Speaking of the Census.....

Did you know the 1930 census is now available online to genealogists? Yep, it is and that's where I've been lately; searching the 1930 census (through ancestry.com) to find all those lost relatives in my family tree. And I'm doing fairly well. The trick is to search any and all first names and/or initials, use spouse's names to further refine the search, and just keep digging.


So I've decided to take a break from blogging for a while and concentrate on my genealogy. But I'll post a photo of one of my flowers now and then just to let you know I'm still around. Thanks for visiting us here Amongst The Oaks.

Old Family Photo 1947

Recently we celebrated my great aunt's 99th birthday. There were cards, flowers, cousins, cake and old family photos. This was one of the old photos. It shows a family reunion at my Granny and Grandpa's house around 1947. Six of my grandmother's siblings (out of 11) made it to the party with their spouses and children. So I easily recognize my mom and her siblings, and some of my cousins, but some of those great uncles and second cousins are a mystery. Thankfully, my dad and aunt recognize more of the people and we are gradually figuring everyone out. Thank goodness for these old relatives and their memories. And thank goodness for the ancestor who had the idea to record this occasion on film.

Ancestors in 1869

The Lord of the Manor's cousin in France recently sent us this photo of the family taken in 1869. I showed you the same family back in February. The other photo was taken twenty years after this photo, but they are sitting in the same locations! In this photo the mother is 43 years old and has had eleven children. She has her last about a year after this photo. What a woman! (And here I am at 54 with only two teenagers whinging about my troubles. What a wimp.)

Genealogy

Do you ever lay awake at night with sleep evading you, thinking of things you need to do? And planning out how to do them? I do. Like Wednesday night whilst the Lord of the Manor was snoring away totally oblivious to the fact that he was shaking the wallpaper right off the walls and I was still awake staring at the clock, I was doing that. But I just cannot wake him up and tell him to roll over because I know how much he struggles to get a good night's sleep so I don't disturb him. I ended up on the couch.





Anyway there I was thinking of all the things I wanted to do, and one of them was genealogy. And painting the dining room, but that's another story. Several years ago when my kids were little, I started on it and got a program for my computer and entered lots of information. Then the computer died and I transferred all my data to the new computer and thought I'd get back to it soon. But the years went by, and that computer died too. I again transferred all the data knowing I'd get back to it soon. You see where this is going, don't you? Yep, I never got back to it, I don't have the program on my computer anymore, and I have no idea where the back up disk is. But I do have all my paper files.




So here is where my midnight thoughts took me: I really need to get a new program and enter all the information again. And so yesterday I ordered a new program and soon I will start entering the data again. And then we can share stories and photos of people like this with everyone.

This is my mother's family shortly after they arrived in California from Oklahoma. My mother is the little one in the front making the funny face. I think I looked just like that at that age. Funny face and all.

Crail, Scotland Family Photo

click to enlarge

This photo was taken in 1889 near Crail, Scotland at the Lord of the Manor's ancestor's home. It shows LOM's great great grandparents and their eleven children. See the tiny lady with the white shawl on her shoulders? That's his great great grandmother and she was only 63 in this picture. Doesn't she look ancient? Having a child every other year for 22 years will do that to you. She had her first baby at 23 and her last at 44. She actually gave birth to more than eleven, but eleven survived to adulthood.

The father of the family is the seated man with the white beard. He was born in 1820, so he is 69 in this photo. The children range in age from 19 to 40. The two sitting on the ground are Charlotte (21), and Ernest (19). From left to right in the middle row are Alex (30), Mother, Susan (23), Father, and Christian (35). Standing on the back row are James (39), Mary (37), Euphemia (24), John (40), Edward (28 and the LOM's great grandfather), and William (31).

Life was certainly different back then, wasn't it? While this family was healthy, well educated and had some wealth, they still lived without indoor plumbing, cars, telephones, televisions, and computers. And what an adventurous lot; some traveled to foreign shores in the Queen's service and came home again to tell the tale. And some traveled to foreign shores and put down roots, had children, and never saw their parents again. But thank goodness their descendants can make the connections, share the photos, visit the old home, and keep alive their memories.

added later::Someone asked why so many of the people are not looking at the camera. I know why the two men in the upper right aren't. One had a damaged eye and didn't want anyone to see that. And the other had a cleft palate which he passed on to his daughter the well-known California artist Effie Charlton Fortune. As for the others, I have no clue.