Family Events - Week of March 29 to April 4

Timothy McMAHON - Timothy is my third great-grandfather.  He was born in December 1845 in Tippeary, Ireland.  He died on 29 March 1913 in Chicago, Illinois.

Thomas Michael CAHILL - Thomas is my great-granduncle.  He died on 30 March 1972 in Danville, Vermillion, Illinois (date calculated based on date of obituary).

Richard FOX - Richard is my ninth great-grandfather.  He died on 31 March 1709 in Glastonbury, Hartford, Connecticut.*

John PRICE - John is my seventh great-grandfather.  He died on 31 March 1737 in Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut.*

Mabel Louise ROTTMAN - Mabel is my great-grandaunt.  She died on 1 April 1961.

Robert PARKS & Elizabeth HALL - Robert and Elizabeth are my sixth great-grandparents.  They married on 2 April 1760 in Plainfield, Windham, Connecticut.

Herman Paul LEPPIN - Herman is my great-granduncle.  He died on 3 April 1948 in Phoenix, Maricopa, Arizona at the age of 47.

Robert PARKE - Robert is my eleventh great-grandfather.  He died on 3 April 1593 in Gestingthorpe, Essex, England.*

*Based on information from several compiled source, of which I have not personally verified at this time.

Weekly Genealogy Blogging Prompt #12

Prompt:  Use your blog to break down a brick wall. Posting a name may ring a bell with a reader. Maybe you’ll make a connection in 5 minutes. May be it will take 2 years. Either way, asking for help is the first step to knocking down that wall.

Ahh, brick walls.  We all probably have so many it's hard to pick just one.  I've chosen to talk about my paternal line brick wall.  I'm able to go back six generation, but that sixth one is in need of a big drill to start knocking down the wall.

Michael CAHILL and Anne HALE are my third great-grandparents.  They were both born in Ireland, likely Kilkenny County.  They were married on 30 January 1855 in Thomastown, Kilkenny, Leinster, Ireland.  They probably both died in Ireland.

To my knowledge, they had five children:  John (1856-?), Thomas Robert (1864-1929), John F (1866-1937), Margaret (1867-?), and Daniel J (1870-?).

Thomas is my second great-grandfather and I have been able to find plenty on information on him and his family.  I've also found a lot of information on John F and his family.  I'd really like to know more about John, Margaret, and Daniel J.

I'd also like to find out more about Michael and Anne.  When/where were they born?  When/where did they die?  Did they have any other children?  Who were their parents?  Did they have any siblings?

If anyone out there has any information or ideas for searches, please leave a comment on this post.

Saturday in the Attic - 03/28/09

This is a scrapbook from my grandfather's time in World War II.

I'm not sure who put it together.  My grandmother liked to do scrapbooks, so it may have been her.  There are many pictures and some articles.  It is in very fragile condition so I haven't combed through it in great detail as of yet.

My grandfather was a bridge builder in the 167th Combat Engineers Battalion Company C and was overseas until after the war ended.  I don't know a lot about his time over there, but it's on my list of things I want to explore.  There is a website that has some great information about this particular Battalion.  I've tried to contact the person who put it together, but have never heard back from him.  The web master is the son of someone who was also in the Battalion, and although he was in Company B, I wonder if he happen to know my grandfather.  I do wish I would have heard back from them...perhaps I'll try for a third time!

Wordless Wednesday - 03/25/09

Diigo Bookmarks (weekly)

• Cemetery Symbols

  tags: gravestone symbols

• Cemetery Iconography

  tags: gravestone symbols

• Grave and Gravestone Markings and Symbols

  tags: gravestone symbols

• VII. Glossary: Guidelines for Evaluating and Registering Cemeteries and Burial Places, National Register of Historic Places Bulletin (Nrb 41)

  tags: cemeteries, burial, cemetery, grave markers, glossary

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Family Events - Week of March 22 to March 28

Herman LEPPIN & Minnie HAEMFIFLER - Herman and Minnie are my second great-grandparents.  They were married on 26 March 1894 in Cook County, Illinois.  Herman was born on 22 March 1873.

Samuel PARKE - Samuel is my ninth great-grandfather.  He died on 22 March 1709 in Stonington, New London, Connecticut.

Alvina WACH - Alvina is my second great-grandaunt.  She was born in Germany around 1873.  She died on 24 March 1959 (calculated based on date of obituary and funeral).

Noah WEBSTER - Noah is my second cousin nine times removed (father of dictionary Noah Webster).  He was born on 25 March 1722 in Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut.

Julie Marie CAHILL - Happy birthday to me on March 25th.

Saturday in the Attic - 03/21/09

In honor of my birthday next week, I thought I'd share another greeting card.

This card was given to my family upon my birth in 1977.  It's from from Jim and Ruth (Ruth is my first cousin twice removed on my mom's side).  It's one of my favorites, as anyone who knows me, knows I love elephants.

Wordless Wednesday - 03/18/09

Carnival/Meme Roundup - February 2009

Things were a little hectic around the end of February and I completely forgot to post the roundup for the month!  My apologies.  Better late than never, here are the events that the genea-bloggers participated in during the month of February.

• Carnival of Genealogy - The Happy Dance
• Canadian Genealogy Carnival - Around the Kitchen Table
• Smile for the Camera - Costume
• Carnival of Genealogy - iGene Awards
• Cabinet of Curiosities - Away With the Fairies
• Carnival of Central & Eastern Europe Genealogy - Carousel Edition
• Graveyard Rabbit Carnival - Exceptional Finds

Using a Digital Voice Recorder in Your Genealogy Research

In December, I bought myself a digital voice recorder for Christmas.  I got the Olympus WS-210S Voice Recorder, which had great reviews. 

I love it!  It's come in really handy for genealogical research.  Below is a list of ways you could use a digital voice recorder in your own research.

If you are considering purchasing a digital voice recorder, I recommend the one I purchased.  It has great features at a reasonable price, and I'm able to do all the things listed below.  Regardless, you need to decide what you want to use it for and do some research to find one that suits your needs.  Also, pay attention to customer reviews; there may be shortcomings, but they could be ones you could deal with if the price is right.

Interviews & Oral Histories

This is a great way to capture oral information from family (or those who knew your family members).  Many of the digital recorders allow you to upload files to your computer and save them as digital media files; this is a great way to preserve these memories.

Research Notes & Ideas

If you're in a hurry, recording information orally is much faster than transcribing by writing or typing.  You can then enter information in a notebook or your computer later.  It's also a great tool when you're away from your computer or don't have your notebook, to capture various ideas, whether a research lead or a blog post.

Cemetery Research

The one thing I've been using it frequently for is cemetery research.  I rely mainly on photographs of the stones, however, for those hard-to-read ones, I was previously writing the information down.  Now, I pull out the recorder and transcribe them orally.  I state the photo number and say the information on the stone.

Do you have a digital voice recorder?  What do you use it for?  Post some comments and let me know...I'm always looking for other great ideas!!

Diigo Bookmarks - Weekly (weekly)

• BMD Registers: The Official Non-Parochial BMDs Service

  tags: bmd, non-conformist records, uk

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

Family Events - Week of March 15 to March 21

Robert Emmett CAHILL - Robert is my great-granduncle.  He died on 17 March 1974 in Aurora, Kane, Illinois.

Timothy G "Thomas" McMAHON - Thomas is my great-granduncle.  He was born on 17 March 1904 in Chicago, Illinois.

Mary Eva REEDER - Mary is my second great-grandmother.  She was born in France, likely on 18 March 1849.

Jonathan WEBSTER - Jonathan is my eighth great-grandfather.  He was born on 18 March 1681 in Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut.*

John WEBSTER Jr. - John is my fifteenth great-grandfather.  He died on 20 March 1558 in Cossington Leicestershire, England.*

*Based on information from several compiled source, of which I have not personally verified at this time.

Saturday in the Attic - 03/14/09

In honor of St. Patrick's Day and the Irish in me, I thought I'd share a St. Patty's Day card.

This card is from my dad.  The copyright on the card is 1988, so it's pretty likely that's the year I received it.  It would be the second to last St. Patrick's Day my dad would celebrate, as he died in October 1989.

Wordless Wednesday - 03/11/09

Family Events - Week of March 8 to March 14

Van Rennselaer Cash VLIET - Van Rennselaer is the husband of my third great-grandaunt, Polly Ann WEBSTER.  He died on 9 March 1915 in Clarkston, Oakland, Michigan.

Mae WACH - Mae is my first cousin three times removed.  She was born in Chicago around 1906.  She died on 9 March 2004 in Oxnard, Ventura, California.

Margaret STOFFEL - Margaret is my great-grandaunt.  She was born on 10 March 1899 in Illinois.

Anna Eva Elizabeth ROTTMAN - Anna is my first cousin twice removed.  She was born on 12 March 1904 in Cedar Rapids, Linn, Iowa.  She died in 2002 at the age of 98.  To my knowledge, Anna was the family historian for the Rottman family.

Ashbel WEBSTER - Ashbel is my sixth great-grandfather.  He was born on 12 March 1733 in Hartford, Hartford, Connecticut.*

Polly Ann WEBSTER - Polly is my third great-grandaunt (see VLIET above).  She died on 12 March 1910 in Clarkston, Oakland, Michigan.

James Manly GARRISON - James is my first cousin twice removed.  Jim died three years ago on 13 March 2006 in Radnor, Delaware, Ohio.

*Based on information from several compiled source, of which I have not personally verified at this time.

Celebrate Your Name - March 8

It's Celebrate Your Name Week.  So to celebrate, I'm going to do a post for each day's festivities.

Today is Genealogy Day

Join in on one of the world’s fastest growing hobbies and celebrate names at the same time.

I think I can safely say, this one is DONE!!

Weekly Genealogy Blogging Prompt #8

Prompt:  Talk about highlights and events from your local genealogy society. Most genealogy bloggers are members of several historical societies and love to hear about the events in other organizations. This is also a great way to attract new members.

This is actually something I started doing a month or so ago.  Since many of those posts included event for the remainder of the year, I will simply post those links below.

Upcoming Meeting of the Chicago Genealogical Society

Upcoming Meetings of the Kane County Genealogical Society (Illinois)

Upcoming Meetings of the Genealogical Forum of Elmhurst, Illinois

What Exactly is the Significance of St. Patrick's Day?

It's time for the 12th edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage & Culture. In honor of St. Patrick's Day, the theme for this edition is a parade of all things Irish.

Growing up, we always celebrated St. Patrick's Day with corned beef and cabbage, all the while wearing our green apparel. Until now, I had no idea who St. Patrick was, or what the significance of the day was. I did some digging to learn about this person, this day, and essentially, more about my Irish heritage.

St. Patrick, Who Was He?

St. Patrick is believed to have been born at the end of the fourth century in Britain. When he was sixteen, he was taken from his home by Irish pirates. He was held prisoner in Ireland for six years, working as a slave. During this time, we relied heavily on his Christian faith and prayed every day.

He escaped captivity and returned home to Britain. He spent more than fifteen years in religious training, after which he was ordained. St. Patrick returned to Ireland as a missionary. It is believed that he founded 365 Christian churches throughout Northern Ireland.

Each source I read indicated a different year of St. Patrick's death. But all sources note the 17th of March as the day. Most sources point to the later half of the fifth century as the year.

St. Patrick's Day

The 17th of March signifies St. Patrick's death and has been celebrated as a religious holiday for over a thousand years. On this day, Irish folk would observe the holiday by heading to church in the morning and celebrating in the afternoon. Oddly enough, St. Patrick's day occurs during Lent, so the "no-meat" rule does not apply for the celebration.

Today, St. Patrick's Day is celebrated in numerous way in several countries, by Irish and non-Irish.

So What's With the Corned Beef?

The Irish would traditionally feast on Irish bacon and cabbage. Corned beef came into play when the Irish in New York were looking for a cheaper alternative. Corned beef is now the staple for Irish-Americans.

And What About All That Green?

It is believed that the color blue was long associated with St. Patrick and St. Patrick's Day. It is likely that the color green became associated with St. Patrick's Day merely because green is the color of the Irish, and is the color of the shamrock.

I remember when I was younger, my dad said that we could also wear orange. To this day I never understood why. My guess would be that it's because orange, like green, is in the flag of Ireland.

Conclusion

So that's what I learned today and it's only the tip of the iceberg. To learn more, check out the sources I used (below).

---

Photos

1. Statue of St. Patrick, by Pierre, permission under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 license.

2. Chicago River St Patrick's Day 2008, photographed by Mathprog777, permission under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 license.

Sources

1. History.com, "Saint Patrick's Day," website.

2. St. Patrick's Day, website.

3. Wikipedia, "Saint Patrick's Day," website.

4. Wikipedia, "Saint Patrick," website.

Celebrate Your Name - March 7

It's Celebrate Your Name Week.  So to celebrate, I'm going to do a post for each day's festivities.

Today is Middle Name Pride Day

Today’s name celebration requires honesty and boldness. Tell three people who don’t already know it, what your middle name is.

Instead, I'll share it with all my readers...it's Marie.

Saturday in the Attic - 03/07/09

This is one of the oldest memorial cards that I have.  And for the longest time, I couldn't place her in the family.  When I made the discovery about Tessie Karas (post 1, post 2, post 3) being a Cahill, I also figured out that this card was for her mother, Anna M GLYNN Cahill.

Celebrate Your Name - March 6

It's Celebrate Your Name Week.  So to celebrate, I'm going to do a post for each day's festivities.

Today is Nametag Day

Celebrate your name by wearing it proudly!  (Not necessarily suggested for unsupervised children.)

So here's my virtual nametag...

Celebrate Your Name - March 5

It's Celebrate Your Name Week.  So to celebrate, I'm going to do a post for each day's festivities.

Today is Learn What Your Name Means Day

There are many online sites with a names/naming theme (utilize a search engine such as Google to find them).

I found various meanings for my name, all of which suit me just fine:  soft-haired, youthful, downy, and vivacious.

Wordless Wednesday - 03/04/09

Joseph CAHILL 03-06-1945 ~ 10-23-1989

Celebrate Your Name - March 4

It's Celebrate Your Name Week.  So to celebrate, I'm going to do a post for each day's festivities.

Today is Unique Names Day

This is the day for all people to appreciate friends, acquaintances and loved ones who have a unique name.  Let's acknowledge them for going through life without seeing their name on things such as ready-made key chains, etc.

Celebrate Your Name - March 3

It's Celebrate Your Name Week.  So to celebrate, I'm going to do a post for each day's festivities.

Today is Fun Facts Day

Celebrate names today by finding fun facts about names.

According to Behind the Name, Julie is a French form of Julia.  In French, it's pronounced zhoo-LEE, while in English it is pronounced JOO-lee.

"Julie Don't Live Here" is a song by the Electric Light Orchestra.

Ranked #302 on the Social Security Administration list for babies born in 2007.  In the year I was born (1977) it was ranked #58.

Julie/Julia is the feminine form of Julius.

The name Julie appeared in a non-French literary work, Miss Julie, written in 1888 by a Swedish playwright, August Strindberg.

Celebrate Your Name - March 2

It's Celebrate Your Name Week.  So to celebrate, I'm going to do a post for each day's festivities.

Today is Namesake Day

Today is for thinking about where you got your name and if you were named after a particular person, place, etc. Also, to identify (e.g., via a search engine such as Google) people with the same name as yours, if any.

I was named after a character on Days of Our Lives, Julie Williams, played by Susan Seaforth-Hayes.  No one else in my family has my name, which is strange considering it is a pretty popular name.  There are however, a few Julias in the tree.

Names, Places & Most Wanted Faces

Taking the bait from Craig over at GeneaBlogie, here's my list of names, places, and most wanted faces.

Names	Places
Cahill	Cook Co., Illinois Kane Co. Illinois Thomastown, Kilkenny, Ireland
Garrison	Cook Co., Illinois Picton, Ontario, Canada
Leppin	Cook Co., Illinois Germany
McMahon	Cook Co. Illinois Tipperary, Ireland
Miller/Mueller/Muller	Cook Co., Illinois Germany
Millet	Kane Co., Illinois Kilkenny, Ireland
Mulligan	Genesee Co., Michigan
Norton/Naughton	Connecticut Rutland Co. Vermont England
Parks/Parke	New London Co., Connecticut Oakland Co., Michigan
Rottman	Cook Co., Illinois Eastern Iowa/Western Illinois (Quad Cities) Germany
Ryan	Tipperary, Ireland Dublin, Ireland
Schwartz	Kane Co., Illinois Luxemburg, Germany
Stoffel	Cook Co., Illinois Frankfort, Germany
Trapp	Cook Co., Illinois Lake Co., Illinois Germany
Wach	Cook Co., Illinois Prussia, Brandenburg, Germany
Ward	Cook Co. Illinois Ireland
Webster	New England States Oakland Co., Michigan

Most Wanted Faces

I'd really like to find Sarah Jane WARD McMahon's parents.  Mother's name was Bridget; father's name unknown to me.  Both were born in Ireland.

Also on the list, Hulda WACH Miller's parents.  Mother's name was Amelia/Emilie; father's name is unknown to me.  Both were born in Germany.

Family Events - Week of March 1 to March 8

Joan Garrison McMAHON - Joan is my paternal grandmother.  She was born on 6 February 1927 in Oak Park, Cook, Illinois.  She died on 1 March 1980 while visiting family in Florida.

Stephen HOPKINS & Dorcas BROWNSON - Stephen and Dorcas are my tenth great-grandparents.  They were married on 4 March 1657 in Connecticut.*

Joseph CAHILL - Joseph is my dad.  He was born on 6 March 1945 in Chicago, Cook, Illinois.  He died on 23 October 1989 in Elmhurst, DuPage, Illinois.  He would have celebrated his 64th birthday this year.

Ethan Ellen WARREN - Ethen is my first cousin six times removed.  He was born on 6 March 1786 in Hampton, Washington, New York.  He died on 24 December 1855.*

Anna GLYNN - Anna is my second great-grandaunt.  She was born in Ireland in October 1867.  She dies on 7 March 1937 in Cook County, Illinois.

*Based on information from several compiled source, of which I have not personally verified at this time.