In My Life: October 2010

Friday, October 29, 2010

Follow Friday: Genealogy and Me

If I haven't suggested Lori Hellmund's blog Genealogy and Me blog until now ... my apologies.

There are so many wonderfully creative and informative genealogists in the blogosphere that it is difficult to 'just pick one' so I always enjoy the opportunity to feature a blog on my reading list.

If I had to sum up why I follow Genealogy and Me, I would say it is because Lori reminds me that family history isn't just looking back at our family history found in census, tax and land records. Family history is found in what happens in our family at this moment.

Lori's "Fearless Females" was a month long event during Women's History Month. Engaging and fun event - a lot like the author!

Lori is also proof that yes, you can have a chance meeting over the Internet and develop a friendship, getting to know someone through their writings and willingness to share the important things in their life.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Wednesday's Child: Andrew Charnley

Andrew Charnley, son of Charles Charnley and Ann Jones. Born February 6, 1846, in Winnebago County, WI, Andrew was the oldest child of Charles and Ann's nine children. Charles and Ann immigrated to America from England in 1842 and settled in Winchester Township, Winnbago County, WI, with Ann's family.

Andrew died at the age of 16 on November 6, 1862, and is buried in Winchester Cemetery in the Charnley family plot.

Wordless Wednesday: Halloween at Badger School

"Halloween at Badger School." Vilas Township, Langlade Co., Wisconsin.

Digital Image. Undated. Original photograph privately held by Cindy Bergeron Scherwinski. 2010

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Wednesday's Children: Fremont and Orvelle Jones

Tombstone marking the graves of Fremont and Orvelle Jones, infant sons of James H. Jones (1821-1900) and Esther T. Clarke (1828-1898) buried in the Winchester cemetery, Winnebago County, WI.

Fremont Jones born 02 Oct 1856 in Winchester, Winnebago, WI, died at the age of five weeks on 09 Nov 1856.

Orvelle Jones born 30 Aug 1863 in Winchester, died on 20 Aug 1864, ten days short of his first birthday.

At the time of Orvelle's death, his sister and my great-grandmother, Agnes Josephine Jones was only 6-weeks old.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Tombstone Tuesday: Margaretta Shankle Space

Second great-grandmother, Margaretta Ann Shankle, was a pioneer in every sense of the word.

The second child of the eleven known children of Jacob Shankle and Rachel Click, Margaretta (aka Margaret) was born 17 April 1828 in Pennsylvania. The family is known to have been living in New Bethlehem, Clarion county, PA, by 1842. Margaret married Zephaniah Space on 19 Nov 1847 and by the early 1850's Margaret and Zeph emigrated to northern Wisconsin with their two children, Allen Zephaniah and Sarah Etta, settling in the village of Jenny on the shores of the Wisconsin River.

Zephaniah and Margaret ran one of the early boarding houses before building one of the first hotels which they named "The Clarion House." For unknown reasons, the name was changed afterwards to "The Eagle House." Land and court documents show the couple preferred to sign their names as 'Z. Space" and "M.A. Space." As the logging industry began to expand in this area of the state, relatives on both sides of the the family relocated to Jenny, now known as the city of Merrill. While some remained for a short time or a 'season', many put down roots and settled in what eventually became Lincoln county. Two of Margaret's sisters, Catherine and Sarah, both called Jenny home but only Sarah remained a resident. Catherine's daughter, Sarah Etta Frazier, and two nephews, Oscar Luzerne Frazier and William Marvin Andrew Frazier all made Jenny their permanent home.

Margaret and Zephaniah were granted a divorce on 16 April 1877, the day before Margaret's 49th birthday after almost 30 years of marriage. As part of the settlement, Margaret became the sole owner of The Eagle House as well as the title to a number of land purchases she had made over the years; enough to have a subdivision named "M.A. Space" as well as prime land along the Wisconsin River. Following the death of her daughter in 1903, Margaret amended her will to include the directive that upon her death, the land along the Wisconsin River would be sold and given to her granddaughters as they would need to have money of their own "apart from their husbands."

Money Margaret had received as part of her inheritance from her father was used to purchase land in north central Iowa, where Margaret, son Allen and his family relocated in the late 1880's until 1894 when the family returned to northern Wisconsin. While Margaret no longer had a home in Merrill, she divided her time between her two nephews, Allen and Nancy's home in Langlade county, as well as numerous trips to visit daughter Sarah Etta McCord, now living in the territory of Arizona, as well as lengthy trips back to Clarion county, PA.

Margaret died at the home of Allen and Nancy on 27 Nov 1904.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Wordless Wednesday: A Girl and Her Pony

What every little girl dreams of - a pony of her very own - thanks to her grandparents. Cindy and the pony Ginger, formerly known as Danny, circa early 1960s.

Tombstone Tuesday: Random Act of Cemetery Kindness

Soon to be brought to the attention of the Langlade County Genealogial Society as a project for a "Random Act of Cemetery Kindness."

Saturday, October 9, 2010

SNGF: I Like It In The DAR Library

Randy Seaver at Genea-Musings posted: Hey genea-philes, it's Saturday Night - time for more Genealogy Fun!!!

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:

1) A Facebook meme for women went viral this week - the "I Like It" meme which garnered responses like "I Like It ... On the Couch" or "I Like it ... on the Table." The subject was "purse" - where to put their purse. The mind boggled for awhile with some of the responses from supposedly proper genealogy ladies.

2) Please write an "I Like It" post on the theme of "I like doing genealogy research" someplace, and why.

3) Tell us about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post, in a comment or note on Facebook.

I like it in the DAR Library.

Did you hear that thump? That would be the collective sound of Daughters across the blogesphere succuming to the vapors ... however, this would be my answer to where I like doing genealogy research.

While genealogy and the DAR go hand in hand (or to quote Forrest Gump, "...like carrots and peas") genealogy and the preservation of historic documents are only two activities of the DAR.

Founded in 1896, the DAR Library was established to fill a need of the Society's growing genealogy department. From what the DAR called its modest 600-book beginnings, the Library has grown to include specialized American genealogical and historical manuscripts and publications that total over 180,000 volumes, 300,000 files and 65,000 microfilms.

While there may be a few larger genealogical libraries, the DAR library contains a wealth of material and definatley should be at the top of your list if you are visiting our nation's capital.

The DAR Library is located in Memorial Continental Hall in the DAR Headquarters complex, 1776 D St. NW, a short distance southwest of the White House. DAR members support the Library with membership dues; non-DAR members visiting the library pay a small user fee to help maintain the collections. Members of the Sons of othe American Revolution, Sons of the Revolution and Children of the American Revolution are exempt from the user fee, provided you can show a current membership card.

Additional information on the DAR Library is available on the DAR public web site.

There is also an awesome DAR Library presentation on YouTube on the Official YouTube Channel of the DAR.

A Time of Reflection and Jubilee

It never ceases to amaze me how smart my parents have become! My Dad is famous for his "ism's," several of which I have shared in my blog. Some of them are parental ("you'll appreciate this as you get older"), a couple apply to any situation in life, such as the time I was losing my patience with a customer visiting our family's women's retail store to which he replied, "Remember, she is someones grandmother. How would you like your grandmother to be treated?" Several, such as "Plaid or Plain?" and his reply of "Well, I won't walk across the street for it" in response to being asked how he liked a new recipe - are now Bergeron family standards.

Sitting down to write this post, I was genuinely surprised to find my last blog post was August 25th. Where did the time go? In answer to my own question, I recall my Dad commenting on how much faster time seemed to go the older he got. I also remember rolling my eyes whenever he uttered that sentiment.

Reflecting over my morning coffee, I am amazed at how quickly the past few days and weeks have become months. It isn't until now that I see how I have allowed commitments both from within and without my life to take up so much of my time and attention. I also realize those decisions of how to spend my day rests with me. I've not listened to that voice that reminds me that no matter what I may plan for this afternoon, tomorrow or next week, all I am guaranteed is this moment. Even with Cindy's Birthday Celebration Month set to kick off tomorrow, I will be grateful for the celebration of this moment and set a course for a Jubilee year.

The Big Site of Amazing Facts (c) describes Jubilee as "a season of rejoicing" and comes from the ancient Hebrews. The site describes the history of Jubilee as "Fifty years after the Jews were freed from Egyptian bondage, they created a semi-centennial festival that lasted a full year within which all land would be left fallow and returned to its original owners."

My Jubilee is being observed by a re-dedication of living in the moment, listening to the inner voice that reminds me when I becoming caught up in the extra-curricular that fill up my days but can threaten to overtake my life.

The changing of the seasons is marked by the length of sunlight, the migration of the birds, the "jubilee" of the leaves of the trees and the passing of the summer flowers. My first act of celebration is to post a new blog header photograph, taken a few weeks ago from the 'front porch' of our cabin. As we make our way towards the winter solstice, the constellations take up new positions in the night time sky but even as they move, I can count of the north star to point me in the right direction.