The theme for the 62nd Carnival of Genealogy is Three Wishes. The assignment is to write a letter to the non-denomenational Genea-Santa and ask for three things from our ancestors. The catch is that the items have to be material (no wishing for information), but they don't necessarily have to exist. You can wish for pretend material ancestral hand-me-downs.
Dear Genea-Santa,
I have been very good this year, except for a little bit of cemetery trespassing and that one photocopying binge that might be a copyright violation. Other than that, I provided information when I could and always said thank you when others gave to me. Here are the things I want:
1. The Civil War uniform and silver-tipped cane from the Williamson family. I have a copy of a will that says a Civil War uniform was given to my great-great grandfather and his brother as young boys by their bachelor uncle. I also have a paper that says my great-great-great-great grandfather was given a silver-tipped cane for his service in the Arkansas state legislature in the 1830's-1850's. I have talked to three other descendants and none has any idea where these items are, or had even heard they exist. I just want to see them, that's all.
2. A uniform from the Robert E. Lees baseball team, Russellville, Arkansas, circa 1874. I have a 1935 newspaper article about my great-great grandfather reminiscing about his glory days as pitcher for the Robert E. Lees baseball team. They traveled around Arkansas and played other teams, including a big trip to Little Rock to practice with the Little Rock Clippers. I'd love to see what they wore while participating in the national pastime. A quote from the article:
"The suits worn by the R. E. Lees: knee pants of blue wool, brown shirt, white cap, and white sox. Any kind of shoes were worn and some of the boys wore none when they discovered they could run faster in their stocking feet." [Russellville (Arkansas) Democrat, November 10, 1935.]
3. The death certificate for John Benjamin Lenertz
I know the form letter says no record exists, but Genea-Santa, you and I both know the state of Oklahoma is WRONG! They have a 1913 record for his wife, but not a 1919 for him? Yeah, bogus. I knew you'd agree Genea-Santa. So if you could just provide the certificate, I'd be really grateful since you know I'm just going to tear up Oklahoma looking for it anyway.
Well, I guess that's it. I can think of a million other things I want, but I know there are others out there who have wish lists, too, so you better steer that sleigh toward other blogs.
Happy Holidays!
Amy
P.S. I'll be in Raleigh in May for the 2009 National Genealogical Conference. If you could have some land records for Richard Monson Jones just sort of hop off a shelf in front of me at the state library and do a little song and dance, I'd really appreciate it.
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