Brick Walls: Now and Forever? (Maybe not)

Every genealogist has them; those ancestors whose lives are not an open book, whose records (and sometimes even names) we haven't found anywhere we've looked.

Now I've just started using AI to help with my research and here is the result of my first trial.

My maternal third great-grandfather William T. Slater from "York County, England" made his first known appearance applying for citizenship in Jefferson County, Indiana, in 1818. All we have of this record is a transcription so I thought it might be interesting to contact the courthouse to see what else might be available. Alas! 

FIRE

At the Jefferson County, Courthouse

Madison, Indiana

May 20, 2009

At the time, it was feared that all the court records had been lost but according to the link above, it seems that because the fire was confined to the cupola, roof and top floor, they survived. So I asked Perplexity and Claude "What court records are survive in the Jefferson County Courthouse, in Madison, Indiana?"

Both agree that since before 1906, naturalization was handled by local courts, my ancestor's application could possibly be there (unless destroyed in earlier disasters, including two other fires in1853 and 1859). Both also give information about contracting the court clerk both by phone and email.

Now the rest is up to me!

Note: We've written quite a bit about William here on the blog, including what could possibly be his family in the Yorkshire West Riding--although Christine, who is the DNA expert around here, hasn't found a connection. A search of the blog will find the other posts about him.  

© 2026 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Fantastic Find: Ancestry's New Free Database May Help Fill Historical Gaps for Black Americans

On my way home yesterday I was listening to NPR's All Things Considered and one of their feature stories was titled:

This database could help descendants of enslaved people learn about their ancestry.*

Ancestry has made available tens of thousands of old newspaper records about formerly enslaved people. If you're wondering what sort of information can be found in this type of record, here is the explanation given by Nicka Sewell-Smith, a genealogist and senior story producer at ancestry.com:

These records are incredible because they come from approximately 38,000 newspaper articles, and the date range is from approximately 1788 to 1867. And amongst those 38,000 newspaper articles, we have the names and details of more than 183,000 formerly enslaved people in a free collection that potentially could help millions of descendants discover more about their ancestors...

With this collection, you are really getting a bird's-eye view into the everyday nature of enslavement in the United States. A lot of times, we just think about the roles of those involved in the system, and, you know, it just is corralled to the formerly enslaved and their slaveholders. But you'll also see folks who were seeking their freedom and their actual details of what they looked like, what they wore.

There are even individuals in this collection where you get to learn about them and their personality traits, like - there's one man that I loved reading about that could speak three languages. And a lot of times, folks think that the enslaved, you know, weren't educated, or they didn't have skills other just being in agriculture, but they were just varied people who had lives and being brought back to prominence with their names being in this collection.

Anyone can access the database at home and for free. All you need is just a free Ancestry account and get to searching.** This is a random sample: 

The Louisville Daily Courier, Thursday, August 11, 1859 Page 3

* You can listen to the whole thing here (4 minutes). The transcript is available here.

**This collection is called U.S., Newspapers.com™ Auctions of Enslaved People and Bounties on Freedom Seekers Index, pre-1880

 

© 2024 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Father's Day - June 16, 2024

Here they are, my two fathers:

This is the father who raised me, the man I think of when I hear the word "Dad". If you want to know more about him, search this blog.

Harold D. Currey (1902 - 1981)

And this is my biological father, with whom I had several phone conversations. Until we contacted him around 1999, he had no idea he had another daughter. He sent me this photo together with some genealogical information he had gathered. A lot of the posts on this blog trace his (and my) ancestry.

Tracy Stuart Warren (1923 - 2021)

© 2024 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Celebrations: Easter Sunday - 1951 (Again & Again)

Here's four-year old me with my Easter basket on my trusty tricycle in the backyard in Encanto; the blooming tree behind me is an avocado.

[Making its 3rd annual appearance, this photo is from my personal collection]

The Easter basket was a present from Jessie and Jimmy Neal.

I'm sharing this oldie but goodie for a third time.



© 2024 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Merry & Happy!

I don’t own any quilts that my ancestors may have made, but I thought I’d share this amazing one donated to the American Folk Art Museum by the family of its creator. 

American Folk Art Museum

This extraordinary quilt was gifted to AFAM by a descendant of the maker, and was discovered during the Museum's New York Quilt Project, an ambitious statewide quilt documentation effort initiated in 1985. Over a period of 21 months, more than 6,000 quilts were examined and recorded in counties around the state.⁠

⁠

Stars, in all their variety, were among the most prevalent patterns seen. In this example, a field of spinning compass stars is surrounded by a border of beautiful appliquéd trees. The quiltmaker, Elsey Halstead, meticulously cross-stitched her name, the location, and the date on the quilt. ⁠

⁠

Elsey A. Halstead (1830–1850), "Rising Star Variation Quilt," Minisink (now Middletown), New York, United States, March 23 c. 1848. Cotton, 100 × 85". Gift of Kathryn Trotta Kane and family in memory of our beloved grandmother Margaret Halstead Minch. May an appreciation of the love, beauty, and hard work that went into this quilt continue to inspire future generations. We sincerely hope that others will experience the same joy the quilt has given our family over many years, 2012.16.1. Photo by Gavin Ashworth.

© 2023 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Kate Jarvik Birch (American, born 1977) Untitled [Cranberry Sauce], 2020

Gouache on paper, 6 x 6 inches. Private collection

(Found on Facebook A CELEBRATION OF FEMALE ARTISTS)

Even though I haven't posted anything for quite a while, I often check for new comments that have been left here. Through them I've discovered new cousins, learned additional information and in several cases been able to answer questions or point someone to a useful source. Today something led me to take a look at the blog's stats and I was amazed!

Our 1,650 posts have garnered over 468,000 views, almost 1,000 so far today! 

Thank you everyone!

© 2023 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

I asked Bing's Copilot AI about Solomon Joseph Hartley (1774-1814)

I'm warming up to using AI for help with genealogy, so I asked Bing's Copilot about my 4th Great Grandfather Solomon Joseph Hartley:

"What can you tell me about Solomon Joseph Hartley, a rigger who died in 1814?"

More Balanced:

Solomon Joseph Hartley was a **rigger** in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who was born in either **Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania** or **Poland/Germany** around **1774** ¹. A rigger is someone who works with ropes, cables, and pulleys to lift or move heavy objects. He married **Mary Gwinnup** around **1803** ². They had at least **four children**: John, Mary, Solomon, and William ³. He died in **August 1814** at the age of 40 and was buried in the **Second Baptist Church Burial Ground** in Philadelphia ¹.

Here is a short poem I wrote about Solomon Joseph Hartley:

```

He worked with ropes and cables

To lift the heavy loads

He lived in Philadelphia

A city of many roads

He married Mary Gwinnup

And raised a family

He died too young, but left a mark

On his posterity

```

Source: Conversation with Bing, 11/9/2023

(1) Solomon Joseph Hartley (1774-1814) - Find a Grave Memorial. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/197231202/solomon-joseph-hartley.

(2) Pennsylvania Marriages, 1709-1940 • FamilySearch. https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/1681011.

(3) Search Historical Records • FamilySearch. https://www.familysearch.org/search/.

More Precise:

Solomon Joseph Hartley was born in 1774 and died in August 1814 at the age of 39-40¹. He worked as a rigger in Philadelphia¹. There are some records suggesting that he was born in either "Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania" or Poland/Germany¹. He married Mary Gwinnup around 1803¹. His burial took place at the Second Baptist Church Burial Ground in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania¹.

Source: Conversation with Bing, 11/9/2023

(1) Solomon Joseph Hartley (1774-1814) - Find a Grave Memorial. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/197231202/solomon-joseph-hartley.

(2) Search Historical Records • FamilySearch. https://www.familysearch.org/search/.

(3) United States Rosters of Revolutionary War Soldiers and Sailors .... https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/United_States_Rosters_of_Revolutionary_War_Soldiers_and_Sailors_-_FamilySearch_Historical_Records.

More Creative: 

Solomon Joseph Hartley was a rigger who lived and worked in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was born in 1774 and died in August 1814 at the age of 39-40. He married Mary Gwinnup around 1803 and had several children. He was buried at the Second Baptist Church Burial Ground in Philadelphia. You can find more information about him on [this website](^1^).

Source: Conversation with Bing, 11/9/2023

(1) Solomon Joseph Hartley (1774-1814) - Find a Grave Memorial. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/197231202/solomon-joseph-hartley.

(2) Hartley DNA - WikiTree. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Hartley_DNA.

(3) Thomas Bell 1775-1825 - Ancestry®. https://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/thomas-bell-24-2lmt5y5. [Cmanczuk note: Who is Thomas Bell??]

I'm not sure why the More Balanced mode gave me the poem(!!).

© 2023 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

New User-Friendly Website for Alabama Department of Archives and History Resources

[Chris Pruitt, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons]

Earlier this month, the Alabama Department of Archives and History (ADAH) launched its new website which will make it easier for those of us with ancestors who lived in the state to access its extensive archive collections.

ADAH Director Steve Murray provides a brief introduction and tour.

I haven't had a chance yet to see if there are any records in the digital collections that relate to my Warren, Hardy, Chappell, and Freeman forebears. I'll let you know if/when I do.

© 2022 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

British Ancestors? Check Out the National Archives' Currency Converter

The National Archives

When researching your British forebears sometimes you come across records that mention a sum of money but have no idea what that sum was worth. For instance Peter Worden (my maternal 11th great grandfather) was born in Lancashire around 1569; opened a hat shop in nearby Preston; became a member of the city government; and lent eight shillings to the Borough of Preston in 1629. Eight shillings? It doesn't sound like much, but the currency converter tells me that it was equivalent to five days labor for skilled tradesman. 

Another example comes from the probate record for a friend's great grandfather:

England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations),1861-1941. Ancestry.com

When I plug in the value of his Effects, here's the result:

The National Archives

Of course all these calculations come with a disclaimer:

© 2021 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

New to Me: IKEA Museum's Catalog Collection

I think I remember the 1995 catalog.  It's a classic IKEA image
(IKEA Museum. 2020. Svenska IKEA Kataloger | IKEA Museum. [online] Available at: <https://ikeamuseum.com/sv/ikea-kataloger/> [Accessed 4 October 2020].)

I was looking for the 2021 IKEA catalog today, and came across a treasure trove that the Swedish company has provided - back issues from 1950 - 2020!

IKEA first came on my radar in the mid-1990s when my mom and her friend Nick drove me up to Orange County to shop at the nearest IKEA.  I thought at the time that it was weird to drive so far for a furniture store.  But they did have cool home furnishings for a very decent price.  And then I quickly learned that IKEA was a destination as much as a store.

I've gone there many times since.  My mom and I used to frequent our IKEA's cafeteria before this stupid Covid-19 (doesn't that seem like a lifetime ago?).  My son Marc and I went to IKEA many times when he was growing up.  I'd usually meet my friend Maria, who was also homeschooling her two children, at the babysitting place at the entrance of the San Diego IKEA.  We'd get the kids set up for an hour, take the lighted timers, and head up to the cafeteria for a much-needed coffee break.  And then we'd get the kids, go back to the cafeteria, eat, and then stroll around for a few hours.

I have a lot of happy memories that involve IKEA.  With only a few exceptions I've been house-bound since March(?), since I have so many pre-existing conditions, and my desire to go somewhere beside my home is growing ever stronger.  IKEA is one of the places I will likely go once I have to the okay from my doctors to stop sheltering in place.

© 2020 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

A Courthouse Fire: Hancock County, Georgia (August 14, 2014)

My Warren ancestors moved to Hancock County in the late 18th century and my direct lineage remained there until about 1830. I've been indebted to Family Search for their digitizing of Courthouse records microfilmed in the 1960s.

["Georgia Probate Records, 1742-1990," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G935-VWJT?cc=1999178&wc=9SBM-YWG%3A267654601%2C267808601 : 20 May 2014), Hancock > Wills and administration records 1837-1850 vol P-Q > image 3 of 662; citing Houston County Probate Court Judge, Georgia.]

Of course I've alway known that this represents only a part of all the records held in the 1881 Hancock County Courthouse (locally known as "Her Majesty") but I had always hoped to visit there one day and see what more I could learn about my family.

Alas! A fire started in the Courthouse* on August 14, 2014 and burned for three weeks because there was a store of coal in the basement. Enough of the brick structure survived** that the building has been rebuilt*** but it's not clear to me how much, is any, of the historical court records remain.

[31 Aug 2014, ZJ2 - The Atlanta Constitution at Newspapers.com]

*Only a year before, the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation had placed the building on its “Places in Peril” list.

**More information here from a report by The Heritage Emergency Response Alliance (HERA) published twelve days after the fire started.

***This blogpost by Maria Saporta includes photos during and after the fire.

© 2020 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Memento Mori: Memorial Day

Memorial Day, originally known as Decoration Day, honors the memory of all the people who have died while serving in the United States military.

This day of remembrance officially began on 30 May 1868 when the head of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. It became a federal holiday in 1971.

Parks, Gordon, photographer. Gloucester, Massachusetts. Memorial Day, . A Legionaire sounding taps for the War dead during services. May. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2017855725/>.

The title of the Memorial Day image above (from the Library of Congress) informs us that this bugler was sounding Taps, which dates to 1862.

Harold Delbert "Hal" Currey, Jr. (the only son of the parents who raised me) and my uncle John William "Jack" Slater, both Second Lieutenants in the Army Air Corps, died in action during World War II. You can see their pictures and read more about them here.

© 2020 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Quick Workaround: When You Can't See Ancestry.com Records from the Profile View

My 3rd cousin 3x removed Bixler cousin, Lewis Edward Bixler, who was a glass blower in Muncie, Indiana.  I want to add hashtags to his profile in my Legacy 9.0 database. Most of the hashtags I create come from information in the records I've attached to each profile at Ancestry.com.

But when I clicked on his 1900 Census to View the image I got this error message.

For whatever reason, Ancestry.com sometimes gets in its own way.  As an example, it has been impossible today to look at attached records by simply clicking the View button.

Fortunately there is a quick workaround.

Click on the Search link and...[edited to add: you can also click directly on the small image of the census and that will take you to directly to the image and not the indexed data]

The links to the census records are available to click, and this time they actually work.

And now I can see the indexed data Ancestry.com provided, and then View the image (unless there is a snag in the imaging function).

© 2020 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

My Living DNA Has Been Updated!

Yesterday I received an email from Living DNA announcing that a free update was available for my 2017 ancestry results.* So I followed the link, requested my update and was told that it was in process and would be complete in less than 48 hours. The confirming email arrived early this morning.

And here it is:**

[Living DNA Recent Ancestry]

According to their data, my recent DNA heritage is 100% European--5.7% from my 2X great grandmother Delilah Grove (1845-1925) and the remaining 94.3% Great Britain and Ireland from everyone else.

[Living DNA Recent Ancestry]

Of the more exotic traces claimed by my previous results only Orkney remains (with the addition of the Shetland Islands). My alleged connections to the Iberian Peninsula, Scandinavia, and the Kurds and Pashtuns have disappeared.



*See my previous results here.
**Sadly the company has chosen to show everything in a low contrast format so you may find it hard to read.. And I've emailed them about that.


© 2020 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

I Finally Found My 2nd Grand Uncle Herbert W. "Dutch" Porter's Obituary

Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 03 February 2020), memorial page for Herbert W Porter (1899–1971), Find A Grave Memorial no. 173492189, citing Mount Harmony Memorial Gardens Cemetery, Mableton, Cobb County, Georgia, USA ; Maintained by Bulldog Fan (contributor 48178484).

I have been struggling for years to find the death record or obituary for my 2nd grand uncle, Herbert W. "Dutch" Porter, my great grandmother Letta Estella Porter's brother.  Because he spent many decades in Chicago I kept looking there for his death record, but none of the Herbert Porters who died there matched his information.  I also had reason to believe he had lived until at least 1974.

Now, thanks to the constant updating of Ancestry's databases, I effortlessly stumbled on his obituary yesterday, but it was in 1971 in Cobb County, Georgia!  I would never have thought to look for him there.

Porter -- Funeral services for Mr. Herbert W. Porter, age 72, 4213 Springdale Circle, Powder Springs will be conducted Wednesday at 3 p.m. from the McEachern Methodist Church with remains placed in state at 2 p.m. Rev. William G. Edwards, officiating. Interment, Mt. Harmony Memorial Gardens. Survivors include wife, Mrs. Helen Porter; sisters, Mrs. Estella Turnball, Dallas; Mrs. Annie Sue Graham, Venice, Calif.; brothers, Mr. Calvin Porter, Dallas; Mr. Orville Porter, Los Angeles, Calif.  Turk's Memory Chapel, Powder Springs, 943-3547.

"Porter," obituary, The Atlanta Constitution (Atlanta, GA), Wednesday, 29 Dec 1971, page 25, col 6; digital image, Newspapers.com (http://newspapers.com), accessed 2 Feb 2020.

© 2020 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

i4gg Conference is February 2 & 3

Institute for Genetic Genealogy (https://i4gg.org)

Wow, I haven't posted for about six months!  Since last June my husband retired, a beloved cat died, and I was diagnosed and treated for breast cancer (complete with lumpectomy, radiation, and tamoxifen).

I've worked on my tree almost every day, but didn't put aside any time to do blog posts until things had settled down.

I've also been keeping an eye on the DNA Doe Project (also Wikipedia article "DNA Doe Project"):

DNA Doe Project (AKA DNA Doe Project, Inc. or DDP) is an American non-profit volunteer organization formed to identify unidentified deceased persons (commonly known as John Doe or Jane Doe) using forensic genealogy. Volunteers identify victims of automobile accidents, homicide, and unusual circumstances, and persons who committed suicide under an alias.[1] The group was founded in 2017 by Colleen Fitzpatrick and Margaret Press.

I love being able to see all the cases being solved!

Some of the people who are involved in this are almost certainly at the Institute for Genetic Genealogy (i4gg) conference.

I don't know the details behind the change in time and venue of this conference (it used to be in San Diego in December and now it is in Las Vegas in February), but fortunately for those of us who can't be there in person they have the option to purchase the videos of the sessions.  The videos have historically come out a number of months after the conference, so my guess is they will be available by the summer.


© 2020 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Eli Matthews (1804 - 1864) Was a Copperhead

Although he would probably have called himself a Peace Democrat.*

[Compromise with the South - Dedicated to the Chicago Convention. Wood engraving after Nast.

Illus. in: Harper's Weekly, 1864 Sept. 3. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.]

Here's a different view of the issue.

[Caption: War and Argument - Cold Steel and Cool Reason - having failed to restore the Union, it is supposed that the South may be bored into coming back. -  Illus. in: Harper's weekly, v. 8, no. 408 (1864 October 22), p. 688.

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

Eli, my 3X great grandfather, was born in Tennessee, his family moved to Illinois in 1818 when he was 14. He spent the rest of his life there in that part of Sangamon County which became Christian County in 1839. He and his wife Susan Hanon had nine children, six boys and three girls.** At least two of their sons served in the Union Army during Civil War.

Since it had been years since I have done any research on the Matthews line, this afternoon I decided to see what I could find at Newspapers.com.

[11 Mar 1863, Page 2 - Chicago Tribune at Newspapers.com]

Of course I had to find out more:

[12 Mar 1863, Page 2 - Chicago Tribune at Newspapers.com]

Eli sent this letter to his second son, Aaron V. Matthews who had joined Company L, Illinois 10th Cavalry Regiment and remained in that unit until December 30, 1864.*** Aaron's first wife Sarah Short had died around this time, leaving the couple's four children to the care of relatives.****

It's clear from the letter that Eli wasn't a particularly educated man but that didn't seem to hinder him from a public role in Christian County, He was the county's first postmaster, served as a Justice of the Peace and was appointed to several committees that represented the county.


*You can find more about these folks here.
**Their third child and oldest daughter Sarah married George W. Slater.
***About two months after his father's death.
****Aaron did marry again (in 1865) and he and his second wife Martha Jane Walker had five children together, one of whom he named Abraham, known as "Abe".


© 2020 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Fantastic Find! US Mexican War Soldiers & Sailors Database

If you've ever researched an ancestor who fought in the Civil War, you're probably familiar with the Soldiers and Sailors Database of the  National Park Service (NPS). Now there's a new source of information for an earlier conflict, the Mexican-American War (1846-1848).*

[B.W. Kilburn Company. (ca. 1873) Monument over the remains of 750 U.S. soldiers, who fell in the valley of Mexico during the Mexican War. Mexico Mexico City, ca. 1873. Littleton, N.H.: Photographed and published by B.W. Kilburn. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2005693423/.]

Last week the NPS and the  Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) announced the launch of of the U.S.-Mexican War Soldier & Sailor database:

This online, searchable database contains information for over 85,000 U.S. and Mexican veterans who served in this war. Many records include personal details, such as hair color and occupation. 

The database allows descendants of these soldiers and sailors to connect to their personal history and helps Palo Alto commemorate and tell the stories of those who served. This invaluable research tool benefits genealogists, historians, as well as people who may have never known they are related to a U.S.-Mexican War veteran.

 This project started in 2007. Progress was extremely slow until 2015 when FGS joined forces with the NPS. FGS offered their expertise and numerous volunteers. 

Patricia Rand, the FGS contact, recruited and trained volunteers who spent over 17,000 hours doing the tedious task of inputting data. Their dedication makes it possible for future generations to learn about those who served in the U.S.-Mexican War.**

Although the database is up and running now, the virtual launch will take place at 3:00 pm (Central) on Monday, January 27, 2020 live on-line or in person at the Palo Alto Visitor Center.

I don't have any direct ancestors who were participants but Joshua Butler Walsh, the second husband of my maternal great great grandmother Mercy Ann Darling, was. We know more about Joshua than is listed in this database so I've contacted them (via their link) offering to share our information. I'll let you know how that turns out.


*I learned about this from a post by Judy G. Russell (The Legal Genealogist)
**From the FGS press release dated 14 Jan 2020.

© 2020 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Fantastic Find! Beyond 2022: Ireland’s Virtual Record Treasury

The fire that destroyed the Public Records Office in Dublin in June of 1922 with the resulting loss of centuries of Irish records has made researching our Irish ancestors difficult.

[Source: Trinity College, Dublin]

But now, five institutions* have joined together to search out duplicates of the original records in other collections to"recreate virtually as much of the archive as possible in a digital format that can be accessible to everybody" in time for the centenary of the fire.**

The project is called Beyond 2022: Ireland’s Virtual Record Treasury and its director Peter Crooks*** explains:

“We are committed to producing 50 million words of searchable material by 2022 and that is possible with the artificial intelligence we are using,” he said. 

“Tens of thousands of papers will be digitised, but they will also be searchable, which is a change. We will be able to mine this information for individual names.”

I strongly suggest you visit Trinity College Dublin's website about the project, especially the Gallery which has a number of images and videos, including a 1922 newsreel that shows the Public Records Office on fire.

I learned about Beyond 2022 through a link to the this article in the Irish Times.

*They are: the National Archives, the UK national archives, the public records office in Northern Ireland, the Irish Manuscripts Collection and the library at Trinity College Dublin (TCD).
**Which happened on June 30, 1922, two days after the start of the Irish Civil War.
**You can watch a video with Peter Crooks here.

© 2019 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Celebrations: Thanksgiving Day

The Metropolitan Museum used this stunning image from 1895 in their Thanksgiving message. I wasn't familiar with Will H. Bradley (1868-1962), the artist who created it so I did a bit of research and it turns out that there's a local connection.

[William Henry Bradley (American, 1868–1962). The Chap Book: Thanksgiving Number, 1895. Lithograph.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art.]

After a long and illustrious career*, Will retired to South Pasadena around 1948 and began working on his autobiography. In 1957 he and his widowed daughter Fern came to live in La Jolla. Three years later, declining health caused him to move to a convalescent hospital in La Mesa where he died on January 25, 1962.


*This splash page to the WillBradley.com website gives an overview of all this creative genius accomplished in his long life.

© 2019 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.