Follow Friday- The Legal Genealogist

A blog that I have really enjoyed reading lately is The Legal Genealogist. Judy Russell was in Tom Jones' class with me at IGHR last June, so it's an added bonus that I know her personally too. Judy has a legal background which gives her blog a special twist. Added to that is Judy's ability to explain legalese to the non-legalese proficient person so that it makes sense. When she it explains it, I get it. If I read legal explanations in a book.... I have to read it several times, and even then I may not get it too well.

Judy has also generously offered to answer genealogy related legal questions for you. The answers so far have been interesting and enlightening. However, one post she wrote recently that got me thinking had nothing to do with legal issues, and was about DNA.

I've been thinking about DNA a lot lately. It just so happens the same week of her DNA posting I watched a dvd called, "The Human Family Tree"produced by National Geographic. It is about their Genographic Project, the human origins in Africa, and the various migration patterns. I found it fascinating as did my non-genealogist husband.

So there you go. Check out Judy's blog and if you can check out the National Geographic dvd.

Huxter?

Have you ever searched for your ancestors, found them, saw what was listed for their occupation, and wondered what that was? That's what happened to me. My four times great grandmother Delila Caroline (Kirby) Risenhoover Cox Pope was married three times. Her first husband Asa Risenhoover died within a year of their first/only daughter's birth. Delila's second husband, [?] Cox died in the Civil War, and her third husband James Henry Pope was supposedly a gambler. They ended up getting a divorce.

I discovered Delila and James had divorced by the 1880 Pierce City, Lawrence County, Missouri census. The census also lists James Pope's occupation as huxter [sic]. I've never heard of this before. However, just looking at the word and saying it didn't sound very good. So I grabbed my copy of A To Zax: A Comprehensive Dictionary for Genealogists & Historians by Barbara Jean Evans. According to the book a huckster is defined as, "a traveling street peddler who was not very popular with the established town merchants." Not only did the word sound shady, but the description doesn't sound very good either. I think Delila probably made a wise choice getting out of a marriage with this one.

Not So Wordless Wednesday

My surprise Christmas gift this year was a trip to California to visit with my grandfather. It was an awesome surprise! He lives not too far from San Diego and one of the places he took me to was Pacific Beach. This was perhaps one of the coolest things I've seen. 

There is a restaurant that has two surfing wave pools on opposites sides from each other. One pool is for beginners and the other is for the more experienced. This is a photo of the more experienced. Some of the guys were doing flips, but this guy really caught my attention. He was an older man with a Santa coat on. Each time it was his turn, his style was effortless and calm. Not once did he wipe out. He gave meaning to the phrase, "Poetry in motion."

Music Monday-Video Killed the Radio Star

A lot of memories are made involving music. Music Monday is a time to share a song and the memory you associate with it. This week I'm jumping into the 80's. The 80's were such a transitional decade in technology. Suddenly people had more than a handful of television channels to chose from.

In 1981 MTV launched and the first video that aired was Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles. This video and music captures the 80's not only in sound, but in style as well. Music videos also turned marketing in the music industry on its ear. Suddenly bands not only had to have good music, but a "look" as well.

At any rate, as a kid I loved going over to friends' houses that had MTV and cable. I grew up on a farm in New Jersey a mile off the main road. We couldn't get cable. They still can't. I was still stuck with the handful of channels to chose from. In hindsight that was probably not such a bad thing, but at the time I felt like I was missing out.

I first heard this song on the radio and when I finally saw the video I was mesmerized. I couldn't wait to see it again. It certainly is not a great music video, it was just different for the time. Since then music videos have evolved and are the stepping stone in many directors careers. I don't think The Buggles ever released another hit song, however they will forever be remembered... at least by me. Anytime I hear this song I immediately think back to 1981 and the first time I saw this video.

Were Your Ancestors In the Circus?

Image courtesy of The Graphics Fairy

It seems this week's theme for me has been the circus. For a couple of months I've anxiously been awaiting my turn for The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern to become available from the library. This past week I finally picked it up and I've enjoyed reading it every moment. We also went to the Ringling Bros. Circus today. It comes to town every year and we always go. There are many parts that I enjoy, but easily my favorite part is watching my children and their reactions.

However I got to wondering, if one had ancestors in the circus how would you go about researching them? So I've done a search and came up with Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida.  In September 2011 they added a center with exhibits focusing on circus performers. There is also a Circus Historical Society with a  site that has all sorts of information. There is even a blog about circus research called Hey Rube Circus. The site that seemed the most promising was Circus World Library and Research Center in Baraboo, Wisconsin. This seems like a really cool place that would be neat to visit even if you don't have circus performer ancestors. If you do have ancestors that performed in the circus there is an online library catalog to explore.

I'm sure the back stage world of a circus is just as fascinating as the center ring. If you have ancestors that were in the circus it would be a wonderful story to tell. I bet the research would be fun too!

Music Monday-Etta James

A lot of memories are made involving music. Music Monday is a time to share a song and the memory you associate with it. This week in light of the passing of Etta James, I've chosen At Last.

Before I met my husband I had a lot of dating disasters. No, really... I did. In fact, I had reached the point of acceptance that I would be the wacky school teacher on the block, who drove the beater car, and instead of a house full of cats I would have dogs. Then I met my husband. We spoke on the phone a few times before actually setting up a date. The conversations had been really good so the first date seemed promising. It turned out to be awkward. Where the conversation was easy and flowed over the phone, it was strained on the date. Later I found out he was so nervous, he didn't know what to say.

Needless to say, the second date was much better and led to many more dates. We got engaged a year later, and married a year after that. At our wedding for our first dance we chose At Last by Etta James. I know a lot of couples pick this song... it just says it all.

Etta James was a special lady who provided a lot of special moments through her music. May she rest in peace.

SLIG Envy and Inferential Evidence

Are you wishing you could attend SLIG this week? Me too. Instead I spent 5 hours researching at the Tennessee State Library and Archives (TSLA) on Saturday. By the time I left I had a headache, was hungry, and my eyes felt fatigued from looking at a lot of microfilm. I was also frustrated.

I'm working out a problem in a burn county (meaning the courthouse burned down) right now and am not finding the answers I need. Perhaps there were records that existed at one time that would have quickly provided some answers. If they did exist, it seems they went up in flames when the courthouse did. In fact, some of the microfilm I looked at this weekend was clearly taken of records that had suffered fire damage. The edges were burned and in some cases it looked like the flames started to eat toward the middle of the page.

I have a couple other sources to investigate, but finding a direct answer to my problem does not look very promising. This work I'm doing is a perfect example of having to use inferential evidence. What is that you wonder? Basically, it's using circumstantial evidence to build a case to prove your point or a relationship.

When I think of inferential evidence I immediately think of Tom Jones. Last year I was in Tom's class at IGHR and he was also an instructor in the Boston University course that I took. Tom has written several articles using inferential evidence to prove relationships. In fact, he has an excellent article on FamilySearch.org discussing this topic.

Incidentally, Tom is at SLIG this week teaching Course 9: Advanced Genealogical Methods. So while you and I may not be attending SLIG or Tom's class, we can maybe take a few moments, read Tom's article and pretend that we are there. I know it's a stretch.