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One of my favorite things about researching my family's history is looking for the places they were associated with. Today we are so lucky to have the ability to view places online anytime, from anywhere, so it is easier than ever to "visit" the places our ancestors lived. Recently, I was looking at my grandmother, Margaret Dickinson's 1950 college yearbook and found the student directory, where her address was given as "10 White Street, Fredonia, N.Y.". Fredonia was familiar to me immediately because her father, Rev. William Henry Dickinson, was the pastor of the Assembly of God Church there. A visit to Google Maps shows that the home at 10 White Street is located next door to the Assembly of God Church, and therefore was probably the church parsonage - the home dedicated for use by the church pastor or other clergy. It was also here that my grandmother, Margaret, led the Vacation Bible School in August of 1950, according to an article in the Fredonia Censor (Aug. 3, 1950). She was 19 years old at the time and was devoted to her work in the ministry of the gospel, while attending college at the Metropolitan Bible Institute in Suffern, New York. See also: More about the Dickinson Family More about Margaret Dickinson Free New York Genealogy Resources Chautauqua County Resources Genealogy Dashboard #margaretdickinson #dickinson #fredonia #familyhomes

Daniel Fitts was my 6th great-grandfather, on the Leonard branch of my family tree. His daughter, Caroline Fitts, was born August 4, 1786 in Oxford, Massachusetts. She married Joshua Burrill of Thompson, Connecticut, the supposed father of Sophronia (Burrill) (Leonard) Knapp - another relationship I can only document through DNA. Daniel's will was written on April 9, 1823. He died 13 years later, on February 13, 1837 at Oxford, Worcester, Massachusetts, and the will was entered into probate on February 21, 1837. He was 83 years of age (born in either 1753 or 1758). I was hoping to find evidence of Sophronia as his granddaughter in the will but no grandchildren were included. Only his wife, Chloe, and children are named as heirs: "John Fitts, Daniel Fitts Jr, Arby (Abijah?) Fitts, Sally, Cloa, Sophia, Lyna (Caroline, presumably), and Roxa". You can zoom in, download, or print the Will using the buttons shown here: Click here to learn more about Daniel Fitts. Click here to learn more about Sophronia Burrill. Click here to learn more about this branch of my family. Click here for thousands of free genealogy resources. #fitts #burrill #leonard #danielfitts #will #signature

In his will, written in 1823, Daniel Fitts made provision for his wife, Chloe (White) Fitts. Little did he know they would both live another 13 years and that she would predecease him, but only by 22 days. According to Oxford's town vital records, Chloe died at the age of 80 on January 22, 1837, and then just a few entries down in the register we see the entry for the death of Daniel Fitts, age 84, February 13, 1837. Note: It appears the "A." is an abbreviation for "Age" and not a middle initial. Notice it is used on each entry. The are buried side by side in South Cemetery in Oxford. Photos of their graves are available on Findagrave. Click either image to jump to their memorials. The willow tree and urn appear on both graves. This was common in colonial times. According to an interesting article by Chris Raymond, found here, weeping willows can symbolize longevity, which both Daniel and Chloe both possessed, or it can symbolize life after death and the resurrection of the soul. The cemetery and the First Congregational Church in front of it can be seen here: (Alternate link) Click here to learn more about Daniel Fitts. Click here to learn more about this branch of my family tree. Click here for thousands of free genealogy resources! #danielfitts #fitts #chloewhite #burrill #leonard

Identifying the places in these old slides I've been scanning and organizing for the past few weeks has been challenging, but interesting. After grouping the photos by the date stamped on the slides, I was able to determine that the four photos shown here were all taken on the same roll of film, which was developed in September, 1958. Only the photo of the homes along the shore was labeled. It says: "Shoreline at Riverhead". Another clue can be seen in the photo with the blue tanker that says "Northville Oil" on it's side. I went to Google Maps to search for Riverhead and the first result was in New York. I zoomed in to see if there was a town called Northville near this Riverhead and, sure enough, I found that both Riverhead and Northville is a Hamlet within the Town of Riverhead on the north shore of Long Island in New York. Riverhead has been the official county seat of Suffolk County since 1727. Looking down in birdseye view, I noticed a location in Northville with large circular tanks. Could this be the place? Dropping down to street level, I was surprised to see the exact spot where the photo was taken 63 years ago. It appears to be the location of the United River Terminal, Inc. on Sound Shore Road in Riverhead. Compare this Google Street View with the photo below: I haven't been able to pinpoint the other locations in this set of photos, but maybe people from Riverhead will appreciate the old photos. #newyork #longisland #vintagephotos

These seven photos were scanned from slides that have been stored away for over half a century and since I was able to identify the school, I am sharing them here for anyone interested. The school was in Port Washington, a hamlet in North Hempstead, Nassau County, New York. The one of the children in front of Paul D. Schreiber High School was dated May 1959, but all the others were from October 1958. I'm not sure if all these photos were taken at Port Washington, so if anyone can confirm or correct me, please use the comments below. #newyork #vintagephotos #nassaucounty #highschool #football

DNA is a very complex subject, admittedly too complex for my full comprehension, but one thing that is fairly easy to understand is Mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA, for short. Mitochondrial DNA is DNA located in mitochondria, which is inherited from the mother, generation after generation. Most DNA resides in the chromosomes inside the cell nucleus, but mtDNA is separate and has very important functions. Essentially, mitochondria is the powerhouse of DNA. "In addition to supplying cellular energy, mitochondria are involved in other tasks, such as signaling, cellular differentiation, and cell death, as well as maintaining control of the cell cycle and cell growth." [1] Mitochondrial DNA has traditionally been believed to have been passed down from mother to daughter in successive generations, but in a study published in 2018, it was found that human babies were reported to inherit mtDNA from both their fathers and their mothers "resulting in mtDNA heteroplasmy". [2] At any rate, it amazes me to think that I hold a near exact copy of my mother's mtDNA, who got hers from her mother, who got hers from her mother, all the way back to "Mitochondrial Eve" as she is called. Here in this photo set we see the carriers of my mtDNA, passed down for five consecutive generations. From my third great-grandmother to my mother (left to right), these are my direct maternal ancestors - the holders of my mtDNA: For more on this branch of my family, see the Dickinson page. Unfortunately, because I am female, I didn't inherit my father's Y-DNA, which was passed down from father to son generation after generation since "Chromosomal Adam". In my next post, I'll share what I've learned from my father's DNA. Stay tuned! Sources: McBride HM, Neuspiel M, Wasiak S (July 2006). "Mitochondria: more than just a powerhouse". Current Biology. Luo S, Valencia CA, Zhang J, Lee NC, Slone J, Gui B, Wang X, Li Z, Dell S, Brown J, Chen SM, Chien YH, Hwu WL, Fan PC, Wong LJ, Atwal PS, Huang T (December 2018). "Biparental Inheritance of Mitochondrial DNA in Humans". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. WikiTree DNA Help #dna #mitochondria #mtdna #genetics #dickinson #strong, #mayo #decker #reese #genealogy

Putting the pieces of the scattered paper trails together is the fun part of genealogy. We find bits and pieces of our ancestors' lives and do our best to put it together to learn and share their story. One of the brick walls in my family tree is Ezekiel Mayo, an ancestor of my maternal grandmother, Margaret (Dickinson) Reese. I suspect Ezekiel descends from Rev. John Mayo of Barnstable, Massachusetts, but have yet to find the connection. A piece of Ezekiel's life is documented in Centennial history of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, by R. M. Stocker, 1887. (You can find this book on Archive.org here). From this we learn that Ezekiel moved to Great Bend in 1832, cleared the land of the forest of trees, and built a stone house "where his son Leroy now lives". This book was published in 1887 so I knew I could probably find the location. Sure enough, at historicmapworks.com, I found a map from 1872, showing the plot belonging to "L. Mayo". It was located on what is now called "Tarzan Road" in Great Bend, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania. Immediately, I went to Google Maps to see if the house was still there. Unfortunately, there is currently no street view for the location, but you can see the aerial view here: You can bet next time I'm passing through the Great Bend area, I'll be driving by to get a video of my 5th great-grandfather's property. Hopefully there's an old stone house there. Stay tuned! Note: In 1897, Charles Decker and his new bride, Lydia (Mayo) (Ames) Decker were living just four miles from the Mayo home - in Hickory Grove (Great Bend Township). See my previous blog here. Click here to learn more about Ezekiel Mayo. Click here to learn more about this branch of my family. Click here for thousands of free genealogy resources. #mayo #ezekielmayo #greatbendpa #property #decker #dickinson

Continuing my search for the lineage of Ezekiel Mayo, I would like to propose that of the three known lines mentioned in my previous post, it seems most probable that Ezekiel was the son of Edmund Mayo who was the 3rd great-grandson of Rev. John Mayo of Barnstable, Mass. Recap: Lydia Mayo was the wife of Charles Decker. (They were the parents of Mary ("Delaphina") Decker who married William Henry Dickinson). Lydia was the daughter of Oscar Mayo, who was the son of Raymond H. Mayo, who was the son of Ezekiel Mayo. Ezekiel is said to have been born abt. 1800 (age 50 in 1850 according to census) in New York and moved to Great Bend, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, in 1832. He married Rebecca Hazard. Rebecca was the daughter of Edward Hazard and Deborah Ballard. She lived from 1801-1872. Edward was born in Kingston, Rhode Island. They are buried in Great Bend, PA. In the index of "The Reverend John Mayo, genealogy", there is one Mayo named Ezekiel. He was born abt. 1791, and was the son of Edmund Mayo (1758- ), who is detailed on p. 102-103, as follows: Edmund's ancestry is given on page iv. The entire genealogy can be found here. See also what Wikipedia has to say about him here. The book entitled "Rev. John Mayo and his descendants", can also be found here". For more Mayo family history, click here. Anyone with information pertaining to Ezekiel Mayo, please share in the Mayo Genealogy Forum. #mayo #RevJohnMayo #ezekielmayo

Lydia Mayo was the wife of Charles Decker. (They were the parents of Mary ("Delaphina") Decker who married William Henry Dickinson). Lydia was the daughter of Oscar Mayo, the son of Raymond H. Mayo, the son of Ezekiel Mayo. He is said to have been born abt. 1800 (age 50 in 1850 according to census) in New York and moved to Great Bend, Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, in 1832. He married Rebecca Hazard. Perhaps a clue on the ancestry of Ezekiel Mayo, may be in the lineage of one of these Mayos, mentioned in "The Reverend John Mayo, genealogy" from which the excerpts below were taken. This valuable resource explains that "the Mayos in America are divided into three main groups": Descendants of Rev. John Mayo of Barnstable, Mass. (*The name Ezekiel is common in this line) Descendants of John Mayo of Roxbury, Mass. (*The name Ezekiel is not found in this line). Descendants of William and Henry Mayo of England who went to Virginia abt. 1738. (*The name Ezekiel not found in this line). Centennial History of Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania, by Rhamanthus M. Stocker, 1887, page 534, gives the following about our Ezekiel Mayo. 1. Descendants of Rev. John Mayo of Barnstable, Mass. In the index of "The Reverend John Mayo, genealogy", there is one Mayo named Ezekiel. He was born abt. 1791, and was the son of Edmund Mayo (1758- ), who is detailed on p. 102-103, as follows: Edmund's ancestry is given on page iv. The entire genealogy can be found here. See also what Wikipedia has to say about him here. The book entitled "Rev. John Mayo and his descendants", can also be found here. New! 1/20/2022 Excerpt from The American Genealogist, Vol 12 p117-118: Additional finds: 2. Descendants of John Mayo of Roxbury, Mass. "John Mayo of Roxbury, Massachusetts, 1630-1688: A Genealogical and Biographical Record of His Descendants", by Chester G. Mayo, 1966. The book may be found here, although at the time of this post it was "out on (virtual) loan". UPDATE: This source shows no connection to our Mayo line. No men named Ezekiel Mayo are found. See my new blog for details. John Mayo of Roxbury is also mentioned in "History of the town of Oxford, Massachusetts", by George F. Daniels, 1892 (available here) and summarized here: 3. Descendants of William Mayo William Mayo's line is mentioned in "Brief sketches of the Randolphs and their connections", by William Edward Railey. This Mayo record contains no men named Ezekiel and is given as follows: The entire book may be found here but may require Ancestry subscription or you may be able to use HeritageQuest by logging in here using your library card number. Other Mayo resources are listed in the Genealogies in the Library of Congress: A Bibliography, Volume 2, by Library of Congress, Marion J. Kaminkow, p.208-209, found here, For more Mayo family history, click here. #mayo #RevJohnMayo #EzekielMayo

It took me way longer than it should have to test my DNA for genealogy purposes. When I finally did, I was astonished to find that parts of my DNA match 51,891 other people who have DNA submitted tests on Ancestry. In the past couple years, I've been analyzing their trees, collaborating with them, and learning more about my ancestors through some of their research. This is the reason I chose Ancestry as opposed to another company. There are so many trees on Ancestry and that is how we make sense of the DNA tests. AncestryDNA provided me with many leads and confirmed several relationships I had suspected but couldn't prove, but I soon realized I could learn even more if my father were tested. Because I am female, I didn't inherit his Y-DNA and it is known that fragments can be lost from one generation to the next, so his test would provide matches I didn't see. Sure enough, his test showed he has 73,785 matches on Ancestry! That's nearly 22,000 matches that didn't show up in my matches - 22,000 more clues and possible leads to follow! My mother died 13 years ago, so we never had her tested, but her father (my maternal grandfather), was willing to be tested so I submitted his DNA, which should help trace his lineage eventually. Surprisingly, he has fewer matches than I do, with 42,921 to date. Looking at their "Shared Matches", helps me label and identify many of the 50,000 matches on my list. It's an amazing system I highly recommend. If you've been tested, I recommend getting any parents or grandparents tested as soon as possible. If your father is no longer living or isn't willing to be tested, see if you can get a brother or uncle tested instead. Aunts, uncles, siblings, cousins, sons, daughters - each carry specific parts of your lineage. Sons inherit their father's Y-DNA so testing males is imperative. Meanwhile, girls inherit their mother's Mitochondrial DNA, which isn't passed down to sons (from what I understand), so aunts and daughters DNA are valuable for tracing maternal ancestry. Get your Ancestry DNA test kit on Amazon today! Regular price is normally $99. Click here to see if it's on sale! -OR- Click here to buy directly from Ancestry at 15% off. (We receive a small commission for any purchases made through these links. Thank you for your support!) #dna #ancestrydna #genealogy #leonard #reese

If you found this photo in an old family album and found no markings to indicate who it was, what would you assume about it? Was this a boy? Or was it a girl? Whos is this a portrait of? In the three photos shown below, one was my great-grandfather, William H. Dickinson, who was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1899. The other two were his sisters. Can you guess which one is him? If you're able to tell, please explain your insight and reasoning in the comments! Stay tuned for more genealogy tips and fun finds! Don't miss the Genealogy Dashboard for tons of free resources! #genealogy #familyhistory #portraits #photography

While combing through and indexing the many volumes of The American Genealogist (coming soon), I came across valuable information about the family of one of my ancestors. It was found in The American Genealogist 1939-10: Vol 16 Iss 2, p. 95-101, and is titled "The Thomas Family of London, England", by Clarence Almon Torrey, Ph.B., of Dorchester, Massachusetts. It contains the maternal ancestry of Lieut. Robert Feake, my maternal 11th great-grandfather in the Decker line, who came to America with the Winthrop Fleet in 1630. In it, we learn about the ancestry of Robert's mother, Judith Thomas. She was a daughter of Robert Thomas, a draper, of London, England. Robert Thomas was "a man of very great wealth for the time in which he lived and that his first wife, Judith's mother, was Judith Fisher, daughter of William Fisher". It is also noted that "Robert Thomas secured his freedom Apr. 12, 1568, from which it appears that he was born about 1547". He died June 8, 1610 and was buried June 26th. Judith Thomas married James Feake on Jan. 29, 1592. She was buried March 6, 1588/9. Read more in pages 95-101, below: [Alternate link] #robertfeake #feake #decker #dickinson #england #thomas

Smith, Jones, and Brown are three of the top five most common surnames in America. If you have these names in your family tree, maybe you can relate to this poem found in American Genealogist magazine: Source: American Genealogist magazine, Vol 15 Issue 3 p192 [Link] For those in my family, none of my known ancestors bore the name Jones, but several were Smiths and Browns, shown in the list below. Notice, 9 of the 11 were female, and I've only identified the fathers of two of them, and no further. Why? Because these names are very confusing to research! If anyone can help, please do! #brown #jones #smith #poem #genealogy #leonard #harvey #hollenbeck #decker

Being a sentimentalist, I've always loved the song, "Auld Lang Syne". I remember hearing that the words meant for old time's sake but the generally accepted translation is times long past. The song originated in Scotland, according to the article on Wikipedia, which provides the following history: "Robert Burns sent a copy of the original song to the Scots Musical Museum in 1788 with the remark, "The following song, an old song, of the olden times, and which has never been in print, nor even in manuscript until I took it down from an old man. Some of the lyrics were indeed "collected" rather than composed by the poet; the ballad "Old Long Syne" printed in 1711 by James Watson shows considerable similarity in the first verse and the chorus to Burns' later poem, and is almost certainly derived from the same "old song". In an old book called "Addresses delivered at the centennial anniversary of the First Congregational Church, Pompey, N. Y. June 21st-23rd, 1896: together with a historical sketch of the church", published in 1896, the following lyrics are printed, but differ from the version we hear today. Still, the lyrics are touching and worth sharing: Auld Lang Syne Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and days of auld lang syne? For auld lang syne we meet today, for auld lang syne; To tread the paths our fathers trod in days of auld lang syne. We've passed through many varied scenes, since youth's unclouded day; And friends and hopes, and happy dreams, time's hand hath swept away. And voices that once joined with ours, in days of auld lang syne, Are silent now, and blend no more, in songs of auld lang syne. Yet ever has the light of hope, illumed our darkest hours, And cheered us on life's toilsome way, and gemmed our paths with flowers. The sacred prayers our mothers said in days of auld lang syne, Have ever kept us in the right Since days of auld lang syne. Here we have met, here we may part, to meet on earth no more; And some may never see again the cherished homes of yore; The sportive plays and pleasant days of childhood's old lang syne - We ne'er shall meet to know again those joys of auld lang syne. But when we've crossed the sea of life and reached the heavenly shore, We'll sing the songs our fathers sing, transcending those of yore; We there shall sing diviner strains than those of auld lang syne; Immortal songs of praise, unknown in days of auld lang syne. Words by Dr. Richard F. Stevens, as written for and sung at the Pompey Reunion, June 24, 1871. (Source) An old version on vinyl can be heard here. Click play to hear:

Every now and then I come across amazing resources that contain loads of the kinds of information many of us are seeking. When I do, I just can't resist indexing and sharing them because the answers to so many mysteries are hidden away in the annals of such publications. In this instance, I discovered The Historical Collections of the Essex Institute. This periodical contains tons of information you'd probably have a hard time finding anywhere else including abstracts of wills, deeds, births, marriages, deaths, baptisms, church records, cemetery epitaphs, genealogies, biographies, photos, illustrations, and more. The records pertain to the people and places of Essex County, Massachusetts. Towns in Essex County include: Amesbury, Andover, Beverly, Boxford, Danvers, Essex, Georgetown, Gloucester, Groveland, Hamilton, Haverhill, Ipswich, Lawrence, Lynn, Lynnfield, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Marblehead, Merrimac, Methuen, Middleton, Nahant, Newbury, Newburyport, North Andover, Peabody, Rockport, Rowley, Salem, Salisbury, Saugus, Swampscott, Topsfield, Wenham, and West Newbury. I'm not aware of any digitally searchable sites to search the contents of the many volumes, but all the volumes are shared freely online and shortcuts to each volume can be found in the list below. This list is useful because many of the volumes are not all properly titled, making specific volumes harder to find. So, like I've done many times now, I spent my day creating this list for easier future use. Take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with it before diving in, and you'll see it's not too hard to check it for information about your family. Only two of the four or five general indexes were found, covering Volumes 1-27 and Volumes 41-50, but all the volumes do contain their own index. Yes, it's tedious to check them all, but if it's any consolation, remember that in the 80+ years these were published, they were released quarterly. Subscribers had to wait three months for the next issue! How fortunate are we that today we have the opportunity to view them ALL, anytime, free of charge? The Table of Contents at the beginning of each volume is another place to check for relevant and interesting stories and information. So, without further ado, here's the collection - Historical Collections of the Essex Institute Shortcuts: Index Vol 1-27 > Link Index Vol 41-50 > Link 1859 Vol 1 Contents > Link 1859 Vol 1 Index > Link 1859 Vol 1 Issue 1 > Link 1859 Vol 1 Issue 2 > Link 1859 Vol 1 Issue 3 > Link 1859 Vol 1 Issue 4 > Link 1859 Vol 1 Issue 5 > Link 1859 Vol 1 > Link 1860 Vol 2 Contents > Link 1860 Vol 2 Index > Link 1860 Vol 2 Issue 1 > Link 1860 Vol 2 Issue 2 > Link 1860 Vol 2 Issue 3 > Link 1860 Vol 2 Issue 4 > Link 1860 Vol 2 Issue 5 > Link 1860 Vol 2 Issue 6 > Link 1860 Vol 2 > Link 1861 Vol 3 Contents > Link 1861 Vol 3 Index > Link 1861 Vol 3 Issue 1 > Link 1861 Vol 3 Issue 2 > Link 1861 Vol 3 Issue 3 > Link 1861 Vol 3 Issue 4 > Link 1861 Vol 3 Issue 5 > Link 1861 Vol 3 Issue 6 > Link 1861 Vol 3 > Link 1862 Vol 4 Contents > Link 1862 Vol 4 Index > Link 1862 Vol 4 Issue 1 > Link 1862 Vol 4 Issue 2 > Link 1862 Vol 4 Issue 3 > Link 1862 Vol 4 Issue 4 > Link 1862 Vol 4 Issue 5 > Link 1862 Vol 4 Issue 6 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At first glance, one might think they were looking at the remains of a once-magnificent castle with grand halls, corridors, and courtyards. The imagination could run wild envisioning the fine furnishings, sculpted gardens, and meticulously dressed socialites sipping tea with their little fingers erect. On the contrary, however, the atmosphere in this place 150 years ago was far from glamorous. The smell of smoke and soot filled the noisy air and the constant roar of the furnaces was certainly much easier to bear than the intense heat they put out. The screech of the trains coming to a halt, dumping loads of raw materials, and departing again must have played on repeat like a broken record. Here the very strenuous practice of extracting iron from ore was performed from 1868 until 1921. "Thomas Iron" was founded by David Thomas, a Welsh iron master, in 1854. He had come to America in 1839, to introduce the newly discovered process of "hot blast iron making" for the Lehigh Crane Iron Company. The technique involved burning anthracite coal in large ovens to heat the air before sending it through the blast furnace. This enabled the furnaces to reach higher temperatures, thereby expediting the process of extracting iron from tons and tons of ore and limestone, which was hauled in from mines in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Several other furnaces were built in other locations later. David Thomas and his son, Samuel, established a furnace in Boonton, New Jersey, in 1848. Then, in 1855, they built two furnaces on the Butz farm in what is now Hokendauqua, Pennsylvania. In 1866, the Lock Ridge Iron Company was founded and the following year, two furnaces here, in Alburtis. Railroad lines were installed to make transporting ore from the mines to the iron works easier. The company continued producing iron until 1921, making it the last anthracite iron furnace to operate in America. The furnaces at Alburtis were sold to the Reading Coal and Iron Company, which then sold it for scrap to William Butz. He dismantled much of the complex, leaving the stone masonry and in 1972 his family donated the ruins and the 59 acres of land surrounding it to Lehigh County for use as a public park. Lock Ridge Park opened to the public in 1976 and in 1981, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Lehigh Valley Historical Society operates the museum featuring exhibits illustrating the iron making process. The grounds are open to the public daily for photography, fishing, walking, jogging, picnicking, bike-riding or just relaxing. In the Spring, the sprawling lawns are covered with bluebells - surely a sight to see! Guided tours are also available on a limited basis. Visit Lehigh County's Park and Recreation page for details. The park is located at 525 Franklin Street in the borough of Alburtis in Lower Macungie Township. To see some old pictures of what the place looked like in its heyday, visit the Lock Ridge Historical Society's website. It is obvious the county has taken great care in preserving this treasure for visitors to enjoy. To be notified when I post new blogs or videos, subscribe to my YouTube channel and/or my blog. You can also follow me on Facebook. Click here for my list of free places to find free genealogy resources for Pennsylvania and more! #pennsylvania #ironworks #historic #places

My visit to Lost River Caverns was my first time experiencing a cave tour. I was amazed at this underground marvel. It was a lot to take in during the 20-30 minute tour but I snapped tons of pictures because I love art and, to me, nature is the best art out there. I've always stood in awe of the sky and it's continually changing canvas, the patterns and colors in flowers and plants, rivers, lakes, mountains, the beaches and seas, and now I am equally amazed at the subterranean beauty of caverns like this one. Watch the video below for a closer look. This 1200' x 80' cavern wasn't discovered until 1883 when a limestone quarry that was being mined at the site cut into it. It was originally named Rentzheimer's Cave and Lost Cave. The "Lost River" flows through the cavern. The name is fitting since the source of the water has yet to be identified. It has only one entrance. The temperature is 52-degrees Fahrenheit in the cavern year-round. Calcite is commonly found in limestone caverns like this one. Flowstone is seen on the ceiling. Speleothems such as stalactites and stalagmites are numerous. Outside the cavern you may walk the Nature Trail, which explains some of the geological features of the region and facts about caves. There is also a station for gem panning and visitors can try their hand and luck at finding a valuable souvenir. There is a museum, rock shop, jewelry shop, and picnic area too. If you are in the Lehigh Valley and have an hour or two to spare, I would recommend seeing the Lost River Caverns for yourself. They are open year-round every day, except Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Day. They are located at 726 Durham Street, Hellertown, Pennsylvania. #places #pennsylvania #caves #historic #video

Everton's Genealogical Helper was a magazine printed for over sixty years, containing thousands of books, pamphlets, microfilms, atlases, maps, photos, manuscripts and more. Some of the items can't be found elsewhere. The series is loaded with tips, sources, and interesting information for genealogists. Some volumes contain an index, but some do not. The contents of each issue are summarized on the issue's title page. [Issue 1] [Issue 2] [Issue 3] [Issue 4] [Issue 1] [Issue 2] [Issue 3] [Issue 4] [Issue 1] [Issue 2] [Issue 3] [Issue 4] [Issue 1] [Issue 2] [Issue 3] [Issue 4] [Issue 1] [Issue 2] [Issue 3] [Issue 4) [Issue 1] [Issue 2] [Issue 3] [Issue 4] [Issue 1] [Issue 2] [Issue 3] [Issue 4] [Issue 1] [Issue 2] [Issue 3] [Issue 4] [Issue 1] [Issue 2] [Issue 3] [Issue 4] [Issue 1] [Issue 2] [Issue 3] [Issue 4] [Issue 1] [Issue 2] [Issue 3] [Issue 4] [Issue 1] [Issue 2] [Issue 3] [Issue 4] [Issue 1] [Issue 2] [Issue 3] [Issue 4] [Issue 1] [Issue 2] [Issue 3] [Issue 4] [Issue 1] [Issue 2] [Issue 3] [Issue 4] [Issue 1] [Issue 2] [Issue 3] [Issue 4] [Issue 1] [Issue 2] [Issue 3] [Issue 4] [Issue 1] [Issue 2] [Issue 3] [Issue 4] [Issue 1] [Issue 2] [Issue 3] [Issue 4] [Issue 1] [Issue 2] [Issue 3] [Issue 4] [Issue 1] [Issue 2] [Issue 3] [Issue 4] [Issue 1] [Issue 2] [Issue 3] [Issue 4] [Issue 1] [Issue 2] [Issue 3] [Issue 4] [Issue 1] [Issue 2] [Issue 3] [Issue 4] [Issue 1] [Issue 2] [Issue 3] [Issue 4] [Issue 5] [Issue 6] [Issue 1] [Issue 2] [Issue 3] [Issue 5] [Issue 4] [Issue 6] [Issue 1] [Issue 2] [Issue 3] [Issue 4] [Issue 5] [Issue 6] [Issue 1] [Issue 2] [Issue 3] [Issue 4] [Issue 5] [Issue 6] [Issue 1] [Issue 2] [Issue 3] [Issue 4] [Issue 5] [Issue 6] [Issue 1] [Issue 2] [Issue 3] [Issue 4] [Issue 5] [Issue 6] 1977 Jan-Feb [Link] Mar-Apr [Link] May-June [Link] July-Aug [Link] Sept-Oct [Link] Nov-Dec [Link] 1978 Jan-Feb [Link] Mar-Apr [Link] May-June [Link] July-Aug [Link] Sept-Oct [Link] Nov-Dec [Link] 1979 Jan-Feb [Link] Mar-Apr [Link] May-June [Link] July-Aug [Link] Sept-Oct [Link] Nov-Dec [Link] 1980 Jan-Feb [Link] Mar-Apr [Link] May-June [Link] July-Aug [Link] Sept-Oct [Link] Nov-Dec [Link] 1981 Jan-Feb [Link] Mar-Apr [Link] May-June [Link] July-Aug [Link] Sept-Oct [Link] Nov-Dec [Link] 1982 Jan-Feb [Link] Mar-Apr [Link] May-June [Link] July-Aug [Link] Sept-Oct [Link] Nov-Dec [Link] 1983 Jan-Feb [Link] Mar-Apr [Link] May-June [Link] July-Aug [Link] Sept-Oct [Link] Nov-Dec [Link] 1984 Jan-Feb [Link] Mar-Apr [Link] May-June [Link] July-Aug [Link] Sept-Oct [Link] Nov-Dec [Link] 1985 Jan-Feb [Link] Mar-Apr [Link] May-June [Link] July-Aug [Link] Sept-Oct [Link] Nov-Dec [Link] 1986 Jan-Feb [Link] Mar-Apr [Link] May-June [Link] July-Aug [Link] Sept-Oct [Link] Nov-Dec [Link] 1987 Jan-Feb [Link] Mar-Apr [Link] May-June [Link] July-Aug [Link] Sept-Oct [Link] Nov-Dec [Link] 1988 Jan-Feb [Link] Mar-Apr [Link] May-June [Link] July-Aug [Link] Sept-Oct [Link] Nov-Dec [Link] 1989 Jan-Feb [Link] Mar-Apr [Link] May-June [Link] July-Aug [Link] Sept-Oct [Link] Nov-Dec [Link] 1990 Jan-Feb [Link] Mar-Apr [Link] May-June [Link] July-Aug [Link] Sept-Oct [Link] Nov-Dec [Link] 1991 Jan-Feb [Link] Mar-Apr [Link] May-June [Link] July-Aug [Link] Sept-Oct [Link] Nov-Dec [Link] 1992 Jan-Feb [Link] Mar-Apr [Link] May-June [Link] July-Aug [Link] Sept-Oct [Link] Nov-Dec [Link] 1993 Jan-Feb [Link] Mar-Apr [Link] May-June [Link] July-Aug [Link] Sept-Oct [Link] Nov-Dec [Link] 1994 Jan-Feb [Link] Mar-Apr [Link] May-June [Link] July-Aug [Link] Sept-Oct [Link] Nov-Dec [Link] 1995 Jan-Feb [Link] Mar-Apr [Link] May-June [Link] July-Aug [Link] Sept-Oct [Link] Nov-Dec [Link] 1996 Jan-Feb [Link] Mar-Apr [Link] May-June [Link] July-Aug [Link] Sept-Oct [Link] Nov-Dec [Link] 1997 Jan-Feb [Link] Mar-Apr [Link] May-June [Link] July-Aug [Link] Sept-Oct [Link] Nov-Dec [Link] 1998 Jan-Feb [Link] Mar-Apr [Link] May-June [Link] July-Aug [Link] Sept-Oct [Link] Nov-Dec [Link] 1999 Jan-Feb [Link] Mar-Apr [Link] May-June [Link] July-Aug [Link] Sept-Oct [Link] Nov-Dec [Link] 2000 Jan-Feb [Link] Mar-Apr [Link] May-June [Link] July-Aug [Link] Sept-Oct [Link] Nov-Dec [Link] 2001 Jan-Feb [Link] Mar-Apr [Link] May-June [Link] July-Aug [Link] Sept-Oct [Link] Nov-Dec [Link] 2002 Jan-Feb [Link] Mar-Apr [Link] May-June [Link] July-Aug [Link] Sept-Oct [Link] Nov-Dec [Link] 2003 Jan-Feb [Link] Mar-Apr [Link] May-June [Link] July-Aug [Link] Sept-Oct [Link] Nov-Dec [Link] 2004 Jan-Feb [Link] Mar-Apr [Link] May-June [Link] Nov-Dec [Link] 2005 Jan-Feb [Link] Mar-Apr [Link] May-June [Link] July-Aug [Link] Sept-Oct [Link] Nov-Dec [Link] 2006 Jan-Feb [Link] Mar-Apr [Link] May-June [Link] July-Aug [Link] Sept-Oct [Link] Nov-Dec [Link] 2007 Jan-Feb [Link] Mar-Apr [Link] May-June [Link] July-Aug [Link] Sept-Oct [Link] Nov-Dec [Link] 2008 Jan-Feb [Link] Mar-Apr [Link] May-June [Link] July-Aug [Link] Sept-Oct [Link] Nov-Dec [Link] 2009 Jan-Feb [Link] #resources #tips #bibliographies

This photo was an oddball among the hundreds of antique slides I recently scanned and I thought it was worth preserving and sharing. It was taken in June of 1958 at Bear Mountain State park in Rockland County, New York. It is a sign telling the life story of Walt Whitman and marking the location of the statue erected in his memory in 1940. The statue depicts the poet as if he were strolling through the park. Unfortunately, a photo of the statue itself was not found in this collection, but you can see a modern day image of it here. According to the Historical Marker Database, this memorial is located at 41° 19.014′ N, 73° 59.277′ W. It is located on the path from the Bear Mountain Inn to Fort Clinton. This sign still stands today, although it has been modified. Pieces of this original sign are framed behind glass (or plexiglass). The sign reads: WALT WHITMAN Walt Whitman, one of America's greatest poets was born at West Hills Long Island in 1819. At an early age he left the public schools of Brooklyn and dismissed all formal education to learn the printer's trade. He later became a teacher and from 1846 to 1848 was editor of the Brooklyn Eagle. At the outbreak of the Civil War he volunteered as a nurse in the Union Army after which he accepted a government clerkship in Washington D.C. but still spent practically all of his spare time in hospitals aiding the wounded. Whitman was attacked by paralysis in 1873, retired to Camden, New Jersey where he died in 1892. Whitman is famous for his poems of democracy and America. His first and best known work "Leaves of Grass" of which the "Song of the Open Road" is part, was published in 1855 and was received for the most part with abuse, later becoming one of the best known American poetical works. In 1940 this statue was presented to the Palisades Interstate Park Commission by William Averell Harriman in behalf of his brother and sisters as a memorial to their mother Mary Williamson Harriman on the thirtieth anniversary of her gift to the state of ten thousand acres of land and one million dollars to establish the Bear Mountain – Harriman section of the Palisades Interstate Park. This statue of Walt Whitman was designed by Jo Davidson to portray the feeling of one of Whitman's verses in the "Song of the Open Road". It was exhibited at the New York World's Fair before being placed here. Below are the lines cut in the rock to your right from the "Song of the Open Road". The Song of the Open Road Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road, Healthy, free, the world before me, The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose. Henceforth I ask not good-fortune, I myself am good-fortune, Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing, Done with indoor complaints, libraries, querulous criticisms, Strong and content I travel the open road. Camerado, I give you my hand! I give you my love more precious than money, I give you myself before preaching or law; Will you give me yourself? Will you come travel with me? Shall we stick by each other as long as we live? Walt Whitman #waltwhitman #landmark #newyork

I once saw a sign hanging in a store manager's office. It said something to the effect of this: "If you don't have the time to do it right the first time, how do you expect to find the time to do it twice?" These are words to live by and ones I recently told myself after wasting a whole day scanning slides that I ended up having to re-scan. It all started a few weeks ago when my father gave me an old box of photo slides he had picked up at a yard sale. He always keeps an eye out for historical items for me, knowing I'm a history junkie and this was a great find. When I went to visit him, we looked through a few, holding the slides up to a light and straining to identify the subjects because most of them weren't labeled. I was excited to see all the old cars from the fifties in the few slides I sampled. We both wanted to see what the rest of the slides, so I ordered a digital slide scanner from Amazon, and when it arrived a couple days later, I set all my other projects aside and started scanning. The first day, I scanned about 800 slides. Then I took the memory card out of the scanner and popped it in my computer and it was then that I realized I did a few things wrong, which I'll try to help you avoid if you're planning on taking on the task of scanning your old family slides. So, let that be the first tip: 1) Always scan a few slides as a test and view the files before scanning them all How I wish I had done this! I could have saved myself a lot of time and confusion, but like I said, I scanned 800 slides that all ended up having to be re-scanned and I certainly didn't have time for that, but we do learn from our mistakes, so this error taught me a lot. Choose a few slides to use in your "trial scans" and scan each one right side up, upside down, and rotated 180-degrees. Then open the images on your computer to observe the various outcomes. This collection of slides consisted of a couple dozen little boxes, each containing about 20 slides, plus four trays filled with assorted slides. I started scanning them one by one and the scanner assigns a number to each scan, the same way your phone or camera creates a filename for each photo stored. The number is displayed on the screen of the scanner, so I scanned each of the slides and then affixed a small removable label to the border of each slide, writing the scanner's image number on it. That number would correspond with the filename when I uploaded the images and this way I could easily find the slide later, if necessary. (The filenames are actually IMG00001, IMG00002, etc., but I simply wrote "1", "2", etc. on the labels). So my second tip is this: 2) Label the slides with the number from the filename to make them easy to organize and find later Remember, slides aren't as easy to view as photographs, so you can't just pick one out of a stack easily. If you find you need to re-scan a slide later, you want to be able to find it easily without having to look at every single slide again, so these little labels are very helpful. Of course, you could just write on the slide but I wasn't comfortable defacing items that haven't been modified in the last 50-60 years so I used these labels, which are can easily be removed without damaging the slide. Before we go on, let's backtrack a bit. As usual, with genealogy we have to step out of our modern world, and consider the circumstances back in a time when things were quite a bit different. This will help maximize the value of our findings. These slides were produced around 1960, and back then, slides and projectors were used to view photos. Yes, they had cabinet cards back in late 1800's, so they did have the ability to print photos, but in the late 1950's and early 1960's society was going ultra-modern. Keeping up with the Joneses was the name of the game and people loved to invite their friends over to share photos of their vacations, parties, and other events they photographed. Instead of posting pics on social media, they would load the slides into the projector, which would project the image onto a screen or the wall. They would advance through the slides telling their stories. It was the original slideshow presentation. When the slideshow was over, sometimes the slides didn't all end up back in the right boxes and slides got all mixed up, which leads us to my next tip: 3) Organize the slides before you start scanning Viewing individual slides is like viewing one piece of a jigsaw puzzle. The rest of the set, though, the other pictures taken on the same roll of film, would give you a better understanding of the events and memories that were so carefully preserved by whoever took the pictures. Maybe only one photo in the entire roll of film indicates where the photos were taken. That one photo might help you identify several other unlabeled and otherwise unidentifiable photos if they are mixed up. When I started, I assumed the boxes contained sets, but I was wrong. Almost all the boxes were filled with an assortment of photos from different years and places, yet the majority of the photos were unlabeled with no indication of where or when the photo was taken. Even if nothing is written on the slides, there are other ways to match them the sets. The good thing about photo slides, is that Kodak (or whatever company processed the film), usually imprinted the month and year onto each slide. Use a magnifying glass if you have trouble reading an imprinted date, because these dates are your only chance to identify a lot of unlabeled photos. Keep in mind, cameras didn't have timestamps back then, so the date imprinted on the slide was when the film was developed. The photos could have been taken in that month or they could have been taken months or even years before the imprinted date. At any point after the film was used up, people took it to the drug store or mailed it in to be developed. Sometimes people wanted their film processed fast, but sometimes they waited months before getting film developed. Either way, seeing one's photographs was a much slower process than it is today and was quite costly, too. It reminds me of how much easier it is today, when we can view, retake, delete, crop, touch-up, and send photos right from our phones. In the old days before the advent of digital photography, people didn't even know if they captured the moment until they got the film developed. I remember anxiously awaiting the day my photos would be ready, rushing to pick them up and pay for them, only to find the lighting was bad, someone blinked, or worse, I missed the shot altogether. In addition to printing the month and year on each slide, the developer usually numbered each frame, too, which is a BIG help in grouping the photos. Remember, rolls of film come in various sizes. Typical rolls have enough space for 12, 24, or 36 pictures (exposures). When the film is developed, the first photograph taken would be frame #1 and in most cases, you would find a "1" near the imprinted date on the slide's cardboard sleeve. You probably won't find any higher than 36 in any given set. Incomplete sets with missing frames are not uncommon. They could have been wasted photos that were discarded, which was fairly common, or maybe some were good photos that were given away to loved ones. Who knows? On the other hand, you might find multiple slides that have the same year, same month, and same number. Although it can be a little confusing, there are still ways to distinguish between the sets properly, which is my next tip: 4) Use markings to differentiate between slides with the same date and frame number On these slides dated "May 1962", there are two marked as frame #2 and two marked as frame #3. That means the photographer developed more than one roll of film that month, which wasn't uncommon. If you come across this, you will have to look for other clues in order to separate the two sets. In this example, I noticed that in one set, the date was lightly imprinted and barely visible, while on the other set the date was deeply imprinted. In some sets, the numbers were printed in red, and in other sets they were printed in black. In some sets the date is printed with ink and in others it was imprinted into the slide. If there are no distinguishable differences in the slides, you'll have to rely on the content. Maybe one set has mostly beach scenes, while the other has jungle scenes. Just get them all in sets using the clues you have. 5) Clean your slides before scanning (This is critical!) A few years ago, a cousin sent me a memory stick loaded with old family photos, for which I am eternally grateful. I was thrilled and cherish the photos dearly, but many of them had black specks and what looked like hairs on the images. He's a clean-cut, intelligent man, so I was baffled as to why the pictures were so dirty, assuming he scanned the old photos on a standard flatbed scanner. I spent a lot of time editing his photos to remove the marks from each one. It wasn't until I scanned 800 slides and opened them on my computer, that I realized what the problem was. When I zoomed in, I saw the same specks and the tiny hair-like fibers that are not easily visible to the naked eye. Mind you, my scanner was brand new, fresh out of the box and the slides looked shiny and clean at a glance, but once the light is behind them and the image is magnified, each tiny speck of dust becomes a major flaw in the photo. This is why I had to re-scan all 800 of these photos and it took longer the second time because I did it the right way so I wouldn't have to do it for a third time. I'm sure kits are available for cleaning slides but I had a pack of removable adhesive tabs, which are perfect for removing the tiny particles of dust without scratching or harming the slides. With these I dabbed the dust from the front and back of each slide twice before scanning them and what a difference it made! See for yourself. Click the image on the left to enlarge it if you can't already see the specks of debris in the sky. Then, compare it to the clean sky in the second scan (at right): This is a critical step, especially if you're planning on printing any of the photos. Or maybe you don't want whoever sees "dirty" photos to wonder just how dirty your scanner was, not realizing they're just tiny specks of dust and fibers from God knows how long ago stuck to the old slide. 6) Scan the slides upside down if the lighting is bad Notice, also, the difference in brightness. Maybe it's just my device that does this, but I found that scanning the slide upside down or right side up makes a difference in the brightness and contrast of the photo. Notice the difference in the images below. in the image on the left, the slide was scanned right side up. When it was scanned, it had a backlight effect, virtually erasing the buildings in the background, so I turned the slide upside down (not flipped it, but rotated it 180-degrees) and re-scanned. As you can see, in the photo on the right, the difference is astonishing. The foreground came out darker but at least the buildings in the background are visible. Of course, I had to rotate the image on my computer, but each one has to be edited and cropped anyway, so it wasn't really much extra work. Even if you're not planning on editing or cropping them, you can always right-click on a photo file and click "Rotate left" or "Rotate right" to rotate it without even opening the file. 7) Scan the FRONT of the slide - not the back When editing your scanned photos, recognizing and flipping backwards images isn't as easy as rotating an upside down image, so this tip is an important time-saving one, too. Scanning the wrong side of the slide will result in words and numbers that are backwards, cars driving on the wrong side of the road, and scenery that is in selfie mode. If you're going through the trouble of scanning slides, you probably want the photos to be accurate, so this simple step in the scanning process avoids a lot of confusion and saves a lot of time. The front of the slides are very smooth and glossy, while the backside is dull and somewhat textured. Notice the difference between the front and back in these next photos. The front of the slide is shown at left and the back of the slide is shown at right. With my scanner, slides need to be inserted with the glossy side up. If you have a different scanner, the test run (Tip #1) will help confirm which way you need to insert your slides. 8) Keep the scanner itself clean My scanner came with a little tool for cleaning the display area inside the unit. It is important to wipe it frequently because if dust or hairs are on the display area, they will appear on each photo you scan. I went as far as putting tape over the openings for inserting slides when I'm not scanning to prevent dust or dog or cat hairs from getting inside of the unit. Also, be careful not to scratch the interior display because the same scratches will appear in all your scans. 9) Find the right photo editing software Use an app such as Microsoft Photos (free from Microsoft) to crop, straighten, or adjust your photos. Yes, other apps do these things but Microsoft Photos has a feature called "Spot fix", which allows you to blot out any dots or blemishes that may appear in the photos even after you've cleaned the slides. It's great for touching up your photos or even repairing photos with minor damage. You can download Microsoft Photos from Microsoft for free. Then, in order to open and edit a photo in Microsoft Photos, right click on the image file and click "Open with" and then click "Choose another app". In the window that opens (example shown here), check off the box that says "Always use this app to open jpg files". Then select the "Photos" app and click "OK". Then, you can just double-click on the file and it will open in the Photos app automatically. To change the default app back to another program or app, follow those steps again and choose the app of your choice instead of Photos. 10) Create an index of all the slides to help identify sets I used an Excel Spreadsheet to create an index of all my slides. That way, I can use the sort feature to sort by year, month #, and film #, which has been a tremendous help in identifying many of the slides I would have never been able to identify without using this method. I have already shared some from this set in my most recent blogs, but I have lots more to share, so stay tuned if you're interested in seeing some great slides from the late fifties and sixties! If you are familiar with Excel, feel free to use my template, below. Otherwise, you can print the worksheet and write out the index by hand. If you are printing out the worksheets, I would recommend using one page per each 1-2 sets of photos, since you will have to sort them manually. Note: There are columns for the month and year but also for "Month #" to help with sorting the items in ascending order. If I'm not explaining that clearly enough, I think you'll see what I mean when it comes time to put the list to work for you. So those are my ten tips for scanning your old family slides. If you have more tips, tell us in the comments below! I don't have all the answers, but I wanted to share what I've learned in hopes it helps you. Subscribe for more and stay tuned for more helpful genealogy tips and be sure to visit my Genealogy Dashboard for thousands of free resources by resource type, by Country, by State, by County or by Town.

While going through hundreds of slides of photos from the 1950s and 1960s, I was amazed at the beauty that appeared on my slide scanner's screen when I put these slides labeled "Estes Park" in. I couldn't wait to upload and share these! In the short slideshow video below, you can witness what I'm sure is just a tiny sampling of the magnificence of this place. Estes Park is a Statutory Town (similar to a village), in Larimer County, Colorado, just a few miles east of Rocky Mountain National Park. It was named after Joel Estes, a native of Missouri, who founded the community in 1859 and moved his family there in 1863. Estes Park sits at an elevation of 7,522 feet above sea level. The Big Thompson River runs through it and although I'm not sure which mountain is which, there are several surrounding the town. To the east is Mount Olympus, to the southeast is Kruger Rock, to the south is Prospect Mountain, to the southwest is Eagle Cliff Mountain, to the west is Deer Mountain, to the northwest is Castle Mountain and McGregor Mountain, and to the north is The Needles, Triangle Mountain, and Crosier Mountain...just to name a few. You can also tour the area virtually on Google Maps Street View: Have you been to Estes Park? Can you identify any of the locations in the photos? Do you notice any changes to the landscape? Share your observations in the comments below! Click here for thousands of free history and genealogy resources Click here for free history and genealogy resources for Colorado #colorado #photos #vintage #scenery #larimercounty

Mount Washington is one of the places on my bucket list, so I was thrilled to see some rare old photos of it in the 60-year old slides I've been scanning for the past couple weeks. The photo, above, is labeled "View from Mount Washington (East)". Mount Washington, located in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, holds the distinction of being the tallest mountain east of the Mississippi River with it's peak standing at 6,288 feet above sea level. Mount Washington's peak is located within Sargent's Purchase, land granted to Jacob Sargent and others in 1832. On the west side of the mountain is Thompson and Meserve's Purchase, a tract of land about 18.5 square miles in area that was purchased for $500 by Samuel W. Thompson of Conway and George P. Meserve of Jackson, New Hampshire, in 1855. It is within this unincorporated town that The Mount Washington Cog Railway was completed in 1869, after three years of construction. The Cog is a rack-and-pinion railway that ascends the western slope of Mount Washington. It is he second steepest operational rack-and-pinion railway in the world. As you can see in the "Ticket Office" photo, below, the price to ride the Cog in 1961 was $4.95 for adults and $3.00 for children. Today, the price to go halfway to the peak, to Waumbek Station, is $41 for adults and $29 for children, with children under age 4 riding free if they sit on an adult's lap. The rest of the photos in this Mount Washington collection can be seen here in this short video: Among this collection of photos was this one of The Mount Washington Hotel, located in Bretton Woods. It was built in 1902 after two years of construction by Italian artisans and is the last of New Hampshire's grand hotels, built in the Renaissance Revival style. The framed photo and others from this collection are available for purchase securely at FineArtAmerica by clicking here. It can also be printed on coffee mugs, t-shirts, bed duvets, shower curtains, face masks, phone covers, pillows and more. Click here for thousands of New Hampshire and other free genealogy resources! Sources & Additional Reading: Thompson and Meserve's Purchase, New Hampshire [Wikipedia] Sargent's Purchase [Wikipedia] Mount Washington Cog Railway [Wikipedia] Mount Washington [Wikipedia]

The past couple weeks, I've been scanning some old photo slides from the 1960s. It's been a lot fun having a peek into the past, at sites I've never seen or even heard of - like the one shown below at left. The slides were dated "July 1961". At first I wasn't even sure what I was looking at and thought it was nothing significant. Then, I scanned the next slide from the set and saw the sign (shown at right), which peaked my interest (no pun intended). The sign reads as follows: OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAINS "THE GREAT STONE FACE" Long the trade mark of New Hampshire Immortalized by Hawthorne's story "The Great Stone Face" Countless visitors have been inspired by the sight of his rugged countenance. The profile was formed by glacial action thousands of years ago, and first seen by white men in 1805. The book by Nathaniel Hawthorne, called "The Great Stone Face", can be read for free on Archive.org by clicking here. You may also find a copy for purchase on Amazon (affiliate link). After seeing the sign, I zoomed in to get a closer look at the original photo and was intrigued. After doing a little research, I learned that it was located on Cannon Mountain (in the White Mountains range) in Franconia, New Hampshire. The giant granite face measured 40 feet in height and 25 feet in width. Daniel Webster, the famous lawyer and statesman who was born in New Hampshire in 1782, wrote the following of the Man of the Mountains: I was shocked to learn that many of us have probably carried a picture of this natural wonder in our pocket. "When?", you say? Well, it is featured on the backside of the New Hampshire quarter in the "50 State Quarters" series , minted between 1999 and 2008. Unfortunately, the profile collapsed and crumbled in May of 2003, leaving Cannon Mountain faceless. Years of freezing and thawing had caused deep cracks, which weakened and ultimately destroyed this natural wonder. Now, all that remains of this cultural icon are what we see in photography and on commemorative items such as the state quarter. It is also featured on the state's license plates. As a bonus, another stunning photo from the set of slides was "Profile Lake", located at the foot of Cannon Mountain, named after the profile of the "Old Man of the Mountains". A modern day photo on Google Maps gives us a 360-degree view of the site which unlike The Profile itself, has changed very little. What changes do you notice? Prints from this collection of photos can be purchased on FineArtAmerica If you had ancestors who lived in New Hampshire, you can find loads of resources for the state, county, and towns here. For thousands of free resources for all states, click here. #newhampshire #naturalwonders #scenery #photography #whitemountains #oldmanofthemountain Share this story and subscribe for more!

[This page is full of old photographs. Please give it a minute to fully load.] As I continue sorting and sharing a box of old slides that were given to me, here you'll find photos of various buildings on the University of Wyoming's campus as they were in 1965. The University of Wyoming is located in Laramie, Albany County, Wyoming. It is a public research university consisting of seven colleges. It all started in 1886, when the cornerstone of the "Old Main" was laid. It was made from local rough-cut sandstone, which would be used in nearly all the other buildings shown below. Since these slides were unlabeled, in order to confirm they were part of the campus, I used Google maps and their Street View feature to locate the buildings, so I shared that below each photo below. Many of the buildings have changed very little, except the trees are taller, the cars are classics, and there are more buildings. Copies of these photos are available here, for those who are interested. Photo #1 - College of Agriculture and Natural Resources Modern day view courtesy of Google Maps Street View (Click here to open in a new window): Photo #2 - Ross Hall Modern day view courtesy of Google Maps Street View (Click here to open in a new window) Photo #3 - Wyoming Union Modern day view courtesy of Google Maps Street View (Click here to open in a new window): Photo #4 - Wyoming Union Modern day view courtesy of Google Maps Street View (Click here to open in a new window) Photo #5 - Student Housing under construction Modern day view courtesy of Google Maps Street View (Click here to open in a new window): Photo #6 - William Robertson Coe Library Modern day view courtesy of Google Maps Street View (Click here to open in a new window): Photo #7 - Knight Hall Modern day view courtesy of Google Maps Street View (Click here to open in a new window) Photo #8 - Half Acre Gym. The inscription across the top of the building says, "Man is of soul and body, formed for deeds of high resolve". Modern day view courtesy of Google Maps Street View: (Click here to open in a new window): Photo # 9 - Rochelle Athletics Center Modern day via courtesy of Google Maps Street View (Click here to open in a new window): Photo #10 - Fraternity Row Modern day via courtesy of Google Maps Street View (Click here to open in a new window): Photo #11 - The Education Building Photo #12 - War Memorial Stadium Finally, here's are two photos I was unable to identify. If you know where these buildings are, or what they are called, please comment below and fill us in! Stay tuned for more collections from these old slides! Click here for resources for Wyoming history and genealogy resources! Click here for thousands of free history and genealogy resources! #wyoming #photography #photographs #vintage #colleges #universities #uwyo

Take a trip back in time with a tour of Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, from a 1962 perspective. These rare old photo slides were stored away for more than half a century before I got ahold of them, cleaned off the dust, scanned them with my handy dandy slide and negative scanner, and turned them into this 2.5 minute video for your enjoyment! #virginia #slides #colonialwilliamsburg #colonyofvirginia #colonists

In the past I've shared videos and blogs about my family's trips to New York City and in them you can see photos from the ferry we took to Ellis Island and Liberty Island, so it was nice to find these old photo slides containing very similar views from these photos taken more than half a century earlier, back in 1963. Enjoy this one minute video of these rare old photo slides! If you're researching family from New York City, be sure to check out my index of resources for New York and also for Kings County, Queens County and New York County - or any other county! #newyork #newyorkcity #vintage #photos #skyline #cityscape

[This page may be slow to load. It contains everything you need to access these records quick, easy and free, so please be patient] The Colony of Virginia was founded by the Virginia Company, a private venture, under a royal charter in 1606. The colony was settled the following year, in 1607, and the governor was royally appointed. The House of Burgesses, on the other hand, were the representatives elected to the legislative body to represent the people of the colony. There were 22 burgesses in the Virginia General Assembly. After the American Revolution and Virginia's independence from Great Britain, the name was changed to House of Delegates or what we call today the lower house of the General Assembly. In an effort to entice colonists to emigrate to Virginia, "The Great Charter", was written by the leaders of the Virginia Company in 1619. Anyone willing, who could pay their own way to Virginia, would be granted 50 acres of land. Maybe some of your ancestors came to America under those terms. Since most of my family mostly emigrated to the northeast, I was surprised to learn that at least three of my ancestors on my Daniels branch were born in Virginia, which goes to show you just never know! Maybe they were even part of the Lost Colony at Roanoke! We'll have to keep digging, but for now, here's another resource which will prove useful for researching Virginian colonists. Here it is... Thirteen volumes of the Journals of the House of Burgesses here at your fingertips - free! These books are loaded with 157 years of colonial records, from 1619 to 1776, available free on Archive.org and indexed here to make them easy to find. There are a few ways to use this resource: Browse by Year If you know what years your ancestor(s) lived in Virginia, start with the corresponding volume. The volumes are divided by time period as follows. Clicking the volume number will take you to the corresponding volume where you can search or find the pages you need. Manually search the General Index Use the General Index, provided in the volume embedded here to find a surname or subject in the Genearl index. I wouldn't recommend using their search feature. Instead, scroll through the pages the old-fashioned way (kind of) to find the name you are researching. If you find potential matches, take a snippet or make a note which years and page numbers you need and then easily find and access the volume by clicking the volume number above or using the buttons below. Browse the Tables of Contents For your convenience, the "Contents" of all 13 volumes is shown below. Click any image to enlarge the text. Use the blue buttons to access the volumes: Note: The General Index, embedded above, is from Volume 1. This volume contains two indexes - a General Index, as well as its own separate index. All the indexes are covered in the general index, so to save time, I recommend checking that first. If you find anything relevant, let us know in the comments below! #virginia #colonial #colony #williamsburg #houseofburgesses #resources #history #colonists

Among hundreds of vintage photos I am sorting through and sharing in the upcoming weeks, I found this picturesque scene. Two photos taken in 1965 feature the "Captree Boat Basin", on Jones Beach Island: On Google Maps, we can see that after 56 years, Captree Boat Basin still bears the same name. It is located on Jones Beach Island, near Captree Island. The bridge seen in the photo appears to be the Robert Moses Causeway, crossing the Great South Bay going back to Long Island. Captree State Park offers two large fishing piers, making it a hotspot for fisherman and picnickers. Captree Boat Basin offers the largest public fishing fleet on Long Island for those looking to do a little saltwater fishing. Sightseeing excursions are also available. You can visit their website at captreeboatbasin.com for details. (Note: MyGenealogyAddiction.com is in no way affiliated with Captree.) Stay tuned for more! See more New York history and genealogy resources here. #newyork #history #photos #vintage #captree

In the book I recently acquired, "Christopher Jarrett of New Plymouth", by Winona Strachan, shared in a previous post, I came across a curious term I had seen before, but never took the time to research - "the dividing of assets". I decided it was time to find out what it meant. Following is the excerpt: As you may know, or recall from my previous blogs regarding the Mayflower passengers who landed at Plymouth Colony in 1620, there were two groups of passengers on the ship - the Leyden Congregation (true "pilgrims") and associates of the Merchant Adventurers (true capitalists). With lots of work to be done in the new colony and the potential for profit, the investors financed the passage and supplied provisions for the colonists under the agreement that they would be repaid and profit from future commodities the colony would produce, such as corn, tobacco and furs. In 1626, several of the Plymouth men and five London investors bought out the Merchant Adventurers interest in the colony. The following record of "garden plots" written in William Bradford's handwriting was published in Records of the Colony of New Plymouth Vol. 1, (Deeds), page 2: Fifty-three householders joined the "company" as shareholders. The livestock and cattle became community property and it was agreed the colony's assets would be divided after seven years, giving everyone the incentive to work hard to care for and breed the livestock. In 1623, each household in the Plymouth Colony was granted one acre of land per person. The lots were drawn like a lottery. Isaac Allerton received the largest parcel - seven acres for the seven people in his family. Then in 1627 the "Division of Cattle" took place. Twelve groups would each receive a cow and two female goats. Each of these groups consisted of 13 people. The full list of groups is published in Records of the Colony of New Plymouth Vol. 1, (shown below) on pages 9-13. Almost anything you would want to know about the Division of Assets in the Plymouth Colony can be found in this volume. Other volumes of Records of the colony of New Plymouth, in New England can be found here, in my previous blog. Click here to see the Interactive Mayflower Passenger List. #plymouthcolony #plymouth #mayflower #newengland #divisionofassets

Mary (Brown) Leonard was my 4th great-grandmother. Family tradition says she was Native American, from either the Mohawk, the Seneca, or the Cayuga Indian tribes of Central New York. Mary was born on November 12, 1838, and she married Charles Russell Leonard when she was about 16 years old, probably in 1853. Charles would have been about 22 years old. Their first child, Joseph Russell Leonard, was born April 6, 1854, in Cayuga County, New York. Charles and Mary would have at least eleven children born between 1854 and 1880. A photo of a family record Mary embroidered by hand was so graciously shared on Dryer Family Photos. In this treasured family heirloom, each person in the family was listed, along with their birth dates. At the top of the list, we see C. R. Leonard (Charles Russell Leonard), followed by herself (M.L.) and their eleven children, listed below. Children of Charles & Mary Leonard, all listed in the family record were: Joseph Russell Leonard b. April 6, 1854 in Cayuga County, New York ("Joseph" on 1855 census age 2 or 3 months; on 1865 census, age 11; on 1870 census, age 16) Susan L. Leonard b. June 5, 1856 in Cayuga County, New York ("Susan" on 1865 census, age 8) Charles L. Leonard b. Aug. 10, 1858 in Genoa, New York ("Charles" on 1865 census, age 6) Sarah G. Leonard b. Nov. 30, 1860 in Tompkins County, New York ("Sarah G" on 1865 census, age 4; "Jane" on 1870 census, age 8) Frances Jennie Leonard b. July 12, 1863* in Tompkins County, New York ("Frances" on 1865 census, age 1 year 11 months; "Frankie" on 1870 census, age 7, "Frances" on 1875 census, age 13) William H. Leonard b. July 24, 1866 in Tompkins County, New York (not in parents home in 1870 or on any census) Lewis F. Leonard b. Oct. 4, 1869 in Tompkins County, New York ("Lewis" on 1870 census, age 1) Maude M. Leonard b. Sept. 7, 1871 in Tompkins County, New York (not in parents home in 1875 or on any census) Lydia Leonard b. June 13, 1873 in Cayuga County, New York ("Lydia" on 1875 census, age 2; on 1880 census, age 7) Arthur Leonard b. May 23, 1877 in Cayuga County, New York ("Arthur" on 1880 census, age 3) Irving Eugene Leonard b. April 18, 1880 in Cayuga County, New York ("Irvin" on 1880 census, age 2 months) See the family's census records here. Also found on Dryer Family Photos is a typed genealogy, which provides the following information: [Click here to learn more about Mary "Polly" (Brown) Leonard] [Click here to learn more about my branch of the Leonard family] #marypollybrown #charlesrussellleonard #leonard #brown #familyrecord #heirlooms