52 Ancestors Challenge Week 50: "Traditions" - Record Your Personal Traditions

This theme had me a bit stumped and so I reached out to my friends and family via FaceBook to see if they had any ideas about traditions in our family. My Cousin Joan reminded me that I personally have a tradition of taking most of my younger cousins, and a few friends' kids, on road trips when they turned 15 or 16. It's not that I had forgotten about that, its just didn't strike me as a family tradition related to genealogy but it absolutely is! 

Perhaps it didn't dawn on me to write about it because it is not about my ancestors, it's present day, well, maybe not exactly present day. I took my first trip with Cousin Meghan in July of 2003, nearly 20 years ago. These are events, though, that I created and that happened in my own life, not that of my ancestors.

I just recently gave a presentation at the Montauk Library on collecting oral histories from family members. That is a truly critical part of genealogy research because someday each of us will pass away and with us will go all the memories we hold. Whether those histories are recorded in a written or aural manner doesn't matter too much, as long as they are recorded. In a hundred years, or maybe not even all that far off, some descendant or relative will be struggling to label that photo, or be pouring hours into unpuzzling some family mystery that is no mystery to you, or simply be craving the story only you could tell. So recording your own personal history now, in whatever format, will be an important genealogical resource in the future, if it is preserved. So...  Here goes...

Cousin Meghan to Newport, Rhode Island, July 5-7, 2003 

 

Cousin Megan was the first of my cousins to join me for a special 16th birthday road trip. We went to Newport, Rhode Island and toured the great gold coast mansions and their gardens including the Green Animals location pictured above. Meghan and I are second cousins; we have the same great-grandparents in common.

Cousin Andrew to Hopewell, Virginia and Washington, D.C., July 22-25, 2005

Cousin Andrew is my first cousin on my father's side of the family. There is a 15 year age gap between me and Andrew. The same distance as there is between me and his father. 

First we stopped in Hopewell, Virginia to visit the newly issued headstone of our great-great-great uncle, Benjamin Franklin Losee, Civil War soldier. Ben died in Point of Rocks, Virginia of dysentery in one of the hospital tents during his service in the Union Army. For over a century his remains laid under a misspelled headstone. I petitioned the government to get that stone replace, and there it stood. 

After Hopewell, it was off to D.C., a great location to take kids. I'm not the only one to think that as you can tell by so many of our photos from that trip, the Boy Scout agreed with me. We happened to be there the same week as the National Boy Scouts Jamboree. Boy Scouts were everywhere. We toured all the city monuments at night; boy scouts were there. We went to many of the Smithsonian museums; boy scouts were there. We went to the ESPN Zone - boy scouts, the Navy Museum - boy scouts, the International Spy Museum - boy scouts, Arlington National Cemetery to see the changing of the guard - boy scouts. We capped the trip off with a final stop at Mount Vernon, and as I recall, there were boy scouts there too.

Cousin Rachel, Massachusetts, June 30 - July 3, 2006

Cousin Rachel and I are also second cousins; our dads' mothers were sisters. When I say my Cousin Rachel and I went to Massachusetts, I mean we went all over Massachusetts. We started at the Dr. Seuss Memorial in Springfield, MA, followed by the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA, then the Emily Dickinson House in Amherst, Sleepy Hollow Cemetery and the Alcott home in Concord, the House of Seven Gables in Salem, and finally the Fisherman's Memorial in Gloucester.

Cousin Zachary, Baltimore, Maryland & D.C., June 22-25, 2007

Rachel & Meghan's brother Zachary was the next to venture out with me on a road trip. I asked each of them where it was that they wanted to go and like the others, Zach left it up to me. I had enjoyed my trip with Andrew to D.C. so much I thought it would be a good spot for Zach and I too. However, I wanted to something a little different so first Cousin Zach and I hit Baltimore's Inner Harbor. 

In Baltimore we saw babe Ruth's Birthplace, looked for Edgar Allen Poe's home, went to Geppi's Entertainment Museum (which no longer exists. It closed in 2018), and the Hard Rock Cafe. 

The remainder of our trip was spent in D.C. doing hop-on, hop-off bus tours and sprinting through Smithsonian Museums.

Cousin Ashlee, Pittsburgh, PA and Cleveland, OH, August 15-18, 2008

Of all the cousins I ever traveled with on one of these jaunts, Cousin Ashlee was the only one who when asked for a destination knew right where she wanted to go; the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It was a lot further than I had taken any of the other cousins but hell, she had a destination and so we went. 

Our first stop was at the Church Brew Works in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvannia. Yup that's right, I took a kid to a brewery in a former church. That has sort of set the tone for every trip I have ever taken with Cousin Ashlee who is now traveled with me as an adult on at least four other trips. Four? Montreal, Salem, down to New Orleans, and across Canada, well at least from Toronto to Vancouver. Yeah, that's four.

Once we made it to Cleveland we spent a lot of time in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. On the way back home to New York we stopped in Pittsburgh again to see the Andy Warhol Museum and caught a tour at the Frank Lloyd Wright designed Fallingwater in Mill Run, PA.

Cousin Adam, Pennsylvania, July 3-6, 2009

The following year when it was Cousin Adam's turn to travel with me I suggested returning to PA and seeing some of the sights Ashlee and I did not see. After all I didn't want to do the same trip with each kid and I wanted him to see something different than his brother Andrew had seen with me.

Our trip began in Philadelphia. We made stops at Independence Hall, the steps of the Museum of Art made famous by that scene in Rocky, and then Eastern State Penitentiary. 

I had never been to the prison museum before but it is one of my very favorites. I recommend it to everyone who heads to Philly. I have been there several times since. Go if you can.

From Philly we headed west. We went to Gettysburg, Hershey Park, the Antique Auto Museum at Hersey, and the Harley-Davidson Factory in York, PA.

Cousin Vanessa, Cape May, New Jersey & Washington, D.C., August 13-16, 2010

Unlike her sister Ashlee, Cousin Vanessa wasn't sure where she wanted to visit either so, like with many of the other cousins I traveled with I decided to take her to D.C. It has a lot of free sites and museums to explore. If it's free, it's for me. But to mix it up just a little bit for both Vanessa and I, I wanted to add in a location neither of us had ever been to so we could share something the others and I had not. So our first stop was Cape May, New Jersey.

There we did a dolphin cruise which if you ask any of my other traveling cousins will attest to the fact that I am not built for water. That will probably be the only dolphin cruise I ever do.

We did other firsts too, now that I think about it. Cousin Vanessa and I went to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing when we were in D.C. Again, a free experience but we had to be up super early to get online to get tickets for the much coveted tour. No wonder I had never been to it before. Hmm, maybe I was there when I was a girl scout. I can't recall. I know I was there with Vanessa though.

We also visited the Postal Museum, which I had never visited before. We chose that in honor of her Grandpa Stanley who had worked in the U.S. Post Office for a long, long time.

Cousin Elizabeth, Cape Cod, MA and Newport, RI, July 4-7, 2012

Cousin Elizabeth is the youngest of my paternal cousins and so it was kind of meaningful to bring this traveling cousin tradition full circle and take her to Newport, Rhode Island where I had my first cousin birthday trip with Cousin Meghan.

In addition to gold coast mansion tours, we also went out to the very end of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to Provincetown.

We stopped to eat a sandwich in Sandwich, MA where I snapped this photo that still stares at me in my office.

We also hunted down the headquarters for the famous TAPS team of Ghost Hunters fame in Warwick, RI.

One thing that stands out in my mind from this trip is R. Kelly's song, Feelin' on Yo Booty, stuck on replay. Don't ask. Cousin trips get crazy. The other thing that still makes me giggle is Elizabeth asking me why this statue of a water nymph was holding a corn dog. "A corn dog?!?! That's a cattail plant!" Hmm. Cattails do kind of look like corn dogs. 

 

Like Elizabeth Shown Mills's FAN method, which stands for Friends, Associates, and Neighbors, I've included "like family" kids into my road trip adventures. When researching your family history it isn't just relatives by blood that have details about your ancestors' lives. Those people had contemporaries too who they spent time with and who might have actually known them better than their own family members.

Miss Nicole, Philadelphia, PA, August 22-25, 2015

Miss Nicole is the daughter of my very best friend from my undergraduate days at community college. Her mother and I met in art history class and have been friends every since, nearing 30 years now. Hard to believe.

Nicole had heard of all my road trip adventures with my young cousins so I promised her when she was old enough I would take her on a road trip adventure sans parents. We could do whatever she wanted to do; stay up late, eat crap, flirt with boys, whatever.

She and I headed down to Philadelphia for an excursion much like the one I had with Cousin Adam but much more concentrated on Philly.

We did make a visit to Eastern State Penitentiary. I couldn't help it. I love that place. 

We visited Independence Hall as well and made sure to ring that Liberty Bell. (Ya can't really touch it but you can act like to you're going to.)

 

After gorging ourselves on cheesesteaks, we went to see one of the locations used for the film The Sixth Sense. Set in Philadelphia, the main character, Cole, seeks sanctuary inside this church, St. Augustine's, where he chats with Bruce Willis's character, Dr. Malcom Crowe. Great movie. You have to see it if you haven't. Cole sees dead people!

The furthest we got west of Philly was to Hershey Park. It's not a road trip with a kid if there isn't some excessive regional candy present. This was the first time I got to make my own candy bar at Hersey's.

Master Laszlo, Buffalo, NY & Toronto, Ontario, Canada, June 27-30 2019

Speaking of excessive regional candy...

Nicole's younger brother has traveled with me too. He had a destination in mind, though, which I love and of course had to honor. With his parents permission he was the first and only kid I have taken to a foreign country. Laszlo wanted to go to Toronto! YES! Canada!

I was game. I had never really been there before unless you count sitting in the Toronto airport waiting 45 minutes for a terrible hamburger. Ugh.

 

After a quick stop in Buffalo to have some wings with my Cousin Lisa and her family, Laszlo and I made it to Niagara Falls, Ontario where we experienced every Canadian candy the gift shop had to offer while looking at the falls from our hotel room. Nice view, right?

 

From there we headed up to Toronto for a full day in the city. At his request I stomached my crippling fear of heights and ventured up to the top of the CN Tower. I've actually have done that twice now. Once was enough really.

For the long drive back to NY, we made a stop in Corning, NY - gotta have something to do on the way back - and went to the Corning Glass Museum. I love it there too. Laszlo got to make his own art glass piece which was very cool.

And that is the history of my road trip adventures with teenagers. Maybe I will someday add to this when my nieces turn teens.

Family history is perishable. It disappears as minds soften, memories fade, and loved ones pass away. Preserving a record of the present or somewhat recent past is a truly an important part of family history. Preserve your personal story now for future generations of your family to help know and understand you and the life you led.

The Arrival of Earles

I have stated this in my blog before; 6 of my 8 great grandparents were born a stones throw away from where I currently reside in New York. The other two great grandparents were born in Canada. 

Great Grandma Mary Elizabeth Sharp-Gardner, otherwise known as Mayme, was born in Sherebrook, Quebec and arrived in the United States by way of Lowell, Massachusetts in 1914 at the tender age of 23. She is my most recent immigrant ancestor.

Great Grandpa Abram Thomas Earle, also known as Abe, was born in Twillingate, Newfoundland in January of 1891. He was born after the death of his father, Abraham Earle, who was lost at sea on a ship called the "Rise and Go." His mother, Sarah Samms-Earle, remarried in 1894 to a man named James Bromley. When Abe was just 8, his mother succumbed to pneumonia and died on March 20, 1899. 

From my understanding, it was very soon after her death that Abe and his four older sisters, Susie, Frances, Elizabeth, and Marie, took off for the United States. But I have never had any documentation of on their immigration just a notation in the 1920 U.S. Census, which is the earliest U.S. record I have for Abe, stating his date of immigration as 1902. Abe would have been about 11 and that statement to the census taker may or may not have been given by Abe himself and so one can never really trust those dates of immigration from the census.

I do not know if the siblings came to the U.S. together. I don't know if they came directly to New York. I just don't know.

This morning I set to poke around on Ancestry.com for a friend. When I opened the site I had a hint notification. It was not for the friend's tree that I have been working on, no, it was for my own Earle Family Tree. It was a 1900 U.S. Census record for a "Susie Earle" living in Boston, Massachusetts. 

I had to decide if this Susie Earle was indeed my Susie Earle. It's nice that the 1900 census includes the month and year of birth for every person. Both this Susie and my Susie were born in June of 1877 in Canada. It is relatively safe to say that they are one in the same person; that this is my Susie. 

Interestingly enough the Census record lists her date of immigration as 19900; the same year as the Census itself. Susie would have arrived in Boston before June 5, 1900 when the record was created.

Abe is not with her. She is listed as a niece of George and Jane Whynot.

A little more poking around and I learned that Sarah Samms-Earle did indeed have a sister named Jane.

And so, here we go... I am off and running on Earle Family research this morning.
...just after I said I have not been collecting family history documentation for myself.

My Top 5 Favorite Dead People

It may seem strange to say this but I really have bonded with some of my dead people. I never knew them and yet I feel them close to me; not in a spooky, I-see-dead-people kind of way but close to me. While researching some of their lives, they have lead me to some amazing discoveries; while others have plagued me with a lack of documentation.

Today I share with you my top 5 fav dead people, in no particular order. Most of them I have written about before in this blog. I will link to more detailed stories about them when possible. In this post, though, I will, to the best of my ability, explain how they came to be my favorite:

5. Jacob Raynor (born ??? - died 1829. Long Island, NY)

I grouse about this guy extensively. He is not just my genealogical nemesis, he is also my 6th great-grandfather; the stonewall of my Raynor line. My inability to find anything definitive about his parentage drives me nuts. I am constantly trying to chip away at this Teflon-Don to no avail. BUT, he is how I met so many of my researching cousins include the often mentioned, Cousin Mary whom I just adore. I talk shit about Jacob but secretly, shhhhhh, I love him.

4. Damase Desjardins (born October 1850, Montreal, Quebec, Canada - died October 9, 1911, Patchoque, Long Island, NY)

Oh Damase, you excessive procreator you! Damase is my great-great grandfather on my mother's paternal line. He fathered 11 children; 1 with his first wife Victorine Desjardins-Desjardins and 10 with his second wife, Malvina Ethier-Desjardins.

I love Malvina too. She lived through such trying circumstances; losing her husband, a child, and a grandchild all in the same year. It was her naturalization papers which startled me by providing me a photograph of her; my grandpa looked so much like her.

But it was researching Damase's life that first required me to learn a little French, encouraged me to visit Montreal and the outlying town of Mascouche, Quebec, and helped me to understand the persistent experience of estrangement that remains within this family line. Damase also had a great obituary that explained the family name change from Desjardins to Gardner.

3. Isabelle Nancy McLean-Williams-Evans (born 1871 - died May 24, 1922, Lowell, Massachusetts)

Aunt Belle. It was a medium who told me I'd research this woman which is probably the strangest of all my genealogy research stories. Aunt Belle was my great-great grandmother's younger sister. She moved from Canada to Lowell, Massachusetts prior to WWI. When her niece, my great grandmother Mary Elizabeth "Mayme" Sharp-Gardner, moved to the U.S. with her brother Daniel Sharp, it was Aunt Belle whom they went to live with.

As I tell many a researching-cousin, some relatives want to be found and other do not. Unlike Jacob Raynor above I believe Aunt Belle just wanted to be found and so I celebrate her.

2. Ambrose Weeks (born June, 1819 - died May 3, 1900, Hempstead, Long Island, NY)

I just recently wrote about Ambrose. First off I just love his name, Ambrose. He was the brother-in-law of my 4th great-grandmother, Lydia Smith-Losee. He was married to Lydia's sister, Elizabeth Smith-Weeks. Lydia and Elizabeth were daughters of Jacob Raynor mentioned above. Ambrose is a distant relationship to me but still one of great interest. He is a sad, tragic figure who breaks my heart every time I read about him in the various newspaper articles I have found about his life. 

1. Benjamin Franklin Losee (about 1844, Freeport, Long Island, NY - died Fall or Winter, 1865, Point of Rocks, VA)

My beloved Civil War soldier, Ben. Oh how I cherish this man. His story is one so steeped in American history; just a poor, young boy who went off to fight for his country but really to financially support his family. He died in the hospital tents of typhus at much too young an age.

He was one of the very first names I stumbled across and his existence is what really pushed me into research my family history. I have used his story and pension file to speak to classrooms of children about the Civil War, family history, and primary resources. At times I have felt his spirit soldiering me on (pardon the pun) to continue my research. And for this, the greatest genealogical kindness I have ever given to my ancestors was to Ben; I had his military issued tombstone replaced with one bearing a correct spelling of his last name.

Colonel Daniel Moore and the DAR Genealogical Research System (GRS)

I recently had the opportunity to visit the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Library in Washington D.C. to research my patriot, Col. Daniel Moore of Londonderry, New Hampshire.

I found my patriots (yes, two of them) in an unexpected place on my family tree. My maternal grandfather, Clarence Albert Gardner was born and raised in New York. Both of his parents were of Canadian descent. His father, Albert Gardner was born Almond Desjardins in the Long Island City/Astoria area of Queens County, in the City of New York in 1891. Albert's parents, Damas Desjardins and Malvina Ethier-Desjardins were both born and raised in Montreal but met and married here in the City of New York. My grandpa Clarence's mother, Mayme Sharp-Gardner, was born in Sherebrooke, Quebec, Canada and immigrated to the U.S. around WWI. She arrived in New York by way of Lowell, Massachusetts. When I think about my Grandpa Gardner's lineage I think French Canadian, not American Revolutionary War patriot.

My paternal grandfather, Edwin Earle's lineage can be traced back to early American settlers. I thought for sure this is where my patriot would be, right? Wrong. Grandpa Earle's ancestors lived on Long Island, New York which during the American Revolution was a loyalist stronghold which means they were probably shooting at the patriots. Makes sense if you consider how my mother and father got along but I digress...

No, it was Grandpa Gardner's line where I found my patriot. The line goes like this:

Grandpa:                              Clarence Albert Gardner
Great-grandma:                    Mary Elizabeth "Mayme" Sharp-Gardner
Great-great grandpa :          Daniel Sharp
3rd great grandma:              Ann Moore-Sharp
4th great grandparents:       Eleanor Moore and William Moore
5th great grandpas:             Patriot Colonel Daniel Moore and Patriot Lt. Colonel Robert Moore

When you trace your family tree you have to move backwards in time from you to your parents, your parents to your grandparents, etc. But for clarity here I will first tell you about Daniel  and Robert Moore and move forward. 

Daniel and his brother Robert were from Londonderry, NH which is now Derry, NH. The sons of John and Janet Moor. Daniel was at the surrender of Saratoga, NY; a pretty monumental British defeat. His brother, Robert Moore, also served in the Revolution. His line is less well-documented though. To explain some of the search process on the DAR website I will focus on Daniel.

Daniel had a daughter, Eleanor who married Robert's son, William Moore in about 1784. Yes, they were first cousins which was a common, socially-acceptable practice back then; to marry a cousin. Nowadays we cringe at the thought but back then it was common.

Eleanor and William moved from New Hampshire to an area of Quebec known as Kingsey. In fact, they were the second settlers to move to the area now known as St. Felix-de-Kingsey not far from Drummondville, Quebec.

Most Americans tend to think that people who emigrate to Canada do so because they have anti-American feelings. This is not always true but yes, it is the case. For example, during the Vietnam era some Americans headed to our neighbors in the north to avoid being drafted. Canada, though, is a beautiful country and many people move there for many reasons. Eleanor and William went there for land. 

It wasn't until 3 generations later, when my great grandmother moved to Lowell, Massachusetts, and that this line returned to the United States.

Now let's get down to brass tacks here. How does one use the DAR Genealogical Research System (GRS) online. Well, first go to the website: http://services.dar.org/public/dar_research/search/?tab_id=0  or DAR Genealogical Research System (GRS).
 
I'll tell you just the tiniest bit of how to get started on the DAR website. The second tab you will see is "Ancestor." Click on that and you will be presented with several search boxes. When constructing a search sometimes less is more; or in my case "Moor." 

The Moore family name sometimes appears as Moore, More, or Moor. Like marrying your first cousin, spelling didn't really count back then; nowadays we're all caught up on spelling. I get ticked when someone leaves the "e" off the end of my last name; Earle. In genealogy research though you have to let go of your modern day connection to spelling. In any case...

I did a search of the DAR Ancestor page for Last Name: Moor, First Name: Daniel, State: NH. This search returned the records of two Daniel Moores who are often mixed up in records. I am of the first Daniel Moore; the one born in Londonderry, NH on February 11, 1730 and who died April 13, 1811 in Bedford, New Hampshire.

In the search results there is a button called "See Ancestor Record." By clicking on that, one can view a list of accepted applicants listed by their national application number. Daniel has a list of 47 national numbers; that means 47 women have joined the DAR based on linking their ancestry to Col. Daniel Moore. Those are my cousins; none of which I know and none of which are descended from the same grandchild of Daniel as I am. I am descended from Ann Moore. Some of the member are descended from Eleanor and William like I am. Of those, some are descended from Ann's sister Elizabeth and some are descended from Ann's brother Daniel but none are from my Ann.

I will face the challenge of finding documentation that links Ann to her parents Eleanor and William Moore but I will not have to rigorously prove Eleanor to be the daughter of Daniel because the DAR has already accepted this fact.

Now if you want to see what documentation the DAR has accepted on a given patriot and his descendants you're going to have to either order the records or make a visit to the DAR Library in Washington D.C. I recommend the visit if you can because there, for a $6/day visiting researcher fee, you can view everything they have and print it all out for $0.25/ page. If you order it online it cost $15/ application and some packets contain more information than others. There is no guarantee that your $15 will provide you with any supportive documentation. $15 is one think if there was one accepted applicant for your patriot; it is another huge investment if you have 47 accepted applicants and you want to see everything. And what researcher doesn't want to see everything?

I say make the trip!

If you have any questions about using the site the "Home" tab provides much more detail than I have given you here about the variety of tabs and resources available to you. 

Happy hunting!