Advent Calendar: December 17

(This is post 17 in the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories hosted by Geneabloggers.com)

Prompt: December 17 - Grab Bag

Author's choice. Please post from a topic that helps you remember Christmases past!

Back in the 1970's/early 80's my grandparents handled Christmas dinner. They would go visit their grandkids in the morning, then head home to get the dinner ready. One year, they returned home to find the fire department in the driveway. It seems my grandmother left a pot on the stove.

The only lingering damage was the stink left from the burning pot. I remember seeing the pot in the driveway when we arrived for dinner.

The incident became a family joke. My grandfather must have thought it was funny, because when he wrote a timeline of his life, he included the burning pot event in 1983.

Advent Calendar: December 17

Advent Calendar: December 16

(This is post 16 in the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories hosted by Geneabloggers.com)

Prompt: December 16 - Christmas at School

What did you or your ancestors do to celebrate Christmas at school? We you ever in a Christmas pageant?

I have no idea what my ancestors did at school. My own school (of the basic suburban public variety) had Christmas programs each year. We were divided by class and grade. We stood on the steps of the stage in the multi-purpose room/cafeteria. We sang standard songs.

There wasn't much special about these programs, which is why they make for weak blog fodder.

My son's elementary school has a program each year for third graders. It's a musical play. Each person has a line and there is lots of singing. The year he did it, there was a western theme with some villains and a plot about saving the holidays. It was fun. This year he is in band and there was a holiday program for the three grades.

Advent Calendar: December 16

Wordless Wednesday: Niagara Edition

Wordless Wednesday: Niagara Edition

Advent Calendar: December 15

(This is post 15 in the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories hosted by Geneabloggers.com)

Prompt: December 15 - The Holiday Happenings!

Often times December to mid-January birthdays get overshadowed by the Christmas/Hanukkah/New Year holidays. So we're going to shine a spotlight on those family members and ancestors this time around. Select one or more December to mid-January birthdays and/or anniversaries in your family tree. Write a short tribute to or memory of those birthday guys or gals and write a toast to the anniversary couples.

My mom has a birthday after Christmas. Usually it's celebrated separately and it's pretty low key.

I have a great-grandfather who was born on Christmas Day. Sam Williamson was born on December 25, 1878 in Russellville, Pope County, Arkansas. He also died on the date of my wedding anniversary, but that's a fact for another time.

My great-great grandfather with the checkered past was also born on Christmas Day. Noel Thibodeaux was born in St. Landry Parish, Louisiana in 1857. He didn't have too may Christmases, though, because his wandering eye got him shot.

I also had a great-grandmother who died on Christmas Eve. She had surgery for an intestinal blockage and died from complications on December 24, 1935. I did not know this fact until my grandfather (her son) had already passed. Christmas must have been difficult for him, but he never said anything.

Wow, way to bring down the Christmas vibe, Amy.

Happy birthday to those who came to be in the season. That means you too, Thomas (aka Mr. Geneabloggers.com.)

Advent Calendar: December 15

Finding Answers Brick by Brick

Does your tree have "issues?" You know, those bits of information that seem correct, but you just can't shake that funny feeling that something is wrong? I have a few of those, too.

Below is the 1850 census (family 454 in Pope County, Arkansas, page 66 on Ancestry.com). It shows my great-great-great grandfather, John Laurens Williamson, his second wife, his four kids with his first wife, and a fifth child with his second wife. At least that's the assumption that everyone makes. I have documentation on everyone except Horatio. This is the only record I've found of his existence.

Now I've done a lot of work on the Williamsons of Pope County. I know almost all of them. Did Horatio die young? Did he skip town before the 1860 census? What bugged me about this record was that no relationship information is given for these people. Are we sure these eldest four children are full siblings?

I finally decided to try to locate a will for John Laurens Williamson and see if any of these children are named as heirs or in some other capacity. I ordered microfilm from the Family History Library and had it delivered to my local Family History Center. I searched the microfilm, but found no will for my subject. I found references to the will, small notations and notes about guardians, but no will.

The index was useless, so I just started going though the filmed books page by handwritten page. I found nothing after the date of John's death.

Since I had the film anyway, I just started searching through it from the beginning, including the time before John L. Williamson's death. There were so many Williamsons in that county...maybe I'd find something else of interest.

Then suddenly, the name Williamson popped out at me from page 92 of book E of microfilm 1034018:

It said in part "On this day comes John L Williamson and files his petition in which he states that he is the father of John S, Horatio B, Sally J, and James L Williamson..."

Apparently another Williamson died in Davidson County, Tennessee. These four children were heirs and John was requesting guardianship of their interests. I found the information I was looking for, but it wasn't in John L. Williamson's will.

So now I know these four are John's children. I have two records showing Horatio's existence and now I can add him and his siblings to the tree. I still don't know what happened to Horatio, but he has a timeline now.

Sometimes the answers aren't were you expect to find them. It's worth it to go page by page. This may have been tiny brick in a huge wall of questions, but it is a brick and I have more answers than I did yesterday.

Finding Answers Brick by Brick

Advent Calendar: December 14

(This is post 14 in the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories hosted by Geneabloggers.com)

Prompt: December 14 - Fruitcake, Friend or Foe?

Did you like fruitcake? Did your family receive fruitcakes? Have you ever re-gifted fruitcake? Have you ever devised creative uses for fruitcake?

I've never had fruitcake. Ever. And it's going to stay that way.

My mother was the fruitcake maker in the family. Apparently, according to fruitcake lovers, it's a pretty good recipe.

When I was younger, we had to go to a special store (Arco?) once a year and buy the supplies. This included little colored fruity candy squares and different nuts including walnuts and pecans.

There wasn't much "cake" in a fruitcake. All the fruity bits and nuts were coated in egg, maybe flour and rum. I do remember those things stinking of rum. No wonder everybody liked them. When you cut a slice of my mom's fruitcake, it was pretty much just nuts and fruit carefully stuck together with rum-based edible glue.

These fruitcakes were made in assembly line fashion. Once done, cooled and out of the pan, they were wrapped in foil. I always thought they looked like silver bricks and would make good doorstops.

But you know what? We never had any leftovers, so I guess that recipe was good. I'll never know though, because I don't *do* fruitcake--even if it's coated in rum.

Advent Calendar: December 14

Advent Calendar: December 13

(This is post 13 in the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories hosted by Geneabloggers.com)

Prompt: December 13 - Holiday Travel

Did you or your ancestors travel anywhere for Christmas? How did you travel and who traveled with you? Do you remember any special trips?

I come from a small family. Even when you add "extended" it's still pretty tiny. Most everyone lived in the same city, so our trips were pretty short.

For almost 30 years, my aunt and uncle have had Christmas Eve. It usually involves ham and cheesy potatoes. I still get an invitation.

Christmas morning was always at our house. My parents did the Christmas breakfast and my grandparents would come over. They always had to make the rounds and visit all the grandkids. After a while they'd leave to prepare for dinner.

Christmas dinner was at my grandparents house. How we all fit in there I'll never know, but we did. Grandma made a good turkey.

Now my parents have taken over Christmas dinner. They are the grandparents and there's new grandchildren running around. We still have turkey. It's still good. I still sit at the kids' table.

Advent Calendar: December 13

Advent Calendar: December 12

(This is post 12 in the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories hosted by Geneabloggers.com)

Prompt: December 12 - Charitable / Volunteer Work

Did your family ever volunteer with a charity such as a soup kitchen, homeless or battered women's shelter during the holidays? Or perhaps were your ancestors involved with church groups that assisted others during the holiday?

My short answer is no to the above, but...

My dad was involved in the Lions Club for many years. Each Christmas, they had a breakfast with Santa. When was young, I got to attend with the other kids. It was swell. We had breakfast, we made crafts, Santa came. One year, the back of me was even in the paper. Story of my life.

When I got older, I got to be a helper at those breakfasts. That was fun, too, because I felt grown up.

Come to think of it, my parents still have some of my Lions Club crafts still hanging on the tree.

Advent Calendar: December 12

Advent Calendar: December 11

(This is post 11 in the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories hosted by Geneabloggers.com)

Prompt: December 11 - Other traditions

Did your family or friends also celebrate other traditions during the holidays such as Hanukkah or Kwanzaa? Did your immigrant ancestors have holiday traditions from their native country which they retained or perhaps abandoned?

The first time I read these questions, my initial answer was, "I don't know." So...I called my grandparents and asked them.

My grandfather's parents were born to French speakers in Cajun Louisiana. He says they had turkey and mince meat pie. He can't remember anything else, but says he always loved desserts. He was one of many in a large Catholic family but says he always got a present.

My grandmother's parents were German immigrants. My grandmother's mother passed away very young, so my grandmother only knows Christmas memories with her father and her siblings. She says they always had a tree, which is interesting given the extreme poverty in which they lived in 1930's Los Angeles. Her brother would get a tree for fifty cents (or sometimes free) on Christmas Eve, after the price was reduced for quick sale. When she woke on Christmas morning the tree would always be decorated. I suspect much of my grandmother's childhood Christmas memories were created by her older brother who saw to it the holiday was celebrated, while their father worked to keep food on the table. The Christmas meal was a roasted chicken. My grandmother said that when her mother was alive, she liked to bake and would make streudel.

My grandmother told me a funny story. One Christmas Eve, she got out of bed and went into the living room. The presents were under the tree and there was a (used) bicycle for her! The bike had the type of kickstand that would elevate the back wheel so you could pedal in place. My grandma got on the bike and pedaled and pedaled and pedaled, all while her family was asleep--her brother was sleeping on the couch! The next morning, she got up and pretended to be surprised about the bicycle.

It was fun answering this question for the Advent Calendar series, because it resulted in a great phone conversation with my grandparents.

Advent Calendar: December 11

Anatomy of a Military Pension File, Part 4

Previously, I reported on the acquisition of my great-great-great grandfather's military pension file. The documents contained within paint a picture of a man and his family about which I knew very little. I've decided to share this 103-page treasure chest of information with you a few pages at a time.

Page 13: Mexican War Pension Survivor's Brief

Max Baerecke was a veteran of two wars. This document is a survivor's brief from his time in the Mexican War. It provides his name, current address, rank, company and regiment.

The recognized attorney is listed, along with law office location and fee ($25).

Max's dates of service are as follows: enlisted on August 15, 1847 and was discharged on April 30, 1848. There is also a notation of Max's service in the Civil War (O(ld) W(ar)) in Wisconsin from 1862-1865.

The length of time Max served in the Mexican war was 8 months and 15 days, per this document.

Max Baerecke was born August 24, 1827 and is 60 years old at the time of this document's creation on February 5, 1887.

There is a printed section that says, "Rate: EIGHT DOLLARS per month, commencing January 29, 1887...." but the lines below it are blank.

Signatures for the Examiner, Pension Searcher and Bounty Land Searcher are provided.

At the bottom of the paper, there is the handwritten notation "disabled," an approval date of 11 April 1888 and a signature of a reviewer. To the right is another approval date of 12 April 1888 and a signature of a re-reviewer.

What does this document tell me?

1. I already knew the residence of Max Baerecke, but this paper reiterates these facts. The exact dates of service in the Mexican War are new to me and will be added to his timeline in my genealogy software program.

2. This document has Max's birthday! And since it is a survivor's brief, it's pretty safe to say Max knows his own birth date! Yay! A birth fact!

3. I know that Max was deemed disabled and approved for a Mexican War pension. I'm guessing the amount was eight dollars a month, given the printed form, but can't tell for sure since the portion below was left blank.

What does the next page hold? More questions and answers of course. Stay tuned....

Anatomy of a Military Pension File, Part 4

Advent Calendar: December 10

(This is post 10 in the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories hosted by Geneabloggers.com)

Prompt: December 10 - Christmas Gifts

What were your favorite gifts both to receive and to give? Are there specific gift-giving traditions among your family or ancestors?

The only real tradition within my immediate family I can think of is the giving of Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve. Every year on the 24th, my sister and I would put on our new holiday-themed jammies. Then, my mom would read our awesome pop-up version of The Night Before Christmas.

On Christmas Day, we'd go to our grandparents house. For a few years, we had a pinata. Why, I do not know because this is not of our heritage. Anyway, the grandkids (of which I was one) enjoyed the privilege of blindly swinging a big stick in the vicinity of our relatives. At some point, the candy would fall and so would an envelope. What was it? It was plane tickets for my grandmother to go see her only living brother. And once she realized that, she'd cry. But she's never really cry. She's just tear up and be speechless. It was cute.

One of the best gifts I ever received? My answer is an odd one, but it requires a back story. I did not like my husband when I first met him. I thought he was annoying, but he was in my orbit because we had the same friends. At one point, we split a 5-game package of hockey tickets. With each game he got less annoying, so you could say that the Los Angeles Kings brought us together.

On the way to those games, we'd always pass a store with a sign that said "Honey Bean Pies." I joked that it sounded like a term of endearment. At some point, the name and the joke was shortened to Bean and I haven't been Amy in this house since.

The years rolled on and we moved from an NHL town, to a no hockey town to an AHL town. In Houston, we enjoy the Aeros games where you get twice the fights at half the price. The fans wear great jerseys, too. Once I commented on how cool the Milwaukee Admirals jersey was. It was odd. It was funky. It was me.

So that Christmas, I received that very jersey from my husband:

Customized with my name and the year we were married:

I got an engagement ring one Christmas Eve. I even got a car once. But this jersey is one of my favorite gifts ever. I don't expect anyone to understand why, but the person who gave it to me will.

Advent Calendar: December 10

Advent Calendar: December 9

(This is post 9 in the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories hosted by Geneabloggers.com)

Prompt: December 9 - Grab Bag

Author's Choice. Please post from a topic that helps you remember Christmas past!

Technically, my post isn't about the past, because my family is still using this idea started by my mom. A few years back, my mom gathered all the Christmas family photos through the years, as well as all the photo holiday cards that have been sent to their house. The whole stack of pictures now rests in a basket that comes out every Christmas. She sets the basket in a high-traffic area, on the counter between the kitchen and the family room. Guests love to look at those pictures. Heck, I've seen them 1,000 times and I still look at them, too.

So my "grab bag" post is to share my mom's picture basket idea with readers. Does your family share past holiday pictures in a creative way? Do tell!

Advent Calendar: December 9

Wordless Wednesday: Flagstaff Train Station Edition

Flagstaff, Arizona

June 2009

Wordless Wednesday: Flagstaff Train Station Edition

A Family History Expos Honor

Guess where I'm going? I didn't even have time to tell you about my exciting arrangements to attend the Arizona Family History Expo before the organizers went and made me a Blogger of Honor for the event!

I'm honored to be part of such a prolific group. I know some of the other bloggers already and can't wait to meet the rest.

If you're going to be in Mesa on January 22-23, 2010, do let me know so we can meet in person. To everyone else, I promise to keep you informed about the happenings and experiences at this Family History Expo.

Can't attend Mesa? Family History Expos are in several different states throughout the year. Check 'em out.

A Family History Expos Honor

Advent Calendar: December 8

(This is post 8 in the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories hosted by Geneabloggers.com)

Prompt: December 8 - Christmas Cookies

Did your family or ancestors make Christmas cookies? How did you help? Did you have a favorite cookie?

My mom made sugar cookies every Christmas in our very 1970's orange kitchen. At my parents' house there is probably photographic evidence of this process. My mom made the dough, but she let us use the cookie cutters. I remember there was a profile Santa with a bag, a star, a bell, a snowman and a gingerbread-shaped cutter.

When the cookies cooled we got to frost them. My mom would make a big batch of white frosting, then divide it into bowls where she would use food coloring to provide many shades. We also had sprinkles, red & green crystals and those metallic edible silver balls.

All the sugar cookies were my favorites. Though I liked to decorate with those silver balls, I never ate the cookies that had them. What the heck were those things anyway?

Advent Calendar: December 8