Update on the Abinah Wood Descendant Project

UPDATE:

Since I missed my January 2013 deadline, I figured I would do another post about the The Expanded History and Genealogy of the Descendants of Abinah Wood and Susannah Humphreys.  You can find the original post here.  (That will open in a new window)

I am now working towards a print deadline of June 2013, as many factors have made the January 2013 deadline difficult.

Currently, I have biographies written on each of the fourteen children of Abinah and Susannah, as well as some biographies on their descendants as I get them in.  I have also done most of the research on each branch of the descendants, and while some branches are still lacking, I have run up against brick walls.

Some of the Wood descendants

It is a STILL frustrating job!

There is still much to do.  I am working on gathering information for biographies on as many of the descendants as possible.  There is also the problem of every time I get data formatted and start organizing book pages, I find new info that I want included.

There are still the family squabbles and general nitpicking of data, and also a reluctance on the parts of some to send me information when asked, but then send me emails arguing that I have wrong info because they have the data I need.  There is still the headache of trying to be diplomatic when info doesn't mesh and I have to make a decision on what gets included and how.  And then there's the waiting around for information, as this is not a full time job for any of the family members I work with, including myself, as I work one full time and one part time job.  Genealogy and book writing are tiring tasks at times, and this is one that will be richly rewarded in having a book that future generations can enjoy.

Words I try to live by while working on this project.

Shameless promotion plug here:

If you are wondering what surnames I am looking for in this project, here are just a few in the tree:

AREHART, AINSWORTH, BAIRD, BOZIC, BYERS, CABLE, ESPLEN, FOWKES, GEHLMAN, GILMORE, GREENE, HUNTER, JORDAN, LOCKE, LINDSEY, LYNCH, MARMEE, MILLER, MCDAVID, MCGINNISS (and its various variants), NICHOLS, QUINTER, SCHAFFER, SMITH,  STRICKLER, TATEM, VANDEN BOSCHE, and of course WOOD.

If you think you might be a part of this family, there is a group that was started years ago on Yahoo! Groups called The Abinah Wood Descendants.  The purpose of the group is the promotion of any and all discussion regarding the couple and any of their descendants.  This group has been a big help to me and to those who have joined it.

And as always, if anyone has info they would love to share with me, contact me!  The deadline for getting information in for the book is May 1, but if you read this after that deadline, I can still add it to my family tree database and our family tree website online at The Genealogical History of The Wood, Waldspurger, Kolek, Davis and Extended Families.  

Again, Charles Wesley Chapman Wood, who is listed in the book, was my paternal great-grandfather.

The best wedding gift I had recieved

We are getting into wedding season, and I thought I would share the best wedding gift I received when I married nearly six years ago.  It was actually a gift I received at my bridal shower.  This gift could also make a nice housewarming or going away to college gift as well.

My mom and my sister, when thinking about what I would want as a new wife, brainstormed together to make me a box of things needed in a new place. So they got a large under the bed plastic storage box with a good sturdy locking lid and filled it with some common items that one usually doesn't associate with a wedding gift, such as:

1. A box of trash bags
2. An already filled salt and pepper shaker, with extra salt and pepper
3. A package of disinfecting cleaning wipes

4. Pot holders
5. A can opener
6. A Swiffer sweeper and a package of dust cloth refills
7. Sponges and dish brushes
8. Dish Towels
9. Some plastic food storage containers
10. Wooden spoons

Plus a gift card to to one of the discount stores for anything else I needed to get.


I wish I could remember what else was in the box, but it was packed full.  And since it was all packed in a tote box, it was ready for moving into my new place.  In fact, it was one of the first things I opened when I moved in.  What was especially nice was that they tailored it to my needs and wants, and put in things that would have been overlooked as my dear husband and I were moving in.  Most of the items could be bought at the dollar store, and the box has been useful as well.

So if you are looking for a useful gift item for a loved one on their wedding day, here's one idea.  Trust me, it's one of the best gifts the will ever receive.

Thanks Mom and Sis!

Father's Day Tribute

As yesterday was Father's Day, here is a tribute to dads as they are seen in my family tree:

 (and I regret not doing this for Mother's Day with the mom photos I have)

I have chosen to not label these photos with names, but if you believe a photograph is of a family member as well, please do not hesitate to contact me!

My daddy and I, 1980

My grandpap with my father and siblings, 1964

My great-great-grandfather with his family, c 1886

My mom and her father and mother, 1977

My great-grandfather with his eldest son, 1905

My great-great-grandfather with his wife and some of his children, c. 1899

My great-grandfather with his wife and sons, 1941

Knowledge of history is important when working with genealogy

Sometimes it is imperative that one know a little about the history of a region as they are researching their family tree. One does not need to be an expert in history to be an avid genealogist, but it is recommended that one learn at least a little about the areas their families have come from or settled.

For instance:

• Knowing a little about the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 allowed me to understand the reasons why some of my ancestors migrated from Alsace to the United States in 1880.  Alsace was a province of France and the family did not like the German regime that took over the territory after the war.

• The city of Pittsburgh, where a portion of my family had once settled, went by several names over the years, particularly the North Side.  Deutschtown, Birmingham, Allegheny City, Temperanceville are all now neighborhoods or former towns that were absorbed into Pittsburgh Learning that and also when they were absorbed has helped me find the records I needed.

• 1918 was the biggest influenza pandemic the world had ever seen.  Over a quarter of the world's population was infected between 1918 and 1920 and millions died.  Whole families were affected.  While luckily none of my closer family members did not perish in this pandemic, there are a few distant cousins that died.  
• During the Great Depressions, hundreds of people migrated from the Plains, which were experiencing a drought to the cities to find work.  Some came to states like California.  Knowing this might help find a missing family member

 History and Genealogy go hand in hand.  If one doesn't know what is going on in a family's life history wise, then how might one be able to determine what might have happened to a missing family member or branch.  Often time, research materials pertaining to a family are missed because they are in places one does not know where to look because one has no knowledge of the history of the place.

A couple of books that are great to have on hand when researching American history are  Kenneth C. Davis' Don't Know Much About History or Seymour Morris Jr.'s American History Revised.  History Magazine is another great reference, as well as any old fashioned book from the library.  There are even resources online, such as the much maligned Wikipedia (I have only found a few factual errors in the history I have read there) or a good old fashioned Google search.   For harder to find subjects, there's also Historical societies or Inter-Library Loans (both of which I have used).

A love that lasted

Chuck was going off to fight in the China Burma theater in the war. Betty was his sweetheart who was staying at home.  He was 25.  She was 21.

The year was 1943.  The date was the 27th of November.  The place was a small Presbyterian church in Pittsburgh.

Over 68 years have passed since that day, the event that created a family, that brought together a couple to whom my father would be born twelve years later.  Theirs was a sweet love that would stand the test of time.

It was a short and sweet ceremony, and they had a small reception, but their love was big and it kept them together through their time of separation.  

They would have four children, though one would quietly pass away before she was 21 years of age.  The other three would go on to marry and have children of their own.

 They would retire and move from Pittsburgh to the warmer climates of Florida.  From here they would travel around the United Sates, visiting their children.  Their youngest son was in the Marine Corps, and they loved to visit him wherever he was stationed when they could.

They would honor the wedding vows they made that day.  They would remain together until Chuck's death in 1989. They were married for forty-six years.

RAOGK - good for the mind, body and soul

I recently walked the small city cemetery here in the town I live in, looking for some graves to take pictures of for Findagrave.com.  You see, some people who can't make it to the cemetery, whether it be because of disability or distance or whatever that keeps them away, request photographs of certain grave markers.  Whenever I can get to one of the cemeteries listed to fulfill their requests, I do. 

One weekend, I logged over 6 miles of walking in two days looking for markers and broke into a sweat both days as I walked back and forth amongst the rows of the cemetery.   I got a good workout as I searched for graves of people I don't even know so that a person too far away to search himself or herself could have a photo of the grave.

It was a random act of genealogical kindness, or in my world, a RAOGK

The world is full of people willing to do random acts of kindness for strangers.  In the genealogical circles, there are people willing to do look-ups of all sorts for others.  Some of these people work anonymously, whereas others seek recognition.  I myself enjoy what I do, and I don't seek accolades for doing it, though I do enjoy a very nice thank you.  I look at doing these acts as a way to  pay forward the help I received.

So I encourage any reader of my blog for whom genealogy is a hobby to find someway to help out, whether it be walking through graveyards snapping pictures, or offering on a forum to find someone's tax or marriage records at the local courthouse, to offering up info from your own family tree to someone who might want it without expecting any re-compensation.  It'll do your mind, body and soul a world of good!

Some links that can help you find a way to help:
Find A Grave
Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness Wiki
US GenWeb Project
FamilySearch Facebook Research Communities

Pets are Family too!

My cat, Twix, has a fascination with my walk-in bedroom closet.  She meows to get inside it just about every time we're changing and has on occasion gotten locked inside the closet because we didn't know she was in there and shut the door.

My great uncle Bill hugging the family dog, early 1900s

In researching family trees, pets are often overlooked.  But talking about them can bring the best memories to light.   My dad has said he's never liked cats, but yet we had a cat when I was a baby, proof below, and another when I was growing up in Southern California.

Tigger, my dad, and baby me

When I was a baby, my parents also owned a Labrador dog named Lucas that guarded me and taught me how to walk.  He was a sweet dog but super protective of "his" baby.  He was killed when he was hit by a car.  A neighbor had let him out.

My maternal grandparents owned a dog by the name of Whiskey.  He was a terrier of some sort and a small dog, but I could remember him being mean, or maybe he was just annoyed by the little kids that bugged him (myself included).  He loved only my grandfather, and I know my parents have a picture of Whiskey sitting on Grandpop's lap.

My aunt, uncle, dad and PeeWee at Christmas in the 60s

My dad's family had a dog named PeeWee.  He was featured prominently in family pictures as another one of the kids and was well loved by my dad and his siblings. 

And again at Easter

My great-grandparents had a cocker-spaniel named Rusty that they loved to walk.  The dog was rusty colored and mean to some of the grandchildren that were almost always at the house, and actually snapped at one of my mother's cousins when she was a child.  He was stopped by a command from my great-grandfather.  That stories sparked a conversation that opened up a flood of memories about a generation that has been gone for over 50 years. 

A cousin's dogs in 1951

Pets are a large part of our lives in the present.  Why can't they also be a part of our past as well?  So often converations about pets are limited when interviewing people about their family history.  Sometimes a mentioned pet will bring a smile to someone's face and start an entire conversation of happy moments in a family members life.  Even thinking backon my own life, I find myself smiling over pets I have had:

Besides Lucas and Tigger the cat, there was Woo-Woo the white labrador that was a bit of a pet.  There was Grouchy, our lab-cocker mix that we had from the time I was five until well into high school who loved to eat crayons and tinsel and was anything but grouchy.  There was Charlie, the loveable mutt and the only dog to ever bite me, though he didn't mean to. (My brother, on the other hand, seems to have been a dog-bite magnet, having been bitten by at least three dogs in his childhood). There was Boo-Boo Kitty, the ferocious tom-cat who loved pick fights with possums and other cats as well as curl up in a lap and sleep.  There was Moses, the stray we had for a month before he passed away.  There was Tigger the orange tabby that my husband and I owned for a year before we had to give him away.  There was also the countless numbers of fish and bugs and other small creatures that my siblings and I owned growing up, including a salamander and a crawdad.

My two cats, Barbossa and Twix

There are also the present day animal family members.  There is Moose, my parents' lovable and old labrador-mastiff mix that enjoys a warm spot and getting all the attention he can and has been with my parents since I was a senior in high school.  And of course, there are my wonderful cats Twix and Barbossa who live with me now.  My sister also owns two crazy and loveable terrier dogs.  They are all members of my family, and offer as much love and affection as the human members do.