Christmas

CHRISTMAS EVE

 

How did you spend Christmas Eve?  This is sort of hazy for me because when I was a child all we did was go to bed and try to listen for the reindeer on the roof.  I never heard them.

But when I got a little older my parents, somehow, celebrated Christmas Day on Christmas Eve Day.  We were not allowed to go outside and on Christmas Day we went to mass.

I think this was because they thought that it would be impossible to get the excited children to church when there were new toys.  I can not remember how long they did that subterfuge.

We each got perhaps one or two toys and clothing, which I did not consider very valuable.  Things were hard in the 1950’s and early 1960’s.   My father did not make a lot of money and there were the layoffs and strikes on occasion.

On the last visit to her oncologist I think my mother knew the time was short and she told me that each year her mother gave her $100 to buy the children toys.   At that time the $100 was worth a lot but that was before the electronics and the feeling that you had to give your children everything that they wanted and then even more.

What we received were board  games, things like Lincoln Logs and a Erector Set.  The boys would get guns and trucks and the girls doll houses and dolls.  As I grew older each child received one gift,perhaps clothing or a piece of jewelry for the daughters.’My mother would prepare a turkey and all the fixins’ 

Some of the grandparents and Great Uncle Bill would come for dinner or my father would prepare a dish and take the food to Uncle Bill, this was after my grandmother had died.  Bill and his sister, my grandmother, shared a house.

We had a good childhood despite not having much money, we were poor but we did not know it.

HAS "FATHER-1780-1847" COLEMAN BEEN FOUND?

It is a good possibility.  My cousin retired and now has some free time and she started up with the elusive Coleman search.   There was a difference of about ten years between Mother and Father.   In our ancestor, Michael Coleman's Bible that is how his parents were listed (as Mother and Father ), along with the years of their births and deaths.  This proved to be very difficult.

We both had found and evaluated Thomas Coleman, living in Warriors Mark Township, Huntingdon County PA.  His wife is in the category that would show the differences in age.   Then my cousin found a tree on Ancestry with the name of Thomas Coleman,  it was found on an online tree on Ancestry.  The owner had the exact years of his birth and death.

She also had the name of Thomas Coleman, daughter and husband.   It had been my theory that after Thomas wife died in 1831 he went to live with a daughter, it appears that this is so.  I also found a tombstone with his dates in an abandoned cemetery in Indiana County PA.   Also the daughter, Rachel Coleman Mitchell and her husband William Mitchell are also listed in the same cemetery.

A trip to the cemetery is now in order as well as a trip to Indiana County, PA, Historical Society.  A quick perusal of their holdings indicate that there is a Coleman file as well as a Mitchell file.  It is only about an hour drive from my home.   That will be on the agenda for this fall/winter.

I never made it to the cemetery, but I know where it is located.   It is through a private yard and up a large hill or mini mountain.   The Indiana County Historical Society and Indiana County Courthouse did not yield any information on Thomas except the fact he was buried in Cramer Cemetery.  It is not yet an "exhaustive" search.    I am thinking Cambria County next..

NORTH HILLS GENEALOGIST

Yesterday I attended the 6th Annual Fall Conference of the NORTH HILLS GENEALOGIST.  It was entitled "Discover Your Roots, Discover Yourself:  Putting Your Roots Into Context" by F. Warren Bittner.

This was a great presentation and covered types of sources, historical content, history, how to use Family Search and a case study of his own on Finding an Impossible Ancestor.  It was all extremely useful and thing that I can put to work immediately.

He also gave a great bibliography and I know the books on it will be difficult to find in Western Pennsylvania.   North Hills Genealogist always great, interesting and extremely knowledgeable speakers who have a lot to teach the attendees.

ARE THESE MY CHARLES AND HANNAH

Yesterday I attended a seminar entitled: Researching British & Irish Roots, presented by Maggie Loughran and Paul Blake.  It was given by the Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society.

There was so much information given as well as a time line of British and Irish History.   I had been searching for my husbands great great grandparents Charles Stephens and his wife Hannah, her last name was unknown.

In the 1870 census I find Charles, Hannah, Robert, Charles, James H, Richard and Kate living in Allegheny City, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.    Charles occupation is listed as a gardener  in that census.

What I found was a marriage in West Yorkshire, England.  In the Civil War Pension for their son Robert he has listed his place of birth as Dorcaster, which is in Yorkshire.   The marriage lists a Charles Stephen, full age, bachelor, and his occupation as florist.   The wife is Hannah Lonsdale, full age, spinster and no occupation.

The marriage was 27 November 1843 in the Parish of Leeds at St. Peters.   Robert was their first child born in 1845 and with the similarity of occupations I feel they are good candidates for the great great grandparents.

They are indeed the great great grandparents, in fact I have since found out that Roberts middle name is Lonsdale.   Charles, his father, middle name is Shanahan,  I wonder if it is his mothers name.

Michael Downs

For the past year, or perhaps two, I have been searching for information on my great grandmothers sister, Mary Naughton Downs.  I had heard of the name when she was a sponsor for my great uncle Richard Dowd on 23 December 1900.

I initially found her in the Baptism records of St. Thomas RC Church, Braddock, PA.  I finally found her in Newark NJ in the 1930 census, and with a bit of sleuthing also in the 1920 and 1940 census in the same place.

Who would have thought that the name Downs could have been misspelled in so many names.  A few months ago I found her in the 1910 census [Dowens] living in East Pittsburgh PA.  Mary was widowed at the time and had four children alive with four who had died.

I was finally able to find the date of Michaels death.  The date of death was 26 March 1898.  This was found on a probate record.  The will was written and signed on 22 March, 1898.  He must have been injured or gravely ill and not expected to survive. 

I had checked the deaths of Allegheny County and did not find any of his children or Michael listed.   I had also called the nearest two Catholic Cemeteries and they did not have anyone of that family listed.   I will have to go back and see the original list of Allegheny County death, if one exists.  One would think it would but stranger things have happened. 

Since she is in East Pittsburgh in 1910 and living there, or the nearby community of North Braddock since her arrival in the USA, where in the world is she in the 1900 census?  
This is still one part of the mystery to go.

WHO WILL READ THE RECORDS???

I went to the DMV to get my picture taken for my drivers license renewal.   I had to answer about ten computerized questions before they would take my picture.   Just sort of generic about organ donation and changing your political party.

I asked the woman if a lot of people had trouble with renewals, I was thinking that if you had never used a computer it might be difficult.   She answered that the elderly have trouble with answering the questions with the key pad and a lot of teenagers could not write their names.

WHAT,  she said that when they get there a signature is required for your drivers license and a lot of them do not know how to write their names.   Can we print it, NO a signature is required.  Then the next is can my mom sign for me?   NO, just do your best.   The woman also said she doubted that they can read the written word at all.

This is one of the saddest things I have heard in a while.   I knew that cursive was being eliminated in the schools but it astonished me that they were never taught to write their own names.   Something is missing in the Education Department in the USA.

Which brings me back to Genealogy, or any type of off line research.  As we all know there are millions of records that have not been transcribed.   Does this mean that in fifty years or so they will be obsolete?   It is even worse when you think someone would want to read the documents written in the old penmanship styles.

I guess a person could make a lot of money transcribing the written word...