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| Virginia, Margaret, Florence (Coffman), Claude, Hazel and young Margaret McGuire, taken around 1930. |
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Wordless Wednesday - McGuire family
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
I'll jump on the Goal Wagon
Many of my fellow genealogy bloggers have been posting their goals for 2012 over the past week. At first I thought, "how silly...now everyone will know what you procrastinate on." But then I realized it is more about holding your own feet to the fire. As stated before, I have a serious case of genealogy ADD. There is something wonderful about just looking at my tree, picking a random branch and exploring. But there is also something uber unproductive about it. So I'll remember that it's a hobby, it's okay if I don't accomplish these (no one will take away my birthday), and it will provide me one of the things I need more than anything else: focus. So, here we go...
1. My grandmother's 80th birthday is in July and I would like to create some type of "life to this date" memento for her and her guests.
2. Finally order the two Sicilian films from the LDS that I have very much procrastinated on.
3. Research first hand accounts of migration from Virginia to Kentucky to Missouri. Many of my family lines made this trek, and while I have no way of knowing what precipitated their moves specifically, perhaps I can find some explanations in the accounts of other migrants.
4. Determine the origins of my Tosh, Bodine, Creed and Reece family lines.
5. Begin a study of occupations of my ancestors.
6. Actually write some posts for my Civil War Remembered series (and yes, this may mean "backdating." It's my blog and I can backdate if I want to.)
7. Change my blog layout. I'm bored.
8. Attempt to track down living relatives in order to locate photographs, stories, journals or just to share what I have.
Here we go. Not too many goals, let's be honest, I can't take that much structure. But I have 12 months to make some kind of dent in this. We'll see how it goes. I have also declared this the Year of Craft in my house. I constantly feel a need to create something, but very rarely act upon it. It's time to put a stop to that and crank out some quilts, embroidery, kids art projects, the list goes on and on and on. Here's to a productive year!
1. My grandmother's 80th birthday is in July and I would like to create some type of "life to this date" memento for her and her guests.
2. Finally order the two Sicilian films from the LDS that I have very much procrastinated on.
3. Research first hand accounts of migration from Virginia to Kentucky to Missouri. Many of my family lines made this trek, and while I have no way of knowing what precipitated their moves specifically, perhaps I can find some explanations in the accounts of other migrants.
4. Determine the origins of my Tosh, Bodine, Creed and Reece family lines.
5. Begin a study of occupations of my ancestors.
6. Actually write some posts for my Civil War Remembered series (and yes, this may mean "backdating." It's my blog and I can backdate if I want to.)
7. Change my blog layout. I'm bored.
8. Attempt to track down living relatives in order to locate photographs, stories, journals or just to share what I have.
Here we go. Not too many goals, let's be honest, I can't take that much structure. But I have 12 months to make some kind of dent in this. We'll see how it goes. I have also declared this the Year of Craft in my house. I constantly feel a need to create something, but very rarely act upon it. It's time to put a stop to that and crank out some quilts, embroidery, kids art projects, the list goes on and on and on. Here's to a productive year!
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Wordless Wednesday - Like father, Like daughter
Like Father...
Like Daughter...
The lovely giant foot is from the remains of a giant statue of Constantine the Great and resides in the courtyard of the Musei Capitoline, Rome, Italy.
The lovely giant foot is from the remains of a giant statue of Constantine the Great and resides in the courtyard of the Musei Capitoline, Rome, Italy.
Monday, December 26, 2011
Military Monday - Determining Civil War pensions
Last week I wrote about receiving the Civil War pension document for my GGG Grandfather, Joseph Creed. Nancy, of My Ancestors and Me, brought up a good discussion point: Could the date of filing for the pension, 1915, really be right? That led me to wonder what the process was for determining pension benefits for Civil War Soldiers.
According to a history of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, following the Civil War pensions were only authorized to Soldiers that were discharged due to an illness or injury. Then in 1890, The Dependent Pension Act of 1890 broadened the requirements for pension to include a veteran that had served more than 3 months and was unable to conduct manual labor due to their service-related injuries or illnesses. It stated the following:
"That all persons who served ninety days or more in the military or naval service of the United States during the late war of the rebellion and who have been honorably discharged therefrom, and who are now or who may hereafter be suffering from a mental or physical disability of a permanent character, not the result of their own vicious habits, which incapacitates them from the performance of manual labor in such a degree as to render them unable to earn a support, shall, upon making due proof of the fact according to such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may provide, be placed upon the list of invalid pensioners of the United States, and be entitled to receive a pension not exceeding twelve dollars per month, and not less than six dollars per month, proportioned to the degree of inability to earn a support; and such pension shall commence from the date of the filing of the application in the Pension Office after the passage of this act, upon proof that the disability then existed, and shall continue during the existence of the same."
Spouses, dependent children and dependent parents were also allowed to file for the pension. In three years the number of Civil War pensioners rose by 500,000 and the total pay-out amount doubled. The Sherwood Act of 1912 broadened the scope for pensions once again, allowing all Union Soldiers a pension at age 62 regardless of any notable disability. Note that Confederate Soldiers were not authorized a federal pension, but would have instead filed for a pension within the state they lived in. These pensions were often only for indigent or disabled Soldiers.
Sources:
Glasson, William Henry. History of military pension legislation in the United States, Columbia University, 1900, pg. 114
Confederate Pension Records, The National Archives, December 12, 2007
According to a history of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, following the Civil War pensions were only authorized to Soldiers that were discharged due to an illness or injury. Then in 1890, The Dependent Pension Act of 1890 broadened the requirements for pension to include a veteran that had served more than 3 months and was unable to conduct manual labor due to their service-related injuries or illnesses. It stated the following:
"That all persons who served ninety days or more in the military or naval service of the United States during the late war of the rebellion and who have been honorably discharged therefrom, and who are now or who may hereafter be suffering from a mental or physical disability of a permanent character, not the result of their own vicious habits, which incapacitates them from the performance of manual labor in such a degree as to render them unable to earn a support, shall, upon making due proof of the fact according to such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may provide, be placed upon the list of invalid pensioners of the United States, and be entitled to receive a pension not exceeding twelve dollars per month, and not less than six dollars per month, proportioned to the degree of inability to earn a support; and such pension shall commence from the date of the filing of the application in the Pension Office after the passage of this act, upon proof that the disability then existed, and shall continue during the existence of the same."
Spouses, dependent children and dependent parents were also allowed to file for the pension. In three years the number of Civil War pensioners rose by 500,000 and the total pay-out amount doubled. The Sherwood Act of 1912 broadened the scope for pensions once again, allowing all Union Soldiers a pension at age 62 regardless of any notable disability. Note that Confederate Soldiers were not authorized a federal pension, but would have instead filed for a pension within the state they lived in. These pensions were often only for indigent or disabled Soldiers.
Sources:
Glasson, William Henry. History of military pension legislation in the United States, Columbia University, 1900, pg. 114
Confederate Pension Records, The National Archives, December 12, 2007
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Christmas Eve
Today I am thinking of a good friend that can't be with her family this Christmas. She is serving her country in Afghanistan, a tour that she volunteered for. Christmas will be just another day at the office this year. Thank you, Wendy, for your service. I'm so glad that I got an opportunity to call you boss and now friend! Merry Christmas!
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Christmas Music
As I've mentioned before I love Christmas music. One of my favorite Christmas songs is "I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day." Originally a poem written in December 1863 by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow called Christmas Bells, it is the release of personal tragedy and hard times as only a poet can write.
Longfellow had lost his wife in 1861 after her clothing caught on fire while lighting a candle. The family was in the midst of the Civil War and Longfellow was dealing with the realities of raising a family as a single parent. On top of all this his son, Charles Appleton Longfellow, ran away to enlist in the Union Army in March 1863.
Lt. Longfellow was severely injured November 27, 1863 at the battle of New Hope Church, Virginia. His father learned of his wound when a journalist found Lt. Longsfellow and cabled the poet to tell him it was a grievous wound. Longfellow and his son Ernest Wadsworth traveled to Washington, D.C. to find him, spending several days in a search for him not knowing if they would find him alive or dead. After some time they did find Lt. Longsfellow and were able to bring him home to recover. The torment of the loss of his wife, the Civil War and fears for his son come through his poetic words, especially in the sixth stanza.
The poem was set to music sometime after 1872 by John Baptise Calkin with later versions by Joseph Mainzer and Johnny Marks. The fourth and fifth stanzas, those that speak directly about the Civil War, are no longer heard in popular renditions of the song.
Longfellow had lost his wife in 1861 after her clothing caught on fire while lighting a candle. The family was in the midst of the Civil War and Longfellow was dealing with the realities of raising a family as a single parent. On top of all this his son, Charles Appleton Longfellow, ran away to enlist in the Union Army in March 1863.
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| Lieutenant Charles Appleton Longfellow, Co. G, 1st Massachusetts Cavalry Regiment |
Christmas Bells
I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Till, ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
And in despair I bowed my head;
“There is no peace on earth,” I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men!”
“There is no peace on earth,” I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men!”
Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead ; nor doth he sleep!
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men!”
“God is not dead ; nor doth he sleep!
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men!”
The poem was set to music sometime after 1872 by John Baptise Calkin with later versions by Joseph Mainzer and Johnny Marks. The fourth and fifth stanzas, those that speak directly about the Civil War, are no longer heard in popular renditions of the song.
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