[For some reason my last post, the greeting to the Southern California Genealogical Society's Jamboree, did not get posted as scheduled. I apologize.]
For the past four days, I have been at Walt Disney World with my younger daughter and her best friend. My daughter had a rocky start to the trip, and her friend and I concluded that it was because she had not Consumed the Mouse as we already had -- she had not breakfasted on Mickey Waffles, thick (and quite tasty, really) waffles in the shape of Mickey Mouse's head. By this ritual, we take into ourselves the virtues of Mickey Mouse -- his optimism and his belief in himself and in others. And then we sally forth to Consume the Mouse in the economic sense. She (and we) Consumed the Mouse the next morning, and things smoothed out for her.
But what does this have to do with genealogy? It has to do with shared culture and the passing down of that culture. My mother and father, and my husband's mother and father, all must have watched Mickey Mouse cartoons in movie houses from the late 1920s onward. They were familiar with Minnie Mouse and Donald Duck and his nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie. I grew up watching the Mickey Mouse Club and all the other Disney productions -- Davy Crockett, the Disney series of nature films (much of which were staged, I have come to find out), Zorro (of which I just ordered the first season on DVD from amazon.com). Remember Spin and Marty? In 1962, not 10 years after it had been built, I went to Disneyland with relatives whom I was visiting.
Our daughters have also been raised on Disney. We live in Florida, and in the early 1970s, not long after it was built, we took them to Walt Disney World. And we have been back with them many times since. Our younger daughter became very fond of Figment, the dragon-like character of imagination. Now we have a grandson, who will be the fourth generation of the family growing up with knowledge of Mickey Mouse and all the rest. He has seen Cars, and enjoyed it. He watched Finding Nemo the other day, and went into the computer room and said to his mother, "Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine" in imitation of the sea gulls in that film. The whole family -- mommy, daddy, grandma, grandpa, and auntie -- will be taking him to Disney World for his fifth birthday this year.
There are other cultural traditions that families pass on. There are foods, though it is becoming easier to add to one's own cultural tradition in this area with the many different ethnic and national foods available in grocery stores and specialty shops. There is music, though cultural lines in music have been blurring for the past few decades, creating new sounds. There are other cultural bonds which have been passed down through generations, and there are new ones being forged, as well. Popular media give us cultural symbols and icons, from Star Trek to World of Warcraft to the X-Men. In fact, sometimes it seems as though we may suffer from cultural overload.
As communication becomes even more sophisticated and makes the world ever smaller, cultural lines may blur. That may be a good thing or a bad thing, but it is for sure that it will be a different thing. And families will adapt, and will adopt that which they enjoy and in which they may find meaning.
And they will pass that on to their children, forming the context in which they live and move, a context their descendants will need to understand in order to understand their ancestors.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Greetings, SCGS Jamboree!
As a transplanted Southern Californian (my mother kept the "southern" in the family, but it applies to Florida now), I want to say that I hope y'all (that's southern-speak for "you guys") will have a great time at the Jamboree!
What got me started in Genealogical blogging is something y'all might want to check out: the Black Sheep Sunday meme on Geneabloggers. On the mailing list of the International Black Sheep Society of Genealogists (IBSSG), to which I belong, one member mentioned the other memes Thomas has on his site (Madness Monday, Tombstone Tuesday, and Wordless Wednesday), and proposed the Black Sheep Sunday entry. So I thought, "Why not?" And here I am.
My name is Karen Packard Rhodes, and I blog about whatever comes to hand (or mind), in connection with genealogy in some way. So my blog isn't really classifiable as a craft blog or a surname history blog or a methodology blog or anything else. I bounce from pillar to post, discussing whatever seems meet and right at the time.
I completed, with distinction, the 40-course program of study devised by the National Institute for Genealogical Studies in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and administered as online courses by the Professional Learning Centre, Faculty for Information Studies, University of Toronto. I am also currently working on a second bachelor's degree, this one in Spanish and History, at the University of North Florida. I am a genealogical speaker and writer.
So that is me in a nutshell -- where my family will tell you I belong. Again, I hope y'all have a great time at the conference.
What got me started in Genealogical blogging is something y'all might want to check out: the Black Sheep Sunday meme on Geneabloggers. On the mailing list of the International Black Sheep Society of Genealogists (IBSSG), to which I belong, one member mentioned the other memes Thomas has on his site (Madness Monday, Tombstone Tuesday, and Wordless Wednesday), and proposed the Black Sheep Sunday entry. So I thought, "Why not?" And here I am.
My name is Karen Packard Rhodes, and I blog about whatever comes to hand (or mind), in connection with genealogy in some way. So my blog isn't really classifiable as a craft blog or a surname history blog or a methodology blog or anything else. I bounce from pillar to post, discussing whatever seems meet and right at the time.
I completed, with distinction, the 40-course program of study devised by the National Institute for Genealogical Studies in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and administered as online courses by the Professional Learning Centre, Faculty for Information Studies, University of Toronto. I am also currently working on a second bachelor's degree, this one in Spanish and History, at the University of North Florida. I am a genealogical speaker and writer.
So that is me in a nutshell -- where my family will tell you I belong. Again, I hope y'all have a great time at the conference.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Bill West's "Just Make Up Some Genealogy Lyrics" Challenge
My newfound cousin Bill West (we have New England connections through the Packard family) has issued a challenge for us genealogical bloggers to make up lyrics about our family, set to a possibly recognizable tune. Here's my effort, describing my line of descent from Samuel Packard, who came from Suffolk to Massachusetts in 1638, more or less to the tune of Gilbert and Sullivan's "He is the Very Model of a Modern Major General."
There's Samuel and Zaccheus and Zaccheus and Eleazer,
Richards and John Allen, it gets crazier and crazier.
With Matthew Hale and Oscar Merry, Walter and his son Arden,
It all comes down to me and mine, our little family tree garden.
My spouse and I have two offspring, they're Martha and Elizabeth,
Elizabeth's not married, and I'm getting weak and out of breath,
Martha's husband's name is Karl and Victor is their little sprout,
The end is near, at least for now, and this idea's running out!
The end is near, at least for now. and this idea's running out!
The end is near, at least for now, and this idea's running out!
The end is near, at least for now, and this idea is running, running out!
That's all the news there is right now in this historic line of mine,
The future's up to Victor, may he have his own distinguished line!
There's Samuel and Zaccheus and Zaccheus and Eleazer,
Richards and John Allen, it gets crazier and crazier.
With Matthew Hale and Oscar Merry, Walter and his son Arden,
It all comes down to me and mine, our little family tree garden.
My spouse and I have two offspring, they're Martha and Elizabeth,
Elizabeth's not married, and I'm getting weak and out of breath,
Martha's husband's name is Karl and Victor is their little sprout,
The end is near, at least for now, and this idea's running out!
The end is near, at least for now. and this idea's running out!
The end is near, at least for now, and this idea's running out!
The end is near, at least for now, and this idea is running, running out!
That's all the news there is right now in this historic line of mine,
The future's up to Victor, may he have his own distinguished line!
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Carnival of Genealogy 75: Justice and Independence -- Richards Packard, Revolutionary Soldier
My fourth great-grandfather Richards Packard enlisted for the American Revolution when he was only 17. He was born, son of Eleazer Packard and Mercy Richards, 7 April 1763 in Bridgewater, Massachusetts (the part that is now Brockton). In his Revolutionary War pension file, he is described as standing 5' 2" in height. He was short, even in those days. I picture him as a feisty bantam rooster of a young man.
Richards mustered in at Springfield, then in Hampshire County, in Captain Wade's Company, Colonel Jackson's Regiment. According to his pension file, the company went to West Pont, New York, and to King's Ferry. As he himself says in his pension application papers, he was at Haverstraw "when Andre was hung," referring to the execution of British spy Major John Andre on 2 October 1780.
He re-enlisted in February of 1782, at Leverett, Massachusetts, and again ended up in New York, at West Point, this time in Captain Smith's Company in Colonel Rufus Putnam's Regiment. During this time, he suffered from smallpox, but apparently recovered. Richards Packard was discharged in February o f1783.
His pension application was filed from Vermont, and by the time he applied for the pension, he was raising his family in Canada. No, he didn't decide to become a Tory, and it is a myth that those American colonists who ended up in Canada after the Revolution were all Tories. Richards Packard engaged in an ever-northward migration searching for land. He went first to Winchester, New Hampshire, where he worked in a foundry, and where he met and married his wife, Sarah (Sally) Coats/Coates. They removed to Vermont, where Richards tried a couple different plots of land but apparently was not happy with them. Canada was practically giving land away, and he settled near Georgeville. Packard cousins still live on the same plot of land Richards Packard settled in around 1798.
Richards Packard died 25 February 1840.
Sources:
Richards Packard and Sarah Coats/Coates Packard, widow, Revolutionary War, Application for Pension, W21886, Records of the Veterans Administration, Record Group 15, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.
"The Globe May Be Sold on the 'L' Word, but Earlier Bostonians Knew Better," The Georgeville Enterprise: An Occasional Publication. Georgeville, Quebec: The Georgeville Historical Society, Vol. 12, Number 1, Summer 2003, pages 1-3. [The 'L' word in question is 'Loyalist.']
Richards mustered in at Springfield, then in Hampshire County, in Captain Wade's Company, Colonel Jackson's Regiment. According to his pension file, the company went to West Pont, New York, and to King's Ferry. As he himself says in his pension application papers, he was at Haverstraw "when Andre was hung," referring to the execution of British spy Major John Andre on 2 October 1780.
He re-enlisted in February of 1782, at Leverett, Massachusetts, and again ended up in New York, at West Point, this time in Captain Smith's Company in Colonel Rufus Putnam's Regiment. During this time, he suffered from smallpox, but apparently recovered. Richards Packard was discharged in February o f1783.
His pension application was filed from Vermont, and by the time he applied for the pension, he was raising his family in Canada. No, he didn't decide to become a Tory, and it is a myth that those American colonists who ended up in Canada after the Revolution were all Tories. Richards Packard engaged in an ever-northward migration searching for land. He went first to Winchester, New Hampshire, where he worked in a foundry, and where he met and married his wife, Sarah (Sally) Coats/Coates. They removed to Vermont, where Richards tried a couple different plots of land but apparently was not happy with them. Canada was practically giving land away, and he settled near Georgeville. Packard cousins still live on the same plot of land Richards Packard settled in around 1798.
Richards Packard died 25 February 1840.
Sources:
Richards Packard and Sarah Coats/Coates Packard, widow, Revolutionary War, Application for Pension, W21886, Records of the Veterans Administration, Record Group 15, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.
"The Globe May Be Sold on the 'L' Word, but Earlier Bostonians Knew Better," The Georgeville Enterprise: An Occasional Publication. Georgeville, Quebec: The Georgeville Historical Society, Vol. 12, Number 1, Summer 2003, pages 1-3. [The 'L' word in question is 'Loyalist.']
Wordless Wednesday: An Opinion of the 1934 U.S. Navy Dress Uniform
Arden Packard (1911-1954)
U.S. Naval Academy Class of 1934
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Now that you've got it, what are you going to do with it?
Ever wonder, after gathering all sorts of documentary evidence, what you really were going to do with it? Ever look at it and wonder, what does this all mean? That’s where analysis comes in. And there are various ways you can analyze documents.
Take census information – please. All right, that’s my Henny Youngman reference for the day (and if you don’t know who Henny Youngman was, you are post 20th century). You can file your census data on each family away on a census extract form and say, “All right, I have grandpa Jones and his family in Boise in the 1910 census.” Well, big deal.
What about grandpa Jones’s siblings? What about their kids? What can all that tell you? And where else might the census information you extract and analyze lead you?
I happen to have a group in my father’s line who all migrated out of Canada after the family spent two generations there. My fourth great-grandfather Richards Packard took the family line into Canada on an ever-northward peregrination from Massachusetts in search of land, which he found and settled near Lake Memphremagog (that’s a handful to type) in an area of Quebec known as the Eastern Townships. The family stayed there for a couple generations, then about three-fourths of the offspring of John Allen Packard, Richards Packard’s son, went back to the U.S. I call it a “retro-migration.” They spread out at first, but somehow, by about 1870, all ended up in Bloomington, Illinois.
What I did, to see if I could find out anything about this migration, was that I took the U.S. census data from 1850 through 1870 on the brothers and on brothers-in-law Joseph Monroe (married to Mary Frances Packard) and George Monroe (married to Emeline Packard). Joseph and George were brothers, who hailed from the same area in Canada as their wives and their brothers-in-law. The earliest any of these individuals show up in U.S. censuses is 1850.
One clue to where these folks had been prior to the 1870 census, by which time they had all made it to Bloomington, was children’s birthplaces. Thus I found out that before coming to Bloomington, Matthew Hale Packard, my great-great grandfather, had spent time in the state of New York, his daughter and his younger son having been born there. His older son, my great-grandfather Oscar Merry Packard, was born in Canada.
The 12-year-old daughter of Thaddeus Bullock Packard had been born in New York as well (the state, not the city, in all instances here). So he, too, had made another stop on the way from Canada to Illinois.
Francis A. (“Frank”) Packard possibly did not make another stop between Canada and Illinois, for both his children, ages 12 and 4, had been born in Illinois, as had the three children of William B. Packard (children aged 11, 8, and 1). Likewise, Major Wellman Packard (Major being his first name, not a military rank) shows children born in Illinois, ages 11 and 4, so possibly he, too, came directly to Illinois from Canada.
Charles R. Packard, a doctor by profession, was in Massachusetts prior to migrating to Illinois, as his 7-year-old daughter had been born there, according to the 1870 census.
As for the Monroe brothers, all of their children, ranging in age from 14 to 23, were born in Canada, indicating they may have come directly to Illinois. Indeed, George Monroe may have shown up in Illinois, in Pike County, prior to the Civil War, for he is enumerated there, alone, as a lodger in a boarding house, in the 1860 census. That may have been a scouting mission before bringing his family down from Canada.
This knowledge can lead to other documents. By knowing where these brothers were in which censuses, I tracked down Civil War service records from the states of New York and Illinois, producing muster lists and compiled records. Thaddeus Packard left New York earlier than Matthew Hale did. Matthew did his Civil War service in two different New York regiments of cavalry; Thaddeus served from Illinois, as did William B. Packard.
>Matthew arrived in Bloomington about 1867. Knowing he had been in New York possibly as early as 1860 or even 1850, I looked at New York censuses, and sure enough, he and his family were in Chautauqua County, and were enumerated there in Harmony Township in the 1850 U.S. census and in the 1855 state census. As my great-grandfather, his older son Oscar Merry Packard, was born in Canada (possibly in Hamilton, Ontario) in 1848, I can bracket when Matthew Hale Packard brought the family to New York, and I also know they left the state after the Civil War.
Charles R. Packard having spent time in Massachusetts, and being a doctor by profession, leads me to wonder if I should look in the records of the Harvard Medical School for the possibility that he attended there. That’s on the to-do list.
I suppose the most interesting document I have come across is a letter at the Library of Congress, which is digitized as part of the American Memory project at the Library. It is a letter from Major Wellman Packard, who was a lawyer, to a friend who was another Illinois lawyer – Abraham Lincoln. The letter is dated 22 February 1860, and in it Wellman Packard reports of endorsements of “Old Abe” for president. Therefore, I can be sure that M. Wellman Packard was in Illinois in February of 1860 and possibly quite earlier.
And that’s where some of the information you find in the census can lead you, if you sit down and look at it and think about it in new ways.
Sources:
Richards Packard and Sarah Coats Packard, widow, Revolutionary War, Application for Pension, W21886, Records of the Veterans Administration, Record Group 15, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.
Matthew Hale Packard, Company L, 15th New York Cavalry, Service Record, New York State Archive Microfilm Roll 767, page 1199.
Matthew Hale Packard, Company L, 2nd New York Provisional Cavalry, Compiled Union Service Records, Civil War Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, Record Group 94, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.
William B. Packard, Muster and Descriptive Roll of Company C, 5th Cavalry Regiment of Illinois Volunteers, RS201.020. Illinois State Archives, Springfield, Illinois.
Thadeus [sic] B. Packard, Muster and Descriptive Roll of Company C, 5th Cavalry Regiment of Illinois Volunteers, RS201.020. Illinois State Archives, Springfield, Illinois.
Major W. Packard to Abraham Lincoln, Wednesday, February 22, 1860 (Florville’s Taxes), The Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress, Series 1: General Correspondence, 1833-1916. Library of Congress.
William Gaston household, 1860 U.S. Census of Population, Barry Township, Pike County, Illinois, dwelling 395, family 395, National Archives Microfilm Publication M653, Roll 219, page 787. This was a hotel in which George Monroe was staying.
Matthew Packard household, 1850 U.S. Census of Population, Harmony Township, Chautauqua County, New York, dwelling 27, family 28, National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, Roll 484, page 229.
Anderson, Helen T., Chautuqua County 1855 Census index (and extracts; manuscript), LDS Family History Library Microfilm Number 1597653, Item 16: Harmony Township, page 60.
Matthew H. Packard household, 1860 U.S. Census of Population, Harmony Township, Chautauqua County, New York, dwelling 605, family 602, National Archives Microfilm Publication M653, Roll 731, page 71.
1870 Censuses:
Charles R. Packard household, 1870 U.S. Census of Population, Bloomington, McLean County, Illinois, dwelling 457, family 468, National Archives Microfilm Publication M593, Roll 258, page 98A.
Joseph Monroe Household, 1870 U.S. Census of Population, Bloomington, McLean County, Illinois, dwelling 1120, family 1170, National Archives Microfilm Publication M593, Roll 258, page 144B.
Major W. Packard household, 1870 U.S. Census of Population, Bloomington, McLean County, Illinois, dwelling 1119, family 1169, National Archives Microfilm Publication M593, Roll 258, page 157
George Monroe household, 1870 U.S. Census of Population, Bloomington, McLean County, Illinois, dwelling 1925, family 1984, National Archives Microfilm Publication M593, Roll 258, page 197A.
William B. Packard household, 1870 U.S. Census of Population, Bloomington, McLean County, Illinois, dwelling 1121, family 1171, National Archives Microfilm Publication M593, Roll 258, page 157/158.
Thaddeus Packard household, 1870 U.S. Census of Population, Bloomington, McLean County, Illinois, dwelling 1098, family 1124, National Archives Microfilm Publication M593, Roll 258, page 143.
Frank A. Packard household, 1870 U.S. Census of Population, Bloomington, McLean County, Illinois, dwelling 987, family 1016, National Archives Microfilm Publication M593, Roll 258, page 136.
Matthew Packard household, 1870 U.S. Census of Population, Bloomington, McLean County, Illinois, dwelling 1114, family 1164, National Archives Microfilm Publication M593, Roll 258, page 144/145.
Take census information – please. All right, that’s my Henny Youngman reference for the day (and if you don’t know who Henny Youngman was, you are post 20th century). You can file your census data on each family away on a census extract form and say, “All right, I have grandpa Jones and his family in Boise in the 1910 census.” Well, big deal.
What about grandpa Jones’s siblings? What about their kids? What can all that tell you? And where else might the census information you extract and analyze lead you?
I happen to have a group in my father’s line who all migrated out of Canada after the family spent two generations there. My fourth great-grandfather Richards Packard took the family line into Canada on an ever-northward peregrination from Massachusetts in search of land, which he found and settled near Lake Memphremagog (that’s a handful to type) in an area of Quebec known as the Eastern Townships. The family stayed there for a couple generations, then about three-fourths of the offspring of John Allen Packard, Richards Packard’s son, went back to the U.S. I call it a “retro-migration.” They spread out at first, but somehow, by about 1870, all ended up in Bloomington, Illinois.
What I did, to see if I could find out anything about this migration, was that I took the U.S. census data from 1850 through 1870 on the brothers and on brothers-in-law Joseph Monroe (married to Mary Frances Packard) and George Monroe (married to Emeline Packard). Joseph and George were brothers, who hailed from the same area in Canada as their wives and their brothers-in-law. The earliest any of these individuals show up in U.S. censuses is 1850.
One clue to where these folks had been prior to the 1870 census, by which time they had all made it to Bloomington, was children’s birthplaces. Thus I found out that before coming to Bloomington, Matthew Hale Packard, my great-great grandfather, had spent time in the state of New York, his daughter and his younger son having been born there. His older son, my great-grandfather Oscar Merry Packard, was born in Canada.
The 12-year-old daughter of Thaddeus Bullock Packard had been born in New York as well (the state, not the city, in all instances here). So he, too, had made another stop on the way from Canada to Illinois.
Francis A. (“Frank”) Packard possibly did not make another stop between Canada and Illinois, for both his children, ages 12 and 4, had been born in Illinois, as had the three children of William B. Packard (children aged 11, 8, and 1). Likewise, Major Wellman Packard (Major being his first name, not a military rank) shows children born in Illinois, ages 11 and 4, so possibly he, too, came directly to Illinois from Canada.
Charles R. Packard, a doctor by profession, was in Massachusetts prior to migrating to Illinois, as his 7-year-old daughter had been born there, according to the 1870 census.
As for the Monroe brothers, all of their children, ranging in age from 14 to 23, were born in Canada, indicating they may have come directly to Illinois. Indeed, George Monroe may have shown up in Illinois, in Pike County, prior to the Civil War, for he is enumerated there, alone, as a lodger in a boarding house, in the 1860 census. That may have been a scouting mission before bringing his family down from Canada.
This knowledge can lead to other documents. By knowing where these brothers were in which censuses, I tracked down Civil War service records from the states of New York and Illinois, producing muster lists and compiled records. Thaddeus Packard left New York earlier than Matthew Hale did. Matthew did his Civil War service in two different New York regiments of cavalry; Thaddeus served from Illinois, as did William B. Packard.
>Matthew arrived in Bloomington about 1867. Knowing he had been in New York possibly as early as 1860 or even 1850, I looked at New York censuses, and sure enough, he and his family were in Chautauqua County, and were enumerated there in Harmony Township in the 1850 U.S. census and in the 1855 state census. As my great-grandfather, his older son Oscar Merry Packard, was born in Canada (possibly in Hamilton, Ontario) in 1848, I can bracket when Matthew Hale Packard brought the family to New York, and I also know they left the state after the Civil War.
Charles R. Packard having spent time in Massachusetts, and being a doctor by profession, leads me to wonder if I should look in the records of the Harvard Medical School for the possibility that he attended there. That’s on the to-do list.
I suppose the most interesting document I have come across is a letter at the Library of Congress, which is digitized as part of the American Memory project at the Library. It is a letter from Major Wellman Packard, who was a lawyer, to a friend who was another Illinois lawyer – Abraham Lincoln. The letter is dated 22 February 1860, and in it Wellman Packard reports of endorsements of “Old Abe” for president. Therefore, I can be sure that M. Wellman Packard was in Illinois in February of 1860 and possibly quite earlier.
And that’s where some of the information you find in the census can lead you, if you sit down and look at it and think about it in new ways.
Sources:
Richards Packard and Sarah Coats Packard, widow, Revolutionary War, Application for Pension, W21886, Records of the Veterans Administration, Record Group 15, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.
Matthew Hale Packard, Company L, 15th New York Cavalry, Service Record, New York State Archive Microfilm Roll 767, page 1199.
Matthew Hale Packard, Company L, 2nd New York Provisional Cavalry, Compiled Union Service Records, Civil War Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, Record Group 94, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.
William B. Packard, Muster and Descriptive Roll of Company C, 5th Cavalry Regiment of Illinois Volunteers, RS201.020. Illinois State Archives, Springfield, Illinois.
Thadeus [sic] B. Packard, Muster and Descriptive Roll of Company C, 5th Cavalry Regiment of Illinois Volunteers, RS201.020. Illinois State Archives, Springfield, Illinois.
Major W. Packard to Abraham Lincoln, Wednesday, February 22, 1860 (Florville’s Taxes), The Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress, Series 1: General Correspondence, 1833-1916.
William Gaston household, 1860 U.S. Census of Population, Barry Township, Pike County, Illinois, dwelling 395, family 395, National Archives Microfilm Publication M653, Roll 219, page 787. This was a hotel in which George Monroe was staying.
Matthew Packard household, 1850 U.S. Census of Population, Harmony Township, Chautauqua County, New York, dwelling 27, family 28, National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, Roll 484, page 229.
Anderson, Helen T., Chautuqua County 1855 Census index (and extracts; manuscript), LDS Family History Library Microfilm Number 1597653, Item 16: Harmony Township, page 60.
Matthew H. Packard household, 1860 U.S. Census of Population, Harmony Township, Chautauqua County, New York, dwelling 605, family 602, National Archives Microfilm Publication M653, Roll 731, page 71.
1870 Censuses:
Charles R. Packard household, 1870 U.S. Census of Population, Bloomington, McLean County, Illinois, dwelling 457, family 468, National Archives Microfilm Publication M593, Roll 258, page 98A.
Joseph Monroe Household, 1870 U.S. Census of Population, Bloomington, McLean County, Illinois, dwelling 1120, family 1170, National Archives Microfilm Publication M593, Roll 258, page 144B.
Major W. Packard household, 1870 U.S. Census of Population, Bloomington, McLean County, Illinois, dwelling 1119, family 1169, National Archives Microfilm Publication M593, Roll 258, page 157
George Monroe household, 1870 U.S. Census of Population, Bloomington, McLean County, Illinois, dwelling 1925, family 1984, National Archives Microfilm Publication M593, Roll 258, page 197A.
William B. Packard household, 1870 U.S. Census of Population, Bloomington, McLean County, Illinois, dwelling 1121, family 1171, National Archives Microfilm Publication M593, Roll 258, page 157/158.
Thaddeus Packard household, 1870 U.S. Census of Population, Bloomington, McLean County, Illinois, dwelling 1098, family 1124, National Archives Microfilm Publication M593, Roll 258, page 143.
Frank A. Packard household, 1870 U.S. Census of Population, Bloomington, McLean County, Illinois, dwelling 987, family 1016, National Archives Microfilm Publication M593, Roll 258, page 136.
Matthew Packard household, 1870 U.S. Census of Population, Bloomington, McLean County, Illinois, dwelling 1114, family 1164, National Archives Microfilm Publication M593, Roll 258, page 144/145.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Carnival of Genealogy 74 - Swimsuit Issue
This is my father, Arden Packard around 1915-1916 when he was four or five years old. He is wading in the Pacific Ocean. He was born in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, 29 April 1911. He went on to enlist in the U.S. Navy in 1929, and a year later took a competetive exam which qualified him for the Naval Academy. In 1934 he graduated. Though the picture shows him in the water, he preferred the air. Having been a member of his high school's Aero Club, he went on to take flight training at Pensacola Naval Air Station, being certified as a Naval Aviator in 1937, the year he also married my mother. During World War II, he was the lead flight instructor at Jacksonville Naval Air Station. Keeping things in the family, my husband later worked at Jacksonville NAS in federal civil service!
The fashionable garment my father is wearing speaks for itself!
Saturday, June 13, 2009
The Hail Storm of Ought-Nine
Thursday I talked about the weather and our ancestors, inspired by Florida's heat. This afternoon, that heat gave us another gift of weather to report for our descendants, a hail storm. Around noon, when my husband and I left our genealogical society meeting, grey storm clouds were beginning to form. The temperature was again in the 90 degrees F. territory, a formula for afternoon thunderstorms.
Not long after my husband and I got home from the meeting, with our daughter beginning to make brownies for a hostess gift for the family with whom we will have dinner tonight, my husband talking to our insurance company, still wrangling over issues to do with the day last December when an out-of-control driver smacked into me on a local bridge, and me on my computer checking e-mail and wondering what to discuss in my blog, the bottom dropped out. Rain came down like gangbusters, the wind whipped the trees every which way, and then we heard the thud of hail against roof, wall, and window.
The hail consisted in clear pellets about the size of marbles. It created a horrendous din as it pelted the house. I went out in the garage and felt the garage door. At this time of day -- the storm hit us about 2:
20 this afternoon -- you wouldn't want to put your hand on the garage door, as it is quite hot. When I felt it during the hail storm, it was cold to the touch. I have to say it felt wonderful.Fortunately, we sustained no damage. Our trees lost some leaves and small branches, and there were little ice pellets along with considerable puddles all over the yard. But it did give us something to talk about, and something to record and pass down, complete with photographs. We live in a wondrous age, indeed, when news can travel so fast, and when we can document events with instant photographs.
Friday, June 12, 2009
Investigating a Family Legend
I've talked about my maternal great-great grandfather, Charles Reed, before. This time, I'm going to discuss a family legend about him, and how I went about looking into it to see if there could be any truth to it.
The legend appears on a family group sheet sent me by a Reed cousin, who got the information from another Reed cousin in a letter. The legend states that Charles Reed stopped off in Washington, D.C., to hear Lincoln's Inaugural Address on his way home from war.
Right away, with the mention of Lincoln and war, we know this must have been the Civil War. And since Lincoln's First Inaugural Address was given on 4 March 1861 and the Civil War did not start until the firing on Fort Sumter on 12 April 1861, we can conclude that the reference in the legend must be to the Second Inaugural Address, 4 March 1865.
Now, the question is: Where was Charles Reed on 4 March 1865? Was he indeed on his way home from the war?
The answer is in his Civil War pension file, and that answer, alas, is no. Charles Reed was in the Civil War, having enlisted in Company H, 140th Indiana Infantry, in 1862. The unit mustered out 11 July 1865 in North Carolina. Sounds like the death knell for this legend. But Charles Reed was not present at the mustering-out, having been sent home on account of illness, to Jay County, Indiana, on 30 June 1865. Ah, well. Also too late for Lincoln.
But the story doesn't end there. Digging further into the pension file, I discovered that Charles Reed had been hospitalized in early March of 1865 for typhoid fever. The dates: 1 - 13 March 1865. The place of hospitalization? According to the pension file, his treatment and convalescence for typhoid fever took place at what was called Lincoln Hospital, in Washington, D.C.
Charles Reed was indeed in the right place at the right time. Is there any way of knowing for sure if he actually did hear Lincoln speak of conciliation and peace? "With malice toward none, with charity for all?" I may never know if he actually did hear the speech, but he certainly was in the right place at the right time.
When investigating a family legend, take what facts can be pulled from them and ask questions of them. The legend I was investigating stated that Charles Reed heard Lincoln's speech in Washington, D.C. I had a time (4 March 1865, deduced from other facts, such as knowledge of the date of the start of the Civil War, and the dates of the two times Lincoln was inaugurated as President). I had a place, Washington, D.C. And I had the pension file, with information about where Charles Reed was at certain times.
When I discovered that his unit mustered out in July of 1865 in North Carolina, and that Charles Reed had been sent home to Indiana on 30 June 1865, I didn't give up. I knew by these facts where he was or wasn't on 30 June and 11 July 1865. But that didn't tell me where he was in March of that year. Only further digging into the record, looking at every scrap of paper in the file, gave me the answer which holds the possibility that the legend -- though weak on some facts in that Charles Reed was not "on his way home from war" when he heard the speech -- just might be true.
I actually have some connection to Abraham Lincoln, however tenuous, on both sides of my family. Charles Reed may very well have heard Lincoln's second inaugural speech. And a paternal great-great granduncle was a friend and correspondent of Lincoln's, both men being Illinois lawyers. One of the letters they exchanged is in the Library of Congress. More on that at another time. And on another family legend from that side of the family, also involving Abraham Lincoln, should I get a chance to look into it.
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Source: Charles Reed, Civil War Pension Application File, SO 816,345, SC 697,707; Records of the Veterans Administration, Record Group 15, National Archives, Washington, D.C.
The legend appears on a family group sheet sent me by a Reed cousin, who got the information from another Reed cousin in a letter. The legend states that Charles Reed stopped off in Washington, D.C., to hear Lincoln's Inaugural Address on his way home from war.
Right away, with the mention of Lincoln and war, we know this must have been the Civil War. And since Lincoln's First Inaugural Address was given on 4 March 1861 and the Civil War did not start until the firing on Fort Sumter on 12 April 1861, we can conclude that the reference in the legend must be to the Second Inaugural Address, 4 March 1865.
Now, the question is: Where was Charles Reed on 4 March 1865? Was he indeed on his way home from the war?
The answer is in his Civil War pension file, and that answer, alas, is no. Charles Reed was in the Civil War, having enlisted in Company H, 140th Indiana Infantry, in 1862. The unit mustered out 11 July 1865 in North Carolina. Sounds like the death knell for this legend. But Charles Reed was not present at the mustering-out, having been sent home on account of illness, to Jay County, Indiana, on 30 June 1865. Ah, well. Also too late for Lincoln.
But the story doesn't end there. Digging further into the pension file, I discovered that Charles Reed had been hospitalized in early March of 1865 for typhoid fever. The dates: 1 - 13 March 1865. The place of hospitalization? According to the pension file, his treatment and convalescence for typhoid fever took place at what was called Lincoln Hospital, in Washington, D.C.
Charles Reed was indeed in the right place at the right time. Is there any way of knowing for sure if he actually did hear Lincoln speak of conciliation and peace? "With malice toward none, with charity for all?" I may never know if he actually did hear the speech, but he certainly was in the right place at the right time.
When investigating a family legend, take what facts can be pulled from them and ask questions of them. The legend I was investigating stated that Charles Reed heard Lincoln's speech in Washington, D.C. I had a time (4 March 1865, deduced from other facts, such as knowledge of the date of the start of the Civil War, and the dates of the two times Lincoln was inaugurated as President). I had a place, Washington, D.C. And I had the pension file, with information about where Charles Reed was at certain times.
When I discovered that his unit mustered out in July of 1865 in North Carolina, and that Charles Reed had been sent home to Indiana on 30 June 1865, I didn't give up. I knew by these facts where he was or wasn't on 30 June and 11 July 1865. But that didn't tell me where he was in March of that year. Only further digging into the record, looking at every scrap of paper in the file, gave me the answer which holds the possibility that the legend -- though weak on some facts in that Charles Reed was not "on his way home from war" when he heard the speech -- just might be true.
I actually have some connection to Abraham Lincoln, however tenuous, on both sides of my family. Charles Reed may very well have heard Lincoln's second inaugural speech. And a paternal great-great granduncle was a friend and correspondent of Lincoln's, both men being Illinois lawyers. One of the letters they exchanged is in the Library of Congress. More on that at another time. And on another family legend from that side of the family, also involving Abraham Lincoln, should I get a chance to look into it.
---------
Source: Charles Reed, Civil War Pension Application File, SO 816,345, SC 697,707; Records of the Veterans Administration, Record Group 15, National Archives, Washington, D.C.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Weather in our Ancestors' Lives
It is June, so the weather is really heating up in Florida. It was 95 degrees (F.) today, and will be hot tomorrow, too. My washer and dryer are in the garage, which faces west, with a metal door which really gets hot in that summer afternoon sun, and puts the temperature in the garage during a Florida summer day in the range of 110 to 120 degrees. This is the time of year I start doing my laundry at 2:00 in the morning!
Thinking of that got me to thinking about weather and our ancestors. Weather influenced our ancestors' lives at least as much as it does ours, and in many ways probably more. Florida's early pioneers, the Spanish, went mucking about in the jungly Florida forests in all the heat and humidity, wearing mail, plate, or quilted armor. Not only did they not have air conditioning, they didn't have Gold Bond powder, either! Even in the late nineteenth century, when my husband's great-grandfather Daniel McLeod Marshall arrived from Alabama and settled first in Apopka and then in Lakeland, the weather was not suited to the clothing! Men dressed in suits, sometimes three-piece suits, and women had dresses that covered just about everything. I cannot imagine how uncomfortable people must have been in 1883, wearing all those clothes in a Florida summer.
Further back, weather was very much a factor in the life of my ancestor Samuel Packard, who arrived at Hingham, Massachusetts, in August of 1638. Hingham at the time was only three years old, and conditions were fairly primitive. Add to that the fact that the climate in New England was harsher than that in England, both in winter and in summer. Samuel and his fellow immigrants were mostly farmers, trying to get a living in harsh weather out of rocky New England soil. There are not many people more dependent on and more influenced by the weather than farmers.
It is also now hurricane season in Florida. Hurricane season begins 1 June and ends 30 November. When I was a child, the season ended on 1 November. The extension of the season to the end of the month is no guarantee of coverage; several years ago, there was a hurricane in April. I remember my mother telling me about the hurricane of 1926 that hit Pensacola, where she was raised. She was nine years old at the time. Back then, there was not the predictive capability we have today. We know a hurricane is coming several days before it gets to us, and we have time to take precautions, from boarding up windows and clearing potentially airborne items from our yards, to evacuating.
The captains of Spanish treasure ships in the sixteenth century didn't have any foreknowledge of approaching hurricanes, any more than my mother's family did in 1926. Many such ships came to rest at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, driven there by hurricanes. Some peoples' ancestors from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries helped shipwrecked sailors and passengers on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Other people's ancestors lured the ships onto those shoals with false lights, so they could plunder the cargo. The rescuers were hampered by the weather, the "wreckers" abetted by it.
From sixteenth-century hurricanes to the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, weather has been part of our ancestors' lives. We should try to find out what sort of weather events or climate factors may have influenced our ancestors' lives. And we would do our descendants a favor by noting important weather events in our own lives.
Thinking of that got me to thinking about weather and our ancestors. Weather influenced our ancestors' lives at least as much as it does ours, and in many ways probably more. Florida's early pioneers, the Spanish, went mucking about in the jungly Florida forests in all the heat and humidity, wearing mail, plate, or quilted armor. Not only did they not have air conditioning, they didn't have Gold Bond powder, either! Even in the late nineteenth century, when my husband's great-grandfather Daniel McLeod Marshall arrived from Alabama and settled first in Apopka and then in Lakeland, the weather was not suited to the clothing! Men dressed in suits, sometimes three-piece suits, and women had dresses that covered just about everything. I cannot imagine how uncomfortable people must have been in 1883, wearing all those clothes in a Florida summer.
Further back, weather was very much a factor in the life of my ancestor Samuel Packard, who arrived at Hingham, Massachusetts, in August of 1638. Hingham at the time was only three years old, and conditions were fairly primitive. Add to that the fact that the climate in New England was harsher than that in England, both in winter and in summer. Samuel and his fellow immigrants were mostly farmers, trying to get a living in harsh weather out of rocky New England soil. There are not many people more dependent on and more influenced by the weather than farmers.
It is also now hurricane season in Florida. Hurricane season begins 1 June and ends 30 November. When I was a child, the season ended on 1 November. The extension of the season to the end of the month is no guarantee of coverage; several years ago, there was a hurricane in April. I remember my mother telling me about the hurricane of 1926 that hit Pensacola, where she was raised. She was nine years old at the time. Back then, there was not the predictive capability we have today. We know a hurricane is coming several days before it gets to us, and we have time to take precautions, from boarding up windows and clearing potentially airborne items from our yards, to evacuating.
The captains of Spanish treasure ships in the sixteenth century didn't have any foreknowledge of approaching hurricanes, any more than my mother's family did in 1926. Many such ships came to rest at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, driven there by hurricanes. Some peoples' ancestors from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries helped shipwrecked sailors and passengers on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Other people's ancestors lured the ships onto those shoals with false lights, so they could plunder the cargo. The rescuers were hampered by the weather, the "wreckers" abetted by it.
From sixteenth-century hurricanes to the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, weather has been part of our ancestors' lives. We should try to find out what sort of weather events or climate factors may have influenced our ancestors' lives. And we would do our descendants a favor by noting important weather events in our own lives.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Double Vision in the Census
I have on two occasions found family members listed twice in a particular census. I have also found some apparently not listed at all.
In the 1860 census, my great-great grandfather Charles Reed appears to have been listed twice. On the 11th of June, 1860, he is in the household of his father, Harvey Reed, in Wayne, Jay County, Indiana (M653, Roll 269, page 15). He is shown to be 19 years old, and by occupation a miller.
On the 12th of July, Charles Reed, miller, 20 years old, appears in the household of Vinson Nidey, a landlord, in Jefferson Township, Jay County, Indiana (M653, Roll 269, page 69). Is this the same Charles Reed? I think it quite likely, even with the slight age discrepancy, because just a few lines down on the same census sheet appears the family of Francis M. Wright, including his 16-year old daughter Clarissa H., who very soon after became the bride of Charles Reed. It appears the young man relocated with courtship in mind, or became smitten soon after relocating. Could be the beginning of a love story which included separation during the Civil War, and later widowhood for Charles Reed. And there is also the possibility that Charles Reed had already relocated to Jefferson Township earlier, and had just been included in his father's household by whoever was the informant even though he was no longer resident there.
The second instance of double listing involves my father, Arden Packard, who enlisted in the U.S. Navy 22 June 1929, after graduation from high school in Pasadena, California. On dates recorded by the enumerator as 4-5 April 1930, in Pasadena (T626, Roll 168, ED 19-1208, Sheet 4A) he is enumerated in the household of his father, Walter Hetherington Packard. It is probable that he was not actually present in the household on either of those days, because on 5 April 1930, he was also enumerated at the U.S. Naval Training Center, San Diego (T626, Roll 191, ED 37-56, sheet 10B).
On the Pasadena enumeration, his father's household, there is no occupation listed for my father. The informant apparently did not tell the census enumerator that my father was in the Navy, otherwise the enumerator would not have listed him, according to Item 73 of the Instructions to Enumerators, which states in part: "If . . . any family in your district reports that one of its members is a soldier, sailor, marine. or civilian employee of the United States with a post of duty or station elsewhere, you should not report him as a member of that family." On the San Diego census sheet, my father, age 18 at the time, is reported as a seaman in the U.S. Navy, and shown as having been at work the previous day (4 April 1930). He was, therefore, not in Pasadena on the day his father's household was enumerated.
My mother's parents, Perry W. and Mary Reed, do not show up in the 1920 census. I have looked for them in their native state of Indiana, in Illinois, where they had lived while Perry worked in Chicago, and in Florida, where they did relocate early in 1920. Perry Reed was a railroad freight agent, who had gone from Indiana to Florida to become freight agent for the Gulf, Florida, and Alabama Railway. Around that time, probably in the spring of 1920, they went to Indiana to retrieve my mother. Briefly, my mother's birth parents were Benjamin Franklin "Frank" Reed, Perry's younger brother, and his wife Ruth Nave. Frank Reed was killed in a railroad accident in 1917, when my mother was not quite a year old. According to my aunt Margaret, my mother's sister, the Reeds "ganged up" on their mother. The result was that my mother was adopted by Perry and Mary Reed, the adoption having been finalized 15 June 1920 in the Circuit Court of Escambia County, Florida, in the First Judicial Circuit.
Perry and Mary Reed were enumerated in the 1910 census in Chicago (T624, Roll 271, Sheet 8B), and in the 1930 census in Pensacola (T626, Roll 316, Sheet 12A). I have not been able to locate them in the 1920 census, and my suspicion is that they were en route from Indiana to Florida at the time of that enumeration.
If you suspect an ancestor may have appeared twice, pursue the investigation. Use neighbors, as I did with Charles Reed -- a bride-to-be or groom-to-be may reside nearby. Use other records, such as my father's Navy service record. Read the instructions to the enumerators, and bear in mind that they were not always followed.
If you think you are having double vision, you may be right!
In the 1860 census, my great-great grandfather Charles Reed appears to have been listed twice. On the 11th of June, 1860, he is in the household of his father, Harvey Reed, in Wayne, Jay County, Indiana (M653, Roll 269, page 15). He is shown to be 19 years old, and by occupation a miller.
On the 12th of July, Charles Reed, miller, 20 years old, appears in the household of Vinson Nidey, a landlord, in Jefferson Township, Jay County, Indiana (M653, Roll 269, page 69). Is this the same Charles Reed? I think it quite likely, even with the slight age discrepancy, because just a few lines down on the same census sheet appears the family of Francis M. Wright, including his 16-year old daughter Clarissa H., who very soon after became the bride of Charles Reed. It appears the young man relocated with courtship in mind, or became smitten soon after relocating. Could be the beginning of a love story which included separation during the Civil War, and later widowhood for Charles Reed. And there is also the possibility that Charles Reed had already relocated to Jefferson Township earlier, and had just been included in his father's household by whoever was the informant even though he was no longer resident there.
The second instance of double listing involves my father, Arden Packard, who enlisted in the U.S. Navy 22 June 1929, after graduation from high school in Pasadena, California. On dates recorded by the enumerator as 4-5 April 1930, in Pasadena (T626, Roll 168, ED 19-1208, Sheet 4A) he is enumerated in the household of his father, Walter Hetherington Packard. It is probable that he was not actually present in the household on either of those days, because on 5 April 1930, he was also enumerated at the U.S. Naval Training Center, San Diego (T626, Roll 191, ED 37-56, sheet 10B).
On the Pasadena enumeration, his father's household, there is no occupation listed for my father. The informant apparently did not tell the census enumerator that my father was in the Navy, otherwise the enumerator would not have listed him, according to Item 73 of the Instructions to Enumerators, which states in part: "If . . . any family in your district reports that one of its members is a soldier, sailor, marine. or civilian employee of the United States with a post of duty or station elsewhere, you should not report him as a member of that family." On the San Diego census sheet, my father, age 18 at the time, is reported as a seaman in the U.S. Navy, and shown as having been at work the previous day (4 April 1930). He was, therefore, not in Pasadena on the day his father's household was enumerated.
My mother's parents, Perry W. and Mary Reed, do not show up in the 1920 census. I have looked for them in their native state of Indiana, in Illinois, where they had lived while Perry worked in Chicago, and in Florida, where they did relocate early in 1920. Perry Reed was a railroad freight agent, who had gone from Indiana to Florida to become freight agent for the Gulf, Florida, and Alabama Railway. Around that time, probably in the spring of 1920, they went to Indiana to retrieve my mother. Briefly, my mother's birth parents were Benjamin Franklin "Frank" Reed, Perry's younger brother, and his wife Ruth Nave. Frank Reed was killed in a railroad accident in 1917, when my mother was not quite a year old. According to my aunt Margaret, my mother's sister, the Reeds "ganged up" on their mother. The result was that my mother was adopted by Perry and Mary Reed, the adoption having been finalized 15 June 1920 in the Circuit Court of Escambia County, Florida, in the First Judicial Circuit.
Perry and Mary Reed were enumerated in the 1910 census in Chicago (T624, Roll 271, Sheet 8B), and in the 1930 census in Pensacola (T626, Roll 316, Sheet 12A). I have not been able to locate them in the 1920 census, and my suspicion is that they were en route from Indiana to Florida at the time of that enumeration.
If you suspect an ancestor may have appeared twice, pursue the investigation. Use neighbors, as I did with Charles Reed -- a bride-to-be or groom-to-be may reside nearby. Use other records, such as my father's Navy service record. Read the instructions to the enumerators, and bear in mind that they were not always followed.
If you think you are having double vision, you may be right!
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