Bevier-Elting House

Bevier-Elting House Historical Marker. Digital image, taken Sunday, Ocotber 26, 2008 in New Paltz, New York. Privately held by Thomas MacEntee, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Chicago, IL. 2008.

After the visit to the Freer-Low House, the group proceeded about 300 feet to the Bevier-Elting House which was built a few years later than the original section of the Freer-Low House, being completed in 1698.

Beview-Elting House Great Room. Digital image, taken Sunday, Ocotber 26, 2008 in New Paltz, New York. Privately held by Thomas MacEntee, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Chicago, IL. 2008.

As with many other stone houses on Huguenot Street, the Bevier-Elting House had one main room with a cellar below and a storage loft above.  The photo above shows the right-section of the Great Room with a hearth added as part of the 1720 addition (see below).



Beview-Elting House Great Room. Digital image, taken Sunday, Ocotber 26, 2008 in New Paltz, New York. Privately held by Thomas MacEntee, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Chicago, IL. 2008.

The decor of the Great Room, along with the two added rooms to the house, is in the late 18th century style.  The original hearth would have been where the large armoire type cabinet is currently located.

One note on the large windows and the lack of curtains: the tour guide pointed out that neighbors were very suspicious of people with curtains since it indicated they had something to hide.  In addition, since the Great Rroom was often used for "clean work" such as spinning, neddlecraft, combing wool, etc., it was a chance for your neighbors to see how industrious you were as a family. 

Around 1720, after the original owner Louis Bevier had died, his son Samuel embarked on the addition of a second room since he had nine children to house and feed. The second room is lower than the original room, and is a few steps down to current day street level.

Beview-Elting House 1720 Addition. Digital image, taken Sunday, Ocotber 26, 2008 in New Paltz, New York. Privately held by Thomas MacEntee, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Chicago, IL. 2008.

The new addition was used more as a kitchen and for "dirty work" such as preparing grain, food, etc.  In keeping with the original house, Samuel Beview also extended the cellar and the loft under and over this new section.

Beview-Elting House 1735 Addition. Digital image, taken Sunday, Ocotber 26, 2008 in New Paltz, New York. Privately held by Thomas MacEntee, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Chicago, IL. 2008.

The last section of the Bevier-Elting House as made around 1735 and contains a large sleeping room probably used by the parents or grand-parents.  Since the room was elevated above the rest of the house, it probably retained heat much better in the winter.  And Samuel took advantage of the wall of the original hearth (on the right of the current room) to provide some extra warmth.

One note on the various items in the room:

- the green chest is just that - a chest was used to store items such as blankets, linens, etc.

- the brown trunk was used more for transport of items, either from France or when traveling around the New Paltz area

- there is a bed warmer on the left part of the green chest

- and the odd contraption made of wood and a jug is called a "stone pig:" it was filled with hot water and then used in bed to alleviate the pain of arthritis, much like a hot water bottle.

Halloween Candy Code

I stumbled upon this "code" listing today and it brought back memories of the old "hobo code."

The hobo code was a way for one hobo who knocked on a homeowner's door to communicate to future hobo visitors as to the prospects of receiving a meal, clothing or some other item of sustenance.

Marks were usually made in code on a mail box post or on the sidewalk or in some location where they were obvious to other wanderers but in a code which could not be understood by homeowners and others:



Well the Halloween Candy Code has appeared and I keep laughing at some of the codes and the meanings. Take a look and see if you can figure out why some of the symbols were used.

http://www.cockeyed.com/archive/candy_code/candy_code.html

Freer-Low House

This past Sunday, October 26th, I was able to finally take the tour of Historic Huguenot Street in New Paltz, New York. I had joined the Huguenot Historical Society several months ago and was sent a pass that allowed up to four people to take the standard tour.

At the beginning of the tour, the guide brought us outside in front of the main building housing the exhibits and gift shop - it is the DuBois Fort - and asked: which two homes would you like to see? Since there are seven original stone houses on the street, and the tour was scheduled to last 60 minutes, we had to choose only two of the seven.

Not being shy, I selected the Freer-Low House and then let the other party in the tour select one, which they did - the Bevier-Elting House.

We walked down the street about 500 feet to the historical marker in front of the Freer-Low House.



Freer-Low House Historical Marker. Digital image, taken Sunday, Ocotber 26, 2008 in New Paltz, New York. Privately held by Thomas MacEntee, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Chicago, IL. 2008.

The stone house was started in 1692 and finished in 1694. The tour guide was able to point out the original entrance which is now the second window from the left. The home was built in the standard three-level configuration of the time: cellar, ground floor room or "great room," and loft. The cellar would have been used to store items especially root vegetables and liquor or brewed items and the loft was used to store grain.

It is said that Hugo Freer and his wife Jannetje Wibeau never occupied the house since she died in 1693 and he died in 1698. By 1735, the home had made its way into the hands of Hugo's grand-daughter Rebecca and Johannes Louw, her husband. At that time a new addition was made and the right-half of the home was added.

Around 1776, the back end of the house, which was later used as a kitchen and breakfast room where added, being wood frame in construction.

When we first entered the home and turned to the left, ending up in the Great Room, I was a bit disappointed. It seems that in 1943 when the house was purchased by Rev. John Wright Follette, a direct descendant of Hugo Freer.

Rev. Follette took up the project of modernizing the house which included the addition of indoor plumbing and electricity. What was a typical 17th century Huguenot home became a 1940s/1950s colonial style home.

Here is a photo I took of the Great Room as it exists today. The only original items are the floor boards, with their square nail heads, and the beams. Everything else, including the hearth was renovated during the 1940s. The original hearth would have been jambless which was the style of the 17th century Huguenots.



Freer-Low House Great Room. Digital image, taken Sunday, Ocotber 26, 2008 in New Paltz, New York. Privately held by Thomas MacEntee, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Chicago, IL. 2008.

The tour guide did make it a point to discuss the hardware which Rev. Follette had specifically made true to the Huguenot style which was used for all the doors. I took this photo of the door leading from the Great Room to the wood frame addition in the rear.



Freer-Low House Great Room Door. Digital image, taken Sunday, Ocotber 26, 2008 in New Paltz, New York. Privately held by Thomas MacEntee, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Chicago, IL. 2008.

I did some research as to why the historical society decided to leave the Freer-Low House in its current altered condition and to me, the reasons make sense. Besides the money needed to restore the home and the possibility of damaging the stone, leaving the home in its mid-century colonial period points out to people the various ways - successful and unsuccessful - in which these and many other historical homes have been altered.

The Huguenot Historical Society got its start from just such an alteration: when the Deyo House was severely altered in 1894, the local outrage and the tearing down of other stone houses, led to the preservation of the Jean Hasbrouck House in 1899 thus launching the society.

At the end of the tour, I snuck back to take this photo of the chest which my 9th great-grandfather, Hugo Freer, used to transport his personal items across the atlantic with him in 1675, arriving in Kingston, New York.



Chest belonging to Hugo Freer, the Patentee. Digital image, taken Sunday, Ocotber 26, 2008 in New Paltz, New York. Privately held by Thomas MacEntee, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Chicago, IL. 2008.

For a more detailed description of the evolution of the Freer-Low House to what it is today, see http://www.hvnet.com/museums/huguenotst/freer.htm.

Wordless Wednesday

Red Chairs at The Hartmanns. Digital image, taken Sunday, Ocotber 26, 2008 in Mount Tremper, New York. Privately held by Thomas MacEntee, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Chicago, IL. 2008.

I'm A Graveyard Rabbit

Most people know that I find it hard to resist any Genea-Blogger confab or project, especially if it is organized by the wonderful Terry Thornton of Hill Country of Monroe County, Mississippi.

His latest project, The Association of Graveyard Rabbits, is one that I feel is sorely needed and allows me to explore an area of cemetery and burial ground history - that of the rural cemeteries of New York State.

Take a look at some recent posts and learn how many of these cemeteries, organized so that burials were not made within city limits, are still active and remain true to the rural cemetery ideal of landscape architecture.

The Graveyard Rabbit of New York Rural Cemeteries

My Trip to the Huguenot Historical Society

Great Room in the Bevier-Elting House. Digital image, taken Sunday, Ocotber 26, 2008 in Mount Tremper, New York. Privately held by Thomas MacEntee, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Chicago, IL. 2008.

I just came back from a short trip home and while I was there I took advantage of being so close to New Paltz, New York and scheduled a tour of my ancestors' homes.

The Huguenot Historical Society maintains a collection of seven original stone houses and one reconstructed church along Huguenot Street which has been called "America's oldest street."

I joined the society several months ago know that I'd would be in to see my Mom sometime in October. Tours are not conducted after November 1, so this past Sunday, October 26th was really my last chance.

Over the next few posts I'll take you on a tour of the Hugo Freer house which was built by my 9th great-grandfather as well as the Bevier-Elting house and the reconstructed French Church where many of my ancestors were baptized, worshipped and are buried.

I was able to learn quite a bit about the daily life of these early settlers and it was quite a feeling to be in the same house built by Hugo Freer and inhabited by his children and descendants.

Tombstone Tuesday

Headstone of Hugo Freer, Patentee of New Paltz, and his wives Marie Haye and Jannetje Wibeau. Digital image taken Sunday, October 26, 2008 at the Huguenot Burial Ground (aka Walloon Cemetery), New Paltz, New York. Privately held by Thomas MacEntee, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Chicago, Illinois. 2008.

Hugo Freer, my 9th great-grandfather, was one of the Huguenots who founded New Paltz, New York in 1677. Hugo married Marie de la Haye on October 2, 1660 at Mannheim, Germany. Marie Haye died at Hurley, Ulster, New York in 1676.

Hugo next married Jannetje Wibau around 1678 and she died at New Paltz on December 8, 1693. Hugo Freer died at New Paltz in 1698.

A Wee Bit Superstitious

This post was written for the 9th Edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture.

My family, like many Irish families, had a handful of superstitions but we never saw them that way. Nor did we see some of them as "old wives' tales" as others might label them. To us, they were simply ways of life, touchstones or guidances for daily living. I'm not sure that many or even any of them had their roots in the Old Sod but in looking back, I know many of them originated with my great-grandmother, Therese McGinnis Austin.

First you need to understand that our Roman Catholic religion played a big part in some of these superstitions or practices. My family still adheres to bizarre doings surrounding specific saints:

- if you lose something, pray to St. Anthony;

- make sure you have St. Christopher with you when driving the car (despite said saint's being decommissioned and removed from the calendar of saints in 1969);

- if you can't sell your house, bury a statue of St. Joseph in your back yard and make sure it is upside down and pointing towards your house;

- remember that St. Jude is the patron saint of lost causes; and

- chant "Hail Mary full of grace, help us find a parking space" after circling the block for the 10th time.

Okay, the last one is of my own making but you get the idea. Next, you add the basic superstitions that exist for most families:

- don't break a mirror, it is 7 years bad luck

- don't open an umbrella in the house

- if you drop a piece of silverware, company will arrive soon

- spilled salt must be thrown over the left shoulder, etc.

Finally, there would be the odd practices, barely noticeable, that bordered on being obsessive/compulsive:

- never park in front of a certain store because the owner's wife will put the evil eye on you

- to protect against the evil eye, walk down the street with each thumb between the forefinger and middle finger

- never purchase an odd number of something - always six or eight bagels, not seven, etc.

I'd love to find out the origins of some of my family's superstitions!

Changes at Geni - GEDCOM Limit Increased

The size limitation on GEDCOM files which could be imported into Geni has been an issue and it looks as if their developers have addressed this.

The old limit of 15,000 records has now been raised to 50,000 records and the press release/email blast from Geni states, "We hope that this will attract many more genealogists to Geni to share their research with their family and collaborate with others."

Curiously this news hasn't yet been posted to the Geni blog or in the Knowledgebase/Help section of Geni itself.

As I've said before in previous posts, to me Geni is the web application that best reproduces the Facebook experience for genealogists and family historians. If you have a chance today, check out Geni.

Wordless Wednesday

Jacqueline Rose Pearson and her cousin Esmee, 2000. Digital image. Privately held by Thomas MacEntee, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Chicago, IL. 2008.

New AllTop Widget Delivers Topic-Based News

In an email from Guy Kawasaki, a co-founder of Alltop:

"We recently created a widget that displays the five most popular stories from an Alltop topic in the sidebars of blogs and sites. This widget is simple and automated way to provide fresh news content for your readers.

For example, I've integrated the venture capital widget in my blog at http://blog.guykawasaki.com/ in the right sidebar. Thus, my visitors can read my postings about venture capital and also see timely venture capital news from other sources.

So if you have a food site, you can add the Alltop food widget and show more foodie stories. Or, if you have a Macintosh site, you can show more Macintosh news. I've found that adding a news widget like this is an easy way to provide more fresh content to my readers.

With a few clicks, you can design and implement a widget. We have over 250 topics, so you're very likely to find something that will interest your audience. Information about the Alltop widget is here:

http://alltop.com/widget/"

I've taken Guy up on the offer and I can tell you that it took me all of 30 seconds to set up the widget you see on the right! Now I am off to tackle my other blogs!

Cabinet of Curiosities - 10th Edition

I have the honor to host the 10th Edition of the Cabinet of Curiosities and present for your perusal and contemplation, a most varied array of items. Before we begin digging around the cabinet, I'd like to thank the creator of Cabinet, Tim Abbott over at Walking The Berkshires for letting me help out!

One upside of a hurricane, if there can be such a thing, is the way many buried artifacts are brought to light. GrrlScientist presents Hurricane Ike Unearths Fossil Tooth in Paleontologist's Yard posted at Living the Scientific Life. What are the chances that such a fossil would turn up in a paleontologist's yard? I pause and wonder what would my yard bring forth in such a storm!

Have you ever seen or heard of an altered book? My artist friends around the world keep telling me about their altered book projects - some are even "round robin" where one artist works on the book and mails it to the next artist, etc. But image if you found such a work of art that your grandfather had created? See how Sasha Mitchell presents Shadowland: John a Dreams, my Great Great Grandfather's altered book posted at Memory Lane. Sasha's story of what her grandfather created is simply amazing.

Tim Abbott presents Curiosities in Cold Storage posted at Walking the Berkshires. What happens when a collection of scientific specimens seems outdated and "not with the times?" Hopefully it falls into the caring hands of someone like H. Bruce Rinker and others who see the true value of the items and take the time to place them in an engaging and updated environment.

Did you know the emu eggs are blue? Terry Thonton does as he presents My Emu Egg posted at Hill Country of Monroe County, Mississippi. Learn about this most curious egg which has followed Terry around on his many moves - or has he followed it?

Carol Wilkerson presents Cabinet of Curiosities - 10th Edition - Ancient Indian Vessel posted at iPentimento. Learn about an artifact belonging to her grandfather and how Carol, as custodian of said artifact, was able to place it with its rightful owners.

Have you ever seen or eaten a durian? For some of us it is a once-in-a-lifetime adventure and one not to be repeated. Cancerkitty presents Adventurous Eating Gone Awry posted at DelSquacho. Your host remembers the time in the 1980s when someone traveled back from Asia with a large durian in the overhead bin. Almost as bad as the time another fellow passenger's jar of kimchee burst in mid-flight.

M. Diane Rogers presents Cabinet of Curiosities – 10th Edition posted at CanadaGenealogy, or, 'Jane's Your Aunt'. A laminated glass block which traveled across Canada serves not only as a paperweight but as a reminder of a time long ago when Diane's grandparents lived in Hamilton, Ontario.

And finally, your host, Thomas MacEntee, presents The China Syndrome: Queen Elizabeth II Tea Pot posted at Destination: Austin Family. Come read about my porecelain Bess who serves a proper cup of tea - as proper as can be.

Candy - What Did You Eat As A Kid?

Now is the time of year when you see the aisles of your grocer stacked with bags of candy sold for Halloween. Imagine my frustration yesterday when I scoured the store looking for an old standby: candy corn. And the clerk who was stocking the candy aisles said, "Sorry we're all out."

His statement was one that could cut both ways: either they didn't stock it for quite some time or it was so popular that they sold out of it. All I wanted was a small bag for decorating Halloween cookies (I use them as eyes and teeth on big pumpkin cookies and as noses for the witches).

So today I was thinking about all the different types of candy I remember as a kid - a sure way to feel old. In fact, while in the store yesterday it seemed that there were only a handful of brands available (Hershey's, 3 Musketeers, Milky Way, Twix, Kit-Kat, etc.) - nothing like what I remember at the corner store as a kid.

Chuck's was the closest "corner store" located about 2 blocks down the hill on Lake Street. It was quite sometime until my brother and I were allowed to walk there on our own where I grew up in Liberty, New York. The problem: one block down was Railroad Avenue which was more like a large paved area where the O&W Railroad used to run. In fact the train station had been converted into an Agway store (fuel, feed, farm equipment). With no striping, no lanes, etc. - it was scary just driving across it let alone two small boys walking across it.

The store was your typical convenience type store but it also had a lunch counter next door. This was where many of the workers at Livingston Manor Lumber Company would take their midday meal or others would just stop in for a cup of coffee and conversation. But for me, Chucks was the amazing candy aisle.

Of course you can guess that they had everything. I mean they had turkish taffy, burnt peanuts, Chuckles, Dots, Junior Mints, wax lips, bubble gum cigars and more.

So at the risk of turning this into a meme, if you have time this week, post about the various types of candy you remember as a kid. Also try to highlight the regional candies that others may not have heard of - I know that my Canadian colleagues will probably list Cadbury while my West Coast friends might remember Abba Zabba.

And if you need something to jog your memory, check out Candy You Ate As A Kid®.

The 58th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy Is Posted!

Although I wasn't able to participate in this edition of the always intriguing Carnival of Genealogy, please take time to make a visit today and check out the 58th Edition over at Creative Gene.

What I like about this edition, which asks bloggers to submit eerie or haunting stories of their ancestors, is trying to pick which posts are fact and which are fiction!

Jasia's next tour de force is one in which I definitely need to participate:

The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is: Politics and Our Ancestors. The next edition of the COG will be published on Election Day in the U.S. (November 4). So it's the perfect time to research and reflect on what we know (or can find out) about our family members' involvement with the election process. Did one of your ancestors run for office? Who was President when your immigrant ancestors first set foot on American (Canadian, Australian, etc.) shores? What do you know about your grandparents' voting record? Which of your ancestors was first eligible to vote? Do you have any suffragettes on your family tree? What did the electoral process mean to your ancestors? Do you have a personal Election Day memory you'd like to share? Think about it, write about it, and submit it for the next COG! The deadline for submissions is November 1.

The Week In Facebook: 10/17/2008

This is a weekly feature which will document some of the genea-blogger happenings as they relate to Facebook®.

- Since last Friday, the Genea-Bloggers group has increased its membership by 6 more members for a total of 226.

- There is a great discussion going on as to whether or not to use footnotes in your blog posts. Check it out.

- A great month-long event, The Polish History and Culture Challenge, deserves your attention. This event has been posted by Donna Pointkouski of What's Past Is Prologue and takes in almost every aspect of Polish culture.

Again, if anyone has a question as to how to use Facebook®, I'd be happy to help. You can always email me directly but if you post your question as a Discussion Topic at the Genea-Bloggers group, you might find that other members also have the same questions.

Genealogy Quip of Yore

"It is just as foolish to get a big head over the idea of your intelligence as it is your pedigree. Nine times out of ten your parents earned the wherewith to furnish you the former and the latter you had no hand in making; and furthermore, many pedigrees will not bear digging over very thoroughly, for fear a pleasant family fiction may become a disgraceful fact."

"Local Matters," The Journal and Republican, Lowville, Thursday, March 19, 1903, Vol. 44, No. 17, p. 5.

A Safety Net Constructed of Blood

This post was written as part of Blog Action Day 2008

As a family-historian and genealogist, part of bringing to life the statistics of a family's existence is to learn how those people lived, worked, and survived. Like many of my fellow colleagues who blog about their genealogy research, I've not only encountered poverty within the confines of my ancestors' histories, but within my own history as well.

I grew up in upstate New York during the 1960s and 1970s, being raised mostly by my mother Jacqueline MacEntee. Raising two young boys solo was hard enough, but add to it a judicial system which refused to enforce child support payment laws, the prejudice against women in the working world and the economic downturn of the early 1970s - well, you could easily see yourself at the precipice of poverty.

Mom grew up in much worse circumstances, having been born in Jersey City, New Jersey and growing up in one of the first housing projects in the country. My mother was one of 12 siblings and to this day I just don't know how my grandparents managed with all those children to clothe and feed.

Like many families, they were part of a safety net constructed of blood - relatives helping relatives get through another day, another month, another year. My great-grandparents were a great help in that each summer they took in all 12 children and treated them to fresh air, home-grown food, and country fun.

Those same people did the same for my mother. My great-grandmother, Therese McGinnis Austin was always there for me, Mom and my brother and I don't just mean around holidays or for special occasions such as graduations and birthdays. Both she and her husband, John Ralph Austin, took an active interest in my survival, as it were, and made sure that Mom had what she needed to raise two young boys. I don't mean the monetary aspects - I mean the emotional, social and moral support that every child needs when growing up.

In reading back through the history of my family, it has always been this family-based system of "carrying each other through" that has enabled one generation to look at the next and say, "they do have it better than we did."

And in those same readings, I see many families who prospered during the 1920s and forgot the frugal ways under which they had lived or were raised, only to revert back to them during the Great Depression. I see the same thing happening in more recent times: people ditching their SUVs, eating out less, more brown bag lunches, stay-cations, etc. There are, however, some of us who never lost our frugal ways, and still hang on to some of them, to the obvious embarrassment and irritation of our children or our nieces and nephews.

So with a family history steeped in a tradition of “pulling oneself up by one’s bootstraps” or relying on family members for support, I am conflicted when I hear people speak of economic assistance with disdain. As if “those people” were being lazy, were not working hard enough, or didn’t deserve assistance.

In the past of my family, there has always been community assistance besides the family safety net – be it through local houses of worship or benevolent associations, etc. It’s just that we never took advantage of that. Some members of my family were the typical obstinate “I don’t accept charity” types while others saw a certain value in “doing for oneself.”

While all that is admirable, there should be no sense of failure in asking for help. There should be no shame in asking for help. In my mind, although my view is somewhat idealistic, any program whether it be faith-based or government run is not intended as a lifestyle, but as a “jump start” to being self-sufficient. Too many times I’ve overheard the not-so-silent “tsk tsk” when someone uses food stamps or a WIC card; I’ve seen people yell at those standing in line at a soup kitchen saying, “Get a job, ya bums!;” and I’ve actually witnessed one successful woman ask another how much her monthly Section 8 voucher was worth and why she had it.

We only choose to see what we want to see very often. It isn’t my role to judge, nor is it any of my business that the woman with the WIC payments was just abandoned by her husband; that a “bum” in the soup line is actually a skilled office worker who was laid off and then beset with health problems; that the woman with a voucher is actually taking care of her nieces and nephews while her sister deals with her drug habit.

Yes, there are people that abuse systems – any system – when it is set up for good. There will always be someone who will try to make bad out of good, to leverage something to their advantage. Perhaps, again, the idealist in me is holding the bar too high for my expectations of those in poverty.

But what is far worse to me is to be well-situated from an economic standpoint, yet be impoverished of mind, and starving of understanding.

And far worse is to not even know it.

25 Things About Thomas - And More!

You all know I am a sucker for most memes, and if I am not the instigator and starting them, then I gladly jump in, participate and then tag others! Randy Seaver over at Genea-Musings has taken a meme for which he was tagged and, like a virus, is hoping to spread it among the genea-blogger community. Well, I am only too happy to help!

However, I am going to alter two of the lists due to privacy/identity theft concerns. Many times you are asked to supply a list of places where you have lived or jobs you have held. I am not going to give exact details but be a little more general on those categories.

** 10 years ago I:

1. was working at Latham & Watkins in San Francisco as an Applications Trainer

2. living out near Ocean Beach in San Francisco

3. had two dogs, Minyo and Princess

4. was up at 4:00 am each morning to catch the 5:00 am bus to the gym

5. knew I couldn't live in California forever was was thinking of moving back East


** 5 Places I have lived:

1. Chicago, Illinois

2. Near Ocean Beach in San Francisco, California

3. Near UCSF at 9th and Judah in San Francisco, California

4. On Capitol Hill in Washington, DC

5. The Catskills Region, New York


** 5 Jobs I have had:

1. A bellhop in a Catskill resort hotel
2. A bagger at a grocery store
3. A litigation secretary at a law firm
4. A computer trainer
5. A project analyst

Here are five genea-bloggers that I pass this meme to:

1. Midge at Granite In My Blood

2. Elizabeth at Little Bytes of Life

3. Kathryn at LOOKING4ANCESTORS

4. Apple at Apple's Tree

5. Donna at What's Past Is Prologue

Reminder! Cabinet of Curiosities Deadline Is Today!

Bring out your weird items!  Let's have a virtual show and tell!

As a reminder, today is the deadline for submissions to the 10th Edition of the Cabinet of Curiosities - a great carnival created and normally hosted by Tim Abbott over at Walking The Berkshires.

I volunteered to host this carnival back in August during the 2008 Genea-Blogger Games for two reasons: 1) I wanted my medal and 2) Cabinet had taken a hiatus over the summer and I was hoping it would be revived soon.

Tim took me up on the offer and has handed over the reins for the upcoming edition.  I can't wait to see what my fellow genea-bloggers manage to pull out of their closets this time.  And I am really hoping for a glass eye - that would be killer as my nephew says.

Submit your post by midnight tonite, October 15, 2008, using the blog carnival form.

Wordless Wednesday

Freer House, New Paltz, New York, 1720. Digital image of postcard of home erected by my 7th great-grandfather, Hugo Freer (b. 1691). Privately held by Thomas MacEntee, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Chicago, Illinois. 2008.

A Blog Homecoming

I spent some time visiting blogs that I don't always visit since I read the posts in my Google Reader. Well now that I am self-employed and have a bit more time (yeah, right!), I wanted to participate in Kathryn Lake Hogan's challenge Fun Friday - Would You Care to Comment? and make 10 comments over at some of my favorite blogs.

1. Looking4Ancestors
http://looking4ancestors.blogspot.com/
Fun Friday - Would You Care to Comment?

Hey cousin! I forgot to tell you Happy Thanksgiving yesterday so now I do so belatedly. Thanks for this challenge - I am going to see if I can hammer this out and then post about it. Cheers!
Thomas

2. Virtual Dime Museum
http://thevirtualdimemuseum.blogspot.com/
The Lacy Cape

A lacy cape crusader? This is amazing - I am wondering the jacket was in such disrepair that his mother was trying to hide some damage?
Thomas

3. West In New England
http://westinnewengland.blogspot.com/
Would You Care to Comment? (Post #400!)

Congratulations on Post #400 Bill!
Thomas

4. Shades of the Departed
http://www.shadesofthedeparted.com/
Abraham Bogardus - Twice Told Tuesday

I have many Bogarduses in my tree beginning with Anna Bogardus (1725 - 1787) who was my 7th great-grandmother. I tried to find some ancestral information for Abraham but over on Ancestry I find conflicting information. Given that he was born in Dutchess County, I would think he would fit in my tree somehow but right now I can't see how.

5. Walking The Berkshires
http://greensleeves.typepad.com/
Halcyon Days

We have autumn here in Chicago, short-lived as it is, but I miss the rolling hills of my home back in New York! I will be in the Hudson Valley in less than two weeks but I fear that the leaves will have all fallen by then.
Thomas

6. Nordic Blue
http://nordicblue.blogspot.com/
Just Call Me Anna

I found this post very interesting and now I am wondering if anyone has done a Top 25 table for Dutch names for boys and girls!
Also - welcome back. I missed you all those months when you weren't posting!
Thomas

7. Small-leaved Shamrock
http://small-leavedshamrock.blogspot.com/
The real Annie Moore remembered at last

Thank you! I've been following Meagan's progress with this project and I am glad it has finally come to fruition.

8. Little Bytes of Life
http://www.littlebytesoflife.com
Happy Blogiversary To Me

Congratulations - I am a big fan of your site and I also want to thank you for all you've contributed to the genea-blogger community!

9. Family Matters
http://moultriecreek.us/family/
A Different Messenger

Thanks for highlighting this - I am a big fan of "cross platform" apps and it looks like Meebo might be the answer for some of my IM issues. Right now I am partial to Yahoo but I despise all their marketing downloads. I also find MSN Messenger (or whatever they are calling it this month) difficult to maneuver around.
Thomas

10. Granite In My Blood
http://granite-in-my-blood.blogspot.com/
Hello Cousin Midge

I checked out Inspiration and wondered why you used this to create the chart vs. other apps. that are available.
Thomas

Tombstone Tuesday

Headstone of Quincy C. Matteson (1834 - 11879). Digital image. Privately held by Thomas MacEntee, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Chicago, Illinois. 2008.

Quincy Matteson was my seventh cousin 5 times removed and was born at DeKalb, St. Lawrence County, New York on August 19, 1834.[1] He was the son of Francis Matteson and Hannah Dence.[2]

On February 25, 1864 he married Amelia Bancroft at DeKalb, New York.

Quincy Matteson died on July 8, 1879 at Hermon, New York. He is buried at the Old Hermon Cemetery, Hermon, New York.[3]


Notes:

[1] Cady, Anne M., Inventory of Old Hermon Cemetery, Hermon, New York (NYGENWEB, St. Lawrence, online (http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~stlawgen/CEMETERY/Hermon/Hermonlp.HTM>, data downloaded 21 January 2008).

[2] (http://www.ancestry.com), accessed January 30, 2008, citing Census Place: Montgomery, Orange, New York; Roll: T625_1253; Page: 5A; Enumeration District: 135; Image: 223

[3] Cady, Anne M., Inventory of Old Hermon Cemetery, Hermon, New York

6th Edition of Smile for the Camera Posted!

Becky Wiseman is tickling my funny bone and everyone's with the latest version of Smile for the Camera posted over at Kinexxions. Entitled Funny Bone, this is the 6th edition of one of my favorite carnivals and there are lots of comedic episodes and clowns to be perused. Stop on by!

My New Genealogy Page - And More!

Well, I've been working much of the weekend on my new website, thomas 2.0 including thomas 2.0 - The Blog. I think I'm ready to let the cat out of the bag on this one!

First, thomas 2.0 is basically a way of pulling all my various projects, both career and genealogy, into one area of easy access. What I am excited most about are these two parts of thomas 2.0:

thomas 2.0 - Genealogy: I've greatly expanded my genealogy page especially the links portion. There are now over 100 links that I find useful for my genealogy research. Take a visit and perhaps you will too. Special shout outs to Lorine of Olive Tree Genealogy and Jennifer of Rainy Day Genealogy Readings. As you can see, I find their sites very useful and have bookmarked a few of their posts!

thomas 2.0 - The Blog: I found the need for a more personal blog about me and about technology. With the byline "A treasure trove of technical tips, tricks, tweeks and treats" (talk about aliteration!), this site will contains posts pertaining to new technologies, many of them freeware, open-source or Web 2.0, and how to apply them to your own desktop, blog and more.

While you are at thomas 2.0 take time to look at my current Ventures or any other are and send me some feedback if you have a chance. Thanks!

Funny, Embarrassing or a Cruel Joke?

This post was composed for the 6th Edition of Smile For The Camera ~ A Carnival of Images

The photo looks innocent enough: someone holding up a decorated cake for the camera, the cake says "Happy Confirmation . . ." Or is there more to it than that?

Only if you were part of my family would you begin laughing when you saw this photo, because you had been told the story behind it.

My mother's confirmation took place in 1955 as you can see by these photos:



Above my mother, Jacqueline Austin, poses with her grandmother, Therese McGinnis Austin and her sister who also served as her sponsor, Patricia Austin.



Above Jacqueline Austin poses outside in her confirmation gown.

So what's so funny about the cake photo? Well being part of a family of practical jokers and people who generally kid around quite a bit, someone thought it would be fun to act as if they were throwing the cake out the window. I guess this had my mother quite upset, as any 13-year old would be on her special day. I can't remember who exactly threatened to toss the cake out the window but I bet it was one of her brothers.

After having grown up with what outsiders freely call a "crazy family" I am no longer embarrassed by these jokes - be it one aunt who shows up at every high school graduation with air horns, signs and a loud mouth or aunts who will take over an entire Red Lobster for the afternoon with lots of yelling and laughing.

And to be honest, I don't think I'd have it any other way.

Photo 1: Confirmation Cake. Jersey City, New Jersey, 1955. Digital image. Privately held by Thomas MacEntee, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Chicago, Illinois. 2008.

Photo 2: Therese McGinnis Austin, Jacqueline Austin and Patricia Austin. Jersey City, New Jersey, 1955. Digital image. Privately held by Thomas MacEntee, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Chicago, Illinois. 2008.

Photo 3: Jacqueline Austin - Confirmation. Jersey City, New Jersey, 1955. Digital image. Privately held by Thomas MacEntee, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Chicago, Illinois. 2008.

The Week In Facebook: 10/10/2008

This is a weekly feature which will document some of the genea-blogger happenings as they relate to Facebook®.

- Since last Friday, the Genea-Bloggers group has increased its membership by 11 more members for a total of 220.

- I personally want to thank the new Admins of the Genea-Blogger group for helping with membership approvals this week!

- As a reminder again, October 15th will be the "triple witching day" of carnivals for Genea-Bloggers! On that date the following carnivals or events require submission of posts:

- Cabinet of Curiosities, hosted this time by yours truly here at Destination: Austin Family;

- Carnival of Genealogy, 58th Edition (tbd); and

- Blog Action Day which is a global posting effort with this year's theme being Poverty.

Again, if anyone has a question as to how to use Facebook®, I'd be happy to help. You can always email me directly but if you post your question as a Discussion Topic at the Genea-Bloggers group, you might find that other members also have the same questions.

Wordless Wednesday

Butter Queen aka "Princess Kay of the Milky Way." Digital image taken August 23, 2008 at the Minnesota State Fair, St. Paul, MN. Privately held by Thomas Richardson, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] St. Paul, Minnesota. 2008.

Tombstone Tuesday

Headstone of Abraham T. Putman (1847 - 1917). Digital image. Privately held by Thomas MacEntee, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Chicago, Illinois. 2008.

Abraham T. Putman was my 7th cousin 5 times removed and was born on March 1, 1847 in DePeyster, St. Lawrence County, New York[1]. His parents were Edward A. Putman and Mehitable Anderson.[2]

Abraham married Malissa Zollar (1845 - 1935)[3] on December 13, 1871 in St. Lawrence county, New York[4] and they had the following children:

Huldah Putman (1872 - ?)[5]
Joel W. Putman (1875 - 1937)[6]
James Y. Putman (1878 - ?)[7]
Abraham Putman (1881 - ?)[8]
Elma L. Putman (1884 - 1970)[9]

Abraham died in 1917 at DeKalb, New York.[10]

Notes:

[1] Putman, George W., Genealogy of David Putman and His Descendants, (Private publication, 1916), p. 19.

[2] Id.

[3] Cady, Anne M., Inventory of Maple Grove Cemetery - Richville, Dekalb, St. Lawrence, New York (NYGENWEB, St. Lawrence), (http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~stlawgen/CEMETERY/MapleGrove/Maplegrove.htm> examined for any reference to "Joel Putman," accessed January 13, 2008.

[4] Genealogy of David Putman and His Descendants, p. 19

[5] Id.

[6] Inventory of Maple Grove Cemetery - Richville, Dekalb, St. Lawrence, New York

[7] Genealogy of David Putman and His Descendants, p. 19

[8] Id.

[9] Social Security Administration, Social Security Death Index, Master File ((Online: The Generations Network, Inc., 2007)), , examined for any reference to "Elma Fleming," accessed October 6, 2008. Number: 077-22-8014; Issue State: New York; Issue Date: Before 1951.

[10] Genealogy of David Putman and His Descendants, p. 19

SAGE Journals - Free Access In October

A big thank you to Jennifer at Rainy Day Genealogy Readings for her mention about SAGE Journals Online allowing free access to their journals until October 31st.

I have taken them up on this free offer and have noted that you do need to register and that you cannot access articles printed before 1999.

However, there are still quite few gems including access to The Journal of Family History.

I also did a search using the keywords Dutch + Colonial and found many articles about the social customs and living conditions that my ancestors in colonial New York would have encountered.

So get creative on your searches! And I can tell you using genealogy as a keyword will bring up mostly non-family history articles. I would recommend using some of your surnames, place names, etc.

Tip: use the Advanced Search function to limit your search results to articles from 1999 forward.

Genealogy Filing System - Data Files

Randy Seaver at GeneaMusings has a great post today about organizing and re-organizing the data files one uses for genealogy.

As I said on my Data Backup Day post for October, very often I find the need to do "cleanup" of my files and file structure before I perform my monthly backup.

Here is the structure I currently use and at the end of the listing I'll discuss some reason to the madness:

TJM Genealogy
- Applications
   - Footnote
   - GEDCOM-HTML
   - Geni
- Associations
   - AFAOA (Austin Family Association)
   - Crandall
   - Huegenot Historical Society
   - NEHGS
   - Schenectady Historical Society
- Blogging
   - Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories
   - Alltop
   - Blog Templates
   - Bootcamp for Genea-Bloggers
   - Carnival Graphics
      - COG
   - Destination Austin Family
   - Genea-Blogger Games 2008
   - Genea-Bloggers
   - Grandma Austins Diaries
   - Photos for Posts
   - Scanfest
- Field Trips
- Genealogy Pictures
   - Arvanites
   - Austin
   - Baushke
   - Farren
   - Freer
   - Houses
   - Lowville
   - MacEntee
   - McCrickert
   - McGinnis
   - Scanned
   - Sullivan

- Projects
   - Continuity Plan
   - County Converter
   - Lowville Long Ago
   - Obit Daily Times
   - Unclaimed Person
- Records
   - Birth Records
   - Book Pages
   - Census Records
   - Death Records
   - Family Bible Records
   - Forms
   - Immigration Records
   - Marriage Records
   - Military Records
   - Newspaper Articles
   - Passport Applications
- Sources
- Surnames
   - Arvanites
   - Austin
   - Baushke
   - Crandall
   - DeGroodt
   - Dence
   - Dodds
   - Finehout
   - Henneberg
   - MacEntee
   - McCrickert
   - McGinnis
   - Putman
- ToDo

Notes:

1. My main folder is named TJM Genealogy since it is on the home computer which is shared with other people in my household. I don't care for Windows option of having "accounts" for each person so instead we all place our initial in front of folders with our data.

2. The reason I use "Genealogy Pictures" instead of "Pictures" is that when I am managing photos or using the Microsoft Photo Manager or Adobe Photoshop Elements, I can differentiate that folder from the basic default "Pictures" folder.

3. I do leverage the Tag option with most of the Pictures and Records entries. See my articles on photo metadata at Bootcamp for Genea-Bloggers:
- Metadata Tags for Photos - Windows Vista
- Metadata Tags for Photos - Windows XP



4. For naming items in the Newspaper Articles folder, rather than embed the date of the article and the name of the newspaper in the metadata, I prefer to see it somehow in the title field. Ex: Austin_Robert_19240924_LJR means the article is about Robert Austin, was printed on September 24, 1924 and is in the Lowville Journal Republican (LJR).



5. Since, like Randy, I have been using data files since The Flood, I still don't use spaces in file names but use the underscore - old habit. Also, I've learned to enter dates as YYYY_MM_DD instead of MM_DD_YYYY since it assists me when sorting files.

READ ALL ABOUT IT! 57th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is Posted

Jasia over at Creative Gene has published I Read It In The News! which is the 57th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy. Check it out this Sunday morning after you are done with your morning paper and then see what many Genea-Bloggers have found about their own ancestors in print.

Me and My Home Office

Besides soon going into business for myself (running a law firm technology consulting firm), my home office has been used for genealogy.

In yesterday's post about my appearance at Angie's List®, I did not mention my appearance in the e-zine that they send to all members. I figured there was no sense in posting the link since most of my readers are probably not members of Angie's List®.

But I did capture one of the other photos of me in my office. You can see my wall charts behind me. In fact, for the page layout, Angie's List® also used one of my ancestor fan charts, color-coded by generation, as an underlay for the photo.

Photo: Thomas MacEntee researches genealogy on Ancestry.com in his Chicago home office. Digital image taken August 7, 2008 by Jason Madden. Angie's List Magazine, October 2008, Indianapolis, Indiana.

Facebook Friday: 10/3/2008

This is a weekly feature which will document some of the genea-blogger happenings as they relate to Facebook®.

- Since last Friday, the Genea-Bloggers group has increased its membership by 2 more members for a total of 209. But these figures are a bit misleading: we went through the membership lists and realized that we had almost 10 members who asked to join Genea-Bloggers but they never completed their full profiles as Facebook members. Since they weren't Facebook members, we opted to remove them as Genea-Blogger members and hope that at a later date if and when they become full-fledged Facebook members, that they will rejoin us.

- Also, we've added more Admins to the list. Up until this point, the only admins were Miriam Midkiff Robbins and Kathryn Doyle along with me. We've added:

Jasia – Creative Gene
Tim – Walking The Berkshires
footnoteMaven – Shades of the Departed
Lisa – Small Leaved-Shamrock
Terry – Hill Country of Monroe County, Mississippi
Denise – Family Matters
Jessica – Jessica’s Genejournal
Randy – Genea-Musings
Coleen - Orations of OMcHodoy

As an admin, these members will be able to create events as well as approve requests for membership.

- Speaking of membership, I want to discuss the criteria for membership especially since this is a closed group on Facebook. When someone requests to join the Genea-Blogger groups we first look to see that they have genealogy or family history listed as an interest and that they have a blog or are friends with other Genea-Bloggers. If the requestor doesn't not seem to meet these criteria, we may email and ask them their level of interest, how they found out about our group etc. Then the Admin will make a decision to extend membership or not.

Genea-Bloggers is not meant to be some secret, exclusive society but it is a focused one. And a means of ensuring that focus and having members that will contribute is maintaining our current standards.

- October 15th will be the "triple witching day" of carnivals for Genea-Bloggers! On that date the following carnivals or events require submission of posts:

- Cabinet of Curiosities, hosted this time by yours truly here at Destination: Austin Family;

- Carnival of Genealogy, 58th Edition (tbd); and

- Blog Action Day which is a global posting effort with this year's theme being Poverty.

Again, if anyone has a question as to how to use Facebook®, I'd be happy to help. You can always email me directly but if you post your question as a Discussion Topic at the Genea-Bloggers group, you might find that other members also have the same questions.

Angie's List® Podcast - My Segment on Genea-Bloggers

Back in July, 2008 yours truly was interviewed by Angie's List® for both a podcast and a magazine article on genealogy. In addition, Angie's List® has now created a category for professional genealogists.

If you aren't familiar with Angie's List®, check them out. What started out as a way of rating local contractors - sort of a Consumer Reports for home improvements - has blossomed into a major operation with chapters in each city. Whenever I need to start a project around the house, I first consult Angie's List®.

Both items debuted today and overall I am happy with the content of both the podcast and the article but mostly the article. The podcast is short (under four minutes) but if you listen to my clip it sounds as if I'd been huffing helium all morning - is my voice really that high? LOL!

Also interviewed for both the podcast and the article are:

- Loretto Szucs, vice president of community relations for Ancestry.com

- Kathleen Hinckley, executive director of the Association of Professional Genealogists

- David Rencher, director of records and information for the Family History Library in Salt Lake City

And being the fanatic of the genea-blogger concept, you know I took pains to mention the term as much as possible. Now that it is in print, albeit in quotation marks, I wonder if we'll get our entry in Wikipedia?

Photo: Thomas MacEntee researches genealogy on Ancestry.com in his Chicago home office. Digital image taken August 7, 2008 by Jason Madden. Angie's List Magazine, October 2008, Indianapolis, Indiana.

Today Is Data Backup Day!

Today is Data Backup Day, being the first of the month. As many of my fellow genea-bloggers know, being in the Information Technology field, I am a big advocate of backing up systems and servers and data. I have experienced data loss first hand both at home and in my profession. If you don't think it will happen to you, you are only kidding yourself and you risk the loss of years of genealogy research. Here are this month's tips on how to formulate a backup plan and how to carry it to fruition.

Have a Plan

One of the events in the recent Genea-Bloggers 2008 Games was Back-up Your Data! and many of us developed plans as to how to backup our data.

If you don't have a plan, you really need one. And don't feel bad if your plan gets diverted - mine did. I started reviewing the data I needed to backup and saw how dis-organized it was, so I opted to spend one evening just refiling and cleaning up.

The next step is to decide what really needs to be backed up. If you have an external hard drive system which uses "one touch" backup then you can skip this step. The "one touch" concept will look for data that has changed and make sure that it is backed up.

Others prefer to do what is called an "incremental backup":

- take the current backup data and put it in a folder called "old backup"

- backup data to a folder called "current backup"

- next month, delete "old backup," rename "current backup" as "old backup," and then backup that month's data to a new folder called "current backup."

However you do it, just do it. You worked hard to find this data, perform the research and probably annotate it as well. You deserve to have it available to you in case of disaster or other hard times.

External Storage

I can't believe the options available currently for external storage! The prices have come down, the storage amounts are nearing 1 terrabyte (which is 1,000 gigabytes) and the size of the units are decreasing.

Kathryn Doyle at the California Genealogical Society and Library Blog recently purchased an external hard drive and she will be posting about her experience sometime later today!

Cnet - external hard drives sorted by user rating

Costco - a great source for external hard drives. Check out the 1tb drive for $199!

Amazon - carries quite a few external hard drives, many with free shipping and no sales tax!

Remember to tell Santa that an external hard drive makes the perfect stocking stuffer!

Online Storage

You can use a free online storage website if your storage needs are less tha 5gb. Many websites require users to pay a fee, but some are free and some have a limited amount of room for free. Here are a few:

Xdrive (5gb free) - http://www.xdrive.com/

Mozy (2gb free) - http://mozy.com/

Box (1gb free) - http://www.box.net/

DropBoks (1gb free) - http://www.dropboks.com/

Remember that how quickly you can backup will depend greatly upon the processor/RAM on your computer as well as your DSL/dial-up Internet connection.

One area of confusion is that download speeds (when you access a website or download a file) are vastly faster than upload speeds. For example, my current download speed is up to 1.mbps but my upload speed is only 384k, about 25% of the download speed.

If you have a slow connection, external backup may be a better alternative for you.

Read more about online storage: http://websearch.about.com/od/web20/a/online-storage.htm

Photo: Backup Backup Backup - And Test Restores at Flickr courtesy of Topato.