Nine Things to Know About Veterans Day

1. Some people confuse Memorial Day and Veterans Day. Memorial Day honors those men and women who have died in the service of their country while Veterans Day, though it honors all who have served their country, is more about honoring and thanking those living men and women who have served in our armed forces.

2. This national day was originally known as Armistice Day. It was observed on November 11 because on the 11th month, 11th day and the 11th hour in 1918 an armistice was observed until the Treaty of Versailles could be signed officially ending World War I, or The Great War as it was then known. 

3. In 1938, Congress passed legislation to commemorate Armistice Day on November 11. Because World War I was thought to be “the war to end all wars,” this day was dedicated to world peace and those who had served their country during World War I.

4. In 1954, after both World War II and the Korean War had been fought, Congress changed the holiday from Armistice Day to Veterans Day to honor all veterans of all wars.

5. Other countries also honor their veterans on or near November 11. Both Canada and Australia observe what is known as Remembrance Day on November 11, while Great Britain observes their own Remembrance Day on the Sunday nearest to November 11.

6. In 1968, there was a big push for Monday to be the day we celebrated most federal holidays. The last Monday in October was designated for Veterans Day. Because the November 11th day had so much meaning, many states continued to observe the day on November 11. Finally, President Ford signed a bill stating that beginning in 1978 Veterans Day would again be officially observed on November 11th. 

7. While Veterans Day honors both those who have served in our Armed Forces during peacetime and wartime, approximately 75% of those Veterans we honor served during some type of conflict.

8. Since 2000, a National Veterans Awareness Week has been observed to emphasize “educational efforts directed at elementary and secondary school students concerning the contributions and sacrifices of veterans;” and to encourage “the people of the United States to observe National Veterans Awareness Week with appropriate educational activities.” This year the week is November 11 through November 17. 

9. The Library of Congress has an ongoing project to collect first-hand accounts of Wartime stories through volunteer contributions of video, audio and written narratives. Called the Veterans History Project, its primary focus is on preservation of Veterans’ experiences for the following wars: a. World War I b. World War II c. Korean War d. Viet Nam War e. Persian Gulf War f. Afghanistan and Iraq Conflicts.  

To read more about the project or to find out how to submit your own personal wartime experiences go to http://www.loc.gov/vets/about.html. Our heart felt thanks to all of you who have answered the call of duty to serve our country in both war and peacetime. This week and Veterans Day is a time for all of us to reflect on the honor of your personal sacrifices.

Until Next Time . . . 

Note this post first published online, November 12, 2007, at Desktop Genealogist Blog at The News-Messenger Online http://www.thenews-messenger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=BLOGS02

©12 November  2007, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

Desktop Genealogist does her part for BGSU research

Yesterday, I took a lovely little break from my daily routine to be interviewed by doctoral candidate Amy Smith, a student in the School of Communication Studies at BGSU. She is working on her dissertation, the purpose of which is to examine the impact of women doing family history research and its effect on family communications. For this study, she is interviewing 21 women from our area. I was number 12.

The deal-sealer for me was being interviewed meant that I had the chance to see something other than the four walls of my own home office. So I trotted off to spend an hour with Amy, talking about research and swapping the genealogical equivalent of war stories. Amy was charming, funny and very easy to talk to, which was a real bonus since I would have talked quite cheerfully to Attila the Hun given the chance to be let out of my customary cage. 

I wish I had taken notes, so that I could share more details with you. I did take my notebook and a pen but it's hard to take notes with all that arm flailing I do when I talk. This mad gesturing as I speak was seen as a serious flaw by my eighth-grade English teacher, who told me if they cut off my arms, I would be mute. (I hope this doesn't give anyone ideas.)

Amy gave me the chance to request anonymity when she publishes her work, but since I've already publicly copped to laugh snorting, hating Halloween and being a statistics geek, I didn't think there would be much point. What could I possibly say in an hour that would be worse? I will be getting a copy of Amy's work, when it is completed. It will be interesting to see her conclusions and read what the others had to say about what drew them to genealogy, their research methods and whether or not the study of family history has enhanced communication within their own families.

 All I know is that in my family, I'm able to read perfectly the glazing of the eyes, the stifled yawn and the impatient drum of fingertips that tell me that I have gone one syllable too far with my ancestral chatter. Yup, genealogy certainly has improved my family's ability to communicate. 

Until Next Time — Happy Ancestral Digging! 

Note this post first published online, November 9, 2007, at Desktop Genealogist Blog at The News-Messenger Online http://www.thenews-messenger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=BLOGS02

©9 November 2007, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

Three Days of Ancestry.com — Free!

I wish I could take credit for this catch but it was Lisa's “100 Years in America “blog (http://100inamerica.blogspot.com/2007/11/nows-your-chance-free-access-to.html) that first mentioned 3 days of unlimited access to Ancestry.com. Not only is it free, but no credit card information is required. You will need to give your name and e-mail address, but that might net you a discount offer from my favorite genealogy subscription service — just in time for Christmas!

If you've ever wanted to give Ancestry a try, this is your chance. Here's the link to take advantage of the offer: http://landing.ancestry.com/popularmedia/hs1.aspx?landingpage=3DF_nc&o_iid=32618&o_lid=32618&o_it=32845Add).

You might want to think about which three days you will have the most time to “play.” Me — I saw the link, clicked it and then thought, darn why didn't I wait until Friday. So, you'll understand if I cut this post short. I want to follow up on some Hamburg Passenger lists to see if my great-grandparents are listed, and I need to take a closer look on the 1870 census now that I know where to look for a distant cousin, and then I want to ... well, you get the idea.

Until Next Time — Happy Ancestral Digging!

Note this post first published online, November 7, 2007, at Desktop Genealogist Blog at The News-Messenger Online http://www.thenews-messenger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=BLOGS02

© 7 November 2007, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about U.S. Presidential Elections

Please, please, please tell me that someone out there is every bit the information junkie and statistics geek that I am. If you are out there, do I have a Web site for you! Dave Leip's Atlas of US Presidential Elections (http://www.uselectionatlas.org/) has a mountain of statistics on just about anything you ever wanted to know about presidential elections.

Not only is he keeping track of polling information for the 2008 race, but also he has state-by-state electoral vote totals from the very first presidential election — all on pretty data-colored maps. The most challenging part of the Web site has to do with the coloring of those maps. Dave has colored Republicans in blue and Democrats in red. Once you get past that hurdle, everything is easy to read and navigate. 

There are certain pieces of information that require a subscription. For instance if you wanted to see which candidate was voted for at the county level you would need to be a subscriber for the 1872 to 1956 election years. But the county-level information from 1960 forward is available for all to see. This is how I know that Sandusky County has only voted for a democratic presidential candidate twice in that time period. That occurred in 1996, when our county voted for Bill Clinton and in 1964 when we voted for Lyndon Johnson. 

Want to know how many times the State of Ohio has voted in presidential elections? Fifty-one times. The very first time was in 1804 when we voted for Thomas Jefferson with our three votes in the Electoral College.

Want to know the most electoral votes the State of Ohio has had? The answer is 26 — in years 1932, 1936, 1940, 1964 and 1968. In the 2004 election, we had 20 electoral votes. I didn't know until I looked at Dave's Web site that Texas, Mississippi and Virginia did not vote in the 1868 election because they had not yet been readmitted to the Union. 

Nor did I know that the two major candidates running in the 1920 Presidential Election both called Ohio home. (This was Warren G. Harding and James Cox.) For these and other tidbits of presidential information, be sure to check out the Web site. Just make sure you have plenty of time when you do. There are all sorts of “doorways” to little treasure troves of information — perfect for a statistics geek like me.

 Until Next Time — Happy Ancestral Digging! PS — Don't forget to vote! 

Note this post first published online, November 6, 2007, at Desktop Genealogist Blog at The News-Messenger Online http://www.thenews-messenger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=BLOGS02

© 6 November 2007, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

Reflections on a Blog's Two-Month Anniversary

So yesterday, Nov. 4 was the two-month anniversary for this blog. I wish we had a sound-enabled Web site because you would be hearing one toot of a party horn right about NOW (think A over middle C).

It probably will come as no surprise to anyone that I was not exactly blog literate when I undertook this task. I had an idea, a chance to pitch it, and finally the thumbs up to try it. I was particularly pleased that the News-Messenger gave the green light for a blogging newbie over the age of 50 to jump into Weblogging waters. And the water, I must say, is just fine.

I want to take the opportunity to thank all of you who have stopped by and read a post or two along the way. I'm grateful for your time. (And to anyone who had a headache after reading my “First cousins, three times removed?” I heartily apologize — MY BRAIN still hurts from that one.) I also want to thank those of you who take the time to comment. I learn a lot from your posts. Sometimes, your remarks give me direction, and keep me from banging my head on the desk moaning, “What to write, what to write.” (Thanks Dawn, for letting me use your comments in a post — you're a brave one!)

Thanks goes to my editor Eric, who never complains when I send a frantic e-mail — “Change the last sentence!!!!!!” — or something similar. Of course, I suspect that he may mumble something under his breath but hey, you can't hear that kind of thing over the Internet so I remain blissfully unaware.

A big thank you goes to my family for their support and comments. I appreciate that you are all still more or less talking to me. (Cheryl I did read your warning e-mail about going alone to the cemetery to meet with the Michigan and Indiana cousins but it was too late — thanks for worrying. I am meeting another stranger on Thursday, but in a library and my husband has made me promise to ask her if she has any history of ax murdering before I sit down with her.) 

Thanks also to my husband, who lucky for me has a sense of humor. He keeps threatening to get his own blog for rebuttal. Man, would I be in TROUBLE.

So here's hoping I'm around for another two months. Where else could I use my favorite new word, nefarious, twice in the same week? (Okay, I promise — I will give nefarious a rest.) 

Until Next Time — Happy Ancestral Blogging 

Note this post first published online, November 5, 2007, at Desktop Genealogist Blog at The News-Messenger Online http://www.thenews-messenger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=BLOGS02

©5 November 2007, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

How I Spend My Fridays

I thought you might like to know how I spend my Fridays. I have two very nice bosses (thanks Leslie and Sam) who let me scrunch my workweek into four days so that I can have Fridays free to have a weekly play date with Teddy (the blue bear in the picture) and his friend, my three-year-old grandson.

Teddy actually came to my house when I purchased him 3 years, 2 months and 2 days ago, which happened to be the day that my grandson and I started the first of our weekly play dates. Over the last eight months or so Teddy has been more or less going home with his friend, my grandson, every week. In fact, Teddy has a much richer life than I do. 

He has gone to North Carolina on vacation, taken a train trip, gone grocery shopping, been carried up library steps in search of a good book and spent many a morning at a local park or two swinging in the warm sunlight. I have it on good authority from my daughter-in-law that Teddy is a big bed hog at night and demands more than his share of the bed. The bed in question happens to be her and my stepson's bed, but gets the occasional nightly visit from Teddy and his young friend. 

For a while, the blue bear would even start talking spontaneously — no one being anywhere in his vicinity, saying things like, “Are you sleepy too?” “Tell me a bedtime story.” The first time these unnatural speeches sounded, I was alone in my house. I heard the noise but I couldn't pin point where it was coming from. When I would go and look for the source — silence. It took me about three days to figure out what was going on. It was my own fault — I had put Teddy in the washing machine, because he had been dropped in the dirt — and well, I'm just saying, talking bears don't belong in washing machines. 

When my little buddy and I play cards, Teddy also gets dealt a hand. When I object that Teddy is getting more than his share of cards, my grandson reminds me, “Well, you have to share, Maw T-U.” It's hard to fault that logic. 

Teddy also is the subject of all kinds of photographic attempts. My grandson and I “share” grandma's old Sony camera on Fridays. The three year old is fascinated by anything electronic and the Sony, which I've used to record our moments together, has long held an irresistible lure for the boy. Finally this year, I decided the Sony and the boy were both old enough to take the risk of letting him attempt picture taking.

I think the above picture is one of mine, because it was taken before I showed the boy how to zoom in on his subjects, but I can't be certain. The zoom in feature turned out to be an instant hit. “Awesome!” my young friend proclaimed after he reminded me that, “No, I can do it.”

Awesome seems to be a new favorite phrase - caterpillars are awesome, watching ants through the magnifying glass - awesome. I like this much better than the last phrase he was sprinkling in his conversations - “I farted.” Nice!” 

Naptime comes right after lunch. “Don't forget Teddy.” I'm always reminded. Then, “Cover Teddy up.” “Read to Teddy.” When we read the pigeon books by Mo Williams or “Brown Bear, Brown Bear,” the three year old will “read” the books himself - he loves the page that you yell, “I'M NOT TIRED!” but our naptime book for the last month has been, “My Truck is Stuck,” a book originally found at the library that caused a tearful scene when mean grandma wouldn't let him take it home with him. He loves the book, and when I say, “You read it to Teddy.” He looks at me with big blue eyes and says, “I can't read.” Like Grandma, who you kiddin' here — read the gosh darn book and quit giving me grief!

So I read, then we snuggle in for a nap. (“Why do we have to take a nap?” “Because Grandma gets cranky if we don't.” Long pause. “Oh.” — subject closed.) 

And that, my friends is how I spend my Fridays — no genealogy, no work, no blogging — just lots of Teddy and the grandson to fill up my time. Until Next Time … 

Note this post first published online, November 2, 2007, at Desktop Genealogist Blog at The News-Messenger Online http://www.thenews-messenger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=BLOGS02

© 2 November 2007, The Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder 

First cousins, three times removed?

The other day I featured a death certificate for Edwin J McQuillin, who died in 1913. At the time, I mentioned I was his first cousin, three times removed. Ever wonder exactly what a first cousin three times removed is? 

Say your name is Joe and your sister's name is Alice. You and Alice have a sibling relationship. Then you, Joe, get married, and have a son and because you have no imagination, you name your son Joe 1. I know, technically it would be Joe Jr. but in this case, you, Joe, love flaunting convention and name the kid, Joe 1. Alice, who adores her older sibling, decides when she has a daughter, to name her Alice 1 in the same tradition as big brother Joe.

Joe 1 and Alice 1 are cousins, or to be more exact, they are FIRST COUSINS. Joe 1 gets married, and has a son naming him Joe 2. (The family is obviously missing an “originality” gene.) Alice 1 has a daughter, and names her; you guessed it, Alice 2. Joe 2 and Alice 2 are SECOND COUSINS. 

Joe 2 marries and has a son, naming him what else, Joe 3. Alice 2 marries and has a daughter that she names Alice 3. Joe 3 and Alice 3 are THIRD COUSINS. 

Joe 3 marries and has a daughter, but stuck in family tradition decides to name her Joe 4. Alice 3 also marries and has a daughter, which she names Alice 4. Joe 4 and Alice 4 are FOURTH COUSINS.

Are you still with me?  

The relationship between Joe 1 and Alice 1 is that of FIRST COUSINS. Joe 1 and Alice 1 are of the same generation. But what is the relationship between Joe 1 and Alice 2 (Alice 1's daughter)? Joe 1 and Alice 2 are not part of the same generation, but rather, of different generations. In this case, there is a difference of one generation, or they are REMOVED by one generation. That is why Joe 1 and Alice 2 are said to be FIRST COUSINS ONCE REMOVED. (Or sometimes written 1st Cousins 1X Removed).

Joe 1 and Alice 3 then would be two generations different or removed, and would be considered FIRST COUSINS TWICE REMOVED. (1st Cousins 2X Removed.)

What would be the relationship between Joe 2 and Alice 3? To determine this, first look to see whom in Alice's family is in the SAME generation as Joe 2 (this is where seeing my little illustration is helpful). The answer is Alice 2. We know from our previous discussion that Joe 2 and Alice 2 are second cousins. But Joe 2 and Alice 3 are not of the same generation. Alice 3 is one generation removed from being Joe 2's second cousin. In other words, Joe 2 and Alice 3 are SECOND COUSINS ONCE REMOVED. (2nd Cousin 1X Removed.)

In the case of Edwin and myself, the generations break down like this. My great-great-grandmother Catherine Good was a sibling of Mary M. Good. Catherine had a son John Perry and Mary's son was Edwin. They were first cousins. 

John Perry had a daughter, my grandmother, named Katheryne. Edwin had a daughter named Olive. Katheryn and Olive were second cousins.

Katheryne had a daughter, my mom, named Phyllis. Olive had a son named Gay. Phyllis and Gay are third cousins. 

Phyllis had a daughter named Terry (me!) and Gay had a son named Francis. Francis and I are fourth cousins. 

So what is the relationship between Edwin and me? Well you have to go back to Edwin's generation and see who in my family tree was of this same generation. In this case, it was my great-grandfather John Perry Lynch. Edwin and John Perry were FIRST COUSINS. Then it's a matter of counting how many generations that I am removed from Edwin  and John Perry — the answer is three. (Kathryne would be one, Phyllis would be two and Terry (me) would be three. This makes Edwin and I FIRST COUSINS THREE TIMES REMOVED. (1st Cousins 3X Removed.)

Don't worry, if you didn't follow all of that. Most genealogy programs have a relationship calculator that will tell you the exact relationship without all that head scratching.

Until Next Time — Happy Ancestral Digging! Note this post first published online, November 1, 2007, at Desktop Genealogist Blog at The News-Messenger Online http://www.thenews-messenger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=BLOGS02

© 1November 2007 and revised 3 Dec 2022, Desktop Genealogist Unplugged, Teresa L. Snyder