Sunday, December 2, 2018

Sunday Drive: First Time Down in Mexico - Thanksgiving Day, 1924

The people in this photo are Dad (Delbert A. Currey, 1869-1954), Mother (Ethel Viola Plank Currey, 1882-1961), Junior (Harold D. Currey, Jr., 1923-1945), Marguerite (M. H. Currey, 1913-1999), Min (Bernice E. Grenfell Currey, 1902-1980).

[From my personal collection]




© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Saturday, December 1, 2018

Saturday Night Entertainment

I love this picture of Beverly Sue Hill (1942 - 2014) who's my fourth cousin, once removed.*

[Beverly Hill (Hutchings)(Eick) posted to his Ancestry family tree by Kent_Hutchings)

You can read her obituary here.



*Last week I posted several portraits of her parents Ethel Imogene Nash and John Washington Hill.

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Friday, November 30, 2018

And Now for Something Totally Different: London Medieval Murder Map

This fascinating map was created by The Violence Research Centre (VRC), based at the Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge to answer the question "How violent was medieval London?'. Here's their introduction:
Each pin represents the approximate location of one of 142 homicides cases in late medieval London. Click on a pin to open a window that displays the story behind the event, based on the original record produced by the Coroner. For more information on how to use the map, visit this page. If you are referencing our map, please read the note at the bottom of the page. You can listen to the launch lecture here.
[Eisner, Manuel (2018) Interactive London Medieval Murder Map. University of Cambridge: Institute of Criminology, retrieved from (https://www.vrc.crim.cam.ac.uk/vrcresearch/london-medieval-murder-map/lmm-map).]


This is the first pin I clicked on, which didn't turn out the way I expected from the description:




I learned about this project via The History Blog which is a great resource for history buffs.

Thursday, November 29, 2018

Fantastic Find: The Irish DNA Registry on Facebook

If you have Irish roots, have done DNA testing for your genealogy and uploaded the results to GEDMatch, this closed Facebook group could be very helpful.

[From their Facebook page]


Here's how they describe themselves:
We are a group to assist you with researching those links with DNA matches who share Irish Ancestry. We have a comparison tool called Matchbox which allows you to compare our database of member against your GEDMatch one to many match data.



© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Working on Wednesday: The Neals' House at Lake Morena Village - 1948

Besides their motel in Anaheim, Jimmy and Jessie Neal owned a house in near Lake Morena in San Diego's East County. From the sand and cement blocks it's clear that they were about to embark on a building project there. I wonder what it was. (And too bad that the photo didn't include their wonderful woodie!)

[From my personal collection]

I have vague memories of visiting this house, but not from 1948 when this photo was taken.



© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Tuesday, November 27, 2018

Fantastic Find Revisited: CSI: Dixie

Here's the site's simplest description of what it contains: "CSI: Dixie collects 1582 coroners reports from six South Carolina counties for the years 1800-1900." The counties include Anderson County, Edgefield County, Greenville County, Kershaw County, Spartanburg County, and Union County.

Put together by historians at the University of Georgia as a part of their ehistory project which seeks "not merely to reach a broader public but to involve a broader public."

[Unitarian Cemetery, Charleston South Carolina Gateway Walk, 2008. My photo.]

If your ancestors lived in one of those six South Carolina counties, you just might find familiar names mentioned in the records and you're welcome to share what you know:
"For all its focus on the dead, then, CSI:D is a living project, inviting users to contribute photos, documents, leads, and details in the cases of 1582 unfortunate souls. Unlike a book, which seeks to be the last word on a subject, CSI:D is just the first word; it is an appeal to the public to join an ongoing investigation."
And even if you don't happen to have anyone from those counties, the site provides a useful description of the history and role of coroners and their juries in the 19th century South.

Hat tip to Erik Loomis of Lawyers, Guns & Money blog.

Note: I first posted this in 2016 and I neglected to mention that some of these coroners reports detail the deaths of slaves. Here are links to reviews and notices of CSI:D that include the insight into the violence of slavery.


© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday, November 26, 2018

Book Shelf: Virginia Immigrants and Adventurers: A Biographical Dictionary, 1607-1635

If you have ancestors who arrived in Virginia in the early years of the colony, Martha W. McCartney provides an excellent place to begin your research.


It's available as new or used from Amazon or you can purchase the e-book through Google.


© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.