Life in the Past Lane

Birthday Of The Month: Our Own Christmas Angel

2009-12-25T17:30:00.023-05:00

Riddle: What do Santa's elves learn in school?

On Christmas Day in 1994 our family received a special gift, a sweet baby girl, our very own Christmas angel.

She was a cute blonde baby,

a darling child,

as photogenic as a model,

a caring big sister,

a fashionable girl who loves shopping,

a singer and dancer in a performance group before she started school.

You only have to meet her once to love her.

She has always loved babies and young children, and they love her in return. Several years ago at a family reunion she met her Great-Uncle J's young granddaughter. The next time the 3-year-old visited J, she said, "Where is my friend? I want that girl!"

She was the family peacemaker from a young age. At age 3, she showed us a picture she had drawn, a yellow scribble in the middle of the paper with a tiny brown figure blob in the middle of the yellow. She said, "When Mummy and Daddy fight I show them this." I said, "What is it?" She said ,"Baby Jesus." Out of the mouths of babes, indeed.

1994 was the "International Year of the Family", and C's family depended on her every day. She was always her mother's right hand. Her mother told me, "She's amazing."

Like her mother as a child, her smile could light up a room.

C has described herself in these 2 internet bios: I am an Irish step dance assistant instructor, which pretty much is my life. But when I'm not at dance I am just a regular 13 year old girl.
Second Bio: I am an Irish dancer, dance instructor, virtual school student, computer lover, obsessed with Japanese dramas, music listener, movie watcher and 5'4" ft tall.

But angels do not adjust easily to life on earth, and ours has had many trials. Pure innocence seems to attract evil. She has suffered from frequent excruciating migraine headaches since babyhood. She became my hero when one day at age 5 she awoke early, crying in pain. I gave her the prescribed pain medicine, and later asked if she felt better. She shook her head no, and I said, "But you stopped crying." With her eyes still closed against the light, her little face white and pinched with pain, she said, "Mummy says crying doesn't help." Those are the most courageous words I have ever heard.

Timeline:
1993-2000: William Clinton president of US from before birth until age 6
1996: DVD video recordings first made at age 2
1997: Mars pathfinder lands at age 3
2001-2009: George W. Bush president of US from age 7 to 2008
2001: Wikipedia goes online at age 7
2004: Water verified present on Mars by Odyssey lander at age 10
2006: Wii ships from Nintendo at age 12

Grammys awarded in 1994:
Record of the Year: "I Will Always Love You," Whitney Houston
Song of the Year: "A Whole New World" (Theme From Aladdin)

Movies of 1994: Forrest Gump, The Lion King, The Mask, Miracle on 34th Street, The Next Karate Kid, Richie Rich, Stargate, The Swan Princess, Thumbelina, A Troll in Central Park, Little Women, The Flintstones.

Top Songs for 1994: The Power of Love by Celine Dion
Hero by Mariah Carey

On TV in 1994: Star Trek: The Next Generation; Babylon 5; The X-Files; Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman; Star Trek: Deep Space Nine; Home Improvement

Toys in 1994: Beanie Babies; Sega 32X; Pogs

Books in 1994:
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry; The Giver by Lois Lowry

Riddle answer: The elf-abet

We're Giving Family History Projects for Christmas

2009-12-18T22:05:00.014-05:00

Riddle: What do snowmen eat for breakfast?

While taking a break from blogging, due to some distasteful comments from self-professed present day witches who apparently confuse history with religion, Grampy (the amazing technical side of our duo) and I created some family Christmas presents.

Gift #1 - This blog
Grampy printed and comb-bound it. A daughter recently said, "You do have it backed up somewhere, don't you?" Well, now we do, and our children each have a copy. The only drawback is that the photos won't enlarge when clicked on with a mouse. This is really apparent in the high school yearbook group photos. It's printed with a white background (to save on printer ink cost) on both sides of matte photo printing paper (from Sam's Club), and the color photos turned out great.

Gift #2 - A short novel
Our talented 15 year-old granddaughter used a blog to print her 16-chapter book as she wrote it. Blogs put the newest entry on top, so her chapters read backward. I printed them in order, and Grampy bound copies for her and her cousins.

Gift #3 - The Revolutionary War pension of Mark Frost
I had photocopied this from microfilm about 30 years ago at the New England branch of the National Archives. To share it with family, and for easier reading, I transcribed Mark's application and the depositions by reading them to Grampy, who types much faster. I printed the transcriptions, Grampy scanned the original photocopies and bound it all with covers. The pages with original handwriting are on the left side, and the typed transcriptions are on the right. This way the reader can see the sometimes difficult-to-read early 1800s handwriting without having to decipher it, and the story of a man born in 1749 can touch our hearts. He is buried in Belgrade, Maine, 8 miles from where one of Grampy's brothers lives. He and the Belgrade Historical Society have copies, and also our children's families.

Gift #4 - A photo collage
This was a combined gift. I chose and Grampy printed (in various sizes) about 75 photos of our oldest grandchild and mailed them out-of-state to his sister, who will assemble a collage on a large foamboard for him. Much easier than us trying to mail a 2 x 3 foot package.

Gift #5 - Our High School Yearbook Photos
Grampy scanned all of the yearbook photos that we were in, printed them full-page size on both sides of matte photo paper and bound them. Now our grandchildren can see real 1950s clothes, with us wearing them!

Gift #6 - Tribute books
Grampy's Dad was born 100 years ago. We are working on a tribute book of his military service, and a book of his father's poetry. These are nearing completion, but aren't finished yet. They just keep growing, and we don't want to leave anything out. Isn't that the way with all genealogy? We found out that small projects completed are better than large projects planned.
I also have a 3-ring binder of information on Grampy's grandmother's adoption waiting for completion, and a couple of great Civil War pensions.

Being unemployed is a harsh way of having enough time for projects, but it seems to be working.

Riddle answer: Snowflakes.

Our Family In The Salem Witch Trials, 1692: part 1

2009-08-13T22:19:00.046-04:00

Some of our descendants (of2 different generations) thought the new Harry Potter movie was dull, so here for you is a true story of good and evil, medieval superstition, false accusations, church feuds, ghostly hauntings, property disputes, grudges, Indian attacks, imprisonment, escape from jail, even death - all involving your ancestors! And so it won't be quite as long as HP6, it is divided into parts.

History is best told through the lives of those who lived it. I started this blog to tell the stories of some of our ancestors, and so bring them and their part in history to life. Truth isn't only stranger than fiction, it is far more fascinating.

Just as in the American Revolution, we have ancestors on both sides of the Witch Trials in Salem, MA. It was a tragedy for everyone involved. Brought on by fear, superstition, jealousy, greed, paranoia and religious misbelief, 20 people were executed, and 5, including our ancestor Roger Toothaker, died in prison. Three other ancestors, on the jury, condemned these innocent people to death in a court of law with witness testimonies of ghostly specters and the presence of the Devil. How this happened in small Salem Village (now Danvers), MA, home of English Puritans who came for religious freedom, has been studied and written about for over 300 years.

Witchcraft - the Devil's magic - has a long history, and many were still being put to death in England in the 1600s. Belief in supernatural powers and evil spirits to explain illness, bad weather, crop failures, earthquakes, eclipses and any other misfortune was common in all levels of European society. Who but Satan could be responsible for these strange occurrences? If your wife/husband/child/cow got sick or acted strangely, your milk/cheese/butter went bad, blame the odd-looking old neighbor woman who had walked by your house the day before, perhaps muttering to herself and casting an 'evil eye' on you. Most people who lived in the 1600s believed in witches. Folklore, the occult and magic (both 'black' and 'white') were part of centuries of cultural heritage. Evidence of Satan's conspiracy seemed all around the Salem Puritans.

Salem Village (now Danvers), Massachusetts
In Jan 1692, Betty Parris, age 9, her 11-year-old cousin Abagail Williams, and Ann Putnam, 12, began acting strangely. In Feb a doctor was called in, and finding no physical cause but not wanting to say so, suggested witchcraft. Pressured by ministers and others to say who did this to them, the girls named the Parris's West Indies servant Tituba and 2 other women. Other girls claimed the same afflictions and named more women, who were all arrested and jailed. Under "intense questioning" (it is thought that many of the accused were tortured), 55 confessed and were not executed. Strangely, confession avoided the gallows. Family members of the prisoners began to be accused. In April the first man, husband of one of the accused, was arrested. The girls then accused the former minister. On May 18, our ancestor Dr. Roger Toothaker was arrested. Nearby jails being full, he was sent to prison in Boston. On May 27, MA Gov. Phips commissioned a court and named judges.

June 10, the first hanging (our ancestor's step-mother, Bridget Bishop) took place on Gallows Hill.

Photo: The judge's wax seal on Bridget Bishop's death warrant.

In court, the witnesses, who were also often the accusers, gave 'spectral evidence', based on their dreams and visions. They testified that the accused witch's spirit/specter appeared to them as a black cat, etc, who bit/pinched/choked them. This was actually admitted as evidence, and none of the accused were allowed to have defense counsel.

June 16, 1692, our ancestor Dr. Roger Toothaker died in Boston Jail. He was there because Salem, Ipswich, Charlestown and Cambridge jails were filled with the accused.

The last executions were on Sep 22. On Oct 29 Gov. Phips prohibited any more arrests, released many of the accused and closed the court. (Could the fact that someone dared to accuse his wife have influenced his decision?) In Jan 1693 most of those accused of witchcraft were released, because their arrests were based on spectral evidence. In May 1693 the rest were freed - free to go as long as they paid their jail fees. Many stayed in jail for months longer because they could not pay their bill.

During 1692, 200 had been arrested and imprisoned on witchcraft charges, and more accused. Several dogs were accused and two were even executed as suspected accomplices of witches, since dogs were believed used by witches as agents to carry out their devilish commands. Lasting over a year, the Salem witchcraft hysteria finally burned itself out. Not only the victims and their families, but Puritanism, a major force in New England religion and government, had been damaged.

In 1702 the General Court declared the trials unlawful and in 1711 a legislative bill restored the rights of those accused of witchcraft and granted 600 pounds in restitution, divided among their heirs.

Witchcraft accusations in our family even before 1692

Grampy's ancestors
Jane Walford (abt 1600 - bef 1681) of England, Charlestown, MA and Portsmouth, NH. She was accused of witchcraft in 1648, 1656, & 1669. She was acquitted in court each time, yet the "stigma of witchcraft .... was apparently passed on to all 5 of her daughters." Descriptions of Jane (who was "witnessed" transforming into a variety of cats) have evolved into the present-day depiction of a witch - an old bent-over crone dressed in black, wearing a pointed black hat, a cat by her side.

Thomas Philbrick (1584 - 1667) of England and Hampton, NH. He testified against accused witch Eunice Cole: "The deposition of Thomas Philbrick: this deponent saith that Goodwife Cole said that if this deponent's calves if they did eat any of her grass she wished it might poison them or choke them and one of them I never see it more and the other calf came home and died about a week after... Sworn in court Sep 4, 1656"

Next - Part 2

Our High School Yearbooks: Scarboro ME 1956-61

2009-07-10T08:38:00.104-04:00

Riddle: What did the Calculus book say to the Math book?

In celebration of our oldest grandchild's graduation from high school, let's look back at our school years in the 1950s.

Note: Click your mouse on each photo to enlarge it.

Gorham, ME High School. Grampy went here 3 years, 2 for junior high (7th and 8th grade) on the 1st floor, and 1st year (Freshman) of high school on the 2nd floor. He said his favorite part of school was the cafeteria, where the lunch ladies were generous to hungry boys, and music classes in the auditorium. He was always an honor roll student.

The new Scarborough, ME High School, 1956

My Freshman Year: 1956 - 1957
I started at Scarborough High School in 1956 as a Freshman (9th grade). Scarborough was a small rural town back then, but a new 4-year high school had just opened about a year before, within sight of my house. With a capacity for 350, it seemed huge to me and my class of about 60 students.

Our Sophomore Year: 1957 - 1958
Grampy moved from the neighboring town of Gorham in late summer of 1957, starting as a Sophomore (10th grade). We were both in the College Course. There were also Secretarial, Home Economics, General, and Industrial Arts courses, or tracks. All classes were taken with those in the same group, so even in a small town we had classes with few of our classmates. Only some went on to college, but we had a classical education in preparation for it, with excellent history and literature courses, and 2 years of Latin.

Our Junior Year: 1958 - 1959

Grampy was on the cross-country team. He's on the left, behind (and between) the guy in the tie and the one in the striped shirt.

My Senior Year: 1959 - 1960

My Senior Play
(I'm the one without a mustache).

Voted "Most Studious"
This photo, posed by the photographer, looks more like I'm going to whack John than study with him.

Here I am (on the right) in the ad for the WGAN TV station in Portland.

I was Valedictorian of my class, as shown on the Alumni page in the 1961 yearbook.

Grampy's Senior Year 1960 - 1961
Since Grampy was on his own from age 16, and had to support himself, he had to postpone his Senior year (12th grade) to work, in Massachusetts, for his room and board. He returned to Scarborough High School and graduated with honors in 1961.

Grampy's School Letter was for Cross-Country Running.

Grampy would have liked to be a Math teacher, but got a full scholarship to Tufts University School of Engineering in Medford, MA.

Grampy's Senior Play
Grampy (on the right) was an Admiral. He got to wear a fancy uniform and a fake mustache.

There were more in his class, but here's the part with Grampy's photo.

Scarborough High School Song
‘Round the royal purple standard the sons of Deering throng,
‘Neath the folds the hues of Heaven fair Portland’s sons belong,
But no colors how e’er cherished gleam forth with clearer light
Than the banner of old Scarboro with its glorious red and white.

Red for courage, nerve and prowess, white for purpose pure and true,
Red and white for all that’s noblest, dear Scarboro in you,
Should defeat before us threaten, we will never yield the fight
While above us floats the banner of our dear old red and white.

Riddle answer: You think you've got problems!

Our Family: Ancestors in the War for Independence

2009-07-03T19:05:00.049-04:00

Riddle: What did the cherry bomb say to the firecracker?

Independence Day is the celebration of the birthday of the United States of America. Founded July 4th 1776 with the signing of the Declaration of Independence, this is America's 233rd birthday.

The Story of America's Birthday
Independence Day is the national holiday in the USA celebrating the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
At the time of the signing the US had 13 colonies under the rule of England's King George III. There was concern in the colonies about taxes paid to England. Called "taxation without representation", the colonists weren't represented in the English Parliament and so had no say. As unrest grew in the colonies, King George sent troops to control rebellion. In 1774 the colonies sent delegates to Philadelphia, PA for the First Continental Congress. The delegates were unhappy with England, but not ready to declare war.
In April 1775, as the King's troops advanced on Concord MA, Paul Revere sounded the alarm "The British are coming, the British are coming" as he rode his horse through the late night streets. The battle of Concord and its "shot heard round the world" marked the unofficial beginning of the war for independence.
The following May the colonies again sent delegates to the Second Continental Congress. For almost a year they tried to work out the differences with England, again without formally declaring war.
By June 1776 their efforts had become hopeless and a committee, headed by Thomas Jefferson and including John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, formed to compose a declaration of independence. Thomas Jefferson wrote and presented it to the Congress on June 28. After some changes a vote was taken on July 4th. To make it official John Hancock, President of the Continental Congress, signed the Declaration of Independence "with a great flourish" so "King George can read that without spectacles!"
The following day copies of the Declaration were distributed. On July 8th the Declaration had its first public reading in Philadelphia's Independence Square. Twice that day it was read to cheering crowds and pealing church bells. Even the bell in Independence Hall was rung. The "Liberty Bell" was named for its inscription - 'Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land Unto All the Inhabitants Thereof '. The signing of the Declaration was not finished until August, but the 4th of July is the official anniversary of our independence. The 1st celebration was the following year, July 4, 1777. By the early 1800s parades, picnics, and fireworks were the way America celebrated its birthday.

The war for US independence lasted 8 years, from April 19, 1775 to April 11, 1783.

Revolutionary War soldiers in Grampy's family
Dudley Pike (1760 - 1838) Buried Norway, ME.
Ebenezer Murch (1737 - 1824) 1st Lt. in Capt. Whitmores's Gorham Co. In 1776, 2nd Lt. under Capt. Ellis of Falmouth. Second in command of a company of soldiers in 1779. Buried Gorham, ME.
George Randall (1733 - bef 1812) Buried Rye, NH.
Nicholas Bray (1752 - 1843) "Mr. Bray was in the war of the Revolution for 7 years, and endured great suffering from exposure and engagements." Buried Harrison, ME.
Obadiah Mann (1738 - 1825) Died Randolph, NH.
Ephraim Cole (1731 MA - 1778 Valley Forge, PA). Private in Capt. Bridghan's Co., Col. Cotton's Regiment, enlisted 1775. Also 1777, Capt. Drew's Co., Col. Bailey's Rgt. Died of "camp fever".
David Marshall (1750 - 1828) Buried Hebron, ME.

Timothy Jordan (1767 - 1849) In Capt. McDonald's Co. At Yorktown when Cornwallis surrendered to Washington. Buried Otisfield, ME.

Mark Frost (1770 - 1835) Enlisted Lebanon, ME. Served as a Private from April 1782 to 24 Dec 1783. Buried Belgrade, ME.

John Foss (1757 - 1819) Corporal in Capt. Parson's Co., Portsmouth NH, 22 Nov 1775. Went to Cambridge, MA and "served until the evacuation of Boston." Buried Rye, NH.

Soldiers in my family, all in New Jersey
John Besson (1750 - 1842) An Ensign, the lowest ranking officer in the infantry, who carried the colors, or ensign, into battle.
Jesse Dalrymple (1756 - 1844) Volunteered in June 1775, age 19. Was a Private, responded to many calls from 1775 to 1780. Served under Col. Bonnell and Gen. Dickinson. In 1834, granted a yearly pension of $23.33. In the application he recalls a march in Feb 1779 to the Raritan River where they lay over for 7 weeks and had a very hard time, it being very cold and the soldiers being infested with lice. On his return home after this layover, his mother wouldn't let him in the house until he changed into clean clothing brought out to him in the barn.
William Bellis, born Johan Wilhelm Bollesfeldt (1740 - 1826)
Roelif Schenck (1752 - 1828)
John Van Doren (1726 - 1815) In 1777 he fought in the war and was taken prisoner by the British. Gen. George Washington and his army stayed on John's New Jersey farm for refreshment and refurbishing. John's house was the scene of some events of the Revolutionary War. Gen. Washington often slept here when passing in or through New Jersey. On this farm the Hessians, after clearing off a large piece of woodland, established a hospital for wounded and sick soldiers. During the war John's wife, Martha (Lott) Van Doren was taken prisoner by British troops. She was hung up by her heels and ordered to give information about American soldiers. The attempt was unsuccessful and she was released, but it is said not until she was black in the face.
"In Mr. Van Doren's meadow, Washington's army encamped one night in the winter of 1777, and the next morning they marched from it on a ruse. At sunrise British scouts on the plains below saw the columns of American militia appearing and reappearing among the trees, and so long did the line seem that it appeared to them as if they must have re-enforced themselves. In truth the head followed the tail of the column around, and only a company or two were there. The rest had retreated toward Morristown, and this covered the retreat, for the British, afraid, retired to New Brunswick. It is one of Washington's famous retreats. During one of the raids the British came to Mr. Van Doren's house, and among other things carried off the teakettle. A granddaughter thought it a shame that her grandmother should be deprived, and so went to her father's house and got another kettle. In a short time the British took this also. The brave girl determined to recover the stolen article, so she went more than a mile after it and got it."— From "Somerset Past and Present" in "Somerset Unionist," 1870.
The Van Doren house was so notable a landmark of the Revolution that a picture of the house and a notice of the quartering of Gen. Washington and staff there in Jan, 1777, after the Battle of Princeton, is given in Stryker's book "Battles of Monmouth and Princeton" p 301. A medallion portrait of Washington, cast in iron, was in the old fireplace of the mansion.

Abraham Van Doren (1750 - 1823) John's son. In the Somerset Co., NJ Militia

On the other side, but still a Revolutionary War soldier
John McDougal (1746 - 1826) Piper Major (bagpiper) of the 74th, who chose to share the future of the loyal Americans he had fought against, by not returning to Scotland. The 74th (Highland) Regiment of Foot, or "Argyle Highlanders" (1777-83) served in Nova Scotia during the American Revolutionary War. Distinguished by its defense of Penobscot against an American Squadron under Commodore Saltanstat. The regiment disbanded at Stirling, Scotland in 1783.
Fort George, at Castine, ME was held by the British, the last fort in the new United States from which the king’s troops were withdrawn. Soldiers of this garrison belonged to the 74th Highlanders. To those who chose to remain in America after being disbanded, lands were allotted in New Brunswick (then still part of Nova Scotia).

Riddle answer: "My pop's bigger than your pop!"

Memorial Day: The Civil War Soldiers in Our Family

2009-05-25T11:37:00.030-04:00

Riddle: What is the best trick a horse can do?

Known as Decoration Day until 1967, Memorial Day commemorates those who died in US military service. It was first enacted in 1868 to honor Union soldiers of the US Civil War. This war, also called The War Between the States, The War of the Rebellion, (or in the South, The War for Southern Independence or War of the Secession) lasted from 12 Apr 1861 to 9 Apr 1865, four long and terrible years.

Our family's ancestors, all in the GAR (Grand Army of the Republic), were fortunate to return home, marry, and live long lives, although their health was never the same. Along with many other veterans, they suffered the effects of unsanitary conditions, bad hygiene, bad water and bad food. They got cholera, typhoid, tuberculosis and dysentery. They had lifelong bouts of malaria, ague, and diarrhea. Twice as many Civil War soldiers died of disease than in battle. 10% (3 million) of the US population served or fought in the Civil War, and 2% (620,000) died — more American casualties than the American Revolution, the War of 1812, World War I, WW II, and the Vietnam War combined.

Grampy's ancestors:
Charles Ithamar Mace (1833-1903) Rye, NH. Private in K Company, 13th NH Infantry. Enlisted 14 Aug 1862, age 29, mustered in 20 Sep 1862. Left NH for Washington, DC, Oct 5. Attached to Casey's Division, Military District of Washington, to Dec, 1862. On duty near Fort Albany, Defense of Washington, till Dec 4, 1862. Marched to Falmouth, Va, Dec 5-9. Battle of Fredericksburg, Va. Dec 11-16; Getty's Night Assault Dec 13, 1862. Burnside's Second Campaign "Mud March" Jan 20-24, 1863. Moved to Newport News, Va., Feb 9. He was discharged 13 March, 1863 in Philadelphia, PA, with a disability discharge for phthisis (tuberculosis). This was also on his death certificate as cause of death. I haven't found a pension record for him. He married in 1864 and had 4 children.

Charles D. Rowe (1839-1913) Oxford County, ME. Private, Co. A, 12th Maine Infantry (on his gravestone in Buckfield, ME). Enlisted 14 Oct 1861, age 22; discharged 7 Dec 1864, Portland, ME. Applied for a pension 20 Jan 1882 for the "chronic diarrhea, malarial poisoning and dyspepsia" he fell ill with in July, 1864. Appling for pension increases many times over the years, he married in 1865, had 9 children.

Grammy's ancestor:
Alexander "Sandy" Donald McDougal (1839-1922) Fort Fairfield, ME. Company K, 1st Maine Cavalry. He walked 40 miles from Fort Fairfield to Houlton to join the Union forces at the start of the war, and enlisted 17 Oct 1861, age 22, at Houlton, ME. Of 245 enlisted men in Co. K, Alexander was one of 7 who served from muster in to muster out. The 1st Maine Cavalry was attached to the Union Army of the Potomac, and K Co. participated in 34 battles. He mustered in at Augusta, ME, 2 Nov 1861 as a Private; traveled to Washington, DC Mar 19-28, 1862; attached to Abercrombie's Brigade, Williams' Division, Banks' 5th Army Corps, and Dept. of the Shenandoah, Mar to May, 1862; attached to Bayard's Cavalry Brigade, Dept. of the Rappahannock, to July, 1862; promoted to Corporal 1 Sep 1862; promoted to Sergeant 1863; re-enlisted 29 Dec 1863; He was at Appomattox Court House April 9, 1865 for the surrender of Robert E. Lee and the Southern army. 1 Aug 1865 he mustered out with his regiment; distinguished for gallantry. Alexander passed up a promotion to Lieutenant in favor of a married man with a family, because being single, he didn't need the higher pay as much. This man was killed later in the war.
The History of the First Maine Cavalry 1861-1865 says "During this fight (the battle at Middleburg, Va.) Sergt. McDougall of Co. K received 17 bullet holes in his clothing, and strange to say, escaped unharmed". Company commander Major Myrick said K Co. had the reputation of being "extensively drilled and extremely proficient with the saber. Those terrible weapons were used with awful effect in the magnificent charge at Brandy Station." At the 11th Annual Reunion of the 1st Maine Cavalry, Maj. Myrick remembered Sgt. Alexander McDougall, known as Sandy, "as a brave soldier and as faithful a man as ever rode in the ranks of the 1st Maine and one of the best swordsmen I ever saw." Myrick recalled, "His old comrades remember him also, at St. Mary's Church with his clothing again riddled by bullets, while he was again unharmed."
The 1st Maine lost the greatest number of men killed in action of any Cavalry Regiment in the entire army.
He married in 1865 and had 9 children.
In a testimonial letter for his pension application, his former Captain of Co. K wrote: "I well remember Serg. Alexander MacDougal, who was one of the bravest, truest and most faithful soldiers I ever knew." His pension was granted for "malarial poisoning, pleurisy, fever, vertigo and ague".
He used his pension money to buy a small grocery store on East Main St, in the area of town known as Puddledock, since he was often too weak to perform farm work.
Later in life Alexander was one of the Commanders of GAR (Grand Army of the Republic) Kilpatrick Post, No. 61, Fort Fairfield, Maine.

Alexander's younger brother Stephen P. McDougal (1845-1865) Fort Fairfield, ME. Private, Company G, 15th Maine Infantry, died of typhoid in the service. Stephen, age 19, enlisted as a substitute, mustered in 10 Feb 1865 at Bangor, ME for one year. He gave his sign-up bonus money, a large sum for the times, to his parents as a substitute for the work he did to support them. His Regiment was sent to operations in the Shenandoah Valley till Apr. Moved to Washington, D C, April 19-23, on duty there till May 31. On provost duty during Grand Review May 23-24. Moved to Savannah, Ga., May 31-June 4, thence to Georgetown, SC, June 13-14, where he got typhoid fever. Brought north by ship from South Carolina to DeCamp Hospital on David's Island, NY near New York City, he died 10 Oct 1865. He is buried in Cypress Hills National Cemetery in Brooklyn, NY, in the 3-acre area known as the "Union Grounds" with 3,800 other soldiers. Many of these died in local hospitals. Susannah McDougal applied for a widowed mother's pension in 1873 and received $8 a month in recompense for her son's loss of life. She said on her application, "Ever after he was large enough to work, he raised crops in the summer and in the winter made cedar shingles which he sold to buy provisions and necessities for our support."

Photo: Cypress Hills National Cemetery

Alexander's younger brother James A. McDougal (1847 or '48 - ) Family information says he was also in the Civil War. I have found no record of this, or of his life or death.

Today we honor and pay tribute to our 'boys in blue', who marched off to war gaily singing "We Are Coming, Father Abraham, 300,000 Strong" and "Shouting The Battle Cry Of Freedom", but soon changed their song to the haunting lament "We're tenting tonight on the old camp ground, give us a song to cheer". [To hear this song on YouTube, with Civil War photos, type Youtube +"tenting tonight" into the Google search engine.]

The muffled drum's sad roll has beat
The soldier's last tattoo.
No more on life's parade shall meet
That brave and fallen few.

On fame's eternal camping ground
Their silent tents are spread,
And glory guards, with solemn round
The bivouac of the dead. by Theodore O'Hara

Riddle answer: turn cartwheels

Mother's Day: A Tribute To 3 Mothers In Our Family

2009-05-10T09:48:00.015-04:00

Riddle: What did the baby porcupine say when it backed into the cactus?

I know I have birthdays to catch up on, but it recently came to me that I was the only person who knew the story of my mother and 2 grandmothers, amazing women who did the best they could in spite of difficulties I can hardly imagine.

There are so many kinds of mothers: 2-parent-family mothers, stay-at-home mothers, working-outside-the-home mothers, single mothers, widowed mothers, birth mothers, adoptive mothers, foster mothers, single fathers and widowers also functioning as mothers, grandmothers acting as mothers to grandchildren, and motherly women informally caring for children who need mothering. All of these are in our family's history, including mothers who protected their children as best they could from alcoholic fathers, mothers who died young, mothers who lived but neglected the basic duties of motherhood (and thereby also missed its joys). Some of our ancestors did not have ideal families, a few did not lead exemplary lives, but each one had a part in bringing us here to earth. As his wise Dad once said to Grampy, "You will respect your mother because she is your mother."

Our daughters are loving, talented, fun, intelligent, hardworking, college-educated mothers for nearly 20 years now. The future generation of our family is in good hands. I know our granddaughters will be excellent mothers because they have such wonderful mothers as examples to follow.

Let's look at the lives of the mothers I have known.

Dorothy "Dot" Marie (Trout) Nickerson [1919-2003]
My mother was born in Buffalo, NY, as her father, drafted into WW I, was stationed there. They moved back to New Jersey within the year, when he was discharged. Her life was shaped by several very unfortunate events. She was 10 when the Stock Market crashed, bringing the decade-long Great Depression, followed by the deprivation of World War II. As a very young teen, she developed scoliosis and kyphosis, twisting her spine into a hump and causing life-long unremitting pain. It was also a great blow to the self-esteem of this very pretty girl. She was in a cast for a year, which she said helped one curvature, but made the other one worse. Then, a month after her 15th birthday, her father died, plunging her family into grief and even greater poverty. With no money and her mother (a nurse) working nights, she had to stay home to look after her younger brothers and invalid grandmother, missing all the dates, movies, dances and parties she so loved. Three years later she moved with her family to a small town in Maine, which seemed like the wilderness to this big city (Trenton, NJ) girl. The natives were not friendly, and she never really fit in. She didn't leave the house for the last 20 years or so of her life.

Emily "Millie" Van Doren (Hall) Trout [1889-1959] 3 children, 5 grandchildren (1 died at birth)
My mother's mother's life was a story of loss and keeping going to make the best of what's left. She was born on her father's father's Bernardsville, New Jersey farm, but she rarely saw her father. Her mother left him and went home to her parents after the shock of having twins, and he died when she was 10. Her beloved grandfather then lost his farm in High Bridge, NJ and everything he owned by co-signing for a loan or some business venture with an irresponsible son-in-law who skipped out with the money. So by the time she was 10 she had lost 2 homes and her father.

Photo: Clinton, NJ one-room school that Millie may have attended.

She was studious and became a one-room schoolteacher. When she was 21, her husband-to-be died in a terrible accident just weeks before their wedding. She used her savings to become a Registered Nurse at the Polyclinic Hospital in New York City, and became a private-duty nurse to the rich. She married a month before she turned 28 and had 3 children in less than 3 years. At 44, after only 16 years of marriage, her husband died of an ear infection that a few years later could have been cured by a shot of penicillin. Three years later her mother died, and the rest of her life, after starting over in Maine, was unrelenting hard work and separation from all her dear relatives in NJ, including her beloved twin sister.
She was a widow for nearly 25 years. She had a tiny WW I widow's pension that had to cover all of her personal needs, food and bills, but there was always enough for bus fare for us to stock up on books at Portland Public Library, see a movie, buy me an ice cream soda at Moustaki's or a cookie from Cushman's Bakery. She always gave me a book for Christmas and birthdays. She also crocheted doilies and baby booties, shipping boxes of them to a New York City department store who sent the materials (and checks for tiny amounts) to her.
Her only happiness was reading her Bible, listening to ministers on her radio, and me, her oldest granddaughter, whom she called "my little comfort". She used all of her skills for my benefit. From infancy on I was sick just about all of the time in winter - hospitalized with pneumonia at least once a year, wheezing and allergic the rest of the time. I know her devoted round-the-clock nursing kept me alive. She was also my teacher, reading stories to entertain me when I was sickest, then teaching me during my long convalescences. The school let her keep a set of schoolbooks at home each year. Drawing on her years of teaching children of all ages, she prepared my lessons each night, after her long days of doing all the housework and cooking (to spare my mother's back) that started at dawn. She then taught me as she worked. I always returned to school ahead of the class in my lessons. She had taught me to read and write before I started Kindergarten. She gave me most of my happy childhood memories, always ready to take a few minutes to play a game, read a story, make a snack or play the piano and sing with me. She was the hardest working person I ever knew, yet her rough, callused hands were always there gently cooling my fevers, drying my tears and soothing my childhood's fears and heartaches.

Floy (Florence) "Floss" Helen MacDougal [1886-1965] 6 children (1 died at birth), 7 grandchildren
My father's mother was born on a potato farm in northern Maine on the Canadian border. She was the next to youngest of 9 children born to a Canadian-English mother whose parents emigrated to New Brunswick shortly before she was born, and a Canadian-Scottish Civil War veteran father, whose grandfather had been in a Highland Regiment sent by the British to New Brunswick during the Revolutionary War. 3 or 4 of her older siblings died in a diphtheria epidemic a few years before she was born.

Photo: An Aroostook Co. ME country school.

She once told me she had never been off the family farm until she went to school. She did well in school and became a one-room schoolteacher. Intelligent girls who could pass the rigorous teachers' examination (for a good description, see Laura Ingalls Wilder's book Little Town on the Prairie) could have a job, as long as they remained single, at no cost to their families for higher education. It also relieved their families of the cost of feeding them, as teachers had to room and board in their school district. My father remembered hearing his mother recite poems and speeches from memory when he was a little boy. He especially liked Longfellow's "The Wreck of the Hesperus" (1842) and "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" (1861).
She married a month before her 20th birthday and became a potato farmer's wife. She had 6 children in 18 years, her 4th dying at birth. At 52, after 33 years of marriage her husband died of pneumonia in 1939, when my father was 18. Once again, a few years later penicillin might have saved him. Unable to pay the mortgage, their farm was lost. She then moved to Portland, ME so her youngest daughter could attend hairdressing school. They lived in a tiny one-room 3rd floor apartment with the bathroom in the hall, and for years she worked as housekeeper and cook for a wealthy family. Her hands were always busy knitting slippers, braiding rugs and making artificial flowers to earn a bit of money.
Her 3 daughters all married very well-to-do men, and later in life she had her own room in each of their spacious homes. She divided her time between Limestone, Fryeburg and Freeport, ME. She was a widow for 26 years . I was rarely able to visit her, but once, at 15, I "interviewed" her, learning the names of her grandparents and a few dates, but not really knowing what to ask way back then.

Riddle answer: "Is that you, Mother?"

Our Family's Christmas Photos: 1969 - 1973

2009-01-05T15:20:00.072-05:00

Riddle: What, other than elves, are Santa's helpers called?

1969

1970

1971

1972

1973

Riddle answer: subordinate Clauses

Our Family's Christmas Photos: 1966 - 1968

2008-12-25T21:29:00.057-05:00

Riddle: What kind of pizza did good King Wenceslas like?

1966
L is 5 years old.

1966
L and D, our first foster child.

1966
These flannel pajamas came with a bunny tail and hat.

1966
The doll is Chatty Cathy.

1966
Appliances were popular women's gifts. L got a toy stove, Mom a real vacuum cleaner.

1966
A vacuum cleaner and an iron!

1966

1966
Notice L's fashionable stirrup pants.

1966
Grampy is wearing the knee socks and gumboots necessary for men and boys in Maine winters.

1967
Santa and Mrs. Claus

1967
Daughter R is on her way. Grampy's brother J and family are visiting.

1967
L with her cousin R.

1967
L is 6, in first grade.

1967
Since Dad was the official popcorn maker in the family, he too gets a small kitchen appliance as a gift, along with socks, handkerchiefs (both white and bandanna), and Old Spice aftershave lotion.

1967
Our family always gave very practical gifts.

1967
L holds an toy time-teaching clock from Hammett's educational classroom supply company, while Dad demonstrates his new saw.

1967

1967
Girls still had bare legs in winter.

1967
Family portrait of the 3 1/2 of us.

1968
2 new additions to the family, baby R and the mustache.

1968

1968

1968
Mrs. Beasley is watching R.

1968
R isn't much bigger than the doll.

1968

1968
A toboggan is a great gift in Maine.

1968
My own sweet Christmas doll.

1968

Riddle answer: deep pan, crisp and even (say it out loud if you don't get it)

Our Family's Christmas Photos: 1961 - 1965

2008-12-23T17:38:00.050-05:00

Riddle: Why does Santa wear red suspenders?

1961
The best gift ever under any Christmas tree.
L, age 3 1/2 months.

1962
Who is this man, and what has he done with my Grampy?
L. is 15 1/2 months old.

1962
The voice sounds familiar, and he did give me this nice present.

1962
The flowered chair was mine as a child.

1962
A sweet Christmas doll to love forever.

1962
In Freeport, ME at Aunt A. and Uncle Harry's big farmhouse.
Me, Grammy Nickerson, twin cousins G and N with baby L between them, and their little brother C.

1963
A refurbished Silver carries a fourth generation rider.
L is 27 months old.

1963
L and friends.

1963
Portrait of a very young, loving family.
Grampy, Grammy and L.

1963
Mom and L.
Notice the lampshade decorations. I made them from cut pieces of see-through green and red cellophane straws strung together on string.

1963
Notice that the TV set is larger than in the 1956 photo in the previous post.

1963

1963

1964
L is 3 years old.

1964
L with Mom and Dad.

1964
Me, L and Grampy.

1964

1964
Nurse L listening intently to a patient's heartbeat.

1964
Twin baby dolls came with this double stroller, but aren't in any photo.

1965
L is 4 years old.

1965

1965
L and our first foster baby.

1965

1965

1965
Santa brought L a bride doll.

Riddle answer: to hold up his pants

Our Family's Christmas Photos: 1945 - 1960

2008-12-22T18:57:00.095-05:00

Riddle: What did the salt say to the pepper?

Olden Times
Grampy and I have all the photos from our parents, also all those of his Grandmother Pike and my Grandmother Trout.

Grampy says:
There are no Christmas photos in my family, and no traditions that I can recall. I remember great presents one year, 1952, when I was a 5th grader living at 48 North St. in Portland ME. I got an erector set, a chemistry set and ice skates. Dad must have had a really good year.
When I was 13 and living in the country in Gorham, ME I went in the woods behind our house and cut a Christmas tree, then made popcorn strings and construction paper chains to decorate it.

Grammy says:
Neither of my parents had any Christmas photos of them as children, and the few from my childhood were taken by an uncle and aunt if they came by on Christmas Day. They had no children, but had a good camera and used expensive color film.

Traditions I remember:
-singing carols with my grandmother at the piano

-opening one present on Christmas Eve

-decorating the tree and the living room with much red and green construction paper and crayon artwork

-getting a Christmas doll (even though I never cared for dolls after I learned to read, and they stayed untouched until next Christmas when they were carted up to the attic, then replaced).

-a new book from my grandmother. Her favorites were nature or animal books such as Thornton Burgess, Walter Farley's Black Stallion or Island Stallion series, Albert Terhune dog books, or the Lucy Fitch Perkins twins series, Augusta Stevenson's childhood of famous Americans series, or Gene Stratton Porter. My parents didn't allow Bobbsey Twins or Nancy Drew (they weren't in the library, either), and no interesting books that I knew of were being written for girls. Of course I read all of Laura Ingalls Wilder many times from the library.

Photo: 1955
Another few years and that stocking will touch the floor!
Notice the red and green construction paper Christmas banner with cut-out letters.

-my Christmas Stocking was a major present. It was one of my long tan ribbed lisle (cotton given a silky texture by mercerizing) stockings, held up with that instrument of torture, a garter belt, which I wore nearly all year long. Schools didn't allow girls to wear pants back then, even though boys wore flannel lined corduroy, thick knee socks and gum boots (greenish rubber knee-high boots that laced at the top) to school in winter. I walked to school, so my legs froze all the time, as these stockings weren't very thick or warm. They were, however, very stretchy, which made a great Christmas stocking. The same stocking was used each year, since it never recovered its shape after the first year's load of goodies.

Santa, a.k.a. my grandmother, always filled my stocking by spending money she couldn't afford from her tiny WW I soldier's widow's pension. The stocking was so long it would have cost a fortune to fill, so she improvised. Since it was thumb-tacked to the fireplace mantle, to make it appear full after it was filled she turned over a cuff at the top to whatever length was needed before re-tacking it. It always had new shiny pennies and a huge navel orange in the toe, hard candy, ribbon candy, peach blossom candy (peanut butter filling in a thin crunchy hard candy shell), a roll of Life-Savers, a popcorn ball, homemade cookies, gold-colored foil-covered chocolate coins in a little gold-colored mesh bag, a new pencil and walnuts in the shell.

You may think this was a lot of candy, but remember, it was only twice a year that I had any candy at all, at Christmas and Easter, since I couldn't go trick-or-treating. Also, one of my parents' rules was that I could only eat one piece a day, and the candy cane had to be broken up into several day's worth. Sticking out of the top of the stocking was a candy cane and best of all - a rolled up comic book!

My parents didn't allow 'funny books' (as comic books were called back then) in the house, or even for me to read them, but each Christmas a miracle occurred and they were overcome by the power of Santa. Apparently they felt that one "Little Lulu" a year wouldn't rot my mind too badly. I could happily have read one a day (or one an hour) for my entire childhood.

My best childhood memories are from my grandmother's kind, loving heart - not only on Christmas but every day that she lived.

1945
Dad and I on my new sled in the dooryard.

1946
Same sled, same coat, different snow.

1948 My grandmother and I (age 6, 1st grade). Mom got her first pressure cooker, later to blow its top and peel the paint off the ceiling over the stove, throwing a thin layer of food in all directions.

1949
I'm 7, in 2nd grade. Note my trusty steed Silver in the background, also the Buckaroo board game.

1950
I'm 8 years old, in 3rd grade.

1950

1951
This year's doll, "Bonnie Braids", is Dick Tracy's baby in the newspaper comic strip ('the funnies' or 'funny papers' as we called them), the only doll I asked for. Also a toy typewriter and "Go to the Head of the Class", a great board game. I loved playing it with Ruth, my favorite cousin.

1952
You can see how thrilled I am to get 3 dolls this year. The tiny one is from the "Dolls of All Nations" monthly series at the A & P Supermarket.

1952
I'm in 5th grade. The fireplace mantel was always a catch-all. Mail, pipe tobacco, knick-knacks, one mitten or glove, seasonal decorations, etc. The picture and motto were brought by my grandmother from New Jersey when she bought the house in 1937.

1953
I'm a 6th grader, holding a new camera instead of a doll!

1953
Click on this photo to enlarge it, and see Foley's Ice Cream Stand out of the window, a Route One landmark for many years.
On top of the piano is a stack of 78 rpm record albums and my View-Master.
My new board game Edu-Quiz was battery powered - when the wire was touched to the right answer, a tiny red light bulb lit up.

1954

1954
I'm a 7th grader. The top of the piano was as much of a catch-all as the fireplace mantle!

1955
Mom wearing a fancy "dress-up" or "company" apron, which was put on after the cooking was done in a work apron.

1955
I'm in 8th grade.

1955
The only photo of my Grandmother Trout with her grandchildren.

1956
Notice the Hews Body Co. calendar on the wall. Dad worked there for several years. It was on St. John St. in Portland, between the rotary at the end of the bridge into Portland and Union (train) Station.

1956
I'm a 14-year-old freshman, (9th grade) going to a Christmas school dance. My dress had a shiny gold medallion pattern all over and a gold plastic belt.
We've only had a television set for a year and a half.

1958
Rob rented a dinner jacket for the school Christmas formal - the Snow Ball.

1959
Back in the days of 'going steady,' his and hers shirts were sold. These had a modern paisley print.

1959
I crocheted these mittens, labeled His, Hers and Ours (a large one with no thumbs and 2 cuffs).

1960

Riddle answer: Season's Greetings

1947: We Started Kindergarten 61 Years Ago

2008-12-11T14:17:00.051-05:00

Riddle: Which building is the tallest?

1947 was a very important and interesting year. World War II was now over for a year and a half, and prosperity was returning. The shortages of the war years were slowly ending - meat, butter, cheese, sugar, rubber and gasoline, to name a few. U.S. sugar rationing ended in June, but Pres. Truman still urged meatless and eggless days to save grain for hungry Western Europe, now helped by the Marshall Plan, a US recovery act giving aid to those war-torn countries.

After the war, American factories quickly returned to producing consumer goods, and scarcity was replaced by a boom in consumer spending. This year had some of the most significant inventions for many years to come, including the transistor and the mobile phone.

61 years ago in early September, just south of Portland, Maine, a 5 year-old girl and boy walked to school for the first time. Little did they know that on the first day of school 10 years later they would meet and be together for the rest of their lives. She lived in Scarborough, and he in South Portland, a city next to Scarborough.

Grammy says:
I was very quiet, shy, often sick, and never around any other children. I wasn't taken shopping or to visit relatives, since my grandmother lived with us and my parents left me home with her. She often took me to the Portland Public Library on the bus, and read hundreds of books to me. I learned to read by following along as she read. She had been a schoolteacher, and also taught me colors, numbers and printing before I started school.

Each year the school wanted me to skip a grade, but my parents always said no, what would she do if she graduated at 16? This worked out for the best, as I found school easy and had lots of time to be out sick. When I went back I was always ahead in my classwork, since the school let my grandmother keep my schoolbooks at home, and she taught me at my pace. We finished the year's work about mid-winter, and just reviewed for the rest of the year. I'm sure my hand was up in class more often than Hermione Granger's.

We lived about a block from the school I attended for 5 years, and it was almost in sight. My grandmother crossed me over the busy 4-lane highway in front of our house, and waited by our mailbox until I walked into the schoolyard and out of sight. I always turned and waved to her, and she was always there waving back.

Grampy says:
I walked to school quite a distance alone every day that year. I usually took the long way home, stopping at the playground near my house, or squeezing through a broken board in the fence around the sandpit (the fence that was meant to keep kids out).

In school, I had a seat next to the window with wonderful sunshine. I liked the bright daylight and especially looking out like Calvin in the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip. It reminds me of the song "The Kid":

I'm the kid who always looked out the window
Failing tests in geography.
But I've seen things
Far beyond just the schoolyard
Distant shores of exotic lands.

I'm the kid who has this habit of dreaming
Sometimes gets me in trouble too.
But the truth is
I could no more stop dreaming
Than I could make them all come true.

Here are our first report cards: S. P. stands for Sub Primary, which is what Kindergarten was called back then. X stands for 'not taught', and was not a failing mark.

1947 Timeline:
Feb - Edwin Land demonstrates the first "instant camera", the Polaroid Land Camera, giving photos in 60 seconds.
April - Jackie Robinson, signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers, becomes the first African American in major league baseball. They play the Yankees this year in the first televised World Series.
July - A downed UFO is allegedly found in Roswell, New Mexico.
July - After being shut off in 1946, ENIAC, one of the world's first digital computers, is turned on after a memory upgrade. It remains in continuous operation until October, 1955.
July - President Truman gives a short speech at the Lincoln Memorial, risking his political future by declaring forcefully that the Constitution guarantees equal rights for blacks.
September - The National Security Act creates the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
October - American test pilot Chuck Yeager flies a Bell X-1 faster than the speed of sound, the first man to do so in level flight.
November - The United Nations partitions Palestine between Arabs and Jews, resulting in the creation of Israel.
December - The first practical transistor is demonstrated. Made from a paper clip, two slivers of gold foil, and a piece of germanium (soon changed to silicon) on a crystal plate, it will replace bulky glass vacuum tubes that overheat and break down. This tiny but rugged semiconductor permits miniaturization of electronics such as computers, radios and TV sets.
Also in 1947:
-Cambridge, the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world, begins to admit women as full students.
-The first jet fighter plane sets a speed record of 670.9 miles per hour.
-Raytheon Co. of Waltham, MA sells the first commercial microwave oven, the $3,000 Radarange. It weighs 750 lb, is 5 ft 6 in. tall, and intended for restaurant use.
-In a cave on the shore of the Dead Sea, a pottery jar containing parchment scrolls is discovered, now known as the Dead Sea scrolls.
-50 separate forest fires in Maine and surrounding states destroy more than 200,000 acres.
-Everglades National Park, a 1.4-million-acre reserve of subtropical Florida wilderness, is dedicated by Pres. Truman.
-First tubeless tires introduced - sealing themselves when punctured.
-The first 33 1/3 rpm LP records are produced.
-The hologram (3-dimensional photography based on an interference pattern of 2 light beams on film) and the Slinky are invented.
-Radioactive carbon-14 dating, to determine the age of ancient materials, is discovered.
-Reddi-Wip whipped cream - first major U.S. aerosol food product.
-The first streamlined car, the Studebaker, introduced in the U.S. Not a great success (there are jokes about not being able to tell the front from the rear), it influences all future automobile design.
-Harley-Davidson Motor Co. begins selling the black leather motorcycle jacket that will become a classic.
-The "New Look" in fashion lowers skirt lengths to 12" above the floor, pads brassieres, unpads shoulders, adds hats, making women's present wardrobes obsolete. U.S. women adopt not only long, full skirts, V-necks, curving waists, sloping shoulders, and frothy blouses, but also clogs, espadrilles, spike-heeled "naked" sandals, and fezzes.
-The Diary of Anne Frank is published.
-TV show Howdy Doody starts, with Clarabell the Clown played by 20-year-old Bob Keeshan (a generation later he was Captain Kangaroo, and had his own show).
-The minimum wage is 40¢ an hour, the average yearly wage is $2,500. New cars (the first manufactured since the beginning of World War II) sell for less than $2,000, gas is 15 cents a gallon, bread is 13 cents a loaf, and milk is 20¢ a quart.

Riddle answer: the library, because it has the most stories.

Finding Our Family History: 50 Years and Counting

2008-12-07T20:45:00.017-05:00

Riddle: What runs around all day and lies under the bed at night with its tongue hanging out?

It All Started with a Book of Remembrance

When I first started going with Grampy to church in Portland, Maine in 1958, I saw an ad in a church magazine and sent away for a “Book of Remembrance.” It was a long, heavy, expandable rectangular binder, with 2 posts onto which the top cover clamped. Part scrapbook, part personal history, mostly family history, the only genealogy pages I knew about fit in it. I bought some from an elderly lady at church (the only people interested in genealogy then were older ladies, and even they were few and far between) and interviewed my grandmothers. Little did I know that I was off and running in a race that never ends - pursuing ancestors.

For the next 20 years I traced Grampy's ancestors (and half of mine) locally, getting them out of the Maine woods and back into Colonial Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

We had moved to MA in 1961, and three area libraries within a short driving distance had good Local History Rooms for the few hours I had available for research - Lynn, Lynnfield and Wakefield. By now my ancestors, except for the Nickerson family (which the Cape Cod-based Nickerson Family Association had published), had disappeared into the wilds of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, England, Scotland and Ireland, never to be seen again (so I thought). Grampy’s many Essex County, MA ancestors, his several Mayflower lines and the discovery of a birth line for his adopted grandmother kept me going. If I was doing only my ancestors I’d have stopped long ago, but then whatever would I have done with all that time and money?

So I wrote, telephoned, joined societies and once in awhile was able to get to the Maine Historical Society in Portland or the Maine State Library, Archives and Vital Records in Augusta. I read everything I could, but libraries and bookstores had no “how-to” books. The only dealer I knew was Everton Publishers who sold only their own publications, which seemed to be for people who had been doing genealogy for generations.

In 1970 we drove to Salt Lake City for the first time and visited the famous Genealogical Library, as it was called then. In a storefront on Main St, it was as busy then as it is today, with a massive card catalog covering one wall. I never dreamed that I would be back a dozen times, doing research in two other locations as the Library moved to ever larger quarters, which became more crowded with each move.

I was able to get to the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston once in awhile when I could arrange to be away from children and work. I drove to Revere and took the “T” (subway) - Blue Line to Government Center, Green Line to Copley Square - at the special fare of 10 cents after 10 a.m. I made hundreds of photocopies, as Rob’s ancestors filled many books. Just pick one of his family names and a book - or books - tracing them back to a colonial MA immigrant and into England (often nobility) had been written. I thought research was easy and that finding time to do it was the hard part. Little did I know that there was a lot more to it, and no such thing as enough time.

Riddle answer: your shoe

Our Family: Thanksgiving Day And The Pilgrims

2008-11-27T18:57:00.082-05:00

Riddle: If April showers bring May flowers, what do May flowers bring?

Today we are thankful for the Pilgrims who landed in the Mayflower at Plymouth, MA in 1620. There were 102 passengers, but only 53 lived through that year to celebrate the first Thanksgiving. Our family is especially thankful to them, for of the 26 families who left descendants, 10 of them are our ancestors. We descend from some of them twice, and son-in-law D also has Howland and Tilley.

Note: This is my own research, and not done to Mayflower Society standards. Our family includes adopted lines.

Photo: Plymouth Rock

PHOTO: Cole's Hill is the burial place of the Pilgrims who died in the first winter (1620-21). It rises above Plymouth Bay, on Carver St. in Plymouth, MA near the foot of Leyden St., the first street laid out in the original settlement.

Grampy's Mayflower ancestors are: John Alden, Francis Cooke, Stephen Hopkins, John Howland, William Mullins, Thomas Rogers, Myles Standish, John Tilley and Richard Warren. Grammy's Mayflower ancestor is Edward Fuller.
--------
Mayflower Ancestry - ALDEN (3 lines)
1. JOHN ALDEN, Mayflower passenger m PRISCILLA MULLINS, Mayflower passenger
2. REBECCA ALDEN m Thomas Delano
ELIZABETH ALDEN m William Pabodie
SARAH ALDEN m Alexander Standish (desc. Standish)
3. DEBORAH DELANO m John Weston
MERCY PEABODY m John Simmons
LYDIA STANDISH m Isaac Sampson
4. JONATHAN WESTON m Mercy Rickard
ISAAC SIMMONS m Martha Chandler
PELEG SAMPSON m Mary Ring
5. JOHN WESTON m Mercy Sampson (Mullins, Alden, Standish)
ISAAC SIMMONS m Rachel Cudworth
MERCY SAMPSON m John Weston
6. CELIA WESTON m Dudley Pike
LEAH SIMMONS m John Mansell
CELIA WESTON m Dudley Pike (same as Celia above)
7. JOHN PIKE m Mercy Jordan
ANN MANSELL m Emerson Orcutt
8. NOAH PIKE m Sophia Wilson
SETH ORCUTT m Anna Fletcher
9. EDWARD PIKE m Martha Curry
WILLIAM ORCUTT m Sarah Day
10. EBEN PIKE m Alice Berry
MATILDA ORCUTT m Mark Frost
11. FRANCES PIKE m Merrill Frost
IRVING FROST m Inez Dunham
12. GRAMPY m Grammy
MERRILL FROST m Frances Pike
13. L married B; R married D
GRAMPY m Grammy
14. S, R, B, C, L, A
L married B; R married D
15. L married B; R married D
S, R, B, C, L, A

John Alden was born in England in 1598. He was a cooper by trade and hired as a Mayflower crew member. In 1622 he married Priscilla Mullins, a Mayflower passenger whose parents died the first winter at Plymouth. About 1632 they moved to Duxbury. He served as assistant to the Governor and twice as Deputy Governor.
John and Priscilla had 11 children. Priscilla died in 1685. John died in 1687, the last of the 41 signers of the historic Mayflower Compact.

PHOTO: John Alden born 1598 Essex, England, died Sep 12, 1687, South Duxbury, MA.
Burial: Miles Standish Burial Ground, South Duxbury, MA.

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Mayflower Ancestry - COOKE
1. FRANCIS COOKE Mayflower passenger m Hester Mahieu
2. JACOB COOKE m Damaris Hopkins (desc. of Hopkins)
3. MARY COOKE m John Rickard
4. JOANNA RICKARD m Israel Dunham
5. SYLVANUS DUNHAM m Rebecca Crocker (Tilley, Howland)
6. ISRAEL DUNHAM m Hannah Whiting
7. Joseph DUNHAM m Abigail Bates
8. HOSEA DUNHAM m Nancy Kinney
9. SILAS DUNHAM m Eliza Murch
10. J G DUNHAM m Mary Richardson
11. INEZ DUNHAM m Irving Frost (desc. of Hopkins, Rogers)
12. MERRILL FROST m Frances Pike (desc of Tilley, Howland, Hopkins, Mullins Alden, Standish)
13. GRAMPY m Grammy
14. L married B; R married D
15. S, R, B, C, L, A

Francis Cooke married Hester Mahieu (from Canterbury, England) at Leyden, Holland in 1603. He was one of the Pilgrim group that left Holland on the Speedwell and transferred to the Mayflower at Southampton. He left his wife and children Jane, Jacob, and Hester, but took his eldest son, John. His wife and other children came over on the Anne in 1623. He died at Plymouth 7 April 1663.
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Mayflower Ancestry - EDWARD FULLER
1. EDWARD FULLER Mayflower passenger
2. SAMUEL FULLER Mayflower passenger m Jane Lothrop
3. HANNAH FULLER m Nicholas Bonham
4. HEZEKIAH BONHAM m Mary Dunn
5. HANNAH BONHAM m Benjamin Stout
6. BENJAMIN STOUT m Rebecca Doolhagan/Dulhangel
7. SAMUEL STOUT m Margaret Jones Brown
8. ANNA STOUT m Peter Adam Apgar
9. HARRISON APGAR m Emily Adeline Lance
10. LYDIA APGAR m Sylvester Hall
11. EMILY HALL m F. Leroy Trout
12. DOROTHY TROUT m George Nickerson
13. GRAMMY married Grampy
14. L married B; R married D
15. S, R, B, C, L, A

Edward Fuller was born in England. He, his family and his brother Samuel Fuller lived in Leiden, Holland. He crossed the Atlantic on the Mayflower with his wife, his 12 year old son Samuel, and his brother Dr. Samuel Fuller. Both Edward Fuller and his wife died during the first winter in Plymouth Colony. Samuel survived and lived with his uncle. He married Jane Lothrop in Scituate Apr 5, 1635, and had 9 children. They moved to Barnstable in 1641, where he died in 1683.
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Mayflower Ancestry - HOPKINS (three lines)
1. STEPHEN HOPKINS m ELIZABETH FISHER, both Mayflower passengers
2. DAMARIS HOPKINS m Jacob Cooke (desc. Cooke)
DEBORAH HOPKINS m Andrew Ring
CONSTANCE HOPKINS m Nicholas Snow
3. MARY COOKE m John Rickard
ELEAZER RING m Mary Shaw
MARY SNOW m Thomas Paine
4. JOANNA RICARD m Israel Dunham
MARY RING m Peleg Sampson
MARY PAINE m James Rogers (desc. of Rogers)
5. SYLVANUS DUNHAM m Rebecca Crocker
MERCY SAMPSON m John Weston
ABIGAIL ROGERS m John Yates
6. ELEAZER DUNHAM m Jane Bryant
CELIA WESTON m Dudley Pike
Hannah YATES m Ebenezer Higgins
7. ZILPHA DUNHAM m Nathan Marshall
JOHN PIKE m Mercy Jordan
ELKANAH HIGGINS m Jemima Cole
8. MARY HANNAH MARSHALL m George W. Berry
NOAH PIKE m Sophia Wilson
ELIZABETH HIGGINS m John Foss
9. EDWIN BERRY m Cora Childs
EDWARD PIKE m Martha (Curry) Swan
MARY/POLLY FOSS m Joseph Frost
10. ALICE BERRY m Eben Pike (also desc. of Hopkins)
EBEN PIKE m Alice Berry (also desc. of Hopkins)
MARK FROST m Matilda Orcutt
11. IRVING FROST m Inez Dunham
11. FRANCES PIKE m Merrill Frost (desc. of Hopkins, Rogers, Warren)
12. MERRILL FROST m Frances Pike
12. GRAMPY m Grammy (descendant, see Edward Fuller)
13. L married B; R married D
14. S, R, B, C, L, A

Stephen Hopkins was born in England. As a young man, a weaver, he married his first wife, Constance Dudley. They had 3 children. In 1608 the family moved to London. Stephen decided to go to Jamestown, Virginia to start a new life for himself and, later, for his family. Three ships left England, but two sank in a hurricane. The third, on which Stephen sailed, became stuck on a coral reef off Bermuda. The passengers went ashore and in the following nine and a half months built two smaller ships to continue the trip to Jamestown. After a few months in Jamestown Stephen returned to England to find his wife, baby, and son, William, had died. Stephen moved to London and became a merchant.
In the spring of 1618 Stephen married his second wife, Elizabeth Fisher. They had one daughter. A son, Oceanus, was born on the Mayflower before landing at Plymouth. Both Damaris and Oceanus died young. Five more children were born at Plymouth. Stephen served as Assistant Governor 1629-32 and 1633-35. He died in 1644. His wife died between 1640 and 1644.

PHOTO: Constance Hopkins Snow Born May 11, 1608 Hampshire, England, died Nov. 25, 1677 Eastham, MA, wife of Nicholas Snow. Burial: Cove Burying Ground, Eastham, MA.

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Mayflower Ancestry - HOWLAND
1. JOHN HOWLAND m ELIZABETH TILLEY, both Mayflower passengers (son-in-law D's line is through son Joseph)
2. HOPE HOWLAND m John Chipman
3. RUTH CHIPMAN m Eleazer Crocker
4. ABEL CROCKER m Mary Isum/Isham
5. REBECCA CROCKER m Sylvanus Dunham (desc. of Hopkins)
6. ELEAZER DUNHAM m Jane Bryant
7. ZILPHA DUNHAM m Nathan Marshall
8. MARY HANNAH MARSHALL m George W. Berry
9. EDWIN BERRY m Cora Childs
10. ALICE BERRY m Eben Pike (Hopkins, Mullins, Standish, Alden)
11. FRANCES PIKE m Merrill Frost (desc. of Hopkins, Rogers)
13. GRAMPY m Grammy (Mayflower desc. of Edward Fuller)
13. L married B; R married D
14. S, R, B, C, L, A
John Howland was born in 1592. On the Mayflower he was listed as a servant to John Carver. In mid-Atlantic during a storm, he was swept overboard, but caught a halyard which hung over the side and was hauled back on board. In 1623 he married Elizabeth Tilley, also a Mayflower passenger, whose parents died during the first winter at Plymouth. They had 10 children. He was prominent in public affairs in the Colony, serving as Assistant Governor, and in 1634 was in command of the Pilgrims' trading post on the Kennebec River in ME. He died in 1673 in Plymouth, MA. Elizabeth died in 1687 in Swansea, MA.

PHOTO: John Howland born 1591, died Feb. 23, 1673 Burial: Burial Hill Plymouth, MA.

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Mayflower Ancestry - MULLINS
1. WILLIAM MULLINS m Alice Atwood, both Mayflower ancestors
2. PRISCILLA MULLINS m JOHN ALDEN, both Mayflower passengers
3. SARAH ALDEN m Alexander Standish (desc. of Standish)
4. LYDIA STANDISH m Isaac Sampson
5. PELEG SAMPSON m Mary Ring (desc. of Hopkins)
6. MERCY SAMPSON m John Weston
7. CELIA WESTON m Dudley Pike
8. JOHN PIKE m Mercy Jordan
9. NOAH PIKE m Sophia Wilson
10. EDWARD PIKE m Sophia Wilson
11. EBEN PIKE m Alice Berry
12. FRANCES PIKE m Merrill Frost (desc. of Hopkins, Rogers, Warren)
13. GRAMPY m Grammy (Mayflower desc. of Edward Fuller)
14. L married B; R married D
15. S, R, B, C, L, A

William Mullins was born in about 1578 in England. He married Alice Atwood, and both they and their son Joseph died the first winter at Plymouth. They had at least 4 children, 2 remaining in England.

Priscilla was born in England to William and Alice Mullins. She, her parents, and her brother Joseph came to Plymouth on the Mayflower. Her parents and brother died the first winter. In 1622 she married John Alden, the Mayflower's cooper. John and Priscilla had 11 children.

PHOTO: Priscilla Mullins Alden born 1602 Surrey, Eng., died 1685 So. Duxbury, MA.

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Mayflower Ancestry - ROGERS
1. THOMAS ROGERS, Mayflower passenger m Alice Cosford
2. JOSEPH ROGERS, Mayflower passenger m Hannah
3. JAMES ROGERS m Mary Paine (desc. Hopkins)
4. ABIGAIL ROGERS m John Yates
5. HANNAH YATES m Ebenezer Higgins
6. ELKANAH HIGGINS m Jemima Cole
7. ELIZABETH HIGGINS m John Foss
8. MARY/POLLY FOSS m Joseph Frost
9. MARK FROST m Matilda Orcutt
10. IRVING FROST m Inez Dunham
11. MERRILL FROST m Frances Pike
12. GRAMPY m Grammy
13. L married B; R married D
14. S, R, B, C, L, A

Thomas Rogers was born in England about 1587. He married Alice Cosford. They lived in Leyden, Holland as of 1618, and he sold his house in April 1620. Only Thomas and son Joseph came to Plymouth on the Mayflower. He died at Plymouth that first winter. His wife never came to Plymouth, but his other children did.

Joseph Rogers was born in England. At 17, he came to Plymouth with his father. He lived with Gov. Bradford for some years, married Hannah about 1632, and had 8 children. He moved to Duxbury, and on 2 Mar 1635/36, was given a permit to operate a ferry across the Jones River. He was also a constable at Duxbury. He moved to Eastham about 1646, and lived in Sandwich for a few years around 1650 before returning to Eastham. He died in Eastham, MA.

PHOTO: Joseph Rogers, born 1607, died 1678. Burial: Cove Burying Ground, Eastham, MA.

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Mayflower Ancestry - STANDISH
1. MYLES STANDISH Mayflower passenger m Barbara
2. ALEXANDER STANDISH m Sarah Alden (Alden and Mullins)
3. LYDIA STANDISH m Isaac Sampson
4. PELEG SAMPSON m Mary Ring (desc. of Hopkins)
5. MERCY SAMPSON m John Weston
6. CELIA WESTON m Dudley Pike
7. JOHN PIKE m Mercy Jordan
8. NOAH PIKE m Sophia Wilson
9. EDWARD PIKE m Sophia Wilson
10. EBEN PIKE m Alice Berry
11. FRANCES PIKE m Merrill Frost (desc. of Hopkins, Rogers, Warren)
12. GRAMPY m Grammy (Mayflower desc. of Edward Fuller)
13. L married B; R married D
14. S, R, B, C, L, A

Myles Standish was born in England about 1584. He served in Holland as an officer of the English Army. He joined the Pilgrims as a hired military commander when they sailed on the Mayflower. With him was his wife, Rose, who died the first winter. He remarried about 1623/4 to Barbara, who came over on the Anne in 1623, and they had 7 children. He was the military leader of the Colony from 1620 until 1656. He was an Assistant Governor from 1631 to 1650, and Treasurer from 1644 to 1649. He moved to Duxbury about 1632 and died in 1656. Barbara died about 1660.

Photo: Myles Standish, born 1584, died Oct. 3, 1656. Burial: Miles Standish Burial Ground, South Duxbury, MA.

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Mayflower Ancestry - TILLEY
1. JOHN TILLEY m JOAN HURST, both Mayflower passengers
2. ELIZABETH TILLEY m JOHN HOWLAND both Mayflower passengers
3. HOPE HOWLAND m John Chipman
4. RUTH CHIPMAN m Eleazer Crocker
5. ABEL CROCKER m Mary Isum/Isham
6. REBECCA CROCKER m Sylvanus Dunham (desc. of Hopkins)
7. ELEAZER DUNHAM m Jane Bryant
8. ZILPHA DUNHAM m Nathan Marshall
9. MARY HANNAH MARSHALL m George W. Berry
10. EDWIN BERRY m Cora Childs
11. ALICE BERRY m Eben Pike (Hopkins, Mullins, Standish, Alden)
12. FRANCES PIKE m Merrill Frost (desc. of Hopkins, Rogers)
13. GRAMPY m Grammy (desc. of Edward Fuller)
14. L married B; R married D
15. S, R, B, C, L, A

John Tilley was born in 1571 in England, and married the widow Joan (Hurst) Rogers in 1596 in England He, his wife Joan, and his youngest daughter Elizabeth all came on the Mayflower to Plymouth in 1620. John and his wife both died the first winter, leaving 13-year old Elizabeth Tilley alone in the New World.

Elizabeth Tilley was born about 1604 in England and died in 1687 in Swansea, MA, and was buried in Little Neck, Riverside, RI. Elizabeth married John Howland in 1623 in Plymouth, MA. He died in 1673 in Plymouth, MA.

PHOTO: Elizabeth Tilley Howland born Aug. 30, 1607, England, died Dec. 21, 1687 Swansea, Bristol, MA.
Burial: Ancient Little Neck Cemetery, East Providence, Rhode Island. Here ended the Pilgrimage of Elizabeth Tilley Howland who died December 1687 at the home of her daughter Lydia & husband James Brown in Swansea. Elizabeth married Pilgrim John Howland who came with her in the Mayflower Dec 1620. From them are descended a numerous posterity. Elizabeth's will says: "It is my will and charge to all my Children that they walk in ye Feare of ye Lord, and in Love and Peace towards each other."
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Mayflower Ancestry - WARREN
1. RICHARD WARREN, Mayflower passenger m Elizabeth Pratt
2. MARY WARREN m Robert Bartlett
3. JOSEPH BARTLETT m Hannah Pope
4. SARAH BARTLETT m Elisha Holmes
5. MERCY HOLMES m Joseph Silvester (also desc. of Warren)
6. JOSEPH SILVESTER m Susannah Cobb
7. JOSEPH SILVESTER m Margaret Winn
8. SARAH SYLVESTER m Jacob Frost
9. JOSEPH FROST m Mary/Polly Foss (desc. of Rogers)
10. MARK FROST m Matilda Orcutt
11. IRVING FROST m Inez Dunham (desc. of Cooke)
12. MERRILL FROST m Frances Pike Pike (desc. of Tilley, Howland, Hopkins, Mullins Alden, Standish)
13. GRAMPY m Grammy
14. L m B; R m D
15. S, R, B, C, L, A

Richard Warren was born in England and married Elizabeth before 1610. He sailed on the Mayflower leaving his wife and 5 daughters behind. They came to Plymouth on the Anne in 1623. Richard Warren died in 1628, and Elizabeth in 1673.

Riddle answer: Pilgrims

Our Family: Holiday Dinners Through The Years

2008-11-22T16:55:00.046-05:00

Riddle: Why did the turkey cross the road?

Let's look at our family's Thanksgiving table in the past. All other celebration dinners during the year were also in the dining room at my parents' house at Oak Hill in Scarborough, ME.

1948 Christmas. Left to right: Dad, Aunt Donna Trout, her daughter R, my Grandmother Trout, my Grandmother Nickerson, me.

1956, Left to right: R, Aunt Donna, me, Uncle Larry, Mom.

1956, Left to right: my Grandmother Millie Trout, Uncle Al Trout, Aunt Kay.

1957, Left to right: Mom, Aunt Donna, Dad.

1957, Clockwise from the left: Uncle Larry Trout, D, my Grandmother Millie Trout, R.

1960, at Donna and Larry's house. Left to right: R, D, me, Aunt Bee (my grandmother Trout's twin sister), Aunt Donna, Mom.

1962, L

1969, Left to right: me, R, Dad.

1969, Left to right: R, me, Dad, Mom, L.

1970, Left to right: Dad with a broken ankle, me holding a foster baby, R sitting on Mom's lap, the foster baby's sister, L.

1970 Christmas. Left to right: me, a foster child, the foster child's baby sister, Mom, Dad, R, L.

Riddle answer: To prove he wasn't chicken!

Our Family: Where In The World Are We From?

2008-11-14T09:56:00.026-05:00

Riddle: What sits in a corner while traveling all over the world?

Note: In this entry I'm speaking to our grandchildren about one-half of their ancestors -- their mother's.
To our daughters: this is your complete ancestry.

In Grampy's and my native state of Maine, tourists are spoken of as 'from away', meaning not having had the good sense to be born in Maine. Well, we've always said that most of our ancestors were Mainiacs (the more politically correct term used today is "Mainers"), so let's have a look at these hardy souls.

Having landed in MA, NH or southern ME, our ancestors didn't migrate west for richer soil and milder weather, no -- they went north! This pretty much describes their stubborn, independent attitude toward life. Some even did a sort of reverse migration, going north from Cape Cod (Nickerson) and Marblehead (Bubier) to Canada, then back into Maine.

More than three-quarters of our grandchildren's ancestors lived in New England, though only son-in-law D adds many from VT, RI and CT. Expanding to all of North America, we include the maritime provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with son-in-law B adding Prince Edward Island (Strangman). The last quarter of your ancestors is Great-Grammy's NJ/NY ancestry, which we'll talk about later, as they are 'from away', meaning foreign to New Englanders.

Let's look at 7th generations back, starting with our grandchildren. This is a generation past Grampy's and my great-grandparents. He remembers his great-grandmother Pike as "a little old lady in bed", who died in 1960 at age 92. All of his side of the family were born in North America -- 16 in New England and 4 in Nova Scotia (Curry, Lunn, Jessome and Morgan). (Grampy has extras because of adoptions, and we follow both lines.)

My father's side were in far northern ME on the Canadian border. One (Nickerson) was born in ME, 4 in New Brunswick (Bubar, Hill, MacDougal -- son of a Scottish soldier, Fitzherbert -- granddaughter of an English soldier, both sent here in the British military), one (Cunningham) from Ireland and 2 (Fisher and Kent) from England.

Conclusion #1:
You have ancestors from each country in the British Isles.

On your mother's side, over 3/4 of your ancestors are British. Going back 14 generations, we add Wales (Lewis). 12 generations back we add the Channel Islands of Jersey and Guernsey (Bubier), to complete all of the British Isles.

Now, on your Great-Grammy Dorothy (Trout) Nickerson's side, 7 generations back all of your ancestors were born in New Jersey, nearly all in Hunterdon County. Four (Trout, Bellis, Apgar and Lance) trace back to Germany, two (Hall and Hixson) to England, one (Lee) to Scotland, and one (Van Doren) to the Netherlands.

Conclusion #2:
Through your mothers, your ethnic heritage is American.
All but 3 of your 7th generation ancestors were born in North America (1 from Ireland and a married couple from England).

Conclusion #3:
Your mothers pedigree charts show that most of your ancestors immigrated 14 generations ago.

"How will our children know who they are if they don't know where they come from?" - John Steinbeck

Riddle answer: A stamp

Our Family In The Military: Veterans Day

2008-11-08T19:51:00.072-05:00

Riddle: If you have it, you want to share it, but if you share it, you don't have it. What is it?

On November 11, 1918, the Armistice was signed that ended World War I. The actual fighting between the Allies and Germany ended on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, and this day proved to be the end of "The Great War", which officially ended with the Treaty of Versailles on June 28, 1919.

Armistice Day, as November 11 became known, first honored the veterans of World War I; but after World War II and the Korean War, the name was changed to Veterans Day in 1954 to honor all living veterans, whether they served in war or peace. It honors America's veterans for their patriotism and willingness to serve.

The Veterans Day, 2008 Proclamation by the President of the USA starts by saying: On Veterans Day, we pay tribute to the service and sacrifice of the men and women who in defense of our freedom have bravely worn the uniform of the United States.

Our family, as many others, has a military history. We are proud of these men who served their country in its time of need, and we think of them with love and gratitude on Veteran's Day. Here are photos of our own 20th Century heroes.

Vietnam War

1963, Grampy's brother H, a 17 year-old Marine Basic Training graduate.
He was in the Marines for 4 years. Stationed in the Philippines, he then served a 13 month tour in Vietnam, earning several Commendations and the Purple Heart.

Navy Career

At 17, Grampy's brother J joined the Naval Reserves. He was in the Navy for 21 years, serving in many places in the world, among them London and Washington, D. C.

1940, George Gilbert Nickerson, my father, and Allan Trout, my mother's brother, soon to be brothers-in-law. Both joined the Army and were sent to the Panama Canal.

Dad was so tall and handsome, he was assigned as an Army Recruiter.

World War II

1944, Merrill Frost was drafted into the Army at age 35, leaving 5 dependents. One of so many young families separated by war.

Photo: Merrill, Frances and baby J.

1945, J and Grampy, two sweet little dependents in a military photo to send to Daddy, so far away.

World War II

1944, this photo was given to Merrill Frost's parents and wife, both large and wallet size, to display while he was overseas.

World War II

1945, Merrill Frost spent the entire year in the Philippines. His brother-in-law Don Pike also served there.

World War II

Rob's Uncle A Pike joined the Merchant Marines at a very young age.

World War II
July, 1941, Donald Pike, like his father, was married in an Army uniform.
Grampy's Grandmother Alice Pike with 4 of her 5 children. A was away serving in the Merchant Marines, the twins are on the ends and Frances is on her mother's right.

World War II

1942, Grampy with his Uncle Don.

World War II

Don Pike and wife on the Pike farm in West Paris. He served in the Philippines.

1927, Merrill Frost spent a month in the summer after his high school graduation in a Citizens Military Training Camp held at Fort McKinley in Portland, ME.

World War I, Canada

Grampy's great-uncle Charles Jessome joined the Canadian Army in Nova Scotia. After the war ended, he moved to the US and spent the rest of his life in the Coast Guard.

Photo: 1946

World War I

1917, F. Leroy Trout was drafted into the Army, and served as a nurse.

World War I

1919, Eben Pike wore his Army uniform in this wedding photo.

World War I

1918, Eben Pike was drafted into the Army. He was a Private in the 1st Depot Brigade.

Riddle answer: A secret

October Featured Relative of the Month, No. 3

2008-10-31T19:25:00.016-04:00

Riddle: What is the ghost’s favorite bedtime story?

Our granddaughter L was born the day before Halloween, and has been a spunky redhead from the start.

She has been singing since she was a baby. Once when she was 2 1/2 years old, I was singing with her and her sisters. When I taught them a round, she looked quickly from one to the next, trying to figure out when to start singing. For the rest of the visit she went around singing, "Hey, Ho, nobody home".

She started lessons in a singing/dancing performance group at a young age, and now is an accomplished dancer, and has won awards in both singing and dance competitions. She loves singing the oldies, and also plays two instruments.

She now sings harmony, is the youngest member of her church choir, and has entertained at nursing homes and a senior citizens luncheon.

She has always had an amazing vocabulary for her age, and just this week wrote us a really great letter.

She is outgoing, makes friends easily, and loves babies and animals.

In 1998, the year L was born,
gas was $1.12 a gallon.

On TV: L's family watched Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, The X-Files, Babylon 5 and Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.

Some movies that year were: Air Bud, Golden Retriever; Babe, Pig in the City, The Rugrats Movie, Mighty Joe Young and Dr. Dolittle.

New toys were Olympic Gymnast Barbie, Furby, Giga Pets, Bug's Life Toys, Bouncing Tigger, Teletubbies, Tickle Me Elmo and Tamagotchi. The furry "pet" called Furby was animated with 6 built-in sensors that let it react to movement, light, darkness and touch. It sold out as soon as it hit the stores. Furby opened and closed its eyes, wiggled its ears, and spoke in English and "Furbish".

Here are some facts about the past 10 years.
A Timeline For L:
1993-2000: William Clinton was president of US until age 2
1998: 1st MP3 player sold; 1st 1 GHz microprocessor - DEC Alpha CPU
1999: Pokémon begins; Apple Computer releases first iBook, age 1
2000: PlayStation II sold - most powerful video system to date, age 2
2001-2009: George W. Bush is president of US from age 3 until age 10
2001: Satellite Radio begins; Wikipedia goes online; X-Box console sells, age 3
2002: Euro currency introduced, age 4
2004: Water found on Mars by Odyssey Lander, age 6
2005: Microsoft ships Xbox 360, age 7
2006: PlayStation 3 ships from Sony; Wii first sold, age 8
2007: Comet McNaught swings by the sun - extremely bright, age 9

Riddle answer: Ghoul-dilocks and the Three Scares

Halloween In Our Family, Part Two

2008-10-31T15:28:00.050-04:00

Riddle: What do witches use on their hair on Halloween?

1973, R has a real ladies' blond wig, and Grampy built a frame to make him really tall. Notice the small opening in his coat so he can see out and breathe.

1974, same costume and wig for R, but now L is wearing the coat.

1974, L and R going to a church party. R's vest from a past year is now small, but she has fringed plastic pants and a really, really tall feather. L is wearing Grampy's old bathrobe, my rollers and hairnet, and white facial night cream on her face.

1975, L wearing Grampy's clothes and cap, R still wearing the blonde wig.

1975, R as an alien. Yes, she's wearing a white trash bag, and those are decorated milk jugs on her feet.

1976, R as Wonder Woman in the elementary school parade.

1977, R wearing her sister's Karate Gi, going to a Primary party.

1977, R in her classroom at Lincoln School.
"Ho, Ho, Ho, Green Giant."

1977, R as the Jolly Green Giant in the school parade.

1978, R as a gypsy at the Lincoln School parade.

1980, R as a gypsy, in 7th grade at Junior High.

1988, B and L

1988, I answered the doorbell, candy dish in hand, and found this scary creature. Just Grampy coming home from work wearing his lunchbox on his head.

Riddle answer: Scare spray

Halloween In Our Family, Part One

2008-10-30T20:32:00.076-04:00

Riddle: What do the birds sing on Halloween?

Olden Times
Halloween 1953
Grampy says:
When I was 11, I was in 6th grade and lived on North St, on Munjoy Hill in Portland, ME. I walked a mile to school every day, so I knew my trick-or-treat route, mostly 2 and 3- family houses, very well.
Being older than my brother, my legs were stronger going up the stairs of all those three-deckers. I was also able to stay out later, so I made two runs, filling up my pillowcase twice!
While I was out the second time, wearing my costume of an Indian mask with a feather and blanket, I saw 2 macho athlete guys from my class. They weren’t in costume, and said they were too old to trick-or-treat, and thought maybe I was, too. Not me! I was a little embarrassed, but got over it thinking how big that second load of candy was!
I also went to all the little corner stores in the neighborhood, and even the local Delicatessen, who gave out cold cuts wrapped in wax paper. It was almost 9:00 pm when I finally got home.

Halloween 1955
Grammy says:
As a child, I didn't go trick or treating. My father didn't give out treats, either. Our house was kept dark so no one would come to the door. We lived on a busy 4-lane highway with woods all around, not in a neighborhood where I could walk to any houses or any children could walk to ours. Once I saw children in costumes getting ice cream cones at Foley's Ice Cream Stand across the road. I begged and pleaded, and my father finally walked me across. I wore a black Lone Ranger mask. I was too shy to say anything, but was handed a cone with a tiny dab of ice cream. I was so thrilled.
In 1955, when I was 13 and in 8th grade, a school friend invited me to a party at her church. We went to a costume rental store and got real beaded 1920's flapper dresses.

In 1965, my mother bought L her first Halloween costume, complete with tomahawk.

Grampy, L and baby R in 1968

In 1969, L had a cast on her fractured wrist, but she also is wearing makeup, my tiara, her Grammy's rhinestone necklace and white plastic zippered Go Go boots!

R in 1969

In 1970, L is a long-haired bride and R is wearing last
year's red tutu. Our foster child D is wearing L's past Indian suit.

In 1971, L is a bejeweled gypsy, and R is in an Indian vest and headband.

L and R at the Lincoln Elementary School parade, 1971.

1971, R, L and Grampy, who has put a mask on a snowmobile helmet far above his head.

1972, cowgirl R, front and side view

1972, L wears Grampy's track shoes, back before running shoes were invented. They were made with turned-up toes, so were perfect for clown shoes.

1972, R wears L's Indian suit 7 years later. Grampy's shoes are even funnier with L wearing them on the wrong feet.

1972, Grampy looking sinister in regular clothes, and R as a fanged witch in a bathrobe.

1972, Now Grampy is the fanged witch, and has powdered his beard to look older. He hasn't had to do that in a looong time!

1972, Leaping through the doorway and scaring the cat, it looks like Grampy's had more than his share of candy this Halloween!

1972, Grampy at Oak Hill, with my father's police hat, jacket, gun belt, night stick and flashlight. The beard and love beads complete his outfit as a hippie cop.

1972, Can you tell that Halloween was Grampy's favorite holiday? Lots of candy and getting to dress like this! Click on this photo to enlarge it and see my Dad in the mirror.

Riddle answer: twick or tweet

October Featured Relative of the Month, No. 2

2008-10-27T19:14:00.034-04:00

Riddle: What do you get when you cross Bambi with a ghost?

Merrill Granville Frost was born Oct 24, 1909 in Bar Harbor (then named Eden), Maine, the youngest of 4 brothers. He grew up at 4 Davis Place, where his parents lived for the rest of their lives.

Photo: Merrill, age 6

In his youth, he was a caddy at the Bar Harbor golf course, where many rich and famous tourists played. He was also on the survey team that laid out the road up Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park, the highest point on the North American Atlantic coast.

Merrill graduated from Bar Harbor High School in 1927; he wrote the class ode:

Bar Harbor High we leave you now and sing a sad farewell,
We hate to leave you dear old High, the school we love so well.
Our goal now lies in front of us and we must say good-bye,
But we'll recall those good old days in dear Bar Harbor High.

Dear friends and teachers, the time has come when we must say good-bye,
We'll always think of those wonderful days in old Bar Harbor High.
Each one a different road will take as we leave Bar Harbor High,
And now we'll say to all of you farewell, dear friends -- good-bye.

He spent a month that summer in a Citizens Military Training Camp held at Fort McKinley on Great Diamond Island, part of Portland, ME. CMTC camps differed from National Guard and Reserves training in that the program (1921-1940) allowed men to obtain basic military training without an obligation to be called-up for active duty.
He married a Mt. Desert Island girl and had 2 daughters. She divorced him, moved out of state, and remarried. He rarely saw his little girls.
He married again while working in the shipyard, and was a great Dad to Grampy and brother J for the rest of his life.
He was drafted into the Army and spent 1945 in the Philippines, earning several medals and ribbons for Sharpshooting, Good Conduct, etc.
He was employed as a route salesman for Coca Cola, and for 2 1/2 years (1942-44) by New England Shipbuilding Corp., So. Portland, ME as a first class shipfitter, but for most of his life Merrill Frost was a salesman of electrical appliances, both retail and wholesale.

Grampy says:
Dad never said anything bad to me or my brother J, but he did often say that he hoped we'd have two just like us!
He was such a trouper in serving the family. He spent every Saturday doing laundry, working around the house, and cleaning out the coal furnace. He brought home wood pallets from the appliance store where he worked, and split the boards for furnace kindling.
Once in Gorham when we were putting wood down cellar, I complained that my brother wasn't keeping up. Dad explained that it was all right because I was older and really strong. It made me so proud that he thought I was strong that I worked harder than ever.
Once after supper, Dad said J and I should thank our mother for the good meal by doing the dishes. Did I want to wash or dry? It was the one time I gave him a real dirty look, the only thing I've always wished I could take back.
When he was home, J and I spent time with him listening to the radio, watching TV and playing games like Canasta and Cribbage.
He always had strong family ties, and took us to Bar Harbor to visit our grandparents and cousins.

My Dad never gave me a spanking in my entire life. There was always intelligent encouragement instead. I knew he loved me.
-------

From 1957 on he worked at the Hospital Pharmacy near Maine Medical Center in Portland. I (Grammy) knew him during those years as always kind, quiet and generous.
He loved his grandaughter L, and brought her a silver dollar in an envelope with "Love from Grampa" on it each time he visited. At every visit he also brought huge T-bone steaks for all of us for dinner, which I had never seen before.
He gave us our first TV, his black and white set, when he got a color TV. He said he wanted L to be able to watch Romper Room, Captain Kangaroo, Howdy Doody and Bozo the Clown like other kids. It would have been years before we could have afforded one.

Photo: We visited him in Portland on his last day.

A Dec 1966 news article reads: Man, 57, dies in fire after saving others - Portland, Maine (UPI) - Merrill G. Frost, 57, died Monday in an apartment house fire as he ran through the building warning tenants of the danger. Frost apparently was overcome by smoke and asphyxiated as he tried to arouse the four families who lived in the Ellsworth Street building with him, authorities said. The other occupants escaped without injury. The building was heavily damaged by the two-hour fire. Cause of the blaze was not known. [It was overheated Christmas tree lights, left on for days, that set the dried-out tree on fire]

His obituary reads: Portland - Merrill (Jack) G. Frost, 57, of 39 Ellsworth Street died Sunday evening [25 Dec, 1966] at his residence. He was born at Bar Harbor, Oct 24, 1909, the son of Irving and the late Inez (Dunham) Frost. He attended Bar Harbor schools and served with the U.S Army during World War Two, and later was employed as an appliance salesman at Portland and surrounding towns. He had been with the Hospital Pharmacy [in Portland] since 1957. He is survived by 2 sons, R of Lynn, Mass.; J, stationed with the U.S. Navy in London, England; 2 daughters, Beverley and Judy of CT; 3 brothers, Carroll of Bar Harbor, Nolan of Brewer, Stuart of CA; several grandchildren, nieces and nephews. Funeral services will be held Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. at the McFarland Funeral Home, Bar Harbor [ME]. [A funeral was also held in Portland for his family, friends and co-workers.] He was buried in Lot 48E, Ledgelawn Cemetery, Bar Harbor, ME, near his parents.

Riddle Answer: BamBOO

October Featured Relative of the Month, No. 1

2008-10-22T20:25:00.047-04:00

Riddle: What do prisoners use to call each other?

This is the only riddle I ever heard Dad tell:
Riddle #2: What lies on the bottom of the ocean and twitches?

Note: Pictures 2, 3, 4, and 5 are not family photos, but from the internet.

George Gilbert Nickerson was always called Gilbert or Gib by his family, George when he moved to southern Maine, and Nick by his co-workers through the years and everyone in Scarborough, where he worked for 32 years. He was born Oct 17, 1920 on a potato farm in the small town of Fort Fairfield, Aroostook, Maine, on the Canadian border. With a population in 2000 of 3,579, and an area of 75 square miles, there are still only 47 people per sq. mile. He was the 5th child of 6 (the 4th died as an infant) and second son.
Photo: Dad and Laddie in his front yard, 1930.

He grew up with a dog, a horse, and plenty of farm chores. He proudly told us that by age 9 he drove the tractor (and sometimes the horse team) in the potato fields. He was too small to lift potato barrels, so his driving freed a man to do the heavy work. He learned to plow, harrow and spray the fields driving in a straight line down the furrows, and this skill got him promoted to Corporal in the Army. He said he could strike off and march in a straight line all day, unlike the rest of the troops, so he was made their leader.

After potatoes, the second most plentiful crop in his
hometown was snow. He said that he could ice skate on his birthday each year. Last winter (2007-08) set a new record for total snowfall in the town, 198 inches!

Dad's winter school bus looked like this. They each had a tiny wood stove inside.
In good weather they drove their pony and cart to school.

In 1920: The National Prohibition Act against alcohol (18th Amendment) went into effect January 16, 1920.
Women's suffrage, (the 19th Amendment) allowing women to vote, was ratified.
The first Agatha Christie mystery was published in October. (For extra points, what was the title? First correct answer wins)
Formal radio broadcasting began on Nov 2, when station KDKA in Pittsburgh announced the Harding-Cox presidential election returns.

When he was married in 1941, and for the duration of World War II, he worked in the South Portland, ME shipyard. This photo was taken the day I was born.

His grandaughter L wrote this eulogy on 6 Aug 2004:

(Photo: 1969) My Grampy

Duty, Honor, Loyalty -- these are words to live by for a man who was born 83 years ago. George Gilbert Nickerson was born October 17, 1920, the 2nd youngest of 6 children to Herbert Nickerson and Floss McDougall. He was raised on a potato farm in Fort Fairfield, Aroostook County, Maine.
He was large in stature, and large in spirit. In second grade he was as tall as his teacher, so he said. No stranger to hard work, he labored on the family farm.
His life changed as the world changed during World War II. He joined the service, and the young man from the cold north was sent to tropical Panama. He became ill and was sent to San Francisco to recuperate.
He made friends with Al Trout. He met and married Dorothy Trout, settled down in Oak Hill, Scarborough, Maine, and had two children.
He was a man of his time, known by many names. Called Gilbert by his sisters and brother, Nick by his fellow police officers and close friends and George by all others. I knew he was really Jolly Old St. Nick.

At the age of 40, he became my Grampy. From my earliest memory, I knew that Grampy was Santa Claus. For many years he was the town Santa, visiting schools and riding in the Christmas Parade. I was the luckiest kid on the planet. His secret was safe with me.
Photo: 1962
He loved the outdoors, and enjoyed gardening and hunting. Using nicknames from the outdoors, he called me "Punkin" and my sister R was "Skeeter."
I have fond memories of listening to the police-band radio, waiting for his voice to say, "Code 11" as he pulled in the dooryard. Then I could explore a real police car and hear stories of protecting the citizens of Scarborough and Prout's Neck.
He had a sharp sense of humor. We often enjoyed a battle of wits across the holiday dinner table. His demeanor mellowed with time, and the rough edges of younger days became smoother. He found it easier to share tender feelings in later years. In rare moments, he told me some of his hopes and dreams.Those are very precious memories.
He became the Great-Grampy of 6. My children S and R and my sister's 4 - B, C, L, and A. Although he was a man of few words, we mostly visited on the phone. When I called he'd say, "How's the weather? It's your nickel, do you want to talk with Grammy?"
He dedicated his retirement years to caring for Grammy. After her passing last Sept., he told me although he wished she had been able to travel in retirement, he said, "I never minded taking care of her."
August 23, 2004 marks 63 years since they were married. They have only been separated a short time, and will be together again this anniversary.
I know that we will see them again, free from physical pain and the cares of this world. Duty, Honor and Loyalty are the legacy of George Gilbert Nickerson. I love my Grampy.

Riddle Answer: Cell phones
Riddle #2 Answer: A nervous wreck

Generations of Men: A Family Photo Album, Part 2

2008-10-20T16:31:00.014-04:00

Riddle: What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire?

Here are the rest of the photos of men, those on my side of the family.

My father's side:

Generation 4
4. George Gilbert Nickerson
1920 - 2004 ME
Police Officer for 32 years
Photo, 1927

5. Herbert O. Nickerson
1880 - 1939 ME
Potato farmer

6. My grandmother's father:
Alexander Donald MacDougal
1839 - 1922 ME
Potato farmer and
country storekeeper
Photo, 1915
50th anniversary

My mother's side:

Generation 5
5. Francis Leroy "Leroy" Trout
1892 - 1934 NJ
Bookkeeper and Nurse
Photo, 1916

6. Francis Lee "Frank" Trout
1868 DE - 1932 NJ
Country storekeeper
Wedding photo, 1889 NJ

7. Archibald Trout
1836 - 1915 NJ
Farmer and milkman

Riddle Answer: Frostbite

Generations of Men: A Family Photo Album, Part 1

2008-10-19T17:38:00.022-04:00

Riddle: What kind of monster is safe to put in the washing machine?

This is for S, who in a comment on my last post, asked for equal time for the men. Any grandmother knows a grandchild's wish, if humanly possible, is our command. I don't have an unbroken line of fathers of fathers of fathers, as I did with our matriarchal line through my mother, but here are some historical photos of the men in our family.

Generation 1
S, the only male in this generation,
born 1990 in MA
Photo: 1993

2. B, his father, our son-in-law,
born 1958 MA
B.S. in Cartography
High school yearbook photo, 1977

3. B's father, 1926 - 1997 I have no photo

4. B's grandfather
1878 - 1948 MA

Also in generation 4:
B's other grandfather,
Physical Therapist
Gardner Perry 1909 - 1993 MA

On Grampy's side of the family, here are:

Generation 3
Grampy, born 1942 ME
Machinist and
Quality Control Engineer.
High school yearbook photo
1961

4. His Dad, Merrill Frost
1909 -1966 ME
A salesman.
High school yearbook photo
Bar Harbor, ME 1927

5. Merrill's father Irving Frost
1875 - 1968 ME
A lumberjack in the woods
of northern Maine
in his youth.

Also in generation 5:
Grampy's other grandfather,
Eben Pike 1897 - 1950 ME
A farmer in western ME.
Wedding photo, 1919

6. Eben's father, Edward Pike
1863 - 1937 ME
A farmer in western ME.
Photo: 1930

Grampy's Grandmother Pike's father
7. Joseph Jessome
1866 - 1946 Nova Scotia
Mill worker

Riddle Answer: A wash-and-wear wolf

8 Generations Of Women: A Family Photo Album

2008-10-07T19:30:00.035-04:00

Riddle: I know a word of letters three. Add two and fewer there will be. What is the word?

These photos are a matrilineal line, which means your mother's mother's mother, traced as far back as you can go. How fortunate we are to have photos of so many generations of women in our family. (Adaline will be added when I find her photo.)

We'll start with our daughters' youngest daughters:

1. A born 2001 in Utah

Photo: 2003

R born 1994 in Florida

Photo: 1995

2. R born 1968 in Massachusetts

L born 1961 in Maine

Photo: 1980

3. Me born 1942 Maine

Photo: 1960 High School yearbook

4. Dorothy Marie "Dot" (Trout) Nickerson 1919 New Jersey - 2003 Maine

Photo: engagement, 1941

5. Emily Voorhees "Millie" (Hall) Trout 1889 NJ - 1959 Maine

Photo: engagement, 9 Nov 1916

6. Lydia Ellen "Ella" (Apgar) Hall 1853 - 1937 New Jersey

Photo: wedding, Oct 1879

7. Emily Adaline "Adaline" (Lance) Hall 1827 - 1909 NJ

8. Ellen (Voorhees) Lance 1805 - 1885 NJ

Photo: 50th anniversary, about 1876

The Old Album (author unknown)
So fleet is time, this album holds long gone faces.
The laughing child, the bride with her quaint graces,
Are strangers in this now forgotten book.

Not very long ago, their blood's rich heyday
Warmed to the blossoms of a tree on a May day.
Their feet once pressed the path my own have gone,
They saw our meadows sparkle in the dawn.

Tomorrow our new photos that we treasure
Will fall into strange hands.
They will find pleasure in the old gown,
The hair style, the wide gaze.
Our modern world will be "the bygone days."

And we, who have long laughed and wept together,
Where will our home be, this album of leather?
Who will then care what pilgrimage we took
We who dream forever in this book.

Riddle answer: Few

Computers: In Our Family For 47 Years, Part 2

2008-10-05T13:23:00.021-04:00

Riddle: What’s the first sign of old age in a computer?

Famous Last Words:
Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons. -Popular Mechanics, 1949

I think there is a world market for maybe five computers. --Chairman of IBM, 1943

"So we went to Atari and said, 'Hey, we've got this amazing thing, even built with some of your parts, and what do you think about funding us? Or we'll give it to you. We just want to do it. Pay our salary, we'll come work for you.' And they said, 'No.' So then we went to Hewlett-Packard, and they said, 'Hey, we don't need you. You haven't got through college yet.'" ~ Apple Computer Inc. founder Steve Jobs, on attempts to get Atari and HP interested in his personal computer.

Definition: Personal Computer -- Man's best friend for the post-canine era: a gentle, undemanding companion who demonstrates infinite patience with our mental limitations, never criticizes us, asks only that we provide it with a table, an electrical outlet and every so often, a major project to eat.

If at first you don't succeed, blame your computer.

Photo: Grampy and S, 1993

Olden Times
Grampy says: This was found on the Internet as a joke, but it’s so true:

The Old Programmer's Guide to Past Computer Languages
Task: Shoot yourself in the foot.
C: You shoot yourself in the foot.
C++: You accidentally create a dozen instances of yourself and shoot them all in the foot. Providing emergency medical assistance is impossible since you can't tell which are bitwise copies and which are just pointing at others and saying, "That's me, over there."
FORTRAN: You shoot yourself in each toe until you run out of toes, then you read in the next foot and repeat. If you run out of bullets, you continue with the attempts to shoot yourself anyway because you have no exception-handling capability.
PASCAL: The compiler won't let you shoot yourself in the foot.
ADA: After correctly packing your foot, you attempt to concurrently load the gun, pull the trigger, scream, and shoot yourself in the foot. When you try, however, you discover you can't because your foot is of the wrong type.
COBOL: Using a COLT 45 HANDGUN, AIM gun at LEG.FOOT, THEN place ARM.HAND.FINGER on HANDGUN.TRIGGER and SQUEEZE. THEN return HANDGUN to HOLSTER. CHECK whether shoelace needs to be re-tied.
LISP: You shoot yourself in the appendage which holds the gun with which you shoot yourself in the appendage which holds the gun with which you shoot yourself in the appendage which holds the gun with which you shoot yourself in the appendage which holds the gun with which you shoot yourself in the appendage which holds...
FORTH: Foot in yourself shoot.
PROLOG: You tell your program that you want to be shot in the foot. The program figures out how to do it,
but the syntax doesn't permit it to explain it to you.
BASIC: Shoot yourself in the foot with a water pistol. On large systems, continue until entire lower body is wet.
VISUAL BASIC: You'll really only appear to have shot yourself in the foot, but you'll have had so much fun doing it that you won't care.
HYPERTALK: Put the first bullet of gun into foot left of leg of you. Answer the result.
MOTIF: You spend days writing a UIL description of your foot, the bullet, its trajectory, and the intricate scrollwork on the ivory handles of the gun. When you finally get around to pulling the trigger, the gun jams.
APL: You shoot yourself in the foot, then spend all day figuring out how to do it in fewer characters.
SNOBOL: If you succeed, shoot yourself in the left foot. If you fail, shoot yourself in the right foot.
UNIX: % ls foot.c foot.h foot.o toe.c toe.o % rm * .o rm:.o no such file or directory % ls %
CONCURRENT EUCLID: You shoot yourself in somebody else's foot.
370 JCL: You send your foot down to MIS and include a 400-page document explaining exactly how you want it to be shot. Three years later, your foot comes back deep-fried.
PARADOX: Not only can you shoot yourself in the foot, your users can, too.
ACCESS: You try to point the gun at your foot, but it shoots holes in all your Borland distribution diskettes instead.
REVELATION: You're sure you're going to be able to shoot yourself in the foot, just as soon as you figure out what all these nifty little bullet-thingies are for.
ASSEMBLER: You try to shoot yourself in the foot, only to discover you must first invent the gun, the bullet, the trigger, and your foot.
MODULA2: After realizing that you can't actually accomplish anything in this language, you shoot yourself.

Photo: an IBM punch card

The Old Days
21st Century Grandma (author unknown)
In the not too distant past, I remember very well,
Grandmas tended to their knitting, and their cookies tasted swell.
They were always at the ready when you needed some advice,
And their sewing I can tell you was available and nice.
Well, Grandma's not deserted you, she dearly loves you still,
You just won't find her cooking, but she's right there at the till.
She thinks about you daily, you haven't been forsook,
Your photos are quite handy, in her Pentium notebook.
She scans your art work now and combines it with cool sounds
To make electronic greetings. she prints pictures by the pound.
She's right there when you need her, you really aren't alone,
She's out with her computer pals, but she took her new cell phone.
You can leave a message on her answering machine
Or call her at the meeting, she's been there since 8:15.
Yes, the world's a very different place, there is no doubt of that,
So e-mail her on her web page, or join her in a chat.
She's joined the electronic age, and it really seems to suit her,
So don't expect the same old gal, cause Grandma's gone ‘Computer‘.

Yesterday (with apologies to Sir Paul) author unknown
Yesterday, all those backups seemed a waste of pay.
Now my database has gone away. Oh, I believe in yesterday.
Suddenly, there's not half the files there used to be,
There's a deadline hanging over me, the system crashed so suddenly.

I pushed something wrong, what it was I could not say.
Now my data's gone and I long for yesterday-ay-ay-ay.
Yesterday, the need for backups seemed so far away.
I knew my data was all here to stay, now I believe in yesterday.

Riddle answer: Loss of memory

Computers: In Our Family For 47 Years, Part 1

2008-09-30T13:28:00.015-04:00

Riddle: What kind of computer screen fixes itself?

The Wayback Machine
Today we will be traveling back to the time of prehistoric computers. Come with us now to the slower, simpler years of the gigantic Computersaurus Rex.

I don’t like this computer; I wish that I could sell it.
It won't do what I want it to, only what I tell it!

My attitude toward any electronic device is that I don’t expect it to work the way I want. I’m very happy when it does, and feel it’s my fault or my lack of knowledge when it doesn’t. This is also pretty much my attitude toward life.

I look at computers the same way I look at cars -- I don’t want to know what makes them run, I just want to get somewhere so much that I need to learn to drive one. I got my driver’s license 50 years ago, but I’m still using a beginner’s permit for the computer (and I’m REALLY glad there’s no competency test involved).

I never learned to type, but I saw the value of typing ancestors’ names into a database, then with the push of a button print out what I had hand-copied over and over so many times. I started entering family names 20 years ago and haven’t stopped yet. In the early 1980s, just about the time I became a professional genealogist (meaning I got paid for giving a talk), I began to see that computers were going to be a necessity for the rest of my life.

Grampy had already brought a steady stream of them into the house for his business use. Do the names Osborne, Commodore, Victor, Kaypro, Sharp, TI (Texas Instrument), Tandy PC-1 or TSR 80 (both made by Radio Shack) ring a bell? Didn‘t think so. How about BASIC, COBOL, FORTRAN, PARSEC, IBM punch cards, paper tape programs, floppy disks, dot matrix or bubble memory? No? Well, Grampy owned, programmed and loved them all.

“Do Not Bend, Fold, Spindle or Mutilate”
A colored IBM 'job card'.
The rest of the cards in the program were light tan.

Photo: The IBM 026 Printing Card Punch

Olden Times
Grampy says:
I first saw a computer in 1961 as a freshman at Tufts University in Medford, MA. The mainframe computer was located at Northeastern University in Boston. It was about the size of a bedroom; programs for it ran on IBM punch cards (thousands of them) which were transported to it in a shoebox. The first card in each program was colored and preprinted with the essential job-card password and syntax. Each card had to be exactly correct or the program wouldn’t run (we didn’t have the term “crashed” yet). Then it would be back to a huge punch card machine console in the key punch room. Key punch noise was loud, especially when many punches were being run at the same time in one room. You had to hit the keys really hard.

Each stroke of typing had to be correct, as it punched a small rectangular hole in the 3x8½" card which was 80 columns (letters) wide. If it was mispunched, you muttered under your breath, hit the release key to move the current card out, duplicated up to the error on the next blank card, then continued punching from that point. When you released this card (or it auto-released after column 80) you quickly grabbed the bad card out of the flipper as it was being stacked and threw it into the often-overflowing wastebasket.

What a surprising disappointment when your painstakingly-written program didn’t run! It took hours to find the error, correct it and try again, then turn in the stack of cards and wait days for a printout. That printout was our homework, to be turned in to the professor. It was as wide as a newspaper page, with tractor-feed strips that had to be torn off the edges on both sides. It had light green stripes to help keep your place when reading across the long lines of computer code.

Computer time was by appointment, and just to make it more fun, freshmen got the 3 a.m. time slot. At least there wasn’t much traffic on my drives into Boston.

Now the average household in the USA contains more computer power than existed in the whole world before 1965.

The Good Old Days
I remember when:
A computer was something on TV, in a sci fi show of note.
A window was something you hated to clean,
And ram was the cousin of goat.
Meg was the name of a girlfriend, and gig was a job for the nights.
Now they all mean different things, and that really mega bytes.

An application was for employment. A program was a TV show.
A cursor used profanity. A keyboard was a piano.
Memory was something that you lost with age,
A CD was a bank account,
And if a disk was floppy, it meant your back was out.

Compress was something you did to the trash,
Not something you did to a file.
And if you were unzipped in public, you'd be embarrassed for a while.
Log on was adding wood to the fire,
A hard drive was a long trip on the road.
A mouse pad was where a mouse lived,
And a backup happened to your commode.

Cut you did with a pocket knife, paste you did with glue.
A web was a spider's home and a virus was the flu.
I'll try to stick to my pad and paper and the memory in my head,
‘Cause although I hear nobody's been killed in a computer crash,
When it happens they wish they were dead.

Riddle answer: a Christian Science monitor.

September Featured Relative of the Month, No. 4

2008-09-26T16:00:00.028-04:00

My grandmother told me this riddle from her childhood.

Riddle: Little Nancy Etticoat, in a white petticoat, has a red nose; the longer she stands, the shorter she grows. What is she?

Photo: Millie with youngest son Lawrence.

Emily (Hall) Trout, called Millie, was the hardest working person I ever knew. She accomplished so much in her life, and lived many different roles in her 69 years. I know only a few details, as she died when I was 16. In later years when I asked my mother questions, she said she didn't remember, and my uncles still found it too painful to talk about their father or their lost childhoods in New Jersey.

So these are my memories of the bedtime stories she told, and what I've pieced together in research. I wish I knew more. She lived in service to those who needed her most -- her mother, grandparents, daughter and granddaughter. She died at my uncle's house, after supper, while drying dishes.

Photo: This tintype was taken around 1891. It was called "Babes in the Woods".

1. In 1889: She was born a twin Sept. 26, in Bernardsville, NJ.

2. 1900: Her father died.

3. 1906 to 1909: She was a caregiver. She took care of her grandmother after her beloved grandfather died in 1906, age 85.

4. 1909 to 1937: She was a caregiver.
She took care of her mother, a nervous, delicate woman who always depended on Millie and lived with her all of her life.

5. Before 1910: She was engaged to be married.
Her first love, Ned Beavers, either took a job on the railroad or worked extra hours at his railroad job, to earn money for their marriage. He was in a terrible accident 3 weeks before their wedding, and she reached him just in time to hold his hand as he died. She took the money saved for their life together and went to nursing school.

6. 1910: She was a country schoolteacher.
She (and Bessie) taught in a one-room schoolhouse in Hunterdon County, New Jersey in the Census that year, and perhaps some years before and after. Many books tell about these early schools, including Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little Town on the Prairie (showing an example of a Teacher's Certificate) and Those Happy Golden Years.

7. By 1914: She was a Registered Nurse.
She (and Bessie) graduated from the Polyclinic Hospital in New York City, specializing in private duty nursing.

8. 1917: She was a bride.
The Trenton (NJ) Evening Times Aug 28, 1917
NEW YORK BRIDE FOR F.L. TROUT
Ceremony Performed In Sandy Ridge Baptist Church -- Twin Sister Bridesmaid
Stockton, Aug 28 -- A wedding of local interest was solemnized last Saturday afternoon in the Sandy Ridge Baptist Church, when Miss Emily Van Doren Hall of New York City was united in marriage to Francis LeRoy Trout, son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank L. Trout of Bowne Station. The Rev. Samuel B. Williams of Germantown, Pa. officiated.
Miss Bessie Hall, twin sister of the bride, was maid of honor. The best man was Lewis Cline of Sergeantsville. Earl Trout, a brother of the bridegroom, and Carl Todd were ushers. The wedding march was played by Miss Eleanor Hoff.
Following the ceremony, a reception was held at the home of the bridegroom's parents. The bride was the recipient of many handsome and useful gifts, including cut glass, silver, linen, $50 in money and articles of furniture.
The guests, numbering 75, included the Rev S. B. Williams, Mrs. Walter Atkinson, Mr. and Mrs. Percy Hall and son Worth, of Philadelphia; Miss Bessie Hall, New York; Miss Lydia Lererk of Brooklyn; Miss Elizabeth Bellis, Newark; Mr. and Mrs. Charles Apgar, Miss Amelia Duneck, New Germantown; Mr. and Mrs. Howard Sutphin, Mrs. J. Apgar, Lebanon; Mr. and Mrs. A. T. Apgar, Russell Case and son Russell, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Trout and son Roger, D.A.F. Bellis, Dr. and Mrs. Horace D. Bellis, Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Bellis, Glenn Bellis, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Bellis, Charles Vannoy, of Trenton; Mr. and Mrs. John C. Lane and son Lawrence of Neshanic, Mr. and Mrs. John Bellis and son Edgar, Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Bellis and daughter Allice, of Hopewell; Mr. and Mrs. Albert Heath, Locktown; William Coates, Mr. and Mrs. Irwin Cline, Lewis Cline, Miss Elsie Cline, Sergeantsville; Miss Eleanor Hoff, Sandy Ridge; Mr. and Mrs. A.C. Bellis, Mr. and Mrs. Hiram Bellis, Ernest Bellis, Miss Sarah Bellis, Earnest Gulick, Mr. and Mrs. Manning Potts, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Johnson, Mr. and Mrs. James Smith, Ringoes; Mr. and Mrs. Judson Hoff, Miss Stella Hockenbury, Clarence Naylor, Lambertville; Miss Mae Hartpence, Mrs. Horace Todd and son Leavitt, Miss Helen Bacorn, Earl Todd, Mr. and Mrs. F.L. Trout, Earle Trout, Russell Trout, Miss Elizabeth Bellis of Bowne Station.

9. 1917 to 1934. She was a busy, happy wife and mother of 3 children born in 3 states in less than 3 years. Photo: 1923

10. 1934 on: She was a widow.
In the midst of The Great Depression, her husband died at age 42, the second man she loved to die young, while she held his hand.

TROUT--- Entered into rest in this city on the 22nd inst., F. Leroy Trout, in the 43rd year of his age. The relatives and friends of the family, also employees of the Castanea Dairy Company and members of Trinity M. E. Church are invited to attend the funeral from the Trinity M.E. Church at 2:30 o'clock Friday afternoon. Interment at Ewing cemetery. Friends may view Mr. Trout on Thursday evening.

11. She was a Bible scholar.
She studied with Dr. O. C. Engle, who gave her the Bible ('For Nellie' inscribed on the cover) that she always had in her hands when she rested. He was older, affluent, and wanted to marry her. Her sons said absolutely not, so she moved from the area.

12. 1937 on: She was a single mother and pioneer.
Leaving all of her relatives and friends, she moved her 3 reluctant teenagers from the city of Trenton, New Jersey to a small, nearly self-sufficient chicken farm in the wilds (to them) of Maine. Both she and her daughter lived in this house the rest of their lives.

13. 1942 on: She was my primary caregiver.
I only survived and had a happy childhood because of her care and devotion. I must have made her last 15 years happy, for she called me "my little comfort". We shared a room for all my childhood, and she told me hundreds of bedtime stories about her past, most of which I was too young or too sleepy to remember.

To be continued...

Riddle answer: A candle

September Featured Relative of the Month, No. 3

2008-09-17T19:32:00.028-04:00

Riddle: What key can't open doors?

A is our youngest and only Millennium grandchild, a child of the 21st century. Born 1 week after 9/11, our precious sweetheart spent much of her first month in a large medical center. Today she talks and sings beautifully, loves to run, play, go to school and ride on the schoolbus. This little poem describes her day:

Starting School (author unknown)
A, B, C, D, E School is where I want to be.
F, G, H, I, J Learn to read and write each day.
K, L, M, N, O Boys and girls we like to know.
P, Q, R, S, T Sharing time for you and me.
U, V, W, X, Y Now it's time to say goodbye.
Z, Z, Z, Z, Z School is where I want to be!

Let's look back on the last 7 years:
A's Timeline: 2001-2008
2001: George Walker Bush inaugurated as President of US.
11 Sep 2001: Islamic terrorists hijacked 4 fully fuelled passenger airplanes and flew 2 jets into the World Trade Center twin towers in NYC, resulting in about 3,000 deaths; a 3rd jet was flown into the Pentagon, with about 200 deaths, while the 4th jet was heroically brought down in PA farmland, with about 50 deaths. The events of that terrible day cut the year into two distinct parts. The 8 months prior to 9/11 seemed like a distant dream of more innocent times. [A few days afterward, I remember reading an August newspaper and thinking what frivolous, childish things we were concerned about 'back then'. In the following months, we saw American flags flying everywhere, also on T-shirts, car antennas and bumper stickers.]
More money is spent on video games than movies; Satellite radio begins; Microsoft Windows XP (short for "experience") in Oct; iPod launched in Oct; Microsoft Xbox and Nintendo GameCube introduced in Nov; Enron bankruptcy; first space tourist pays $20 million to board Space Station; Movies: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone opened Nov 16; Fellowship of the Ring; Monsters, Inc; Shrek; Jurassic Park III; Dr. Dolittle 2; Spy Kids; The Princess Diaries.
2002: TV: American Idol premieres; Movies: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets; LOTR: The Two Towers; Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones; Men in Black II; Spy Kids 2; Stuart Little 2; Spider-Man.
2003: Books: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix; Eragon; Movies: Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King; Finding Nemo; Freaky Friday; Good Boy!
2004: Ken Jennings wins on Jeopardy; Doctor Who returns to TV after 16 years; Movies: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban; Spider-Man 2; The Incredibles; National Treasure.
2005: TV: Star Trek: Enterprise canceled, ending uninterrupted Star Trek series from 1987; Movies: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; March of the Penguins; Madagascar; Books: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince; Eldest.
2006: Movies: Ice Age: The Meltdown; Night at the Museum; Cars; Eragon; TV: High School Musical.
2007: Movies: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix; Bee Movie; Ratatouille; National Treasure: Book of Secrets; Meet the Robinsons; TV: High School Musical 2; Book: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
2008: Book: Brisingr; Movies: High School Musical 3: Senior Year; Madagascar: 2; Horton Hears a Who; Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian; WALL-E.

TV shows we watched in 2001: Smallville (2001-present); 24 (2001-present); Baywatch (1989-2001); Walker, Texas Ranger (1993-2001); Diagnosis, Murder (1992-2001); Star Trek: Voyager (1995-2001); Xena: Warrior Princess (1995-2001); X-Files (1993-2002); Star Trek: Enterprise (2001-2005); Roswell (1999-2002); Invisible Man (2000-2002); Nash Bridges (1996-2001)

Hit songs of 2001: Hanging By A Moment, Lifehouse; Fallin', Alicia Keys; All For You, Janet Jackson; If You're Gone, Matchbox Twenty; I'm Real, Jennifer Lopez; Thank You, Dido; Independent Woman Part I, Destiny's Child; Again, Lenny Kravitz; U Remind Me, Usher; Who Let the Dogs Out by Baha Men; Ricky Martin had several hits.

Popular toys in 2001: Harry Potter Trivia game, 2000; Let's Pretend Elmo, 2000; Pokemon Gold and Silver, 2000; Celebration Barbie, 2000; Super Poo-Chi, 2000; Top It, 2000; Razor Scooter, 2000; Moon Walk Shoes, 1999; New Furby 1999; Pokemon Trading Cards, 1999; Electronic Pikachu, 1999; Baby Furby, 1999; Sega Dreamcast, 1999; Teletubbies, 1998; Furby, 1998; Bouncing Tigger, 1998.

Books we were reading in 2001: Holes by Louis Sachar, 1999; The Giver by Lois Lowry, 1994.

Riddle answer: A monKEY, a donKEY or a turKEY.

September Featured Relative of the Month, No. 2

2008-09-12T17:59:00.061-04:00

Riddle: What would you get if you crossed a Jedi knight with a toad?

Our family's second September birthday is for our oldest grandchild S, who is fast leaving childhood behind. Last year's milestone was getting his driver's license, this year he gets to vote for the president!

Present Times
S says:
"I feel most comfortable when I am surrounded by technology. Oh, and I'm going to be the next CEO of Apple Inc."

Comment on Twitter during class: "Dang! It's hard to do schoolwork and follow the Apple Keynote address!"

"Outside recording to Utterz on my laptop."

"Just played Wii Fit, Guitar Hero for DS, PS3, and played around with an iMac and a 32GB iPod touch all in 3 hours."

LOL. I'm IMing my sister via Facebook, and she's just upstairs =]

Recent Olden Times
When S was about 9, his favorite movie was Star Wars, he liked to read Roald Dahl books and design cars with Legos. He loved swimming, biking and using walkie-talkies; was on the safety patrol at school, a Cub Scout, sang in Chorus, started learning Alto Saxophone. He was a very good artist, on the honor roll, received an award for FCAT, got a scholarship to the Environmental Studies Center for 2 weeks at Camp WET. He liked Toaster Strudels and going to Cici's Pizza. He wanted to be a car & bike designer when he grew up. The most important things to him were his family and computer, and his wish was to have lots of friends and be a good singer.

At about age 10, S said:
“When I tell my children about when I was a boy, they’ll say ‘Oooooo! That was a looong time ago!’ I’ll say if you think that was a long time ago, let me tell you about when my Mom was little, and my Grammy and Grampy, and my great-grandfather.”

When S was little, here are some of the things he didn’t have. Some weren’t even invented yet: Cordless phones, cellular phones, pagers, rollerblade skates, the Internet and e-mail.

When his parents were little, they didn’t have color TV, computers, CDs, calculators, a dishwasher, a microwave oven, videotapes or even video cameras.

When his Grammy and Grampy were little, they didn’t have TV or even TV dinners. They had records and a record player instead of music on cassette tapes. Cameras used black and white film, and there were no small portable radios that ran on batteries.

When his great-grandfather was little, he didn't have a car, telephone or even electricity!

Future Olden Times
Someday in the future Grampy S can say to HIS grandchildren:
When I was born, there were no iPods! I didn't have an e-mail address until I was 12 years old! Pluto was still a planet! I had to walk uphill to school -- both ways! And there wasn't a hill nearby, so I had to walk until I found one, walk up it, and then go home!

I had to be content with computer games that looked 2-D like Donald Duck Alphabet Game, Mickey Mouse Fun With Numbers and Mixed-Up Mother Goose. Our computer stored information on huge floppy disks. We didn't have DVD players. We used VCRs that sometimes ate our tapes! Our cars didn't have cup holders! We had go to the library to look things up in encyclopedias if we wanted information, and then write it down on paper! You couldn't just run to your computer and type in a few words to find out anything!

A Look Back:
(With thanks to the Beloit College Mindset List):
S was born in 1990 when headlines sounded oddly like those of today. Rising fuel costs caused airlines to cut staff and flight schedules; big car companies faced declining sales and profits; and a president named Bush increased the number of troops in the Middle East.

His class of 2009 grew up in a time when computers and rapid communication were the norm. They seldom used landlines during their adolescence. They live on their cell phones and by texting. Most have never used a postage stamp. Few have shared a bedroom, but many have shared their most personal thoughts with the whole world on the Internet. S is part of a multicultural, politically correct generation that has never feared the Russians.
To those his age, Sammy Davis Jr. and Jim Henson (both d. 1990) have always been dead.
They don’t remember the first President Bush. (1989-1993)
They were just born when the Soviet Union broke apart (1991) and don't remember the Cold War.
They grew up with computers in the house.
They always had cell phones and voicemail.
They invented their own language to use with text messaging.
They grew up with digital clocks. Half past three or quarter to four may have no meaning to them.
Tamper-proof packaging was created before they were born. (1982)
Atari (1970s) predates them, as do vinyl record albums.
They never played Pac Man (1980) or heard of Pong. (1st video game, 1972)
They never saw a TV set with only 13 channels, or black and white TV
There always were VCRs and you could always rent or buy movies.
They cannot fathom not having a remote control. (early 1980s)
Roller skating always meant in-line for them. (1990)
Harry Potter could be a classmate.
They have always been looking for Carmen Sandiego.
GPS satellite navigation systems and karaoke machines have always been available.
Carbonated drinks have always been in plastic bottles.
Bottle caps always were screw-off and plastic.
Shampoo and conditioner have always been in the same bottle.
Gas station attendants have never pumped gas for them; they never heard a gas station attendant ask "Want me to check under the hood?"
Electronic filing of tax returns has always been an option.
With technology, they recognize that some people "just don’t get it."
Universal Studios has always offered an alternative to Disneyworld.
Martha Stewart has always been setting the style.
Haagen-Dazs ice cream has always come in quarts.
Clarence Thomas has always sat on the Supreme Court.
IBM never made typewriters; they don't have a clue how to use one.
McDonald’s and Burger King have always used vegetable oil for cooking french fries.
Popcorn has always been made in the microwave.
They have never been able to color a tree with a raw umber Crayola.
The Tonight Show has always been hosted by Jay Leno. (1992)
Some were given a Nintendo Game Boy to play with in their playpen.
The US has always been building a wall across the Mexican border.
Lenin’s name has never been a major city in Russia.
Employers have always been able to do background checks on employees.
Macaulay Culkin has always been Home Alone. (1990)
Personal privacy has always been threatened.
The CD was introduced the year they were born.
They have always had an answering machine.
They have always had cable TV.
Caller ID has always been available on phones.
Yellow ribbons have always been a symbol of troop support. (1990)
They never went swimming and thought about Jaws. (1975)
Soft drink refills have always been free.
Windows 3.0 made IBM PCs user-friendly the year they were born.
Moscow has always had McDonalds.
The Hubble Space Telescope has always been up there in the heavens.
98.6 degrees or higher has always been measured in the ear.
Off-shore oil drilling in the United States has always been prohibited.
Radio stations have never been required to present both sides of public issues.
There have always been charter schools.
They have always had Goosebumps.

Top singers of 1990 were Mariah Carey, Madonna, Bette Midler, Wilson Phillips, Sinead O'Conner, New Kids on the Block, John Bon Jovi, Janet Jackson, Michael Bolton and Phil Collins. Milli Vanilli received a Grammy for Best New Artist, then lost it for lip-synching.

At the movies: Dances with Wolves; Ghost; Hunt for Red October; Total Recall; Die Hard 2; Dick Tracy; Kindergarten Cop; Edward Scissorhands; Gremlins 2; Back to the Future III; Jetsons: the Movie; Ghost Dad; Look Who’s Talking Too; Rescuers Down Under; Robocop 2; Rocky V; Joe vs the Volcano; Problem Child; Ducktales: the Movie.

Some 1990 TV shows: Quantum Leap (1989-1993); Law & Order (1990-present); The Wonder Years (1988-1993); Star Trek: Next Generation (1987-94); Fresh Prince of Bel Air (1990-95); Cosby Show (1984-92); MacGyver (1985-92); Baywatch (1989-99). Some of his favorite boyhood shows were: Home Improvement (1991-99); Rugrats (1991-03); Lois & Clark (1993-97); Animaniacs (1993-98).

Fun toys were: Sega Game Gear; Dino Riders Ice Age series; Nintendo Game Boy; Sega Genesis; Super Soaker; Dino Riders; Micro Machines; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles figures; Power Drencher; Koosh Ball; Pictionary; Starcom: US Space Force; Glo Worm Glo Friends.

Prices: New house, $123,000; Car, $9,400; milk, $2.15/gal; Bread, $1; Gas, $1.08/gal; Postage stamp $0.25; Movie ticket, $4; Harvard tuition, $13,500; Minimum Wage: $3.80/hr; Avg income, $19,777.

The week S was born, Ellis Island, where several of his immigrant ancestors came through, reopened as a museum.

Timeline: 1990 to 2008
1989-92: George Bush president of US until age 2
1990: 70% of Americans live in cities; Hubble space telescope launched; East and West Germany reunited; Seabrook, NH nuclear power plant on line after 20 years of protests and legal struggles; Smoking on domestic airplane flights banned; Start of Sci-Fi cable channel; Joshi computer virus forced users of infected machines to type "Happy Birthday Joshi" to regain control. Ford acquired Jaguar. GM introduced Saturns; IBM makes "industrial strength" PS/1 computer; Microsoft releases Windows 3.0; World Wide Web/Internet protocol (http) and www language (html) created; Universal Studios Florida opens to the public.
1991: Soviet Union ends; Iraq attacks Kuwait, US attacks Iraq; World Wide Web available, age 1
1992: Hurricane Andrew hits Florida, age 2
1993-2000: William Clinton president of US from age 3 to 10
1993: Hubble telescope fixed; Catholic Church apologizes for its treatment of Galileo in 1600s; Hit movie Jurassic Park; Pentium processor invented, age 3
1994: Existence of black holes proved; giant East coast ice storm; Microsoft's last competitor, Commodore Computers bankrupt, age 4
1995: American Terrorist bombing in Oklahoma City, age 5
1996: DVD (Digital Video Disc) recordings, age 6
1997: Cloning living beings begins; Mars pathfinder lands, age 7
1998: Pres. Clinton impeached; US attacks Iraq - again; Titanic most successful movie ever; 1st 1 GHz microprocessor - DEC Alpha CPU; 1st MP3 player, age 8
1999: Pokémon, age 9
2000: Working draft of human genome completed; North Pole ice melts - 1.5 km of open water; Playstation II ships - most powerful video system to date, age 10
2001-09: George W. Bush president of US from age 11 to 2009
2001: Satellite Radio begins; X-Box console released; Wikipedia goes online; Muslim terrorists destroy World Trade Center Sep 11th, age 11
2002: 10th solar planet(oid) discovered; Euro currency starts, age 12
2003: Shuttle Columbia destroyed during re-entry, age 13
2004: Water verified present on Mars by Odyssey Lander, age 14
2005: Hurricanes Katrina, Rita devastate New Orleans; Microsoft ships Xbox 360, age 15
2006: PS3 ships from Sony; Wii ships from Nintendo, age 16
2007: Comet McNaught swings by the sun - extremely bright, age 17

Riddle answer: Star Warts

School Days: Remembering 3 Grandparents

2008-09-06T11:28:00.025-04:00

Riddle: Where did the kittens go on their class trip?

Growing up in New England, Labor Day always meant the end of summer vacation for me, Grampy and daughters L and R. School always started the Wednesday following this holiday.

September brings back fond memories of my dear grandmother Emily "Millie" (Hall) Trout. In her youth, she and her twin sister Bessie Hall (my Great-Aunt Bee) taught in one-room schoolhouses in adjoining towns in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. Her lifelong motto was "Every moment is a teaching moment." She was my first and best teacher throughout my childhood. She taught me to love learning, and made it such a part of me that I've never stopped wanting to learn every day. She taught me this song when I was a very little girl:

Photo: 1938

School Days
School days, school days, dear old golden rule days.
'Readin' and 'ritin' and 'rithmetic, taught to the tune of a hick'ry stick.
You were my queen in calico, I was your bashful barefoot beau, You wrote on my slate, 'I love you, Joe,' when we were a couple of kids.

My grandmother Florence "Flossie" (McDougal) Nickerson also taught in a one-room school in the northern Aroostook County town of Mapleton, Maine, on the Canadian border, for several years until she married in 1906.
Photo: 1961

Grampy's grandfather Irving Frost was a folk poet. His pieces have a lovely rolling cadence rather than always rhyming.

He moved to Bar Harbor, Maine, from Mariaville, the tiny town in the woods where he grew up, so his 4 sons could have better schools. He lost his sight in middle age, and lived more years blind than sighted. He composed his poems in his mind, and his wife or other relatives wrote them down.

When Grampy and his Dad visited, they would take Grandpa Frost for a car ride. Grampy always asked him to recite his poems for Grampy to write down. Some were printed in a local newspaper. We collected all we could find, about 30. Some were written as birthday greetings, some for holidays, and some were memories of his youth, as was this one:

The following was written by Irving Frost of Bar Harbor for his cousin Henry Frost of Mariaville. The schoolhouse referred to burned many years ago:
Photo with wife Inez: 1961

The Old Schoolhouse
I have been thinking today of the old schoolhouse, Henry,
That stood there by the roadside so long ago,
How we used to meet there early in the morning
Before it was time to go to school.

We used to play the games "Chase the Squirrel"
And "Hailly Over"; the bell, over it we would throw.
The good times we all had there together,
Around that old schoolhouse seventy years ago.

The rail fence that was built around the schoolyard,
And that big rock where the children used to play,
And the spring down in the pasture
Where we got water every day.

How we tried to walk that rail fence, Henry,
Someone would give it a shake and off we would go.
The tricks we used to play on each other,
Around that old schoolhouse seventy years ago.

There was a woodlot in back of the schoolhouse,
Where at noontime we would go to have our fun,
Play cowboys and Indians,
And shoot each other with our wooden guns.

How we hated to hear that school bell ringing,
As back into the schoolhouse we had to go
And study the lessons the teacher would give us,
In that old schoolhouse seventy years ago.

How we used to climb the trees across the highway,
Like monkeys from one tree to another we would go,
It's a wonder we didn't fall and break our necks, Henry,
The things we did there long ago.

How we used to go to those school entertainments,
And the spelling bees there they used to hold,
The girls could always beat us at spelling,
In that old schoolhouse seventy years ago.

They used to hold meetings there on Sunday mornings,
Sunday school, where the children used to go
To study the Bible and Sunday lessons
In the old schoolhouse seventy years ago.

Now the old schoolhouse, it has gone forever,
And many of our schoolmates have passed away,
I hope we will all meet up there together, Henry,
When Gabriel blows his horn on Judgment Day.

At this time of new school year beginnings for our 6 grandchildren, we know that our grandparents Millie Trout (1889-1959), Flossie Nickerson (1886-1965), and Irving G. Frost (1875-1968) would be as proud of these 5th generation descendants as we are.

Riddle answer: To a mewseum

September Featured Relative Of The Month, No. 1

2008-09-03T19:59:00.039-04:00

Riddle: Here on earth it is true, yesterday is always before today, but there is a place where yesterday always follows today. Where?

Today is so special it deserves a 2nd Riddle: What happened in the middle of the 20th Century that won't happen again for 4,000 years?

We have 3 birthdays to feature in September, so let's climb aboard...

The Wayback Machine
Our first trip this month is back to 1961:

Our darling first daughter L was born in Portland, ME on Labor Day (actually, all babies are born on labor day). I have are so many wonderful memories of her childhood, it's hard to choose just a few.

L was a very easy baby and child to raise. She made me think I was very successful at parenting, when really it was her own sweet good nature. I had so much fun reading stories, playing games and singing songs with her, then later seeing her do the same with her children.

She was always helpful and hardworking. In first grade, since she finished her work early, the teacher had her tutor a handicapped child (back before special needs children had help). Since teaching reinforced her own knowledge, and she loved to play 'school', we let this continue. Her patience and compassion as a little girl show in the competent, caring adult that she became.

She was the most frugal college student ever. She would buy overripe bananas for a few cents and make delicious banana bread. Her motto was "When life hands you mooshy bananas, make banana bread".

As a very intelligent child and adult, she graduated from college with a Major, a Minor, and just one class short of a second Minor Degree. She has held a top executive job for many years.

Timeline 1961 to 1990
1961-63: John F Kennedy president of US to age 2
1961: 1st man in space, Yuri Gagarin; 1st US manned spaceflight, Alan Shepard; Bay of Pigs Cuban disaster; Berlin Wall built; 1st US soldier killed in Vietnam; airplane hijacking (skyjacking); 1st inflight movie shown; Chevy II had 1st modern 4-cylinder engine; Sep 5: US began underground nuclear testing; 90% of Americans had TV (we didn't)
1962: Cuban missile crisis, age 1
1963-68: Lyndon B Johnson president of US from age 2 to 7
1963: Compact cassette tape recordings; 1st artificial heart; Supreme Court ruled laws requiring recitation of Lord's Prayer or Bible verses in public schools unconstitutional; Pres. Kennedy assassinated, age 2
1964: US civil rights bill; Beatlemania hits US, age 3
1964-75: Vietnam War, age 3 to 14
1965: 1st public burning of a draft card to protest Vietnam War; 1st spacewalks (US, USSR); Kevlar; Nov 9 Great northeast blackout, age 4
1966: Medicare begins; 8-track tape players, age 5
1967: The term Black Hole coined; Final episode of Gilligan's Island; 1st human heart transplant, age 6
1968: Martin Luther King killed; Robert Kennedy killed, age 6
1969-74: Richard Nixon president of US, age 8 to 13
1969: Moon landing, 1st man Neil Armstrong; Woodstock; Internet invented at U.S. Dept of Defense, age 7
1970: Kent State shooting; Childproof safety caps; Beatles release last album; bar codes, Microprocessor, and Floppy disks invented, age 8
1971: Cigarette ads banned on TV; Electric Company debuts on PBS; Voting age lowered to 18; Disney's Magic Kingdom opens in FL; Intel ships 1st Processor: the 4004, age 10
1972: Israeli athlete hostages killed at Summer Olympics; 1st successful video game (Pong) released; Nike running shoes; Last Apollo moon mission; Watergate; E-mail invented, age 11
1973: Oil from $1.50 to $11.56 a barrel; VP Spiro Agnew resigns; World Trade Center opens; Vietnam War ends; The Internet, age 12
1974: Speed limit down to 55 mph on highways; Pres. Nixon resigns; 1st small, cheap pocket calculators sold, age 13
1974-76: Gerald Ford president of US from age 13 to 15
1975: 1st home computer (a kit) the Altair; Microsoft founded; Metric Conversion Act passed and ignored; Disposable razors, age 14
1976: American Bicentennial; Apple Computer launched; Betamax and VHS VCRs 1st sold; TV begins satellite broadcast, age 15
1977: Neutron bomb; Elvis dies at 42; 'Roots' TV miniseries, age 16
1977-80: James Earl Carter Jr president of US from age 16 to 19
1978: Laserdisc videos; 1st Ultrasound; 1st test-tube baby, age 17
1979: Sony Walkman introduced; Hostages taken in Iran; Three Mile Island nuclear event; L graduates from high school, age 18
1980: Mount St. Helens erupts; John Lennon assassinated; Japan passes US as largest automaker; Post-It Notes introduced, age 19
1981-88: Ronald Reagan president of US from age 20 to 27
1981: 1st space shuttle (Columbia); IBM PCs 1st sold; Pac-Man, age 20
1982: 1st genetically engineered product - insulin; 1st artificial heart transplant; DeLorean Motors bankrupt; Michael Jackson's "Thriller" released, becomes largest selling album ever, age 21
1983: Cabbage Patch Kids craze; Camcorders; Compact discs, age 22
1984: HIV virus is cause of AIDS; Apple releases Macintosh; L graduates from college, age 22
1985: Extra second added to calendar year; Leaded gas banned in US; Nintendo home entertainment system; Amiga Computer, age 24
1986: Chernobyl nuclear plant meltdown; Mir space station deployed; return of Halley's Comet, age 25
1987: 2000th satellite launched: USSR's Cosmos; World population reaches 5 billion, age 26
1988: Turin shroud carbon dated to 1330 AD - a hoax; Bobby McFerrin sings "Don't Worry, Be Happy"; CDs outsell vinyl for 1st time, age 27
1989: Fall of Berlin Wall; Breakup of Soviet Union; Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles a big hit; age 28
1989-92: George Bush president of US from age 28 to 31

Back in 1961:
Prices: New house, $20,000; Car, $2,000; Milk, $1.05; eggs, $.30 a dozen; Hamburg, $.40 a pound; Gasoline, $.25; Bread, $.21; Postage stamp, $.04; Average income, $6,400; minimum wage, $1.15; Movie ticket, $1; Harvard yearly tuition, $1,250

Movies: 101 Dalmatians, The Parent Trap; Absent Minded Professor, Swiss Family Robinson; El Cid; The Alamo; Breakfast at Tiffany's; The Guns of Navarone; Fanny; The Hustler; Tammy Tell Me True
Academy Awards: Best Picture - West Side Story; Best Actor Maximillian Schell - Judgment at Nuremberg; Best Actress - Sophia Loren - Two Women; Best Supporting: George Chakiris, Rita Moreno.

Top Songs: The Twist; Pony Time, Let's Twist Again, Chubby Checker; Blue Moon, The Marcels; Runaway, Del Shannon; Please Mr. Postman, The Marvelettes; Moon River, Henry Mancini; Are You Lonesome Tonight, Can't Help Falling in Love, Elvis Presley; Calendar Girl, Neil Sedaka; Shop Around, the Miracles; Exodus, Ferrante and Teicher; Where the Boys are, Connie Francis; Travelin' Man, Ricky Nelson; Running Scared, Roy Orbison; The Lion Sleeps Tonight, the Tokens; Tossin' and Turnin', Bobby Lewis; Big Bad John, Jimmy Dean;

TV: Perry Mason; The Defenders: Ben Casey; Dr. Kildare; Mr. Ed; Hazel; Leave It to Beaver; Candid Camera; Wagon Train; Bonanza; Gunsmoke: Ed Sullivan; Red Skelton; Andy Griffith; Danny Thomas; Dick Van Dyke; Password; Twilight Zone; Flintstones; Car 54 Where are You?; The Alvin Show (The Chipmunks)

Books: Calories Don't Count, Herman Taller; Catch-22, Joseph Heller; Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert Heinlein; Pulitzer Prize-winner: To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee.

Toys: Barbie; Troll Dolls; Yahtzee; Hula Hoop; Play-doh; Etch-A-Sketch; Frisbee; Chatty Cathy; Slip 'N Slide

Riddle answer: In the dictionary
Second Riddle answer: A year like 1961, which reads the same upside down. The next one is the year 6009

August Featured Relative of the Month, Part 2

2008-08-31T18:05:00.030-04:00

Riddle: What flower is in between your nose and your chin?

I was born in the first year of World War II. Let's look back at that eventful time.

The Wayback Machine
Step in and we'll go to August, 1942:

WW II events in the month I was born:
Aug 4, 1st train filled with Jewish people departed for Auschwitz.
Aug 6, Soviet city Voronezh fell to Germans.
Aug 7, US Marines landed on Guadalcanal in the Solomon islands. 1st American amphibious landing and 1st major allied offensive in the Pacific of the war. Initial landing party included Navajo Codetalkers. This was 1st Japanese defeat on land; Japan building an air base here to isolate Australia.
Aug 8, U.S. Marines captured Japanese airstrip on Guadalcanal.
Aug 9, Carmelite nun Teresa Benedicta executed by Nazis at Auschwitz for her Jewish heritage. Made a Catholic saint in 1998.
Aug 11, Vichy government official Pierre Laval publicly declared "The hour of liberation for France is the hour when Germany wins the war."; German submarine attacked British convoy, sank one of world's 1st aircraft carriers; SS began exterminating 3,500 Jews in Poland.
Aug 12, British premier Churchill arrived in Moscow to meet Stalin.
Aug 14, Eisenhower named commander for invasion of North Africa.
Aug 15, Japanese submarine departed Japan with a floatplane in its hold, assembled off US West Coast and used to bomb US forests.
Aug 16, US Navy patrol blimp crash-landed in CA after drifting in from the ocean. Crew was missing, no trace of them ever found.
Aug 17, US Air Force bombers attacked France; Marines attacked Makin Island (Kiribati) in Gilbert Islands
Aug 18, Japan sent army to Guadalcanal to repulse US Marines.
Aug 19, Several US Marines died during commando raid on Makin atoll, 2,000 miles behind enemy lines. The 1943 movie, “Gung Ho,” based on the raid, starred Randolph Scott; 5,000 Canadian and 2,000 British soldiers launched a disastrous raid against the Germans at Dieppe, France; 3,600 men perished. Information gathered from this landing considered valuable for planning successful Allied landings in Northern Africa, Sicily, and Normandy, France. The attack was aimed at gaining experience for the later D-Day invasion.
Aug 20, Plutonium was first weighed.
Aug 21, US Marines turned back the first Japanese ground attack on Guadalcanal in the Battle of Tenaru.
Aug 22, Brazil declared war on the Axis powers, only South American country to send combat troops to Europe.
Aug 23, 1st US flights landed on Guadalcanal; German forces began assault on Soviet city of Stalingrad. From now to Feb 1943, Battle of Stalingrad was fought, ending with encirclement and destruction of German 6th Army. 600 Luftwaffe bombers killed 40,000 people in the first week of fighting. My parents 1st wedding anniversary.
Aug 24, Battle of the Eastern Solomons, 3rd carrier-versus-carrier battle of the war, US Navy defeat Japanese.
Aug 26, 7,000 Jewish people rounded up in Vichy, France; Japanese troops landed on New Guinea.
Aug 27, Cuba declared war on Germany, Japan and Italy.
Aug 29, US Red Cross announced Japan refuses to allow safe conduct for passage of ships with supplies for American prisoners of war.
Aug 31, British army defeated Rommel’s Afrika Korps in Egypt; U boats sunk this month 108 ships (544,000 ton).
Aug, Following Battle of Midway, American forces at Guadalcanal--code-name "Cactus"--took delivery of 12 dive bombers and their escort of 19 air fighters, advance squadrons of Marines Air Group. Within 12 hours the new "Cactus Air Force" helped vanquish a Japanese infantry assault; Aug-Feb, 1943, The Battle of Guadalcanal.

Songs popular in 1942 included:
Deep in the Heart of Texas, Bing Crosby; Jingle Jangle Jingle; Stardust, Artie Shaw; Racing with the Moon, Vaughn Monroe; Chattanooga Choo Choo, Tex Beneke; You Made Me Love You, Harry James; I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire, The Ink Spots; That Old Black Magic; Paper Doll; There'll Be Some Changes Made, Irene Daye; String of Pearls, Glenn Miller & His Orchestra.

Many songs reflected the separation caused by the War:
White Christmas, Bing Crosby; I Don't Want to Walk Without You, Helen Forrest with Harry James; I'll Be with You in Apple Blossom Time, The Andrews Sisters; Miss You, Dinah Shore; I Left My Heart at the Stage Door Canteen, Don Cornell; This is the Army, Mr. Jones; Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree, The Andrews Sisters; He Wears a Pair of Silver Wings, Kay Kyser; Somebody Else is Taking my Place, Peggy Lee; Der Feuhrer's Face, Spike Jones; White Cliffs of Dover, Kate Smith; Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition, Kay Kyser; Just as Though You Were Here, Tommy Dorsey; Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, The Andrews Sisters.

Movies of 1942 were:
Casablanca; Bambi; Walt Disney's Bambi; Yankee Doodle Dandy; Holiday Inn with "White Christmas" sung by Bing Crosby

My Timeline To High School Graduation:
1933-1945: Franklin D Roosevelt was US president until I was 3
1939-45: World War II, until age 3
1942-45: Manhattan Project by US to develop atomic bomb to use in the war, until age 3
1942: Magnetic recording tape invented; T-shirt introduced; First nuclear reaction reported; Anne Frank went into hiding; Year-round Daylight Savings Time (called War Time) in effect in US to conserve energy, from Feb 9 until Sept 30, 1945; Sugar and gasoline rationed. Sales of new cars and trucks banned. On Feb 10, the last new civilian car was made; Jeep invented.
1945: Harry Truman made president; United Nations formed; US drops A-Bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki; first Hypertext, age 3
1946: First Bikini bathing suit; Microwave oven invented (called Radar Range), age 4
1947: Israel created when UN partitions Palestine into Jewish and Arab sections; first Transistor, age 5
1948: 33 1/3 rpm musical recordings, age 6; Arabs attack Israel on the day it is inaugurated
1949: First 45 rpm musical recordings, age 7; Soviets detonate first nuclear bomb, age 7
1950-53: Korean War from age 8 to 11
1950-54: McCarthyism from age 8 to 12
1950: World population reaches 2.4 billion, age 8
1951: Electricity first made from atomic power, age 9
1952: 1st thermonuclear device, a hydrogen bomb (H-Bomb) detonated by US, age 10
1953-60: Dwight D Eisenhower president of US from age 11 to 18
1953: First color televisions go on sale
1954:Racial segregation in schools ruled unconstitutional; Ray Kroc opens 1st McDonalds (Des Plaines, IL), age 12
1955: Salk polio vaccine; Invention of velcro and fiber optics; Disneyland opens in California, age 13
1956: Ocean liners Andrea Doria and Stockholm collide, sink, age 14
1957: Sputnik launched - 1st (artificial) satellite, age 15
1958: Explorer I, 1st U.S. space satellite, launched at Cape Canaveral; US space agency (NASA) established; first integrated circuit; 1st stereo LP records and FM stereo broadcasts, age 16
1959: 1st nuclear powered vessel; Castro becomes head of Cuba; Alaska enters US - 49th state, Hawaii enters US - 50th state, age 17
1960: Laser; World underwater circumnavigation by US sub Triton; 1st weather satellite; Pantyhose, age 18

Some Events In My Lifetime:
I was 57 years old on the first day of Y2K; at 48 Operation Desert Storm began, 47 during the fall of the Berlin Wall; 41 when Apple introduced the Macintosh; 38 when President Reagan shot by John Hinckley, Jr.; 37 when the Iran hostage crisis began; 33 on US Bicentennial 4th of July, 31 when President Nixon left office; 26 as first man stepped on the moon; 25 when Martin Luther King, Jr. assassinated; 21 when President Kennedy assassinated; 10 at end of the Korean War; 9 when President Truman made 1st coast to coast TV broadcast using then state-of-the-art microwave technology; and 2 years old when atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

When these songs and events occurred, my age was:
The Doggie in the Window, Patti Page: 10; Rock Around the Clock, Bill Haley and His Comets: 13; Don't be Cruel, Elvis Presley: 14; American Bandstand first airs nationally: 14; Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper die in a plane crash: 16; The Twist, Chubby Checker: 18; Big Bad John, Jimmy Dean: 19.

For these TV shows I was:
5 years old when Texaco Star Theatre 1st aired; 10 when TV Guide magazine started; 13 for Gunsmoke; 15 during 1st Leave It To Beaver; 17 for 1st Bonanza; 20 when Beverly Hillbillies 1st aired; 22 when the Addams Family appeared; 24 for 1st Star Trek episode; 28 when All in the Family 1st shown; 30 when M*A*S*H began; 46 when Roseanne started; 49 when Home Improvement began.

When these movies were released I was:
All the King's Men: 7; Old Yeller: 15; Ben-Hur: 17; West Side Story: 19; The Sound of Music: 22; Guess Who's Coming to Dinner: 25; American Graffiti: 30; Jaws: 32; Star Wars: 34; Star Trek The Motion Picture: 37; ET: 39; The Terminator: 42; Top Gun: 43; Home Alone: 48; Wayne's World: 49; Jurassic Park: 50; Forrest Gump: 51; Toy Story: 53; Saving Private Ryan: 55, Toy Story 2: 57

Riddle answer: Two lips (tulips)

Today is Dot and Nick's 67th Wedding Anniversary

2008-08-23T18:17:00.026-04:00

Riddle: Take away my first letter, I remain the same. Take away my second letter, I remain the same. Take away all my letters and I remain the same. What am I?

Great-Grammy and Great-Grampy were married for 62 years, and always lived in the same house, where Dorothy Trout had lived since 1937. Their five oldest great-grandchildren visited them there. They, Dorothy Marie Trout and George Gilbert Nickerson, were married in this house, in the Oak Hill section of Scarborough, Maine, on August 23, 1941. In this wedding picture they are standing on the steps of the front porch.

The Wayback Machine
Let's step in and travel back to the year 1941:
Franklin D Roosevelt was President of the U.S. since 1933, the Second World War was being fought in Europe since 1939 when Germany invaded Poland, nuclear fission of plutonium was accomplished, and the U.S. Manhattan Project would soon start in Los Alamos to develop the atom bomb.

It was the Big Band Era, so Dot and Nick listened and maybe danced to new songs like: I Don't Want to Set the World On Fire, by Horace Heidt; Chattanooga Choo Choo, by Glenn Miller; There'll Be Some Changes Made, by Benny Goodman; Frenesi, by Artie Shaw; Intermezzo, by Guy Lombardo; Dream Valley, by Sammy Kaye; There I Go, by Vaughn Monroe and Green Eyes, by Jimmy Dorsey.

They went on dates to see some of these new movies: Disney's Dumbo; Sergeant York; The Maltese Falcon; Citizen Kane; The Wolf Man; and Alfred Hitchcock's Suspicion. Abbott and Costello had 4 movies - Buck Privates; In the Navy; Hold that Ghost; and Keep ‘Em Flying. The Academy Awards Best Picture of 1941 was How Green Was My Valley, Best Actor was Gary Cooper in Sergeant York, and Best Actress was Joan Fontaine in Suspicion. Adult movie tickets were expensive - 25 cents - so were only an occasional treat.

There was a radio in Dottie's mother's home, and it was the most popular form of entertainment and news. Since they lived near the largest city in Maine, they had the biggest choice in the state, at least 4 local radio stations. Many programs were popular: crime shows (The Shadow, Gangbusters, etc), comedy (Fibber McGee and Molly, The Jack Benny Show, Baby Snooks, Bob Hope, The Aldrich Family, etc), quiz shows (Truth or Consequences, Information Please, etc) and favorite singers had their own shows (Bing Crosby, Kate Smith, Dinah Shore, etc). As they listened, the nightly news reported German invasions of Denmark, Norway, Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg.

Popular books in 1941 were: The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, by Carson McCullers; Daniel Boone, by James Daugherty; The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck; Finnegan's Wake, by James Joyce; Darkness at Noon, by Arthur Koestler; Call It Courage, by Armstrong Sperry; I Married Adventure, by Osa Johnson; For Whom the Bell Tolls, by Ernest Hemingway and Oliver Wiswell, by local Maine author Kenneth Roberts. They couldn't afford to buy luxuries like books, since Nick earned less than the average yearly income (remember, this is Maine) of $1,800 a year. The minimum wage was 30 cents/hour. Nick worked at the Todd-Bath Ironworks Shipyard in South Portland, and Dot was a part-time saleslady in a Portland department store.

Some 1941 prices were - bread: 8 cents a loaf; milk: 34 cents a gallon; eggs: 60 cents a dozen (they saved this cost by having their own chickens); gasoline: 11 cents a gallon; hamburg: 20 cents a pound; a postage stamp: 3 cents. Plain M & Ms and Cheerioats (later renamed Cheerios) were first sold this year, but not to Dot and Nick, who didn't buy candy during my childhood, or cereals other than oatmeal, Maltex (hot cooked ground wheat) and Shredded Wheat.

In the summer of 1941 news of the war in Europe got worse. On May 27 an Unlimited National Emergency was declared in the U.S. after Germany invaded Yugoslavia, Greece and Crete. On June 22, Germany invaded the Soviet Union.

In August, both their wedding day and war came even closer:
Aug 3 - gasoline rationing begins in parts of the eastern U.S.; Aug 3 - Joe DiMaggio's streak went to 74 baseball games on reaching base; Aug 14 - the Atlantic Charter was signed by FDR & Winston Churchill; Aug 18 - Concentration camp Amersfoort opens in the Netherlands; Aug 22 - Nazi troops reach Leningrad; Aug 23, Dot and Nick marry, Aug 25 - English & Russian troops attack pro-German Iran; Aug 25 - German troops conquer Nowgorod, Leningrad; Aug 29 - Germans in Russia kill 1,469 Jewish children; Aug 30 - the Siege of Leningrad by Nazi troops begins; Aug 31 - the radio show The Great Gildersleeve, a spin-off of Fibber McGee & Molly, debuts; Aug 31 - 23 U-boats were sunk this month (80,000 tons).

By year's end, three momentous event will occur:
1.) December 8th, the day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, the U.S. declares war with Japan.
2.) Dec 11th, the U.S. declares war with Germany and Italy, after these countries declare war on us. These actions lead to a huge loss of lives.
3.) Penicillin, one of the first antibiotics, is synthesized and mass produced, which will lead to a huge saving of lives.

Today as we think of Dot (1919-2003) and Nick (1920-2004), we remember them with love.

Riddle Answer: A mailman

Music is a Tradition in our Family, Sung & Played

2008-08-22T14:27:00.033-04:00

Today's Riddle: What musical instrument is found in the bathroom?

Singing and Playing
My two oldest grandchildren had practice with their bands two thousand miles apart yesterday, and are perhaps a little (or a lot) sore today. My third oldest grandchild auditioned and (of course) got into a prestigious choral group, and is now in practice (perhaps yesterday also) for their upcoming Carnegie Hall performance.

Three granddaughters and a daughter sang and won in their categories in their hometown ‘Idol’ contests two or three years in a row, one performs at nursing homes, and two recently sang at a Senior church luncheon. Two auditioned for and sang the Irish national anthem for a professional troupe of Irish dancers at their performances (one dances in this troupe, the second youngest to ever pass the audition). One writes songs and sang them, accompanying herself on the guitar at five county fairs in her state this summer.

Among my eight descendants, they play piano, organ, guitar, soprano and alto recorder, alto and baritone saxophone, flute, ukulele, Irish pennywhistle, Irish flute and perhaps one other instrument whose name escapes me. We are so proud of you all!!

Again, I hope I haven’t left anyone out. I always want corrections and additions to this blog.

Singing
We had a piano in my childhood home in Scarborough, Maine, and on the rare occasion that my grandmother sat down, she usually played from the many hymnbooks she brought with her from New Jersey. From the time I was tall enough to see the keyboard, I stood beside her and she taught me songs like The B-I-B-L-E; Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam; Jesus Loves Me; This Little Light of Mine; What a Friend We Have in Jesus; A Little Talk With Jesus; Do Lord; Happy Day Express. Once I had learned regular hymns, she sang alto with me, as she had when my mother was young and they sang in the choir at Trinity M.E. Church in Trenton, New Jersey.

Besides hymns, my grandmother taught me many spirituals (Jacob's ladder, Golden Slippers, Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho, Down by the Riverside, etc) and folk songs (Home on the Range, Hush Little Baby, Polly-Wolly Doodle, Suwannee River, My Grandfather's Clock, etc.) Born in 1889, as a girl she taught in a one-room schoolhouse, and knew many children's songs of that time (The Swing Song, Come Little Leaves, Bicycle Built for Two, The Old Oaken Bucket, etc).

When I started school, I brought home the songbook and she taught me all the songs. They’re still as fresh in my mind as when I learned them 60 years ago.

In high school I auditioned for and was in Choir as a second soprano, then 2 years as a first soprano. In December each year the Choir went in a school bus (the only time I ever rode in one) to all the elementary schools in town, including a one-room schoolhouse way back in a backwoods part of town I had never been in before or since.
Photo: age 15

Olden Times
Grampy says:
In grade 7, 8 and 9, music was very popular in the combined Junior and Senior High School that I attended in Gorham, Maine. Many of our teachers were from the nearby Gorham Teachers College. The combined music class filled the auditorium and balcony, and we sang in 8-part harmony.

In 9th grade, the music professor from the college who taught us chose me to be in a special 16-person group singing 8-part harmony, called The Gorham Madrigals. She said that besides my voice range, she picked me because I had perfect pitch. I sang second bass, and we toured the state of Maine in music competitions, performing at the University of Maine in Orono, Bowdoin College in Brunswick, and Portland City Hall. We always won, and were Best in the State.

Playing Music
As a young boy, Grampy lived in Portland, and lugged an accordion that weighed half as much as he did on the bus each week for years to the Starbird School of Music in Portland, Maine. He once played in a music recital at Portland City Hall. His parents came to see him, and the program with his name in it was mailed to his grandparents in Bar Harbor, ME. He always played for them and for his uncles, on visits.

This photo was taken in his backyard at 48 North St. on Munjoy Hill.

Grampy started out with a rented half-size 12 bass accordion, then when his Dad saw how well he could play, he purchased a full-sized 120 bass accordion for him.

Besides having individual lessons, at the music school Grampy practiced in an accordion band, and performed at Scarborough Downs. They played on the green in the center of the horse racetrack for a celebration, perhaps Opening Day or 4th of July.

He also played in talent shows at the (Portland, Maine) Emerson Elementary School in 4th, 5th and 6th grade.

Olden Times
Grampy says:
When I was 10 years old, I played my accordion in a Minstrel Show in the Thornton Heights section of South Portland, Maine. My grandaunt Estelle Packard lived there and got me into the show. I was chewing gum when I went on stage, and in trying to chew and play music at the same time, without meaning to I created a comedy act!

As I played my accordion solo, I was surprised when people started to laugh. I couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong. Why I couldn’t play that song? The stage manager came out and took away my gum, which made the audience laugh again. I kept my jaw clenched tight and did much better on my second solo!

Note to grandchildren: We are so proud of all of you and your accomplishments. Ask your mothers about their childhood memories of music in their home and our family's music traditions, like the songs they learned from their mother and taught to you when you were little (Bushel and a Peck, Abba-Dabba Honeymoon, etc).

Answer to Riddle: A tuba toothpaste

I'm the August Featured Relative of the Month

2008-08-14T22:31:00.016-04:00

Today’s Riddle (answer at the bottom)
I first heard this riddle from my grandmother when I was a little girl, so it‘s a very old one:
You throw away the outside, cook the inside, eat the outside and throw away the inside. What is it?

Featured Relative of the Month -- Me!!
Being born in August meant I always knew I was getting school supplies and clothes for my birthday. Yay, a pencil case!

As an adult, any large purchase made around the time of my birthday counted as a present. I remember at least twice getting new car tires.

Photo: 1946, 4 years old

The following is from the Internet (where else?). I’ve made some additions and changes.

I Was Born In 1942 B.C. (Before Computers) Grampy, too.
I was born in 1942, the first full year of World War II. It was before television, before penicillin, before polio shots, frozen food (except ice cream), plastic, Xerox, contact lenses or Frisbees.

I was born before radar, credit cards, split atoms, laser beams or ballpoint pens; before pantyhose, dishwashers, clothes dryers, electric blankets, air conditioners, permanent-press clothes -- and my children were born before man walked on the moon, handheld calculators or home computers. Spam came in a can, not in a computer.

In my time, rabbits were not Volkswagons. Designer jeans were scheming girls named Jean, and having a meaningful relationship meant getting along with your cousins.

‘Fast’ food was what you ate during Lent, a 'Big Mac' was an oversized raincoat, and outer space was the back of the movie theater.

I was before Polaroid cameras or disposable diapers. Gay meant happy. I was before day care centers, group therapy or nursing homes. I didn’t have FM radio, cassette tapes, electric typewriters, artificial hearts, word processors, yogurt, and the only guys wearing earrings were pirates in stories and movies. ‘Time sharing’ meant togetherness - not computers or condominiums; a chip was a piece of wood; hardware was stuff sold at a hardware store, and software wasn't a word yet.

In the 1940s, "Made in Japan" meant junk, and "making out" referred to how you did on your exam. Pizza, McDonald's and instant pudding weren’t heard of yet.

I hit the scene when there were 5 & 10 cent stores where they sold lots of things for 5 or 10 cents. Ice cream cones sold for a nickel, or a dime for 2 scoops. For a nickel you could also ride a bus, make a phone call, buy a bottle of soda or enough stamps to mail one letter and two postcards. A movie ticket cost ten cents, you could stay all day if you wanted to watch the double feature again, and there were cartoons and a newsreel before the main feature.

You could buy a new Chevy coupe for about $600, but who could afford one? A pity, because gas was 11 cents a gallon.

In my day, cigarette smoking was considered ‘fashionable’ (meaning recommended on radio and magazine ads by doctors and movie stars), grass was mowed, Coke was a cold drink and pot was a pan you cooked in. Rock music was a grandma's lullaby and Aids were helpers in the Principal's office.

Toothpaste tubes were made of metal, radios had tubes in them that had to warm up for several minutes before it would work, cars had knobby dashboards made of unpadded steel, and there were no seatbelts.

"Race issue" meant arguing about who ran the fastest, having a weapon in school meant being caught with a slingshot, taking drugs meant the orange-flavored chewable aspirin your mother gave you when you were sick.

Decisions were made by going "eeny-meeny-miney-moe", mistakes corrected by simply exclaiming, "Do Over!", catching fireflies in a jar could happily occupy an entire evening, and getting a foot of snow was a dream come true.

Other people born in 1942 include singers Barbra Streisand, Aretha Franklin, Bobby Rydell, Michael Nesmith and Paul McCartney, Mousketeer Annette Funicello, author Michael Crichton, actor Harrison Ford, boxer Muhammed Ali, and Barack Obama’s mother.

Riddle answer: An ear of corn

Welcome Family and Friends, to my Shiny New Blog

2008-08-13T20:59:00.021-04:00

Our family consists of me (Grammy); the love of my life for 51 years, husband for 48 (Grampy); 2 daughters (L and R); 2 sons-in-law (B and D); 6 wonderful grandchildren (S, B, R, C, L and A); brothers, in-laws, cousins and 1,000s of ancestors.

I can hear you all (especially you sons-in-law) saying, “Why does the most technically inept woman on the face of the planet want a blog?” Good question. I’m in over my head, I’m sure. But grandson S, my ‘tech guy’ set this up for me, so with his help, I’m going to try.

Photo: Jan 1964. We're 21.

Reverse Family Tradition
In writing for the Internet, I have many great family examples to follow. In fact, it’s a reverse family tradition. Five of my descendants and a son-in-law write and speak actively on the Net.

* One son-in-law’s blog has run for over 3 years. A blog reviewer wrote this about it: Distilled news, funny anecdotes and images, all with an optimistic and practical viewpoint. …enjoy his regular blogging and thoughtful insights. His anecdotes paint a picture that you easily get lost in.

* Daughter R, as part of her job, writes and publishes an on-line and printed newsletter each month.

* Grandson S has several clever, hilarious (just like him) videos on YouTube and an amazing (also like him) blog.

* Granddaughter B has had an intelligent, entertaining (just like she is) podcast for 3 1/2 years.

* Granddaughter C had an endearingly lovely, fun (just like her) 15-episode podcast with her witty Dad 3 years ago.

* Granddaughter L told her Dad that she wants a podcast after her next birthday.

* One son-in-law and the 4 oldest grandchildren Twitter regularly, 3 speak Utterz and one or two of them Twinkle.

I hope I haven’t left anything out. The only lack I see is theirs don’t have corny jokes, but I intend to make up for that!

My Topics
In each blog post I plan to write about some of the following:
Olden Times (Grampy’s stories)
Featured Relative(s) of the Month (birthday celebrants)
Riddle of the Day (for the kid in all of us) Riddle at the top, answer at the bottom.
Here’s today’s: What can run all day and never get tired?
The Wayback Machine (step in and travel back in time)
The Good Old Days (poems, etc) See below for the first.
An Ancestory (an ancestor story)

The Good Old Days
Remember When (author unknown)
The milkman used to go from door to door
And it was just a few cents more than going to the store.
The mailman knew each house by name and where things were sent
There were no loads of mail addressed “to present occupant”.

When the music that you played whenever you wanted jive
Was from a vinyl, big-holed record called a forty-five.
The record player had a post to keep them all in line
Then the records would drop down, playing one at a time.

For 20 cents a gallon you could travel near or far
In fact, across the country in your $2000 car.
Oh, the simple life we lived still seems like so much fun.
How can you explain a game, just kick the can and run?

And boys would put baseball cards in bicycle spokes,
And for a nickel red machines sold little bottled Cokes.
Life then seemed so much easier and slower in some ways,
I love the new technology but miss those good old days.

So time moves on, and so do we, and nothing stays the same
But I sure love to reminisce and walk down Memory Lane.

Riddle answer: water, also a clock (thanks, L!!)