966 and 1967, we also took a new passenger: our Siamese-Persian feline, Topcat. He had the cargo area almost to himself, since his litter box was in one corner and his food and water in the other corner. That meant four kids in the back seat and lots of luggage on the roof.

I don't recall any major trouble with the Rambler until one afternoon in the summer of 1969 while Dad was in Vietnam. Mom had all four of us in the car and was backing out of the driveway when suddenly the right side of the car collapsed. Mom ordered us all out and I examined the car. The right front wheel was laying on its side about three feet away from the car. I couldn't really tell what had happened. We were on our way to someplace we really had to be, so Mom enlisted the neighbors to take us. I also don't recall what she did to get the car fixed. It turned out that the front axle had cracked (how? I don't know!) in two places.

When Dad returned from Vietnam a few months later, it was the end of the line for the 1961 Rambler. It was replaced by a brand new 1969 Ford Torino Squire station wagon. I was actually sad to see the Rambler go. We'd had a lot of good times and memories in that car.

The demise of the Rambler coincided with the end of our time in the Land of Enchantment. As soon as the Ford station wagon was delivered, we packed and headed for life's new adventures in California.

The Rambler's replacement: Ford's Torino Squire station wagon.
Pictured is a 1968 model, essentially similar to our light-blue, wood-paneled 1969 model.

Photos in this post from Wikimedia Commons.

Mary Geraldine Sekul, 1948-2008

A week ago, I was not expecting to write about Mary Sekul at all, ever, and especially not in this forum. Then again, a week ago, Mary Sekul was not expecting to be written about, and certainly not in the places and ways she's been written about in the past few days.

"An artist, poet, scholar, friend, sister, and mother"

People like Mary Sekul have very few Google entries and when their names appear in the newspapers, it's often suddenly and sadly. I barely knew Mary Sekul; I'd met her once or twice when she did an act of kindness for me. I knew she was an artist and art teacher, that she was a hard worker. I didn't know that the kind act she did for me was replicated many times a week for many people who came in contact with Mary Sekul.

On Wednesday, March 13, the Sacramento Bee said, "Sekul was being remembered by her family and friends as a gifted artist who connected deeply with the nearly 1,000 students she taught on a weekly basis at three area elementary schools."

"She was a wonderful person," her daughter, Claire Sekul, told the Bee. "She was kind to everybody and good-hearted. We are devastated. She helped other people before she would help herself."

The principal of one of the schools where Mary Sekul worked said, "Even with those students who only saw her 40 minutes a week, she was able to make a connection. They remember every little thing about her."

Mary Sekul was of a class increasingly rare here: a native Sacramentan. She graduated from Saint Francis High School in 1966, and later from College of Arts & Crafts in Oakland, and Sacramento State University. But she was only a generation or so removed from Croatia (on her father's side) and Ireland (on her mother's side).

Her obituarist said of her, "Mary had many and varied friends in the community, the Bay Area, Ireland and France. She was a jack of all trades and might be found adding a closet to her house, adjusting the aperture of an old camera, or reading Yeats. Mary was a caring and intelligent woman, greatly loved by her students, family, and friends."

As I said, I barely knew her; so why do I write today about Mary Sekul? Because it's Women's History Month. Because we always wait too late to write about women like Mary Sekul, who make our history day by day. Because she deserves a Google entry as much as, maybe more than, anybody. Because the harsh history of the women of Dalmatia, Eire, and America culminate in the goodness of Mary Sekul. Because I'm glad she got to go to Ireland last summer.
Because nobody should ever say, "Who's Mary Sekul?"

History is really the personal stories of the uncelebrated living the goodness of their unheralded lives, making impressions that subtly, but irreversibly, move the sands of time. That's why I write about Mary Sekul.

Carnival's In Town! With Tech Stuff!

The 43rd Carnival of Technology, um, I mean Genealogy (and that was a real synapse-lapse!) is here at Jasia's place, Creative Gene. And the topic is technology! Check it out.

Call for Submissions! In keeping with the month of March being National Women's History Month, and March 8th being International Women's Day, the topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy will once again be: A Tribute to Women. Write a tribute to a woman on your family tree, a friend, a neighbor, or a historical female figure who has done something to impact your life. Or instead of writing, consider sharing a photo biography of one woman's life. Or create a scrapbook page dedicated to a woman you'd like to honor. For extra credit, sum up her life in a six-word biography (thanks to Lisa Alzo for the suggestion!).

Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy using the carnival submission form. The deadline for submissions is March 15, 2008. Past posts and future hosts can be found on the blog carnival index page.

GeneaTechnology

What technology is indispensable to me as a genealogist and family historian? Well, don't expect any big surprises here--my indispensable choices are rather pedestrian.

Hardware: My 2GB thumb drive is invaluable. It makes my data portable and it's a decent backup.


Software: Okay, I know I'll seem like a caveman, but for me it's got to be PAF 5.2. I've also got the latest iteration of RootsMagic, but I started with PAF and it's still like a companion you grow especially fond of.

Website: Although I subscribe to a number of commercial sites and regularly visit many excellent non-pay sites, there's nothing like Google, with all its accessories like Google Books, Google Scholar, and so forth. I've broken through several brickwalls with Google's help when the commercial sites yielded nothing! I've just fallen in love with Google StreetView!

Carnival's In Town!

The current edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is posted. Hosted by Jasia, this edition is sponsored by the charter members of The Academy of Genealogy and Family History. See what the Academy members thought were deserving of iGene Awards for their best efforts in 2007!

Call for Submissions! The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy will be: Technology. What technology do you most rely on for your genealogy and family history research? Select one piece of hardware (besides your computer), one piece of software (besides your internet browser), and one web site/blog (besides your own) that are indispensable to you. Resist the urge to dilute the impact of your 3 choices by mentioning several others you use and appreciate as well. This is an exercise in appraising the technology you use/recommend the most. The deadline for submissions is March 1st.

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.

Carnival: The IGene Awards:GeneaBlogie's Best!

Overture, curtain, lights! This is it. The night of nights. No more rehearsing or nursing a part. We know every part by heart! Overture, curtain, lights! This is it. We'll hit the heights! And oh, what heights we'll hit! On with the show, this is it! Tonight what heights we'll hit! On with the show, this is it!

The Academy of Genealogy and Family History IGene Awards!

We've dispensed with the red carpet, and the tiresome, and seemingly endless pre-show shows, so as the chorus said, On with the show!

Best Picture: The second runner-up is the photo of my grandmother, Annie Florida Corrine Long, titled A Kansas City Follies Girl, c.1920. The first runner-up is the set of photographs of Buena Vista Plantation in Stonewall, Louisiana, where my Brayboy family was enslaved.

And the IGene Award goes to: The photograph of two Oblate Sisters of Providence and their relative from my in-law Micheau family in the post, A Little Photographic Treat From The Research Trip. I like the simple elegance and reverence of this photo from the early 20th century.



Best Screen Play: By acclamation, the IGene Award for Best Screen Play goes to the story told of my great-great-grandmother's move from Georgia to Texas in the 1880's, presented in last September's Debunking A Family Myth. The title of the movie would be The Third Chapter of Ecclesiastes, and the cast would be: Sydney Tamiia Poitier as my great-great-grandmother, Matilda Manson; Kevin Costner as my great-great-grandfather, George Preston Birdsong; Tahj Mowry as their son Otis; Rashida Jones as Matilda's mother Jane; Jane Seymour as Preston's mother Susan Francis Thweatt Birdsong; and Ossie Davis as my great-great-grandfather William Sanford.

Best Documentary-Family: The first runner-up is the duo from last May, The Wrong Longs? and The Right Longs. And the IGene Award goes to last July's Prairie Du Rocher, Illinois!

Best Documentary-Non-Family: I split the documentary category into two parts because the circumstances seemed to demand it. In the non-family documentary category, the runners-up are Walter Scott of Spokane, Washington, [producer's credit for inspiration shared with Miriam Robbins Midkiff], Quindaro, Kansas, and Finding Dr. King's Roots in Slavery. But the IGene Award goes to the series on African-American Military History, which starts here.

Best Biography: There was a lot to choose from here, including Mom's Diamond Jubilee, the pairred Dad has a Birthday Party and A Birthday Party for Dad; and The World's Smartest Sister. Last March's Three Sisters and The Sisters Speak about my aunt Bernadine Coles Gines and her sisters wins the IGene Award.

Best Educational Series: No doubt here--the IGene Award goes to the series on copyright spawned by the Ancestry.com controversy. Links to all those posts can be found here.

Best Comedy: Only one real contender: The First Black NASCAR Driver.

And the last IGene Award, The Readers Miscellaneous Favorite: A Missed Bus.

"This Is It (The Bugs Bunny Overture)" copyright Warner Bros. Entertainment.

Shrove Tuesday

There couldn't be a better one! Our friend, the footnoteMaven, has been heard from and is recovering at home. And to entertain her, the Carnival is in town! (fM suggested the topic for this edition of the Carnival).

Call For Submissions! Jasia writes: The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy will be: The Best of The Best! It's Academy awards time... time for the Academy of Genealogy and Family History aka AGFH (an esteemed organization that all genea-historian bloggers who participate in this next edition of the COG will become founding members of) to honor their best blog posts of 2007* in the following 5 categories:

Best Picture - Best old family photo that appeared on your blog in 2007. Tell us which you liked best and why.
Best Screen Play - Which family story that you shared in 2007 would make the best movie? Who would you cast as your family members?
Best Documentary - Which was the best informational article you wrote about a place, thing, or event involving your family's history in 2007?
Best Biography - Which was the best biographical article you wrote in 2007?
Best Comedy - Which was the best funny story, poem, joke, photo, or video that you shared on your blog in 2007?

The award given to these very deserving examples of quality writing of family history will heretofore be known as the iGene Award. Please feel free to use this graphic on your announcement post.

Start digging back into your archives and choose which of your blog posts deserve to be recognized for outstanding achievement. This is not a competition between bloggers but a chance for you to spotlight your own shining efforts at recording your genealogy and family history in 2007*. There is no nomination process. You just need to announce your winning blog posts for the 5 categories mentioned above in an article on your blog and submit it to the Carnival of Genealogy. Please act as your own "award presenter" by writing an introduction and include it in the "Remarks" box on the BlogCarnival submission form. The deadline for submissions is February 15, 2008.

*"2007" includes any posts well as those written Jan. 1-Feb. 15, 2008 as well (so that new bloggers can participate).

Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on the blog carnival index page.

History Comes to Dinner

Actually I'm going to dinner at the home of my great-great grandmother, Matilda Manson, in Rockdale, Milam County, Texas, on a day in 1900. Grandma Mattie has been kind enough, at my suggestion, to invite her son Otis, and his wife Bettie Sanford, as well as Bettie's 90 year old father, Billie Sanford. Bettie is pregnant with their fourth child, my great aunt Julia Mattie Manson. They'd left at home their three sons, seven-year-old Carl, six-year-old Otis Preston, and three-year-old Silas Leroy. I wonder who's babysitting.

But most interestingly of all, Grandma Mattie has invited Otis's father, 59 year old George Preston Birdsong, and his 55-year-old brother Albert Hamill Birdsong. Preston and his brother live in the nearby town of Cameron which is the Milam County seat.

To recap what will make this an interesting dinner, George Preston Birdsong is the son of the late George Lawrence Forsyth Birdsong and his wife Susan Thweatt. The Birdsongs were a prominent landowning and slaveowning family in Upson County, Georgia, through most of the 19th century. Larry Birdsong in fact was a deputy sheriff of Upson County and served as a captain in the local militia which was called to duty with the Confederate Army during the Civil War. The Birdsongs owned a number of slaves, but Matilda Manson was not among them. Matilda was a free woman of color who had been born in neighboring Talbot County. At some time during the 1870s, soon after Larry Birdsong had died in 1869, Matilda Manson and George Preston Birdsong found themselves living next door to each other. Preston appears to perhaps have been estranged from the rest of his family, who lived some distance away. In 1884, Preston, Matilda, her son Otis, and Preston's brother Albert all took off for Texas.

The family lore about Matilda and Otis's absconding to Texas is told here. That story is not true. Family lore also has it that every Sunday Otis would take his family down to the train station in Rockdale Texas where they would await a train from a neighboring town. When the train arrived a white man would get off the train visit with them and give them money. Then he would get on the next train going back until the following week. This appears to be true.

Preston and Albert worked in Cameron. Preston lived with a couple of brothers from what is now the Czech Republic. (At that time it was known as Bohemia). One brother was a bartender, and the other was a salesman, according to the 1900 census. Preston worked as a night watchman.

Dinner this evening should be very interesting. I don't think Preston has ever met Otis's wife Bettie. Likewise I don't think Bettie's father Billie knows anything about Preston. And I'm eager to hear some stories from all the parties concerned. For example, I want to know what it was like when Preston and Matilda got together in Georgia. I want to know exactly why they left Georgia. Where they run out of town as I suspect? Or did they leave of their own volition? Why did Albert come along? And why of all the places in Texas did they choose Rockdale? How did they get to Rockdale from Upson County, Georgia? According to the book, A Frontier Link with the World: Upson County's Railroad, by historian David E. Paterson, Preston had been for a short while an engineer on the railroad in Georgia. Did they take a train from Georgia to Texas? What did it cost? How long did it take? What was their relationship like as they traveled and once they got to Texas? And what was Preston's relationship with his family like after he left Georgia? Did he receive letters from them? Did he write to his mother? His mother died in 1892 while he and Albert were in Texas. Did they know of their mother's death at the time? Did they return to Georgia for her funeral? And since this dinner takes place in 1900, I obviously know some things that are about to happen that they don't know. I won't tell them but Preston returns to Georgia in just a few more years, and he dies there in 1905. Albert also returns to Georgia but he lives until 1921.

And as for Matilda, I'm curious what became of her mother Jane. And what became of her sister Mary? Did Matilda and Mary know their grandmother, a Scots-Irish woman named Charlotte? What exactly was it like to be a so-called "free woman of color" in Georgia in the 19th century? What did Matilda and Mary and Jane do during the Civil War? Where were they during the Civil War? And for Billie Sanford, how did the Sanford family of Virginia into which he was born in slavery, treat their slaves? Billie followed the Sanford's from Virginia to Tennessee to Texas. Where did he meet his wife Emily? Had he been married before? What did he think of Otis marrying his daughter Bettie? Who were his brothers and sisters? Did he remember his parents from Virginia? To what did he ascribe his long life? (Here in 1900, Billie doesn't know that he will live another 16 years in die at the age of 106).

I'm interested in seeing Matilda's dwelling. I'm wondering what she's going to serve for dinner. Will it be a recipe from Georgia? Or perhaps it will be something she's learned since she moved to Texas 16 years ago. What ever, I'm sure it will be delicious. After dinner if it's not too late, maybe we'll walk over to Otis and Bettie's house. Perhaps they'll invite Bettie's sister Addie and her husband Abe White over for coffee.

Tomorrow if the weather's good, I'll do something really daring. I'll stroll over to the home of Reuben Henry Sanford, the son of the woman who brought Billie Sanford as a slave to Texas from Tennessee. Now that will be interesting!

The other things that I know but can't tell Otis and Bettie tonight are that their son Otis Preston and their daughter yet unborn Julia Mattie both will die of tuberculosis in 1912. So it will be an interesting joyous yet bittersweet evening.

First Carnival of 2008!

The 39th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is posted at Jasia's Creative Gene. The topic was New Year's Resolutions. As always, the Carnival is full of good writing and may introduce you to some folks you hadn't known before. Check it out.

Call for Submissions! The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy will be: Living-relative connections made during your research processes and/or blog. Who found you or how did you find them? Were they helpful or did they send you on a wild goose chase for further information? How much and what kind of information did they share with you? What did you share with them? What kinds of contacts have you had... in person, via phone, online chat, email, snail mail, web casts? (If you're not comfortable using their real names you might want to consider using pseudonyms.)

Colleen at The Oracle of OMcHodoy suggested the topic.

All are welcome at the Carnival! Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy using the carnival submission form. The deadline for submissions is January 15th. Past posts and future hosts can be found on the blog carnival index page.

My 2008 Goals

For 2008, I think it's worth recycling some of my 2007 goals, especially where I didn't do so well. So here we go:

1. Attend a national conference. Conveniently, the National Genealogical Society has planned its 30th Conference in the States and Family History Fair for Kansas City in May!

2. Make contact with more cousins to hear their stories. Although I gave myself a B+ here last year, this is always worthwhile.

3. Bring genealogy to more young people. I utterly failed at this last year, but it's so important that I'll give it a try again. Any ideas about this?

4. Write more about genealogy and the law. I don't intend to turn this into a legal blog, but I can and should share more of my legal knowledge in practical ways to benefit genealogists and bloggers.

5. Knock down at least two long-standing brick walls. Again. But when I review what I did last year, it turns out that I did better than I had thought. I learned the fate of my grand father's brother, Otis Preston Manson; I learned the name of Aunt Grace's mother; and I discovered James William Long's parents and siblings, correcting a family error of some time.

6. Update my records with accurate source citations.

7. Substantially reduce my scanning backlog.

8. Find more old photographs. They're out there, somewhere. (George, Colleen: Help! That is, once I find them!).

9. Improve the technology I use and my knowledge of it. I used to be a major techie, but I've fallen way behind--I get that every day as I read and see innovations out there. Time to teach this old dog some new tricks! (Denise, Sally, Susan: Help!).

10. Learn more about DNA. Thanks, Blaine, for your insights.

11. Improve my story-telling craft. (Tutors: David, Janice, Jasia, Tim, Tim, Miriam, Randy, Denise, Apple, fM, Becky, Taneya, Bill, Steve, Karen, Dana, Lori, Terry, and all who have or will contribute to the Carnival of Genealogy!).

12. Always Learn from others, Share with everyone, Enjoy this endeavor, and Appreciate the efforts of those who also Learn, Share, and Enjoy! This will always be on my list. When I stop doing this, it'll be time for me to cash in the whole thing. In this category, I'll include reading more of the excellent blogs out there; making some presentations for community groups (got one being worked on right now); and a few other things.

Noel Miscellany

Jasia has posted the 38th edition of the Carnival of Genealogy. The topic is "The New Millenium." I didn't go to the Carnival this time because my experience of Y2K was rather boring, frankly. The theme for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy will be: New Year's Resolutions. As the year winds to a close in the next couple weeks it's a good time to review the progress made in our genealogy research and to make a plan for next year. So what did you accomplish last year and what road blocks did you encounter? What are your research goals for next year and how do you resolve to attain them? Write 'em up and submit your blog articles to the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy using the carnival submission form. The deadline for submissions is January 1, 2008 . . . .

A great gift from the footnote Maven! fM has done an angelic collage of her genea-blogging friends. See it here! . . . .

Chris at The Genealogue has taken our multi-lingual blog caroling one step beyond. Take a look at this.

The Carnival of Genealogy, DNA Edition

The 35th Edition of the carnival of Genealogy is hosted by Blaine Bettinger, Ph.D., The Genetic Genealogist. This time, the Carnival focuses on DNA issues. Blaine brings his extensive learning and experience to answering or commenting on DNA issues raised in the various posts. This is an outstanding edition of the Carnival and a good chance to learn a bit about DNA and to become familiar with Blaine's excellent blog. A "must-read" this week!

Call for Submissions. The next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy will be a “carousel” edition. Just like carousels have a variety of animal figures on the ride so too will the next edition of the COG have different topics. All topics (genealogy-related of course!) are welcome. Submit any article you’d like. This edition will be hosted by Jasia on the Creative Gene blog. The deadline for submissions is November 15.

Please submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on the blog carnival index page.

A Missed Bus

He had gotten out the wicker-straw suitcase and had it open on the bed. In it, he had already placed the Brownie camera his grandmother had given him as a birthday present some time ago. Now he was looking through the closet for the most important stuff.

The invitation said he needed a soldier's uniform this time. And he had a lot of soldier's uniforms--some from the present, some from the past (whatever that meant) and some from the apparent future. That was a bit of a problem--which one could he take this time that he had not taken before? And which of those might be very eye-catching?

Through the metal blinds he could see that the sun was getting lower in the sky. Why did he always wait until the last minute to pack?

The soldier's uniform he picked had an Army Air Forces patch on the shoulder of the jacket. He laid it carefully in the suitcase. There was a hat, an officer's hat with the eagle on it. And the hat had that "25 mission" crush in its middle. He put it in the suitcase on top of the jacket. There were brown shoes, too, which he placed under the jacket.

On the bedside table, there was a copy of the Stars and Stripes of London--the U.S. forces newspaper--dated February 5, 1944. He hadn't read it all, but he'd read the important news about the mission launched from East Anglia two days earlier. There was also a copy of the Vidette-Messenger of Valparaiso, Indiana, dated Thursday, January 31, 1946. He hadn't finished reading it either. But he'd get caught up on the trip.

He closed the suitcase, put on his coat and his hat, and rushed out of the flat and down the stairs. He hurried along the street and made it the short block to the bus station just as the clock struck the hour and a big green and white bus pulled out. It turned the corner and disappeared down the hill.

"Oh, beans and rice!" he exclaimed, "I've missed the bus!" The clerk behind the counter said, "No need to worry, pal. There's another bus to Chicago in about two hours."

He sighed and dropped the suitcase to the floor. He sat down on top of the suitcase and put his head between his hands.

"I wasn't going to Chicago," he said, "I was going to the Carnival."

31st Edition of The Carnival of Genealogy Comes to Town!

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, Meine Damen und Herren, Senores y Senoras! We proudly present the 31st, and one of the most interesting editions of the Carnival of Genealogy! The topic is Confirm or Debunk: Family Myths, Legends, and Lore. Several writers submitted two posts! So let's go see what's on the midway!

In booth #1, Bill West presents West in New England: JOHN AMES(EAMES) AND LYDIA PHELPS posted at West in New England, in which he tries to learn the truth about an ancestor. Thanks, Bill!

Jessica Oswalt has booth #2, called Family Myths and Traditions - Confirmed, Disproved or Unconfirmed, posted at Jessica's Genejournal, describing some the stories she's trying to confirm. Good luck, Jessica, and thanks for sharing!

Janice Brown's New Hampshire Genealogy: The Legend of the Irish Drummer Boy posted at Cow Hampshire, sorts out the story of her great-grandfather. Great job, Janice!

Booth #4 belongs to Tim Abbott, presenting One Of Us Went South: A Confederate Brigadier from New Jersey posted at Walking the Berkshires. It's an unusual story from the Civil War. Thanks for sharing, it Tim.

Becky Wiseman has a double presentation in Armenian Ancestors? posted here at kinexxions; and Michael and Christenia Fisher - Immigrant Ancestors posted at here, also at kinexxions. She debunks a family story of possible Armenian ancestry and sorts through another ancestral family's origins. Your posts are always good, Becky, and these are no exceptions.

And for the first time (I think), we have cousins playing in the Carnival! In booth #7, Terry Thornton presents Shhhhhhhhhhhhh! Let's not talk about this . . . posted at Hill Country of Monroe County, Mississippi, in which he breaks through a family's wall of silence.

Then, in booth #8, Terry's cousin, Lori Thornton debunks her family's executive privilege in Related to President Zachary Taylor or Not? posted at Smoky Mountain Family Historian.

Terry and Lori, we look forward to your further collaboration!

John Newmark's Family Myths: More on the Dudelsacks posted at Transylvanian Dutch, illustrates John's research in getting to the bottom of an inaccurate family story.

Steve Danko presents The Biography of Katarzyna Dańkoin booth #10, posted at Steve's Genealogy Blog.Steve tells a compelling and tragic story from World War II. What a great tale, Steve! Hopefully, you will learn more about this and be able to pass this story through the coming generations.

Denise Olson gives us a two-fer in booths 11 & 12. Pirate Gold! posted at Moultrie Creek, is a funny story about what happens when a legend gets out of hand. Denise's The Episcopalian Levys, posted here at Moultrie Creek, debunks a myth, but tells another interesting story. As usual, a couple of great presentations. Thanks, Denise!

Ken Spangler presents Truth or Fiction, Family Stories Abound! posted at Beyond Fiction, in which he muses about some improbable-sounding family stories. Thanks for sharing, Ken, and definitely don't be afraid to tell those stories.

In booths 14 & 15, Randy Seaver has a double feature. In Family Myths and Stories posted at Genea-Musings, he examines several family myths and stories. And in More Family Stories (or Myths?) posted here at Genea-Musings, Randy gives us the truth about several of his ancestors whom we've come to know through his regular posts. Thanks for rounding out these stories, Randy.

Sidhusaaheb, a Carnival newcomer, presents Pakistan Visit (part 4) posted at I, Me, Myself. Thanks for joining us and please come back again!

Miriam Robbins Midkiff has booth #17, presenting another of her great "ancestories." This one's called The Legend of Joseph Josiah ROBBINS and she sorts out a Civil War tale of a father and son. It's posted at AnceStories: The Stories of My Ancestors.

Your Carnival host, Craig Manson, occupies booths 18 & 19. In Confirming & Debunking Family Myths, Legends and Lore posted at GeneaBlogie, I look briefly at six family myths. And in Debunking A Family Myth, I tell how I learned the true story behind the biggest myth in my father's family. It's posted here at GeneaBlogie.

Jasia, our Carnie Queen, is set up in booth #20 where she presents Did He or Didn't He? Inquiring Minds Want to Know... . Just how did her grandfather travel across the ocean? Check out the story at Creative Gene. Another interesting story of your family, Jasia! Thanks for sharing and thanks for all you've done to make this event what is today.

Booth #21 is leased by footnoteMaven who presents The Tale Is Here To Tell. Posted at footnoteMaven, it's the story of how her great-grandfather Isaac saved his own life, but at the same time, p***ed off his wife.

And at the end of the midway, but a stellar presentation, Susan Kitchens gives NOT from the Isle of the Lewes posted at Family Oral History Using Digital Tools [News]. Susan says: "Sometimes you look up a name on a list and you decide, 'Yup. That's me. That's us.' And long before the confirmation comes back, saying, um, no it's *not*, you plunge in and get involved. That's what my Dad did with his "Scottish" heritage (um, mythical)."

Thanks to all the carnies for a great show!

The theme for the next Carnival of Genealogy ties in with a noteworthy documentary coming September 23 to PBS -- "The War," by Ken Burns. "The War" tells the story of World War II through the lives of ordinary men and women from four American cities. For the mid-September Carnival, tell any story about a wartime event or soldier in your family (no need to limit it to World War II or America). The deadline is September 15. The Carnival will be hosted by Susan Kitchens at Family Oral History Using Digital Tools.

Submit your blog article to the next edition of carnival of genealogy using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.