One of Ancestry.com’s hidden gems is its card catalog. Today we’ll look at how to get to the card catalogs, old and new. In later posts we’ll explore them in more detail. From the Ancestry.com home page, first click on the Search tab.
Another quick plug….! The Rootschat forum at www.rootschat.com is a wonderful genealogy discussion forum for those doing Scottish research, with individual areas devoted to every single county of Scotland.
The site also has threads where you can practice your Gaelic (Irish and Scottish), as well as your Cornish and Welsh! Other areas deal with English, Welsh, Manx, Channel Islands and Irish history, there’s an exhange and Read the rest of this entry »
Washington, DC. . . . John E. Taylor, a long-time archivist at the National Archives whose encyclopedic knowledge of World War II intelligence records and his ability to locate them made him legendary among students, journalists, authors, and historians, died September 20 at his home. He was 87.Mr. Taylor had been in declining health in recent years, but was at work at the Archives’ College Park facility last week. A memorial service is planned for mid-October.
A National Archives employee for 63 years, Mr. Taylor joined the agency the week World War II officially ended in September 1945, before most employees at the Archives were born. Often asked when he would retire, his standard answer was, “Not this week.”
Over the years, Mr. Taylor assisted thousands of individuals — from best-selling authors to college students — researching books, dissertations, articles, and term papers. Researchers from around the world have cited him for his grasp of history, an ability to recall historical events, and where the records about them could be found.
The Historical Marker Database recently uploaded a page for St. Andrew’s Church Cemetery in Darien, McIntosh County, Georgia.
(This posting is from Southern Graves.)
I grabbed this store/ recipe from The Ballycastle Blog: Irish Genealogy and More. Found it so interesting I thought I’d share it it with you.
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The following was contributed by an Irish relative in County Sligo, Ireland. He will be a guest contributor from time to time:
Nineteenth century Ireland suffered many years of localised crop failure. The Gotta Mór (the Great Hunger) of 1845-7 is remembered mainly because the crop failure was so widespread, but also because it was accompanied by major epidemics of cholera and typhoid which devastated a weakened population.
Maritime communities fared marginally better as they had access to food from the sea. The men fished, but it was women and children who scoured the shoreline at low tide for shellfish and edible sea-weed. On rocky shores they found periwinkles in rock pools, limpets attached to rocks and crabs in crevices under rocks or under drifts of seaweed. On sandy shores they could find cockles, mussels, razor-fish and clams.
There are four types of edible seaweed. Dillisk (Rhodymenia palmate) comes from the Gaelic word “ Duileasc “ which is derived from “ duill uisce “which translates as “water leaf” and it has almost become a generic name for all edible seaweeds. It is reddish in colour and grows as a parasite on other seaweeds. It does best in sheltered bays and it can be eaten fresh or dried. You can still find it for sale occasionally usually from a van at a market or from a house with a hand written sign outside.
Chicago is not exactly a “southern” city, but I’m sure there are Cubs (you know, the baseball team) fans all over the U.S. I wonder if this could start a trend or fad? Read on for a few articles about the ground-breaking for a Cemetery for fans of the Chicago Cubs.
“At last, a burial option for fans who live and die with the Cubs.
Cubs fans hoping for a World Series title before they die at least can be buried in a place that looks like Wrigley Field when they do.
Ground-breaking for “Beyond the Vines,” an internment area that will be built to look something like the ballpark’s ivy-covered brick center field wall, is scheduled for Friday morning at Bohemian National Cemetery on Chicago’s Northwest Side, said Dennis Mascari, who purchased the plots to carry out the concept.
Mascari said several people already have contacted him about placing their loved ones in urns in what he calls the “eternal skyboxes” that will be available at the Cemetery, 5255 N. Pulaski Rd.
To trace the Irish origins of a client’s Irish grandfather, I recently searched a number of government record databases. The Irish grandfather’s name was Thomas Hogan. Feeling confident in pinpointing the specific person, I entered the first name, Thomas, and the family name (surname), Hogan, in the search fields of the searchable database. My confidence quickly diminished, when, unfortunately, the search results did not produce the one and only Thomas Hogan I was looking for. Being patient and persistent, I took a chance and broadened the search by simply entering the family name (surname), Hogan, in the search field. Although, as you can guess, this wider search produced hundreds of records, I hoped that it might uncover the correct Thomas Hogan. Eureka! Lo and behold, the “Hogan only” search produced a record for a “Thos. Hogan”, the correct one, the grandfather I was looking for.
The lesson learned: before giving up and suspending your search for a specific first name-last name combination, broaden your search to include an abbreviated first name. You may ultimately find the person you are looking for!
Footnote: To quicken the creation of a written form or record, a government official sometimes abbreviated the first name of a person in that form or record. Today, searchable electronic databases contain those same abbreviations.
See more Irish family history articles and lessons learned in earlier posts below and in the archives.
The following was contributed by an Irish relative in County Sligo, Ireland. He will be a guest contributor from time to time:
Nineteenth century Ireland suffered many years of localised crop failure. The Gotta Mór (the Great Hunger) of 1845-7 is remembered mainly because the crop failure was so widespread, but also because it was accompanied by major epidemics of cholera and typhoid which devastated a weakened population.
Maritime communities fared marginally better as they had access to food from the sea. The men fished, but it was women and children who scoured the shoreline at low tide for shellfish and edible sea-weed. On rocky shores they found periwinkles in rock pools, limpets attached to rocks and crabs in crevices under rocks or under drifts of seaweed. On sandy shores they could find cockles, mussels, razor-fish and clams.
There are four types of edible seaweed. Dillisk (Rhodymenia palmate) comes from the Gaelic word “ Duileasc “ which is derived from “ duill uisce “which translates as “water leaf” and it has almost become a generic name for all edible seaweeds. It is reddish in colour and grows as a parasite on other seaweeds. It does best in sheltered bays and it can be eaten fresh or dried. You can still find it for sale occasionally usually from a van at a market or from a house with a hand written sign outside.
The most common type of edible seaweed found in exposed areas is “Creathnach” (Ulva lactuca) a kind of sea lettuce that grows profusely on the seaward side of rocks. It can be found all year round and can be eaten fresh but it is much more nutritious if it is boiled (on milk) for at least an hour. It cannot be dried.
“ Sleabhach “ ( Porphyra umbilicalis) grows on rocks from Autumn to Spring but is at its best in January – February. The fronds stick together on the rocks when they dry and can be lifted off flat rocks in large sheets and ribbons. It is boiled for at least an hour often on milk. It cannot be dried.
The fourth type of edible sea weed was “Cairrgín” ( Chondrus crispus ). It starts off red but turns green in sunlight and white when dried. It grows low down on the sea shore so it needs to be a very low tide to pick it. If it is cooked in milk for about half an hour and the fronds are removed, it sets into something like a blancmange. It was considered an excellent food for those convalescing after an illness. It can be purchased in some health food shops as Carrageen moss. The blancmange can be improved by adding a sweetened fruit such as cooked gooseberry or raspberries.
Nori used in sushi dishes is a processed form of “Sleabhach”. Apparently the Japanese farm over 600 square kilometres of the seaweed and the annual crop is worth a billion dollars. Here is a recipe to impress your Japanese friends.
Sleabhach agus Ruacháin
(Slough-uck a-guss Roo-caw-in)
Nori and Cockles
Ingredients per individual serving
3-4 oz. Nori
15 – 20 Cockles
Butter
Milk.
Cook the Nori in milk for an hour. Cook the cockles in their own juice. If the Nori sheets have not broken up put them in a food-processor for a few moments Serve with a Nori mound in the centre, pour over it a little of the cockle juice and top it with a generous blob of butter. Surround the Nori with the cockles and serve.
I have never seen Nori or the inside of a sushi restaurant, but believe it should work. The original is delicious and cockles go particularly well with “Sleabhach” though other types of shellfish were also used. Perhaps someone who tries the recipe might post his or her culinary review.
See additional Irish family history articles and lessons learned in earlier posts below and in the archives.
Roll of the Honorary Freedom of the City of Dublin (1876-1999)
Isaac Butt, Q.C. 4th Sept., 1876 Irish lawyer and Home Rule leader.
Right Hon. William Ewart Gladstone, P.C., M.P. 1st Nov., 1877 British Prime Minister and Home Uler crusader.
Ulysses S. Grant, ex-President U.S.A. 30th Dec., 1878 18th President of the U.S.A., on his world tour.
Captain Edward E. Potter. 26th April, 1880 Captain of Relief Ship, Constellation, U.S. Navy, sent to relieve famine of 1879-80
Charles Stewart Parnell 3rd Jan., 1882 Irish nationalist leader.
John Dillon, M.P. 3rd Jan., 1882 Irish nationalist politician.
Kevin Izod O’Doherty 10th Aug., 1885
Hon. Patrick A. Collins, Senator, U.S.A. 22nd July, 1887
William O’Brien, M.P. 22nd July, 1887 Irish political leader
Timothy Daniel Sullivan, M.P. 10th Dec., 1887
Thomas Sexton, M.P. 28th Dec., 1887
The Rt. Hon. the Marquis of Ripon, P.C. 16th Jan., 1888 English politician
The Rt. Hon. John Morley, P.C., M.P. 16th Jan., 1888 British author and politician. Chief Secretary of Ireland (1886).
Our friends at Who Do You Think You Are ? Australia have told us that due to record ratings and popular demand, the recent run of the Australian Who Do You Think You Are? series is going straight back on air as a repeat, starting this Friday 22nd February at on SBS TV. In addition to this the station is continuing to show various episodes of the
Episode 1 on Jack Thompson was the highest rating Australian production ever on SBS TV. Eneclann researched Jack’s convict Irish Ancestor, Patrick Byrnes, for this episode. You can link to the show’s web site at WDYTYAA