Next FTF Post is up: is your heraldry correct?

Ahnentafel von Herzog Ludwig
(1568-1593) Holzschnitt
Württembergisches Landesmuseum, Stuttgart
wikimedia

This post will most likely not make me any friends, but I had to put it out there none the less.  It is all about heraldry and you can read it here.

The problem of people slapping up coats of arms all over their tress is, well, everywhere.  Now, I will admit, that if the researcher has done the proper leg work and knows for certain that what they have posted is the correct arms then kudos to them!  Most people, however, don’t.

Heraldic display is awesome.  I love the banners, wood carving, stained glass, and well… everything about a good heraldic display.  I have read books, taken classes, and studied heraldry in person all over the place.  A highlight of mine was going to The Institute of Heraldry a few years ago.  I didn’t want to leave their research library and was amazed by what I saw.

For several months I have been thinking about putting together a heraldic primer for genealogists.  With descriptions of how arms were used, why they were used, who could use them, how they were passed down and etc.  Perhaps I should put pen to paper and get cracking on that.

Lookie at that: a mention on Genealogy Gems Podcast

In the spring of 2011 my good friend Elizabeth turned me on to a podcaster, genealogist, lecturer, and author by the name of Lisa Louise Cooke.  She is the host of Genealogy Gems, and it is a true gem for anyone interested in family history research.

She is the reason I am sitting here writing to you today.  Lisa encourages all her listeners to write and publish their own family history blogs.  Getting your information out there is the best way to connect with others who are also searching for those same ancestors.  Collaboration is one of the fantastic things that genealogists love to do.  The connections I have made prove that, and I can’t believe it took me so long to take that plunge and meet all of you.  Last December I wrote to her telling her about how she was a driving force in doing this.

Her latest podcast came out this week, and imagine my stunned surprise when I heard my name on it.  Her last segment of the show is about listeners who have taken the plunge and written their own blogs.  At one point she calls me the “poster child for genealogists and why we should blog.”  Wow.  I mean… really wow.  I was standing in my living room folding clothes when I heard that and my jaw fell open.  After I regained my senses I was more than honored that she used my letter on her show.

You can listen to her podcasts though iTunes or her website.  Also Check out Lisa’s other podcasts, Family History: Genealogy Made Easy, and Family Tree MagazinePodcast.

photo credit: Colleen AF Venable via photopin cc

Week 41 of Abundant Genealogy

Week 41: Past Genealogy Resources. Nothing good lasts forever and that is definitely true in family history. Think of all the genealogy tools, magazines or websites that no longer exist. Which one stands out in your mind and why? Are there still archives of this tool that can be accessed by the public? Share any information you may have.

Well, this post is where you all realize that I have not done this obsession very long. Nothing I have used in the last 2 years has gone by the wayside. Okay, I will take that back. I really loved, LOVED, the Geneabloggers Radio. It is no longer published but the information in it is still relevant. I particularly recommend the episode on Land Bounty Records.

To be honest, I will be reading the other posts more closely on this thread so that I can learn what these old tools were. Of course, you should feel free to comment here as well. I would love to hear about magazines and tools that were of great use that are no longer published. Maybe I can find an archive of them online and read the back copies too!
 
photo credit: yewenyi via photopin cc

Source Citation Fail: Where is this marriage record kept?

In August I was so excited when I found an online image of the marriage record for my 4^th great grandparents Noah Gilpin Hayden and Unity Patterson.  I copied it to my software, my computer, and bookmarked (I thought) the URL.  Several weeks later I went back to make a full source citation for the GMSD application and I couldn’t find the source. 

Insert Panicked frenzy of trying all the different search tricks I know to back track my steps.

Which leads me to this post:  do any of you think you can help me figure out where I got this image? PLEASE?  Oh, and tracing the image name won't work because when I saved it I changed the name to something more in sync with my files.  Teaches me, huh?

 

 In addition, here is what I know about this couple.  Just in case you would like some more background.

Noah Gilpin Hayden was born 1 January 1801 in Harrodsburg, Mercer County, Kentucky to Noah Hayden and Elizabeth Gilpin.  He married Unity (Catherine?) Patterson on 10 December 1822 in Mercer County, Kentucky.  Unity was born 19 September 1802 in Virginia (possibly Louisa County) and her parents are potentialy William Patterson and Catherine Trower.  Between 1840 and 1841 they leave Kentucky for Indiana and settle in Orange County near a town called Bromer.

Noah and Unity have 8 children that I can find:

Noah D. Hayden born 1826 Kentucky
Mary Jane Hayden born 1827 Kentucky; married James Combs
Permelia Catherine Hayden born 1830 Kentucky; married Noah Redenour
Thomas J. Hayden born 1832 Kentucky
Martin C. Hayden born 1834 Kentucky
Samuel Hayden born 1837 Kentucky
Elias Leslie Hayden born 1839 Kentucky
Robert Wright Hayden born 1842 Indiana
 
Noah died before 24 November 1846 (the date of his probate) on his farm near Bromer, Indiana.  Unity is said to have moved to one of her sons houses in Greene County, Indiana with her 5 minor children at this time.  She died 12 April 1870 in Owensburg, Greene County, Indiana. 

 

What we did on my sons birthday: The next FTF post is up!

My next post is up at Family Tree, and you can read it here.

To say that we had an exciting birthday trip is an understatement.  2 hours of “Are we there yet?” from the back seat plus the bouncing in said seats as we crossed into Maryland would never have given it away.  No… never. 

Of course the funniest thing was when we asked the boys if they recognized the narrator’s voice on the movie.  One said Mufasa (from Lion King) and the other said Darth Vader.  Oh my!  Can you guess their ages?  It was a very well done movie and my oldest sat in rapt attention.  It was great because as we took the tour he would retell parts of the movie to us, and then supplement it with things he had read. 

On the battlefield there is a family cemetery next to the Mumma farm, which, for you history buffs out there, was the only farm to have been burned that day.  It was a quiet little place with very old and new headstones.  I have a thing for cemeteries (I know which of you don’t?) and I just had to see it.  Good thing my husband thinks it is interesting looking around them too.  There were some very beautiful ones, including one that had a weeping willow on it.

There were several other major stops we made that day.  The Observation tower was a wonderful place to look out over the battlefield.  It was very tall, and steep, but well worth the trip up.  You could see a majority of the battlefield from there, which really gives you a scope of how it all played out.  I also loved the Burnside Bridge.  It was a hike to get to it, but it was so amazing to stand there and just hear nature around you.  We also took a stroll through the National Cemetery in Sharpsburg.  Those are always amazing places, and they always take my breath away.

Below are a few of the pictures I took.  Hope you enjoy them!

 

Top of the Maryland Memorial

Top of the NY Memorial



Dunker Church

Indiana Memorial

The Bloody Cornfield

Burnside Bridge and the
Witness Tree

The moment I knew, post at the Armchair Genealogist

My grandmothers, the keepers of
the family stories

This morning at The Armchair Genealogist you can read a piece I wrote about “The Moment I Knew.”  It is part of her series called “Everyone has a Story” and you can read past posts, from other bloggers, there too.

Many of you have read up teem times about the way I fell into genealogy.  If you are regular readers you also know that family means the world to me.  Diving headlong into discovering my children’s heritage felt right.  You see, it is not just about my family or my husband’s family, it is about our family.  Through our children we have one past and one future.  This is a gift I can give our future, and it is one that I am thrilled to make for them.

Week 40 of Abundant Genealogy

Week 40: Wild Card. Is there something for which you are thankful that has not been discussed yet? Share your genealogical abundance on a personal level. How does this person/item/group/memory or other entity impact your family history?

Oh, wow.  Yeah, I say that a lot, but now I have a reason to ponder and think about a large amount of stuff.  It only took me until today to figure out.  Not bad, not bad at all.

I have to be thankful for museums and historical sites.  Without these I would not be able to see and experience aspects of my ancestor’s lives.  Being able to experience history with all your senses is a wonderful thing.  Walking in the places your ancestors were and imagining what it was like to stand there when there were there are experiences that I treasure. 

As a visual learner, who also needs to do things to engrain them, I need more than just books and computer images to really learn.  Having the opportunity to travel to places my family visited, battlefields they fought on, or stand in the fields they worked means more to me than almost anything.  They bring the person to life.
 

photo credit: Sanctu via photopin cc