I'm More Than A Blogger - I'm A Story Gatherer

Have you ever discussed your passion for blogging with someone who may not be very Internet or Web 2.0 savvy? Reactions have probably ranged from a scrunched-up nose to being peppered with questions about the time and effort, the benefit, etc.

And what about family members? Do they even know about your blog or your web presence? Have you told them about your work to document the stories of your family?

For me, this is one area that has always been difficult. I come from a very large family (I have over 40 first cousins) but when I make visits back home to upstate New York, I notice a "disconnect" when I discuss my blogging.

To solve this, I've used my genealogy research and self-published small books about specific people or topics. My favorite book was one that I created in late 2007 using Ancestry Press (now called MyCanvas) about my first cousin Kenneth VonRonn who was killed in Iraq in January 2005.

I'm always looking for new ways to produce keepsake items and to share the stories I gather. One problem is the gathering: how do you get family members to open up and talk about ancestors? I am a big believer of this concept: there is often more freedom with a limited number of choices. This means: I'd rather have several topics to choose from like "where was your first date?" or "what was your first job like?" rather than having an "open ended" format.

I've been working with products from Cherish Bound which has a great concept: chat cards. Basically the cards can be handed out at a gathering and they have great "prompts" that get people to share their stories. If you've ever been to corporate ice breakers, it is the same concept only applied to a family get-together.

Have you had problems getting family members to open up and share stories with you? Why do you think people are hesitant to talk - because they lack structure or prompt? I'd like to hear from others about their story gathering frustrations and experiences.

Wordless Wednesday

Photo: Georgiana Simpson (1862-1938) and husband Jacob DeGroodt (1860 - 1933), my 2nd great-grandparents. Digital image. Privately held by Dan MacEntee, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] New York, 2009

MacEntee and DeGroodt Ancestor Photos

I wanted to give a big thank you to my newly found cousin (we are in fact 2nd cousins) whom I've never met in person but who found me online because of this blog (as well as my overall web presence).

Dan MacEntee and I began emailing in May 2008 after I posted my series about whether or not the MacEntee and McEntee families of New York's Hudson Valley are related. Over the past few weeks he has been speaking with his 94-year old grandmother, Mary MacEntee, who married my Grand Uncle, Harold MacEntee. They have been reviewing old photos and Dan has been good enough to write down identifications of the people in the photos, possible dates, etc.

And then as a bonus he scans and sends me a few photos each week. The photo above is simply amazing to me: it depicts all seven sons of Elmer MacEntee and Margaret DeGroodt, my great-grandparents, who also had five daughters.

They are, from left to right, in birth order: John MacEntee (1901 - 1984), Harold MacEntee (1906 - 1979), Myron MacEntee (1907 - 1981), George MacEntee (1909 - 1965), Elmer MacEntee, Jr. (1911 - 1971), Abraham (1913 - 1977), and William, the youngest in the front (1925 - 1987).

One thing I notice and it would help if readers could take a look and give me their opinions: it appears that John, the eldest with the large ears, looks like Myron but not like Harold right next to him. John and Myron look like me and all the males that I know in the MacEntee family including my father. I also think that Harold and the other brothers who look like him resemble the DeGroodt side of the family and all look alike.

Judging from the age of William, or Billy as he was called, I would say he is about six or seven so this photo is dated 1931 or 1932. Other evidence which backs up my theory: I also received a photo of Jacob DeGroodt (1860 - 1933) and Georgiana Simpson (1862 - 1938), my great-great grandparents, which was taken on the same day as this photo. Since Jacob DeGroodt died in 1933, I think I am on the right track as to the date. I will put the DeGroodt photo up tomorrow for Wordless Wednesday.

Thanks Dan!

67th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy - Nobody's Fool

I am so excited to be hosting the 6th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy especially since there are so many great posts!

Janet McMullan presents Best Tools for Family Tree posted at English Ancestors.

Greta Koehl presents My Three Aunts: Nobody’s Fools posted at Greta's Genealogy Bog, saying, "It was next to impossible for me to limit the subject of this article to just one person, so I have written about the three aunts who played big roles in my life; each of them personifies a different aspect of "common sense" and "keeping it together.""

Bill West presents West in New England: COOL posted at West in New England, saying, "My Dad never seemed to lose his cool...except once!"

Randy Seaver presents Della (Smith) Carringer had it all together! posted at Genea-Musings.

Dorene Paul presents Paul R. Orshoski, Sr. posted at Graveyard Rabbit of Sandusky Bay, saying, "My dad, Paul R. Orshoski, Sr. always made people feel good about themselves. He always had an encouraging word, even though he was not highly educated, and he was a little guy. He had a wonderful sense of humor, and made friends wherever he went. He worked tirelessly for the PTA, church, Little League, and several charities. He died at age 55, and his common sense, great advice, and loving words are truly missed."

Elizabeth Powell Crowe presents Genealogy before the Internet posted at Crowe's Nest Genealogy Blog by Elizabeth Powell Crowe.

Linda Hughes Hiser presents Nobody's Fool--Jessie Pool VanGilder posted at Flipside, saying, "My great grandmother: a story of courage, resourcefulness and kindness in the face of tragedy."

Jasia presents Mom Was Nobody's Fool posted at Creative Gene. Read about the wonderful piece of jewelry Jasia's mom left her and how her mother saved up for such a purchase.

Schelly Talalay Dardashti presents Tracing the Tribe: The Jewish Genealogy Blog: My mother, the genius! posted at Tracing the Tribe, saying, "The wise ways - say that three times fast! - of my mother."

footnoteMaven presents In The Competent Hands Of Louis Salter posted at footnoteMaven, saying, "We can no more take credit for our ancestors' accomplishments, than blame for their failures!"

Wendy Littrell presents Meet Mom! « All My Branches Genealogy posted at All My Branches Genealogy, saying, "This article about my mom is NOT a bunch of "hooey"!"

And finally, I present Mom Made Sense posted at Destination: Austin Family, saying, "Mom was a real straight-shooter - she said what was on her mind and you always knew where you stood with her. And she didn't tolerate fools."

That concludes this edition.  And now it's time for a Call for Submissions! In keeping with the month of March being National Women's History Month, and March 8th being International Women's Day, the topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy will once again be: A Tribute to Women. Write a tribute to a woman on your family tree, a friend, a neighbor, or a historical female figure who has done something to impact your life. Or instead of writing, consider sharing a photo biography of one woman's life. Or create a scrapbook page dedicated to a woman you'd like to honor. The next edition will be hosted at Creative Gene.  The deadline for submissions is March 15th.

Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy using our carnival submission form. Please use a descriptive phrase in the title of any articles you plan to submit and/or write a brief description/introduction to your articles in the "comment" box of the blogcarnival submission form. This will give readers an idea of what you've written about and hopefully interest them in clicking on your link. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Mom Made Sense

This post was written for the 67th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy hosted by me right here at Destination: Austin Family.

Growing up I never really appreciated my mother's common sense and her ability to "get by" while at the same time "not being taken."  And it is no mystery where Mom got her sense of smarts as we called it.  As I've described her in previous posts, Mom was a child of the Great Depression born and raised in Jersey City, New Jersey with 11 other siblings.  Mom was the middle child - Number 6 - and often played the role of negotiator and peace keeper.  It is my belief that her placement in the pecking order and the era in which she grew up provided an environment whereby she needed to rely on her wits to get by.  

Having been raised by working parents and a pair of stern yet doting grandparents, Mom had great role models who must have imparted some key bits of wisdom. But it wasn't until she was out on her own - after my father left us - did she really come to rely upon her common sense and practicality.  Mom was left with two young boys in the early 1970s and had no credit, little work history, and just a high school education.  But besides having a supportive family, Mom was able to call upon life's lessons learned from her mother and grandmother and let others know that she was not to be played for the fool.

I'll always remember one incident where Mom communicated this very effectively: it was a winter Saturday and we went to the movies in Monticello.  The theater had advertised in the local paper a showing of Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.  Mom was excited, we were excited and it was a big deal.  To put this in perspective: this was before the days of video tape and Disney movies were not shown on television and to have a classic re-released was an event.

Once in the theater, the movie began and since I had not yet seen the original I was unaware that what was being shown was a dreadful live action (not animated) knock-off in some foreign language with subtitles.  So as my brother and I sat in the dark reading, my mother got up and made her way to the lobby.  She confronted the manager (that's what Mom did, she confronted people when she was angry) and asked why he had advertised Disney's version of the movie to the point of even using Disney art work in the print ad.

Well five minutes later, Mom's hands yanked my brother and I out of our seats back to the lobby where by now she was part of a rabble of angry mothers.  It was something right out of a Frankenstein movie where the peasants gather with torches, rakes and pitchforks.  As I watched the theater owner suddenly hop in his car and take off, little did I know that Mom had somehow organized these women and was now their leader.

What next?  Off to the police station to see about fraud charges.  Yep, that's how Mom was - she didn't suffer any fools.  My next recollection is sitting in the lobby of the police station with many other children - and their respective mothers - as Mom explained the situation to the police.  In the overheated lobby the air hung heavy with harsh New York and New Jersey accents and the occasional four-letter word as well as many hand gestures, some of which even I could understand at that age.

Mom wanted more than just a refund.  She wanted to make sure that the theater owner understood what it had meant to her boys to see a Disney movie as well as the effort it took to drive 10 miles on a snowy afternoon.  I don't remember how the issue was finally settled but I do remember there being a local news story the next day in the newspaper.

I knew it wasn't nice to fool with Mother MacEntee.  And in short order that poor theater owner knew it too.  And at that time what my brother and I didn't know was we were being taught a lesson on how not to let someone take advantage of you or your situation.

Photo: MacEntee Family - Thomas, Jacqueline and Michael, 1975. Digital image. Privately held by Thomas MacEntee, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Chicago, Illinois. Copyright 2009.

Names, Places & Most Wanted Faces

Craig Manson over at Geneablogie has started a new meme which I think is important since it gets the surnames in my genealogy research info out into the blogosphere.  As Craig put it:

"List the surnames you are researching and the general localities. Then tell the names of your “Most Wanted Ancestors,” that is, the ones you most want to find behind that brickwall."

Note: I have been particular with the formatting of the information below and use ________ Surname hoping this will allow more people using Google and other search engines to find my post. Also I am using _______ County for the same reasons.

AUSTIN Surname: New York (Jefferson County, Lewis County, St. Lawrence County); Rhode Island (Kent County, Washington County)

CHRISTIANA Surname: New York (Dutchess County, Ulster County)

CRANDALL Surname: Rhode Island (Kent County, Washington County)

DEGROODT Surname: New York (Dutchess County, Ulster County)

DENCE Surname: New York (Lewis County)

FARREN Surname: New York (Bronx County, Kings County); Ireland (Belfast)

FINEHOUT Surname: New York (Dutchess County, Ulster County)

HENNEBERG Surname: New York (Bronx County, Kings County, Queens County, Nassau County), New Jersey (Essex County, Hudson County)

KROM Surname: New York (Dutchess County, Ulster County)

LEEHIVE Surname: New York (Ulster County)

MACENTEE Surname or MCENTEE Surname: New York (Dutchess County, Orange County, Ulster County)

MCGINNIS Surname or MCGINNES Surname: New York (Bronx County, Kings County), Ireland (County Monaghan

PRESSNER Surname: New York (Bronx County, Kings County, Queens County)

PUTMAN Surname: New York (Albany County, Montgomery County, Schenectady County)

SLATTERY Surname: New York (Orange County, Ulster County)

MOST WANTED ANCESTOR: Frances Pressner, my Great Grandmother, born abt 1889 in Liepsig, Germany, died March 10, 1960, Bronx County, New York. Having her parents info would allow me to know all 16 of my great-great grandparents.

Data Backup Day Contest - Win a 4GB Flash Drive

This Sunday, March 1, 2009, is Data Backup Day over at Geneabloggers.  And this month there is a great prize being given away:

A Kingston Data Traveler 4GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive
(see details at http://tr.im/gAF6)

Data Backup Day is a monthly reminder of the importance of backup up all your genealogy research data including photos, documents, emails, and even your blog posts!

For this month's Data Backup Day, post about your worst data loss nightmare (real or imagined) or about steps you've taken to prevent data loss. Make sure you include "Data Backup Day" in your post title and your name could be drawn at random to win this great prize.

See the rules for the contest over at Geneabloggers.

Tombstone Tuesday - Gustave Henneberg Jr

Photo: Headstone of Gustave Henneberg, Jr. (1889 - 1955). Long Island National Cemetery, Farmingdale, Nassau County, New York. Digital image. Privately held by Wendy Henneberg, New York. 2009.

Gustave Henneberg, Jr. was my great-grand uncle and was born in Leipzig, Germany on September 12, 1889[1] to Gustave Henneberg (1864 - 1942) and Lena [Unknown] (1864 - 1937). Gustave Jr. arrived in the United States at New York in 1891[2].

Gustave Jr. married Margaret [Unknown], date unknown. She was born April 10, 1896[3] and died on July 30, 1974[4] at Massapequa, New York.

Gustave Henneberg Jr. died on February 17, 1955[5] in Miami, Florida. He is buried at the Long Island National Cemetery in Farmingdale, New York.

Notes

[1] United States, Selective Service System, Selective Service Registration Cards, World War II: Fourth Registration ((Online: The Generations Network, Inc., 2007)), NARA, (http://www.ancestry.com), accessed February 13, 2008, citing Roll: WWII_2371484; Local board: Queens, New York.

[2] U.S. Customs Service, Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, New York, 1820-1897 ((Online: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006)), NARA, (http://www.ancestry.com), accessed February 13, 2008, citing Year: 1891; Arrival: New York , United States; Microfilm serial: M237; Microfilm roll: M237_566; Line: 41; List number: 537.

[3] National Cemetery Administration, U.S. Veterans Gravesites, ca.1775-2006 ((Online: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006)), Long Island National Cemetery
2040 Wellwood Avenue Farmingdale, New York 11735-1211 Section X Site 718.

[4] Social Security Administration, Social Security Death Index, Master File ((Online: The Generations Network, Inc., 2007)), (http://www.ancestry.com), examined for any reference to "Margaret Henneberg," accessed February 13, 2008. Number: 080-22-3600; Issue State: New York; Issue Date: Before 1951.

[5] National Cemetery Administration, U.S. Veterans Gravesites, ca.1775-2006 ((Online: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006)), Long Island National Cemetery
2040 Wellwood Avenue Farmingdale, New York 11735-1211 Section X Site 718.

Any Blogger Interested In A Paid Gig?

I've just posted over at Geneabloggers with a post entitled How Can I Make Money By Blogging? and I wanted to point out another opportunity of which I've personally taken advantage.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I've been named the National Genealogy and Technology Examiner over at Examiner.com and so far, I've not only enjoyed writing the articles but I've also been encouraged by the potential to make some money from my writing.

Examiner.com is looking for both local and national contributors and I've noticed that the area of genealogy and family history is pretty sparse in terms of the number of contributors.  I imagine that not only would most major cities need a local genealogy examiner who wrote about local resources, but the Examiner could used a beefed up national presence especially with ethnic genealogy: african american genealogy, polish genealogy, and more.

If anyone is interested in working with the Examiner.com site, please contact me for more information.  I'd be happy to explain to you how I got involved, the process of applying for an Examiner position and the commitment level needed - as well as how to get paid.

A Game of 21

As part of Randy Seaver's ongoing Saturday Night Fun series, tonight we seem to be playing a game of 21: run an Ahnentafel report from your genealogy database and select #21.  The person should be one of the eight 2nd great grandmothers you have in your family tree.

Well hit me, here's my #21:

Margaret Leehive, daughter of John Leehive and Unknown.  Born about 1867 in England and died before 1900.  She married Martin Slattery around 1884 in Ulster County, New York.

What I also know about Margaret Leehive based on family accounts and backed up by the 1910 Census is that after she died her children were taken care of by her brother Michael Leehive.

My Foray Into The World of DNA Testing and Genealogy

I've taken the plunge and I've actually used a DNA testing kit for the first time. You can read more at my recent post over at Examiner.com where I give a review of a YDNA kit from familybuilder.com.

My reasons for being hesitant to test my DNA had to do with the price of the DNA testing kits and my feeling that the technology was not far enough into its development. With plunging prices on a variety of test kits (the 17 marker YDNA kit from familybuilder is $59 and Ancestry recently announced a 33/46 marker YDNA kit for $79) I no longer had any reason to put off taking my genealogy research to the next level.

In a previous post here at Destination: Austin Family, I discussed what couldn't be learned about my family tree from DNA testing. But what I most want to learn is this: is my theory about the MacEntees of New York's Hudson Valley being related to the famous McEntees of the same region true?

Stay tuned. I will have results in about four weeks and then I will need to contact McEntee family members who also have DNA testing data they can share.

I'd like to hear from anyone else who has decided to pursue DNA testing as part of their research.

Disclosure: familybuilder sent me their YDNA kit at no charge for purposes of reviewing the process of taking a DNA sample, using a DNA kit for genealogy purposes, and to receive and interpret results. I am disclosing this as a matter of transparency and honesty of my opinion. My intent is to give a good review (meaning a well-researched and written review) not necessarily a favorable review of all products I receive gratis.

Copyright 2009, Thomas MacEntee.  Some rights reserved.

Kreativ Blogger Award

I can always count on Sheri Fenley of The Educated Genealogist to wrangle me into something - why is it that we always seem to be partners in crime?  My mother always would say to me and a good friend, "Oh, you two are just trouble together, I can tell."

Sheri has bestowed upon Destination: Austin Family the Kreativ Blogger Award.  With such an honor comes the responsibility to select seven other geneabloggers who I feel have exhibited "kreativity" in their blog.  Since I've been focusing on the newcomers to the world of geneablogging, here's my list:

Kay B's Place - http://kbea831.wordpress.com/

Luxegen Genealogy and Family History - http://www.luxegen.ca/

Olga's Daughter - http://olgasdaughter.wordpress.com/

Random Notes - http://leah333.blogspot.com/

Roots And All - http://rootsandall.blogspot.com/

Still More Genealogy - http://ambararabians.com/blog/

The Internet Genealogist - http://shbwgen.blogspot.com/

And although it is a wee bit early, I can reference the leprechaun photo to which Sheri is referring:

66th Edition of Carnival of Genealogy Is Posted

In the style of the well-known Academy Awards, Jasia has posted the results of the 2008 iGene Awards over at Creative Gene.  Set your blog reader to "stun" as you see the array of stellar posts by fellow geneabloggers!

Yours truly will serve as host for the 67th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy to be held right here at Destination: Austin Family:

And now it's time for a Call for Submissions! The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy will be: "Nobody's Fool" – who in your family was known to have the best common sense, the best sage advice and basically just “kept it together” all the time? Let's hear about them! The next edition will be hosted by Thomas MacEntee at Destination: Austin Family. Thanks Thomas! The deadline for submissions is March 1.

Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy using our carnival submission form. Please use a descriptive phrase in the title of any articles you plan to submit and/or write a brief description/introduction to your articles in the "comment" box of the blogcarnival submission form. This will give readers an idea of what you've written about and hopefully interest them in clicking on your link. Thank you!

Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Tombstone Tuesday: Matthew McCrickert

Photo: Headstone of Matthew McCrickert (1926 - 1946). Calvary Cemetery, Woodside, Queens County, New York. Digital image. Privately held by Thomas MacEntee, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Chicago, Illinois. 2009.

Matthew McCrickert was my 1st Cousin 2 Times Removed and was born on May 14, 1926 in New York. Matthew died on June 11, 1946 in the crash of a U.S. Army transport plane over Freehold, New Jersey. He was 20 years old.

National Genealogy and Technology Examiner

Last week, I mysteriously alluded to some good news in my Facebook status and on Twitter.  Well I can finally let the cat out of the bag.

Starting this week, I'll be writing for the Examiner.com website as its National Genealogy and Technology Examiner.  When I applied for this writing gig a few weeks ago, Examiner.com was looking for local writers from here in Chicago to create content on Chicago events, issues, etc.  Failing to have any angle on genealogy or technology as it applied to Chicago, and never being one who is easily deterred (I am my mother's son after all), I convinced Examiner.com to add a new sub-category for genealogy and technology under its Gadgets and Tech section.

With a minimum of four posts a week, it is my goal to still provide engaging content here at Destination: Austin Family as well as at Geneabloggers and many of my other blogs.  If you have any topic suggestions as they relate to genealogy and technology, please send them on to me and I'm sure I can come up with one or more posts about them.

Try to take a visit over at my Examiner.com site from time to time - I'd appreciate your visit and your comments!

My iGene Award Winners!

This post was written for the 66th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy hosted by Jasia at Creative Gene.

I'm ready for the second annual Academy of Genealogy and Family History iGene Awards and here are what I think are my best blog posts of 2008:

Best Picture

My favorite photo of this past year came from my parents' wedding album and it is this photo of my mother looking in a mirror before the wedding ceremony.  I was lucky enough to rescue the entire album when I cleaned out Mom's house in 2007.  The post was A Small Town Wedding and submitted for one of my favorite carnivals, Smile for the Camera.

Best Screen Play

Easy.  It would have to be The Summer Jar which I wrote in July, 2008 for another carnival - the 3rd edition of Smile for the Camera.  In the post which is in the genre of autobiographical fantasy, I talk of summers spent at the home of my great-grandparents in Grahamsville, New York.

Best Documentary

In March 2008, I discussed the accent that I have when speaking and those that I heard around me while growing up in What American Accent Do You Have?  I am still amazed to this day that I don't have a heavy New York accent like my mother.

 
Best Biography

My post about John McEntee, an ancestor who played a crucial role in the Civil War, was fascinating to research and a labor of love.

Best Comedy

The funniest post of the year had to be Obit Madness - Ida Mae Russell Sills.  Even when I see the photo of this vibrant, lively, firecracker of a woman I just have to laugh.  If you've never heard of a humorous obituary - and you are aghast at even the concept - I beg you to read the one for Ida Mae.  But the post about enemies feeding pickles to babies has to be a close second.

Thanks to Jasia for another go around of these awards.  I can't tell you how rewarding it was just to review all 416 posts that I put up here at this site last year!

DearMYRTLE's Genealogy Blog: Twitter?

DearMYRTLE's Genealogy Blog: Twitter?

There is an ever-growing list of genealogy and family-history related tweeps on Twitter at the gene@pedia page about Twitter:

http://geneabloggers.com/geneapedia/index.php?title=Twitter

Wordless Wednesday

Photo: Margaret DeGroodt (1883 - 1970), my great-grandmother, with Betty MacEntee and children Brian and Christeen MacEntee. Digital image. Privately held by Dan MacEntee, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] New Paltz, New York, 2009.

High School Survey - The Latest Meme

How appropriate - right now I am writing an article about memes over at gene@pedia and this is a good example of one.  I think it started as part of Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Fun over at Genea-Musings.

1. What was your school's full name, where was it, and what year did you graduate?

Liberty Central High School, Liberty, New York, 1984.

2. What was the school team nickname, and what are/were your school's colors?

Indians, red and white.

3. What was the name of your school song, and can you still sing it?

I have no idea - I believe they would only sing it at graduation and the lyrics were printed on the back of the graduation program.

4. Did you have a car? How did you get to and from school?

No car.  Never have and never will.  I don't drive, I am driven.

5. Did you date someone from your high school? Or marry someone from your high school? Were you considered a flirt?

I was more of a nerdy clown.

6. What social group were you in?

I transcended most groups but I hung out with the smart kids.

7. Who was/were your favorite teachers?

Miss Mauer - Spanish; Mr. Talkington - English

8. What did you do on Friday nights?

Watched Don Kirchner's show, didn't everyone?

9. Did you go to and have fun at the Senior Prom?

I went.  It was at Bernie's Holiday Inn at Rock Hill.  And the next day we all got up and drove down to the Great Adventure Amusement Park in Vernon, New Jersey.

10. Have you been to reunions, and are you planning on going to the next reunion?

My high school years were really not happy ones for me so I've opted out of the reunions.

Tombstone Tuesday

Photo: Headstone of John E. (1937 - 2000). Sullivan County Veterans Cemetery, Liberty, Sullivan County, NewYork. Digital image from Find-A-Grave - taken by Ellen, Geri Ellen & Barbi Neumann.

John MacEntee was my uncle - my father's brother - and his daughter Lisa is responsible for my involvement on Facebook. Somehow she found my blog and invited me to join Facebook to learn more about her and my other MacEntee relatives now living in Idaho.

A Sharp Dressed Man

Ed Farren and Floss, abt 1905. Digital photograph. Privately held by Thomas MacEntee, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE,] Chicago, Illinois. 2009.

This post was composed for the 10th Edition of Smile For The Camera ~ A Carnival of Images

The photo above is of my 2nd Great Grand Uncle, Edward Farren, who was born at Donegal, County Tyrone, Ireland on February 8, 1880. The woman in the photo is only identified a "Floss" which I assume is short for Flossie. I am not certain if this is Edward's wife and her identity is one of the many mysteries waiting to be solved in my genealogy research.

I love this photo mostly because of the "costumes" that both subjects are wearing. Most viewers might automatically focus in on Floss' outfit especially the wonderful shoes which had to be put on with a shoe hook. The coat is bold with its wool plaid pattern and contrasting black trim and huge black buttons.

But it is the image of the dapper man that should get noticed. From the shoes to the celluloid collar, the photo shows that men could be just as "put together" as women. His look reminds me of the Arrow Collar ads by the illustrator J.C. Leyendecker from the 1910s and 1920s. I also figure that a man's outfit like this probably cost a pretty penny - as much as a woman's outfit, I bet - and that is why the costume was most likely his "Sunday best."