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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Sunday Drive: 1927 Chevrolet Coupe Found in Lake Huron Shipwreck

Apparently it's in great shape, except for some invasive mussels:

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Fantastic Find: The Statue of Liberty - Ellis Island Foundation

The Statue of Liberty - Ellis Island Foundation (SOLEIF) is a private sector charity which partners with the National Park Service to restore and maintain these monuments. In addition SOLEIF has created an American Immigrant Wall of Honor, listing the names of 700,000 immigrants to date. If your ancestors entered the United States through Ellis Island, you can locate then using the SOLEIF's passenger search page.

[Immigrants on an Atlantic Liner, Levick, Edwin, 1869-1929. Date Created/Published: c1906

Source: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.]

[Ellis Island, Bain News Service, publisher.

Source: George Grantham Bain Collection, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.]

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Family Friday: Ethel Imogene Nash & John Washington Hill

I've found two portraits of Ethel, one of my distant Moore/Matthews cousins)* and her husband John posted by a grandson of the couple who were married in the mid-1930s. As far as I can tell, they always lived in Christian County, Illinois.

["Grandpa Johnny and Grandma Ethel" posted to his Ancestry.com family tree by Kent_Hutchings]

["Grandpa Johnny and Grandma Ethel" posted to his Ancestry.com family tree by Kent_Hutchings]

Here's how we're related:

[Ancestry.com]

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Celebrations: Thanksgiving Day

I hope you're having a great day!

[Art and Picture Collection, The New York Public Library. "Thanksgiving greetings." The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1909. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e3-52da-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99]

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Home to Thanksgiving - 1867

For those of you who are traveling today, keep safe.

[Currier & Ives. (ca. 1867) Home to Thanksgiving. , ca. 1867. New York: Published by Currier & Ives.

Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2002695889/.]

P.S. My daughter Christine has come down with the flu and won't be posting until she's feeling better.


© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers: Rockhounding on the Oregon Coast

I'm guessing that this picture of Mother and me was taken at Merchant's Beach, Oregon, in about 1960.

[From my personal collection]

I wonder what the joke was.




© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Sunday Drive: Postman's Scooter, Monaco - 2018

This is perfect for those narrow streets...

[From my personal collection]

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Interesting Find: Menu Collections Revisited

A few years ago I posted about various menu collections.  As I wait for my mother to arrive home after a long day of flying, it reminds me of the main thing I always seem to think about when traveling--what am I going to eat?

I just came upon a site Airline Meals.net Nothing But Airline Food!, which includes both recent and historical airline menus and food:

What you might get on a flight from India to Sri Lanka in 2017.

The rest of this post is a repost from 2016:

Menu for the 7 April 1960 Air France flight.  Om nom nom.  From the Los Angeles Public Library Menu Collection.

Bookstores and libraries dedicate large portions of their space to cookbooks, cooking shows are popular, food blogs and online recipes are everywhere, and even my Facebook feed is full of friends' pictures of food they have made or are about to eat.

Our ancestors also ate, of course!  And not always at home.

I've already found some sources that deal with what our ancestors ate, like Genealoger's "Cooking and Food" section and blogs like Ancestors in Aprons.

But today I stumbled on the Menu Collection of Hayden Mathews at Johnson and Wales University.*

This unique, beautiful, and historical collection of menus was graciously donated on behalf of Mr. Hayden Mathews of Vero Beach, Florida and Stamford, Connecticut. Mr. Mathews began collecting menus when he was a young boy in the 1930s. There are over 300 items, spanning the 1920s through the 1940s, from hotels and inns, cruises and shipping lines, trains, planes, clubs, and commemorative events.
Some of the menus were collected during Mr. Mathews’ travels with his family, but as his relatives and parents' friends learned of his endeavor they enthusiastically contributed to the collection. Evidence of this can be found in a humorous letter from a great uncle who helped add to the collection.

You could look at these menus to get an idea of what your ancestors (or even you!) were eating when traveling in the 1930's and 1940's.  I've found a huge amount records of collateral relations who had traveled overseas by cruise ship, and some more evidence of airplane and car rides taken on vacation or special commemorative events, like food alluded to in the Tibbetts Family Association notices sent to my 2nd great grandaunt May Tibbetts Jarvis.

Other institutions also have menu projects, including NYPL Labs "What's on the menu?"(this site is pretty fun), the Los Angeles Public Library's Menu Collection, the University of Washington Menus Collection, the Academia Barilla Menu Collection, and UNLV's "Menu: The Art of Dining."

Gear Patrol also has an article "Historic Menus 'Round the World: 140 Years of Menu Design."




*I didn't include an image from the actual collection as I have not contacted the copyright owners:

"Images and content in the ScholarsArchive@JWU are for educational use only. All design and content is the property of the copyright owner. If you wish to reproduce or publish the images in any form, you must contact the copyright owner to obtain permission."

© 2016 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Happy Wedding Anniversary (15 November 1798) to My 5th Great Grandparents, Elizabeth Ward and John H. Hardy

I got a little carried away tonight and goofed around with Social Explorer (which is free if you just use the Federal Census Data, 1790-abt 1940).  The map shows the move that my 5th great grandparents made after their marriage in Bertie County, North Carolina to (then) frontier Lincoln County, Georgia (this map was used with 1800 Census state and county information)

I finally buckled down and used the Social Explorer site to make custom historical maps for my ancestors - 5th Great Grandparents Elizabeth Ward and John H. Hardy.  There is a learning curve but it is pretty intuitive overall, and they give you a lot of control on making custom maps.

The following is the pricing for this service.  I think if you belong to an institution of higher learning, government, or business you may already have the ability to access this.  In San Diego, for instance, it looks like UCSD has it available at any time by a limited number of students.

I use the free service.  If you pay more of course you get more functionality but even the limited functions are powerful.

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Working on Wednesday: What's a Horse Shunter?

I've been working on the family tree of an Englishman who lives here in France and the occupation of one of his great great grandfather is listed in several censuses as "horse driver" for what I believe is the Great Eastern Railroad. Here's the 1911 England Census:

[Ancestry.com. 1911 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011. Original data: Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives of the UK (TNA), 1911.

Data imaged from the National Archives, London, England.]

It wasn't at all clear to me what that meant. Then I found him in a union membership list (via findmypast) where his job was described as H[or]se Shunter:

[National Union Of Railwaymen; Britain, Trade Union Membership Registers, source: findmypast.com]

Fortunately for me, someone on Google knew what horse shunting was and provided more information. Here's a vintage image of a shunter and his horse:

[Jack Wise, Horse Shunter by kind permission of Mrs Prestidge. Source: Woodford Halse Archive.]

 There's even a video of one in action.

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

LESS than 25 DAYS for the next i4GG (Institute for Genetic Genealogy) 2018 Conference!

Now only 24 days away!:

2018 i4GG registration Now Open!
Just since our last conference the popularity and public interest in Genetic Genealogy has seen a formidable explosion. Data bases have mushroomed as Genetic Genealogy has gone from exclusive or elite, to mainstream. This begs the question; what will the next 12 months hold for Genetic Genealogy? How are the testing companies preparing for continued explosive growth? How can we stay on top of the latest advancements in this field, including the most comprehensive and most effective  techniques for the successful application of DNA testing to genealogy available now? This and so much more will be the theme of i4GG 2018.

Hosted by CeCe Moore’s DNA Detectives the i4GG 2.5 day Genetic Genealogy conference will kick off with a “company” day Friday December 7 when the major DNA testing companies will own the stage. This is followed by two full days December 8 and 9, 2018 in San Diego CA. As is i4GG tradition, the conference will cover the most cutting edge Genetic Genealogy methodologies for any genealogy application, including unknown parentage.

The talks at i4GG will be professionally video recorded and be provided free of charge to those who purchase tickets for both (2.5) days. For those who opt for one day only, the recordings will be available for purchase at $99 for all videos, or $10 for purchase of individual video recordings.

Newbie or Pro, makes no difference, at i4GG there is something for everyone. i4GG has been called “the most important DNA conference in America” and we will strive to live up to this esteemed repute.

One of my goals this year is to learn more about DNA, obviously.  But another goal is to be as comfortable as possible (I find all-day meetings like this physically excruciating, despite my interest in the subject).

I hope to see some of your there!



© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers: Mary Delaney Groves Joslin Perego (1833 - 1920)

This third great aunt's given name seems to have been Magdalena, but she's always referred to as Mary Delaney which sounds like an Irish surname and confused me at first because her parents were Frederick Groves and Leah Bixler.*

This 1920 piece about her first vote gives us a good overview of her life:

[Page  1 of The Anamosa Eureka, published in Anamosa, Iowa on Thursday, November 11th, 1920.

Source: Jones County Genealogicl Society Digital Library]

The article refers to her "rather feeble health" and she died just six weeks later on December 24, 1920.



*However if you sound it out, you can see how Magdalena could be transposed into Mary Delaney.


© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Memento Mori: Armistice Day - 11 November 1918

Listen to the Moment the Guns Fell Silent Ending World War I. A new exhibit at the Imperial War Museum uses seismic data collected during the war to recreate the moment the Armistice went into effect.

[Imperial War Museum]

You can read how the sound was re-created in this Smithsonian article..

 © 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

A Job Taylor DNA Circle has Formed

Just noticed this.  My confidence that I am a descendant of Job Taylor continues to increase.  From my AncestryDNA Circles.

I goofed up when I originally worked on my 2nd great grandmother Rufina Tomlinson Slater's Taylor upline, so it is reassuring whenever the evidence that Job Taylor is my ancestor continues to build.

The main problem with Job is that I have no idea who his parents were, or what his wife Betsey's maiden name was.  Apparently no one else seems to know yet either.  But we know we are related!


© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Family Friday: Rosie Joslin McGowan & Ed McGowan

Emma Rosettabelle Joslin, better known as Rosa or Rosie, is one of my maternal first cousins, three times removed. She was born in Fairview Township in Jones County, Iowa, in 1871 and married Edward Calvin McGowan (1870-1949) there in 1890 which is probably when this portrait was taken.

[Scanned photo taken from album owned by Hilda Maxine (Ellison) Willison

found on Ancestry.com]

Here's Rosie's 1943 obituary in the Anamosa Journal from the Digital Archives of the Jones County Library:

[The Anamosa  Journal,  Thursday, December 9, 1943, page 4]

And here's how we're related:

[Ancestry.com]

*We had found a portrait of Rosie taken when she was a baby in my great great grandmother's photo album during our scanning session in 2011:

[Rosa Joslyn, cousin of Nora Webb, from Floral Album of Webb family photos,

courtesy of Olive Slater-Kennedy]

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

1st Cousin 4x Removed Mattie Bell (Groves) White Was a Works Progress Administration (WPA) Sewer

Some footage of women at work for the WPA (the specific locations of the footage are unknown).

I thought this was an interesting find today as I was hashtagging people in my tree--a then widowed cousin Mattie Bell (Groves) White, employed by the WPA in a sewing room in Hawarden IA in the 1940 Census.

"To Expand WPA Sewing Room"
The Hawarden Independent (Hawarden IA)
Thursday, 20 Nov 1941, page 1, col 4
Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/clip/25230049/the_independent/?xid=637 : accessed 8 Nov 2018).

Women to Make Necessities for Relief  

Clients in 30 Counties 

Hawarden will have the only WPA sewing room in Northwest Iowa in a few days.
With the decision of the board of supervisors to close the sewing room at Rock Valley, the Hawarden project will inherit additional sewing machines and the job of furnishing sheets, pillow cases, towels and bedding for relief clients in 30 counties. 

Seven other sewing rooms will operate in the 30 counties, making other necessities for relief clients. 

Twenty or more women will work in the Hawarden project, under the direction of Mrs. Ella Larson.  They will work an average of 30 hours a week, and will receive $47.20 a month [CManczuk note: about $850 in today's dollars]. 

The materials used in making the household goods will be paid for by the counties in which they are used. The sewing room women, however, will be paid by the WPA, as in the past. 

The local sewing room was moved last week from its former location over the Sioux Theatre to larger quarters in the Margolin building.

Mattie's mother Rosetta (Worden) Groves (1857-1912) and children.  Mattie is the little girl on the left.  Probably about 1892.  Image courtesy of Olive Kennedy.

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Working on Wednesday: Clinton Samuel Tomlinson (1860 - 1904) & Ann Eversole Tomlinson (1868 - 1949)

Clinton, my first cousin three times removed, attended Northwestern University, Class of 1886 and was undoubtedly the first of his family to graduate from college.*

[Commencement program for Northwestern University. 28th annual commencement, 1886.

Source: Internet Archive]

His first job after graduation was as the editor of the Boone (Iowa) Republican which remembered him respectfully years later:

[Boone News Republican, December 6, 1915, p. 43]

As stated in the above piece, after two years Clinton's next step was the editorship of the Daily Republican in Springfield, Greene County, Missouri, which is where he met and married 23-year-old teacher Ann Eversole in 1891.

By 1900 the couple were living in Chicago and Clinton was the editor of the Chicago Dry Goods Reporter, a trade publication of the garment industry.** No occupation is listed for Ann.

[Dry Goods Reporter. Chicago, January 1900. Source: Hathi Trust Digital Library]

However Ann Eversole Tomlinson's name appears in newspaper stories across America later that year.

[Chicago Daily News Thursday, Apr 19, 1900 Chicago, IL Page: 5.

Source: Genealogy Bank.]

Clinton's view of his wife's possible inheritance appeared on the same day as the above article:

[19 Apr 1900, 2 - Chicago Tribune at Newspapers.com]

The next information I found about the couple is Clinton's 1904 obituary

[30 Oct 1904, 5 - Chicago Tribune at Newspapers.com]

While I haven't found any further newspaper reports confirming the amount Ann received from her ancestor's estate, her lifestyle as a widow seems to indicate that she was a wealthy woman. Next week we'll look at her career after Clinton's death.



*With honors too.
**Many editions of the Dry Goods Reporter are available digitally through the Hathi Trust and Google Books. They offer a fascinating insight into the fashions of the times.



© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Today

Logo on California Secretary of State's election results for tonight.

I voted!  I was so wrapped up in the election results that I forgot it was my turn to post.


© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Monday Is for Mothers: Myrtle Ruby Worden (1882 - 1962)

Myrtle is one of my maternal first cousins, three times removed--her father Schuyler Colfax Worden was one of my great great grandfather Dick Worden's brothers.* She was born in Iowa, was taken to Nebraska as an infant by her parents and at the age of 21 married John Davison (1873-1949) there.

By 1919 the Davison family had relocated to Siskiyou County, California, but by the 1930 U.S. Census they had finally settled in Oregon.

This photo of Myrtle, her grandson Cecil Vernon Davison (1944-1992) and his mother Lorine Marjorie (Wells) Davison was probably taken in 1945/46.

[Originally shared by Ardis Patton to her Ancestry.com family tree]

Here's her obituary that Christine found in the Albany, Oregon, newspaper:

[Newspapers.com - Albany Democrat-Herald - 4 Dec 1962 - Page 2]

*Another child of Porter and Hannah (Leonard) Worden.



© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Sunday Drive: Paris Scenes,1896 - 1900

I found this YouTube video uploaded by guy jones. Here's his description :

A collection of high quality remastered prints from the dawn of film taken in Belle Époque-era Paris, France from 1896-1900.  Slowed down footage to a natural rate and added in sound for ambiance.*  These films were taken by the Lumière company.

You can find a list of the locations of each film including the length of each bit and the date of its creation by clicking on SHOW MORE when you view the video.


*I though the added sound was unnecessary and turned it off.


© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

RePost: Reminder to Always Scrutinize City Directories

My 3rd cousin 2x removed Mildred Hester Nichols was married to Theodore William Woodbeck, and they lived in Jackson, Mississippi in the mid-1940's. They had one child under 18 living with them--how do I know that?  Jackson, East Jackson and Pearl City, Mississippi City Directory, 1947, "Woodbeck Theo W (Mildren H)" p. 1105; digital image, U.S. City Directories (https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/2469/13635560/828798955 : 7 November 2017).

Most entries in city directories are self-explanatory, but sometimes a directory will use code to indicate something extra about the residents.  In this case I found that the Jackson, Mississippi 1947 city directory indicated how many children under 18 were in the household:

Part of the explanation page shows that they accounted for children under 18, something I had not seen before.  Since the 1947 city directory was only partially digitized I could not find its Explanation page, but the 1945 Jackson, Mississippi city directory was complete and appeared to use the same format as the 1947 one.  Jackson, East Jackson and Pearl City, Mississippi City Directory, 1945, "Explanation" image 9; digital image, U.S. City Directories (https://www.ancestry.com/interactive/2469/12888254#?imageId=12888262 : 7 November 2017).

© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

From the Probate Files: Vincent C. Tomlinson - Boone County, Iowa - 1892

Vincent, my third great uncle, was the older brother of my great great grandfather George Marion Tomlinson. It's clear from his 1892 obituary that he had been an active member of his community in Boone County, Iowa.

[16 Feb 1892, 1 - Sioux City Journal at Newspapers.com]

But it's not my intention to delve into Uncle Vincent's life--I'm using his will to introduce you to his son Clinton Samuel Tomlinson (and especially Clinton's wife Anne Eversole Tomlinson) because I'll be posting about them next week.

[Ancestry.com. Iowa, Wills and Probate Records, 1758-1997 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA:

Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Original data: Iowa, County, District and Probate Courts.]

In the name of God Amen
                            I Vincent Tomlinson of Boone Iowa
being of sound mind an being aware of the uncertainty of
human life o make and declare this my last will 
and testament.
1st.  I desire all my debts to be paid if any there be at my
decease.
2nd. I devise and bequeath to my well beloved daughter Mrs
Hannah C. Carringer of Boone Iowa Lot Number Seven (7)
Block No. (128) One Hundred & Twenty Eight in the City of Boone
Iowa which shall be hers free and clear of encumbrance.
This devise of said lot is as an equivalent for the money ad-
vanced to my son Clinton S. Tomlinson to assist him
in his education
3rd. That my wife shall if she survives me have all my
other property during the term of her natural life and all the
rents and income of the same for her own use and benefit
but she shall not sell of alienate the same unless necessary
for her support. She shall also release her dower in
Lot 7 Blk 128 Boone Iowa to Mrs Hannah C. Carringer
as above set forth in #2 of this will.
4th. On the death of my said wife in case she survives me
I desire that all the property herein bequeathed to her shall
descend to Mrs Hannah C. Carringer and Clinton S.
Tomlinson equally, share and share alike & in case either
is dead then to their heirs. In case either shall die
without living issue then his or her share shall belong
to the survivor or his or her heirs. Witness my hand
May 14, 1889.
                                                   Vincent Tomlinson {L.S.}

Signed published and declared by the said testator to be
his last will and testament in the presence of us who
have signed our names at his request as witnesses in his
presence and in the presence of each other.
                                                    W. H. Slade
                                                       B W Reynolds

In this will Vincent was careful to divide his estate fairly between his son and daughter so Hannah was bequeathed a city lot to her because he had given Clinton money for his education.

Next week we'll see where Clinton went to school.



© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, )All Rights Reserved.