Relics: Genealogy, family stories, history & other curiosities.

  If this were a movie, this part from September to say early December would be that musical montage where lots happens, there is a lot of hard work and then resolution.   It was a blur. It was full of starts and stops and I was stunned for most of it.  I tried to make the best decisions possible, not only for all my genealogy research, but for all the stuff, our place and for us.   Helene hit and our house became uninhabitable. We were in a hotel and could only bring our essentials. The portrait of my grandmother had to stay behind. My mom's wedding album, my dad's beloved high school yearbooks, photos, important, treasured items, documents, art and everything, but what we needed to get through the next few days.   Yes, some of it is only stuff. But it's my stuff. And a lot of if was sentimental and important to me. I wanted it. I deserved it. I am by no means a hoarder.  And yes were lucky that a good deal of our stuff was not floating down...

I have been wanting to write about leaving Florida and moving back to New York for a long while now. There was a lot to do physically to make it all happen and there was a great deal synthesize emotionally. Unlike, the rest of the entries I have posted here since this blog started, this post is not solely about my genealogy research.   September 27, 2024 Hurricane Helene caused our home to flood. We were lucky compared to our neighbors, we sustained minimal damage. But enough damage that we needed to evacuate, lost power and then were told by condo management we all needed to empty our condos and move for the 3-6 months repairs were underway. Of the 300 units in our development 296 of them were deemed uninhabitable by FEMA.  In the ten years I lived in Florida caring for my parents and working, I lived through five or so hurricanes, some big and scary, others minor. During each I worried about things.  I felt concern for our safety but knew I would do whatever I need...

I have many favorite family and historic photos so it was hard to choose one. This photo of the Haverstraw Baseball team was in a box of my Great Uncle Harry's belongings. I was going through the box with his son and we were happy to come across some newly discovered and some long forgotten treasures.   In this photo my Uncle is second from the left in the bottom row. Next to him on the end is my grandfather, Tuck. I never met Tuck and thrills me that they were friends as well as brothers and did things together like this.   Almost immediately,  we wanted to identify the rest of the team. My dad took some guesses and then suggested I take the photo to the local senior citizens center. The members there had a great time trying to guess who was who and it generated lots of conversations. We narrowed down who might be who and several members were certain they identified family members. One senior suggested I take the photo to the local hometown newspaper (this was ...

 It's been more than a minute since I have posted!  I wanted to share an important tool for researching your family!  Newspapers.  Here is our latest podcast discussing just that.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDfPCXrZCdo

  On April 21, 1887 Minnie Jones was born in Sandy Fields, NY.  She was my maternal great grandmother and the desire to learn more about her and her life has led me to my life's work, genealogy and family history.   I never met Minnie, she died before I was born.  I was lucky to hear many great stories from my aunts, my cousins and my mother.  I was luckier still that the cousin who had many of her photos stored in the attic, shared them with me.   Minnie has what I imagine would be a very hard life. She was born to a single mother, widowed before age 50 and raised her family through the depression and world war. Her home town, Sandy Fields and its neighboring towns full of family and friends were washed away to make room for Harriman State Park. Yet, every photo I find of Minnie, she is smiling her wide, happy grin.   Finding documented evidence of Minnie's life has been a genealogical challenge! But what I have found has been revealing...

 A new podcast is available today!  What's Your Story? A mid-western Case Study https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMwBenFNNIs For this podcast Lois and I researched our tech expert and producer, Nicole's family.  I was great to work some different records and stretch my research skills.  I have no mid-western ancestors and found Iowa records fascinating!  

I have learned to look for genealogy, family history and local history in interesting and unusual places.  I have been rather successful in searching E-Bay for the towns and names I research.   A few weeks before Christmas I searched Haverstraw, NY in E-bay and came across this nugget!  It is a poster advertising an event at Haverstraw High School on December 16, 1929-- Donkey Basketball. I believe it is the the police dept. vs. the fire depts.  The poster is in good condition, its a bit faded but it is ninety years old! This seller did an awesome job packing it safely.   Donkey basketball? I had never heard of such a thing!  From what I can tell it seemed to be a popular fundraising activity ages ago in more rural areas.  I can't imagine riding a donkey, let alone doing it while trying to play basketball. Let's face it, I can't imagine playing basketball, let alone on a donkey.    What I love most about this little gem is ...