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Time Travel

March 12, 2013 By

Hola amigos: Today I bring you “Time Travel” where genealogy enthusiasts trace their roots to distant places, expanding their sense of family. It’s a new trend, a newly recognized genre of travel: genealogical tourism, genealogical travel; people traveling back in time  -as a figure of thought – to the places where their ancestors lived and died a long time ago; traveling far away in search of their own roots, finding lost connections with tears and jubilation, knowing how history affects them in their lives today, getting a sense of belonging, finding  a piece of them that’s suddenly real, recognizing how truly interconnected we all are … ES

 

Time Travel Image

 

By Leslie Forsberg

Alaska Airlines Magazine

 

http://hagersjourneys.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Hagers-Journeys-Genealogical-Adventures-Alska-Airlines-Magazine.pdf

 

In a high-rise O‘ahu condo overlooking
the quicksilver waves of the Pacific,
my cousin Kaethe clears away the
dinner dishes and then hauls out a
thick volume. “I’ve got a surprise for
you,” she says. Carefully lifting open the
faded, crumbling cover, I find myself staring
at a pencil sketch of massive sailing
vessels, sails billowing full, the words
“HMS Shah” scrawled above. On the
right-hand page, spidery inscriptions flow
breathlessly, “… with our hearts light and gay
having gotten everything on board we got up steam
weighed and bid farewell to Spithead having to call
in at Plymouth we steamed down Channel and hove
in sight of Plymouth in the night. …”
I can hear my heart pounding as I ask,
“What’s this?”

 

“This is my grandfather,and your great-grandfather,
Harry Coventon’s British sea journal, from
when he served in the British Royal Navy, around
1881,” Kaethe says, eyes sparkling. She tells me that
cousins in my hometown of Port Angeles, Washington,
who had told few about the document, gave her
the journal to digitize for family members. I’ve never
heard anyone in my family mention such a treasure.

 

My husband, Eric, and I
have traveled to O‘ahu to visit Kaethe, a cousin
I’d never really known but had been curious about
since finding a letter among my father’s things after
he passed away. It was a handwritten copy of a letter
from my grandmother to Kaethe, giving her the
names and address of our last-known English relatives,
a section of the family that had remained in
Europe as my paternal great-grandfather broke away
for a new life in a new land

 

When I booked my trip to O‘ahu, it hadn’t yet

dawned on me how little I knew about my family,
and that by traveling to spend time with relatives a
generation older than I was, I might discover nuggets
of family history that I’d never heard in the
stories told by my father. In fact, I discovered much
more detail and even other perspectives on what I
thought I knew about my family. I swiftly learned
that each branch of the family has its own stories,
and that taking the opportunity to meet with others
and share information creates a fuller and richer
view of family, past and present. Traveling to visit
family members—no matter how distantly related—
not only greatly expands my understanding of my
family history, but also offers insights about family
traits that continue from generation to generation.
When I launched my genealogical journey, I
didn’t know that I would be riding a wave of genealogical
interest along with millions of other Americans. And
I hadn’t known that my visits to Old
World and New World places would be part of a
newly recognized genre of travel: genealogical
travel.

 

Carla Santos, a widely recognized expert in

genealogical tourism and an associate professor in
the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism at
the University of Illinois, notes that genealogy is
among the most-practiced hobbies in the United
States. What many do with the information they
acquire about their ancestors is what interests Santos.
A relatively new trend is people traveling back
in time, so to speak, to the places where their ancestors lived.
“Genealogical tourism is one of the fastest-growing markets
in vacation travel,” says Santos, and it’s
a market that is appealing to all kinds of people.

 

“We all come from somewhere,” she says.

“It could be that one of my family members was
born in Philadelphia, so I’m going to go to Philadelphia.
Maybe I go to the cemetery and the
county courthouse, then I tour the town and get a
sense for what it’s like where they came from.”
This type of tourism represents a shift, Santos
says. “In the 1980s and ’90s we thought of tourism
as escaping or going somewhere exotic. Today, tourism is
often about personal enrichment and nostalgia.
It’s about having experiences that enrich our
personal lives.”

 

Marion Hager, owner of Scottsdale, Arizona–
based Hager’s Journeys, a small boutique travel
agency that specializes in heritage travel, agrees.
“More and more, we’re seeing that
baby boomers want enrichment,
experiences, nostalgia,” she says. “So
naturally it goes hand in hand that
they want to see the countries their
grandparents came from. This has
stimulated independent travel. Some
will still book a standard tour, but
genealogical travelers are more likely
to want to go to places where most
tour groups don’t go.”

 

Specialty tourism agencies such as
Hager’s Journeys have stepped in to fill the void,
taking people on tours with personalized agendas,
such as visiting the school their great-grandparents
went to or connecting with a relative they’ve never
met. Even hotels have stepped in to offer services to
travelers in search of ancestral families.

 

In Ireland, a country that sent millions to the
New World in the 19th century, The
Shelbourne Dublin caters to visitors
with Irish roots. The hotel’s Genealogy Butler
provides a personalized treasure map that includes a one
hour consultation (over tea, of course), a genealogical assessment,
a proposed research program, an overview of Irish sources and a map
to history repositories. The Scottish equivalent can be found
at Dalmunzie Castle, a luxury lodging that
describes itself as the fi rst genealogy hotel in the
United Kingdom.

 

Europe isn’t the only place seeing a surge in
genealogical travel. Throughout the United States,
travelers are seeking the towns and landscapes
where their ancestors once lived. Alice Fairhurst,
the president and a researcher at the Southern California
Genealogical Society, flew to Portland to joinher son and
grandkids on a memorable road trip to Eastern Oregon,
where her husband’s grandfather was once the mayor of the
town of Enterprise. “My husband’s mother, Oris, raced palomino
ponies and could ride with the best of them,”
Fairhurst says. “They often stayed in cottages at
Wallowa Lake. So of course we visited there, to see
the lake and the cottages. To see what it was like
where my son’s great-grandmother lived, to fi nd her
high school and then even to fi nd a picture of her in
a book in a local museum. … It had a huge impact
on all of us,” she says.

 

The Southern California Genealogical Jamboree,
the society’s annual convention, held in Burbank, is
one of the largest in the nation. “We usually have
1,700 or so people attending from across the U.S. and
other countries,” Fairhurst says. “People get to the
age of 40 or 50—though lots are interested in their
teens—and all of a sudden mortality comes knocking,
and people are interested in fi nding out about
their roots. And that’s when they come to places like
this, to learn how to do genealogical research.”
Genealogical conferences are held regularly
throughout the United States, offering an abundance
of information for those just starting the
search or for those who want to dig deeper than the
resources they’ve been able to find on the Internet.

 

One of the nation’s largest exhibitions is
held annually in Washington, D.C. The
National Archives’ annual Genealogy
Fair, held each April, has grown dramatically in
recent years, from 3,000 attendees in 2010 to
5,000 in 2011 to 5,400 this year.

 

“We’re the national center for federal
records, so we’ve always had a strong genealogy
program,” says Diane Dimkoff, director of the
National Archives’ Genealogy Fair. “We find that
there are always so many new people every year.
Haven’t we reached everybody yet?” she asks with a
laugh. “There can’t be any new people left, yet every
year there are hundreds or thousands more. We
outgrew the building, so we hold the fair outside in
tents on our plaza.”

 

The fair offers scores of speakers on topics ranging from
preserving family records to researching Civil War
pension files.“The records we have are those someone
would have if they interacted with the federal
government,” Dimkoff says. “If you were an
immigrant and you went through Ellis Island or
another port, we’d have information on that. If
someone was living in the country during one
of the census periods, that would show up. If they
acquired federal land or were in military service,
from the Civil War forward, we have information on that.”

 

A lot of the records are on microfilm and available in
regional archives, but the National Archives
is the one place where everything is available.
oots-related travel has become exceptionally
popular in the past few years, but what
prompted this surge of interest? For many
Americans, the notion of searching for one’s ancestral
family started with the TV show Who Do You
Think You Are?, an American adaptation of a British
documentary series, which had a two-year run in
the United States beginning in 2010. During each
episode, a celebrity—such as Gwyneth Paltrow or
Spike Lee—traveled to far-flung locales while tracing
their family trees, led by expert genealogists.

 

“I noticed that when Who Do You Think You Are?
started airing, we had a huge surge of interest in our
genealogical society,” says Lori East, library director
of the Tuolumne County Genealogical Society in
Sonora, California. “The show made it look easy to
do such research, as though you can just walk into
the National Archives and they’ll do it for you,” she
notes. “That doesn’t really happen. You have to do it
for yourself.”

 

After quizzing family elders for information,
most people start with the Internet. That’s how I got
my start, on the most popular site in the United
States, Canada and Australia: Ancestry.com has
2 million paid subscribers. (The company’s latest
foray into genealogy includes DNA testing.) Within
minutes of keying in my name, and my parents’ and
grandparents’ names, small quivering leaves
appeared beside names, suggesting “hints” that
might lead to scans of official records, such as birth,
marriage and death certifi cates, or suggestions of a
connection to someone else’s family tree that has an
individual of the same name and vital statistics.

 

In a few days of inputting information,
I’d grown my family tree signifi cantly and
discovered documents offering the names
of my great-grandmothers on my mother’s
side—women whose names my mother
didn’t even know. One passed away before
my mother was born, the other when my
mother was still a child. Hannah, from an
English family in Ontario, Canada, and
Sophia, from Hanover, Germany, suddenly
seemed real to me.

 

My Internet research fueled my imagination
and made me wonder what life was
like for these people. How much of who I
am comes from those who came before me?
“We all want to know where we came
from, what makes us who we are,” Dimkoff
notes. “People want to know how history
affects them in their lives today,” she adds.

 

“I hear people say, ‘That’s why I’m so stubborn. …
He never gave up.’ ”“Doing your family genealogy
offers asense of belonging and community,” says
Dimkoff. “It’s a deep passion, and fundamentally,
it’s emotional.”

 

Merrill White, a librarian at the
immense Family History Library in Salt
Lake City—a collection of more than 2.4
million rolls of microfi lmed genealogical
records from the United States, Canada, the
British Isles, Europe, Latin America, Asia
and Africa—says he sees tears and jubilation daily.
“People who come here find connections, often after
they’ve been looking for years. Whenever anybody
finds an ancestor in a record, the second they see them
on a piece of paper, there’s an instant feeling of
joy. ‘That’s him! That’s my family!’ is what
they all say. It’s an instant connection; it’s a
piece of them that’s suddenly real.”

 

The library and its mammoth collection
of genealogical data is owned and curated
by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints. The Family History Library averages a
half-million visitors a year from around
the world. In summer, the library
averages 2,000 visitors a day.
egan Smolenyak, the author
of six books, including Hey,
America, Your Roots Are Showing
and Who Do You Think You Are?,
a companion to the TV series, was the person
who traced President Barack Obama’s roots
to Moneygall, in Ireland.

 

“The Internet and all of the records that
are available today are great,” she says, “but
if you want to know your ancestors as
living, breathing people, you have to go to
the places where they came from.”
Smolenyak’s roots are in a tiny village in
Slovakia. “When we visited relatives, we
increased the population by 10 percent,” she
says with a laugh. “When I go to Slovakia,
I’m treated like family … because I am. We
really do treat family a little differently.
Even if you’re fourth cousins, there’s an
extra ounce of consideration,” she says.

 

“Millions of people are doing that and
recognizing how truly interconnected we are.”
Jennifer Wilson of Des Moines, Iowa,
author of the 2011 book Running Away to
Home, began her search for connection in
2008 when the last of her immigrant relatives
passed away: Sister Mary Paula Radosevich,
her mother’s aunt, was almost 100 years old.

 

“The nuns gave me Sister Mary Paula’s
personal papers, and as a new parent I
became obsessed with this little village
that seemed suspended in amber since my
great-grandparents left it. My family had
no stories, no recipes, no language from
this place. At the time the economy was
crashing, and I thought, ‘There’s no better
time to return than the present.’ ”

 

Wilson and her husband packed up
their family, including 7-year-old Sam and
4-year-old Zabie, and they lived for 4 ∂
months in the ancient mountain village of
Mrkopalj, Croatia. “It was a reverse immigration,
back to the beginning of our American family,
as I knew it, and it was hugely intimidating for me
at first,” she reflects. Soon after they arrived,
Wilson’s husband was “ferried off to the local bar by
the guys in the village.” Wilson suddenly
felt very alone. Yet, once villagers learned
why the family was there—that they really
wanted to know what their ancestors experienced—
people came out of their houses
and welcomed the small family.

 

“The old women schooled me in what
life was like for my grandmother,” Wilson
says. “They taught me old recipes, how to
gather herbs and flowers for tea, how to
knit with five needles. … It was a beautiful
thing. “My kids fit right in,” she continues.
“They got to have the childhood experiences
that we and our parents had. They had freedom
in mountain meadows climbing trees and eating apples.”
“[The experience] really re-jiggered our
understanding of what family was,” Wilson
says. “We found that the connection
remains.

 

We can’t forget that as Americans
we’re from all over the world. They still
saw us as family, and were deeply moved
that we came home after 100 years.”
’ve had many of my own “coming
home” moments as I’ve traveled in
search of my own roots.

 

In a small town in British Columbia, I greeted a
cousin and his wife whom I met through
Ancestry.com, only to learn that they had
regularly traded Christmas cards with my
father, and had photographs of my beloved
Grandma Nessie to share. I was thrilled to
meet a Montana cousin who was once a
congressman who played a prominent role
in national environmental issues.

 

In Kid derminster, England, I visited distant
relatives of Grandma Nessie’s, a lovely
family related to me so far back in time
(dating to my fourth great-grand father,
born in 1788), that the connection has
expanded my definition of family.

 

Yet it was in Switzerland that I had my
ultimate genealogical travel experience: I’d
traveled with my husband and 18-year-old
daughter, Kirsten, to the historic resort of
Gyrenbad in the foothills of the Alps.
Through genealogical research, I’d learned
that the resort had belonged to my paternal
great-grandmother’s uncle, Heinrich Peters.
When Peters’ brother (my paternal greatgreat uncle)
emigrated to the United Statesin the late 19th century,
he bought farmland in Port Angeles that he named
Gyrenbad Ranch—which became part of the
family farm on which I grew up. My greatgrandmother,
Alwine, left Switzerland at age 18 to join her uncle
at Gyrenbad Ranch, where she raised three children, including
my grandfather, Clarence Forsberg.
I’d let the resort managers know I was
coming to visit Switzerland, and the elderly
proprietor, who spoke no English, met us in
the lobby. She excitedly gestured for us to
follow her onto the balcony, where I was
puzzled to see her pulling aside thick vines
from the railing. Suddenly the ethereal past
became very real as I glimpsed a message
from centuries earlier: the iron-scrollwork
initials H.P., for Heinrich Peters.

 

Moments later, Kirsten was settling into
her room where the sashes were thrown
wide toward Swiss cows grazing in a lush
pasture, the music of their bells drifting in
through the window. In the hallway outside her
room, my eye was caught by an
early-20th century photograph, and the
fine hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

 

In the picture, standing proudly in a lower
window of the hotel was Heinrich Peters.
My great-grandmother Alwine posed in
another window, and in another window
was the unmistakable visage of my
Grandpa Clarence as a young boy, next to
his brother and sister. “Hi Grandpa, I’m
here,” I said, softly.

 

Genealogical Jaunts

Dennis Ford

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What Race Is Bruno Mars?

March 9, 2013 By

Hola amigos: Today I bring you: What race is Bruno Mars? This article explains the multiculturalism of his roots: American, Puerto Rican, Phillipines, Ukranian, Hawaiian, Jewish, Hungarian… ES

 

Bruno Mars next to one of his grandfathers Image 

 

 

By Megan Smolenyalc

Huffington Post

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/megan-smolenyak-smolenyak/what-race-is-bruno-mars_b_2116984.html

Which of the following describes the heritage of Peter Gene Hernandez, better known as Bruno Mars?

  • Ukrainian
  • American
  • Filipino
  • Hispanic
  • Jewish
  • Hawaiian
  • Puerto Rican
  • European
  • Hungarian
  • Asian
  • Spanish

The correct answer is all of the above. So riddle me this: What race is Bruno Mars?

Many have long said that race is an artificial construct, and as a genealogist who’s been playing with family trees for most of my life and with DNA for more than a decade, I wholeheartedly agree. While the recent presidential election has certainly increased awareness of diversity in America, the more multicultural trees I research and genetic ancestries I explore, the more apparent I think the growing “melangification” of all this diversity will gradually become to everyone.

Folks like myself who are 100-percenters or half-and-halves with roots in only one or two places are rapidly becoming quaint, and families like Bruno’s (the Obamas also come to mind) are slightly ahead of the curve. If you were to come back 100 years from now, I have no doubt that you’d find a lot more family trees of the Cloud Atlas variety with branches extending to every corner of the globe. But for now, let’s linger on Bruno’s for a bit. Here are a few things you didn’t know about his roots:

  • He is typically described as being Hawaiian-born to a father of Puerto Rican heritage and a mother from the Philippines. This is all true. His parents are indeed Boricua and Filipina. But his ancestral pool also happens to be one-quarter Jewish hailing from Hungary and Ukraine (which perhaps makes the “dancing juice/Jews” aspect of this viral Marry You video even more fitting).

 

  • In the U.S., Hawaii, New York, California, Nevada, Puerto Rico and Texas all hold a piece of his family’s past.

 

 

  • Bruno’s Ukrainian immigrant ancestor, a one-time Hebrew teacher, entered America not through Ellis Island, but through the port of Galveston, Texas as part of the Galveston Movement. His future bride, however, was of Ellis Island stock.

 

 

  • This same ancestor was once banned from ever becoming a citizen, but after modifying his name (please see the Ellis Island chapter of Hey, America, Your Roots Are Showing if you still believe that old myth about names being changed by immigration officials) and waiting about 20 years, he was finally naturalized.

 

2012-11-12-brunomarsggggpssmolenyak2.jpg
 

  • As seen in this photo, continental blending in Bruno’s family began a long time ago. This shows a pair of his great-great-grandparents – the father born in Spain and the mother in the Philippines – with two of their daughters around the 1890s. About a decade after her husband passed away, Bruno’s great-great-grandmother remarried to a Chinese gentleman 19 years her junior, introducing yet another country into the family mix.

 

2012-11-12-1858baptismspainbrunomarssmolenyak.jpg
 

  • When it comes to Spain, it’s Segovia – I’m talking to you, Nava de la Asunción and Fuentepelayo! – that gets the bragging rights.

 

Were Bruno Mars to go on a world tour for the release of Unorthodox Jukebox, there would likely be unsuspecting cousins in the audiences in Madrid, New York, Kiev, San Juan, Manila and Budapest. So tell me: Which box do you think Bruno Mars ticked on the 2010 census?

 

Unorthodox Jukebox

Bruno Mars

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Know Yourself Knowing your Roots:The Two Basic Genealogy Forms To Help You

March 8, 2013 By

Hola amigos: Many people believe, myself included, that in order to know yourself and achieve what you want, you must know your roots. People who don’t look back to where they came from don’t know themselves and can’t reach their full potential or their true destination.

 

 

Family Group Sheet Image

 

Life is more enriched if you know who you really are, if you know your roots that tells you where you do come from. Ancestry and genealogy are not just about names, is your family’s blood line passed on to many generations. That’s the reason why millions of individuals are trying to trace their family’s roots through genealogy.

 

When you’re making your own family tree, you will need genealogy forms that would make your task much easier.  Two basic forms genealogists use to record all their ancestral information are family group sheets and pedigree charts. These forms help people keep track of all information they find regarding their family’s history in a standard format that can be easily read and understood. These forms are recognized by all genealogists around the globe and the software programs of genealogy forms are all standard.

 

Pedigree Charts Images

 

Most people use a pedigree chart. This form starts with you and then branches out back to display your direct ancestral line. Most of the pedigree charts cover about four generations with spaces included so that you can enter important dates, marriage, place or birth, and death and even photos.

 

The standard format of a pedigree chart is only eight and a half by eleven inches. If you want larger forms is also possible to obtain them, these are called ancestral charts where you can enter more than four generations.

 

You can still make use of the standard form even if you want to do more than four generations ; just make sure that you put reference numbers so that it will be easier for you to follow your family tree.

 

Family Group Sheet Images

 

Another genealogy form is the family group sheet form that focuses more on the family as a single unit. The sheet also has spaces for the name of the couple, their children (if any), and fields to write down the birth, marriage, death, and even burial places of the family members. Lines are included for the children’s spouses if they get married, along with sections for sources and comments.

 

This form is one of the most important tools in genealogy because there is room for your ancestor’s children and their spouses. The collateral lines are very important when you’re tracing a family tree.

 

These forms will work best if they are used together. Once you include a marriage on the pedigree chart, you must enter it on the family sheet. The pedigree chart form offers a quick glance-look of your tree, but the family group sheet offers further details for each generation of ancestors.

 

Tracing your roots has never been as easy as it is now. If you want to start with your own family adventure,  get both the forms of the pedigree chart and the family group sheet and start your journey. These forms are necessary to make your family tree easier and more specific. Get a copy of the forms on the Internet and happy tracing the roots that made you! Enjoy the trip.  ES

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Find Your Life Missing Puzzles – Understand Your Roots

March 8, 2013 By

Hola amigos: To find the missing puzzles of your life you need to understand your roots and to understand your roots you can study and research your genealogy. The best way to start your quest to know your ancestry is by finding information by which you can trace your ancestors with the help of a free genealogy web site.

 

The Internet had modified the face of ancestry tracking and now you don’t have the challenging tasks to library works and long distance travels. There is now this powerful tool that could be accessed in an instant for free. Genealogy web sites are potent components of research but proper care is needed in order to optimize its advantages.

 

What you need  is reliable and accurate information. If you are a beginner, a tutorial resource on genealogy will serve as a guide so that your research efforts will not be wasted.  The basic things to know and remember are the different techniques and types of document sources of genealogy.

 

In using the free genealogy web sites, it is important to document the sources properly: the web site address, the abbreviations and significant notes should be indicated as foot notes or at an index page. When verifying or rechecking your data gathered, this will be very advantageous. Documentation takes the place of  the researcher  failing memory and  these documents can be the key to resolve the conflicting facts that you may encounter in the process of research.

 

Your living relatives can help you verify the facts that you have gathered from free genealogy web sites and the interviews with them bring about good stories about your ancestry. The stories should be recorded together with the names of all the storytellers. Check the data you have gathered to see if they fit in to each other.

 

Other very helpful resources that can be found in the Internet are census records, death indexes and obituaries. Not all newspaper publish their obituaries online and not all deaths were submitted to obituaries or death indexes,  but these sources can lead you to clues and relative information.

 

Take into account all the possible resources and organize your data. Highlight the documents that you value most. None of the documents that you find insignificant should be disposed, they could still serve as reference in the future.

 

When you get to the stage of assembling the facts, it  means that you are almost done. You can share with other researchers the facts that you have gathered, sometimes it takes a few people to assemble the puzzles of your heritage.  Remember that you are not the only person in your clan who would like to find out the bloodline of your ancestry. You are only one of the links of your family chain. ES

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The SECRETS TO A HAPPY FAMILY by Dr. Bruce Feiler

February 24, 2013 By

Hola amigos: Today I bring you “The Secrets of Happy Families” by Dr. Bruce Feiler.  Happy families are alike, so Dr. Feiler  help us see what do they have in common. Take his quiz to find out, and discover how you can  have  a happy family too. The first question of the Dr. Feiler quiz  found that the kids who knew the most about their family’s history, were best able to handle stress. ‘The more children know about their family, the stronger their sense of control over their lives and the higher their self-esteem. The reason: these children have a strong sense of “inter-generational self”—they understand that they belong to something bigger than themselves, and that families naturally experience both highs and lows.” – I rest my case, thanks. – ES

Parade “The Secrets To A Happy Family” Image

 

by Parade

http://www.parade.com/health/2013/02/14-excerpt-the-secrets-of-happy-families-bruce-feiler.html

 

It’s actually a great time to know what happy families do right? In this Sunday’s issue of PARADE, best-selling author (and dad) Bruce Feiler reveals the smartest ways to teach kids values, calm chaos at home, and draw families closer together.

“Recently we’ve seen a stunning breakthrough in knowledge about how to make families run more smoothly,” Feiler writes.

I spent the past few years meeting with scholars, peace negotiators, online-game designers, the Green Berets, even Warren Buffett’s bankers to try to glean the secrets to happy families. The questions here are meant to help you do the same.

Here are a few of his tips for helping make the family unit effective and resilient:
• Teach kids about their family’s history—it helps them handle stress.
• Let your children decide how best to spend their allowance.
• Don’t push athletics on your children.
• To reduce squabbles, spend a few minutes every day alone with each child.
• Allow kids to have a say in deciding their own punishments

http://www.parade.com/news/quiz2/secrets-to-a-happy-family-quiz.html

Quiz: How Happy Is Your Family?

By Bruce Feiler

As the saying goes, all happy families are alike. But what do they have in common? Take our quiz to find out—and discover how you can have one, too.

There comes a moment in the life of nearly every parent when you look at the chaos around you and think: There must be a better way! For me, that happened a few years ago. Having survived the slog of sippy cups and diaper caddies with our then 5-year-old twin daughters, my wife and I were ready to develop a family culture. But what are the ingredients that make families effective, resilient, and happy?

It’s actually a great time to ask that question: Recently we’ve seen a stunning breakthrough in knowledge about how to make families run more smoothly. I spent the past few years meeting with scholars, peace negotiators, online-game designers, the Green Berets, even Warren Buffett’s bankers to try to glean the secrets to happy families. The questions here are meant to help you do the same.

Test Questions The Secrets of Happy Families

Q.1
When a team of psychologists measured children’s resilience, they found that the kids who ________ were best able to handle stress.
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Answer 1. When a team of psychologists measured children’s resilience, they found that the kids who ________ were best able to handle stress.

Ate the same breakfast every day
Knew the most about their family’s history ✓
Played team sports
Attended regular religious services

The more children know about their family’s history, the stronger their sense of control over their lives and the higher their self-esteem. The reason: These children have a strong sense of “intergenerational self”—they understand that they belong to something bigger than themselves, and that families naturally experience both highs and lows.

Q.2
Children are expected to learn how many new words per year during grades 3 through 12?
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Answer 2. Children are expected to learn how many new words per year during grades 3 through 12?

500
1,500
3,000 ✓

It may sound daunting, but you can help by teaching kids one new word every day. Three simple games are effective at building vocabulary. First, throw out a word like bird or white and have everyone list as many related words as possible. Second, introduce a prefix or suffix and see how many words can be created from it. Third, open a newspaper or magazine and ask the kids to find a word they don’t know, then look up the definitions and discuss.

Q.3
True or false: When giving children an allowance, parents should force them to divide their money into equal piles for spending, saving, and giving away.
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Answer 3. True or false: When giving children an allowance, parents should force them to divide their money into equal piles for spending, saving, and giving away.

True
False ✓

An allowance gives kids a chance to practice something they won’t learn in school: money management. Dividing allowance money into different pots is a popular tactic, but you shouldn’t force it on a child. Instead, let him or her decide how to spend the cash. As one of Warren Buffett’s bankers said, it’s better to make a mistake “with a $6 allowance than a $60,000 salary or a $6 million inheritance.”

Q.4
What do surveys show that children want most from their parents?
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Answer 4. What do surveys show that children want most from their parents?

To spend more time with them
For the parents to be less tired and stressed ✓
A bigger allowance

An effective way to cut down on stress is to hold a weekly meeting to review how your family is functioning. Sit together with everyone and pose three questions: “What worked well in our family last week?” “What didn’t work well?” And “What can we work on now?” The following week, adjust and try again.

Q.5
Eating dinner together as a family has been shown to benefit children, but at least a third of Americans rarely do so. Which of these alternatives can offer the same benefits?
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Answer 5. Eating dinner together as a family has been shown to benefit children, but at least a third of Americans rarely do so. Which of these alternatives can offer the same benefits?

Eating breakfast together
Having a bedtime snack as a family
Scheduling a once-a-week Sunday supper
All of the above ✓

Children who eat dinner with their families do better in school and are less likely to drink, smoke, do drugs, or develop eating disorders, yet one study found Americans rank 23rd out of 25 countries when it comes to family meals. Still, research shows that you can reap most of the same benefits by gathering at other times, like at breakfast—even if it’s just once a week.

Q.6
To encourage conversation and draw your family closer, arrange your living room seating in a:
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Answer 6. To encourage conversation and draw your family closer, arrange your living room seating in a:

U shape
Circle ✓
L shape

A study of hospital patients in Saskatchewan, Canada, found that subjects were friendlier to one another when they were seated face-to-face. The ideal distance is about five feet away, the same vantage from which Rembrandt and Leonardo da Vinci painted portraits. At that distance, the eye can comfortably take in the torso, hands, and face.

 

Q.7

The most common time of day for family fights is:
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Answer 7. The most common time of day for family fights is:

Morning
Dinnertime ✓
Weekends

Psychologists in Chicago studied interactions between moms, dads, and kids and found that the most highly charged time was from 6 to 8 p.m., when parents are returning from work and everybody is hungry. To reduce fighting, hold off on difficult topics until everyone’s looked through the mail, eaten, and changed clothes.

Q.8
When it comes to discipline, who should pick the punishments?
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Answer 8. When it comes to discipline, who should pick the punishments?

Parents
Kids ✓

When kids have a role in picking their own punishments, it can give them a “greater sense of ownership” over their behavior and may increase the likelihood they’ll follow through on changing it, said Carol Dweck, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at Stanford University.

Q.9
The worst word you can say in a fight with a spouse is:
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Answer 9. The worst word you can say in a fight with a spouse is:

Me
We
You ✓
Your mother

Pronouns are the canaries in the coal mine of conflict. James Pennebaker, Ph.D., chair of the psychology department at the University of Texas at Austin, citing studies of married couples, says that using a lot of first-person pronouns (“I” or “we”) is a sign of a healthy relationship; using “you” (as in “You always say that” or “You never do this”) indicates poor problem solving.

Q.10
If you’re having an argument with your partner or teenager, you can help reduce feelings of resentment if you:
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 Answer 10. If you’re having an argument with your partner or teenager, you can help reduce feelings of resentment if you:

Lie down and stretch out
Sit up with good posture
Lean forward and nod
Any of the above, as long as you’re both doing the same thing ✓

People who assume power positions (feet up; leaning over a table) tend to have increased feelings of superiority, while those in less powerful poses (sitting lower; arms crossed) tend to feel defensive and resentful. To reduce feelings of power imbalances, says environmental psychologist Sally Augustin, Ph.D., everyone in a conversation should be at the same level, with the same posture.

Q.11
When men and women were asked the top three reasons they argue with their spouse, they agreed on only one. What was it?
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Answer 11. When men and women were asked the top three reasons they argue with their spouse, they agreed on only one. What was it?

Housework
Children
Money ✓
Sex

The cliché is accurate. Scientists posed this question to about 4,000 men and women, and money was the only answer cited by both sides. Couples can cut down on financial conflicts by dividing money into three accounts—”yours,” “mine,” and “ours”—and holding quarterly meetings to discuss finances.

 

Q.12
When siblings between the ages of 3 and 7 are together, how many times per hour do they fight?
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Answer 12. When siblings between the ages of 3 and 7 are together, how many times per hour do they fight?

One to two
Two to three
Three to four ✓

Siblings clash an average of 3.5 times per hour, studies show, with those fights lasting a total of 10 minutes. To reduce squabbles, spend a few minutes every day alone with each child (so they’re not jockeying for attention), and give them chores to do jointly to build trust.

Q.13
Difficult conversations among groups of family members will go better if you have two what?
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Answer 13. Difficult conversations among groups of family members will go better if you have two what?

Coffee breaks
Moderators
Women ✓
Bottles of wine

Researchers from Carnegie Mellon, MIT, and elsewhere analyzed nearly 700 people working in groups and found that those with a higher proportion of females to males were more sensitive to input from everyone, more capable of reaching compromise, and more efficient.

Q.14
At family meetings, you should vote about a matter:
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Answer 14. At family meetings, you should vote about a matter:

Before you discuss it ✓
After you discuss it

Many organizations are better at making decisions if participants express their views at the outset of a meeting. Otherwise, countless studies have shown that the people who speak first and loudest tend to persuade others to go along with their positions, even when they’re wrong.

Q.15
Research shows that girls delay the onset of sexual activity if they have a close relationship with their:
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Answer 15. Research shows that girls delay the onset of sexual activity if they have a close relationship with their:

Mothers
Fathers ✓
Grandparents

In a landmark Add Health study of 90,000 adolescents, researchers found that girls who have close relationships with their fathers were more likely to hold off on having sex. Other studies have shown that involved dads also produce greater sociability and confidence in both daughters and sons.

Q.16
Which of these out-of-school activities is more popular for American children ages 7 to 10?
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Answer 16. Which of these out-of-school activities is more popular for American children ages 7 to 10?

Music lessons
Religious activities
Team sports ✓

Nearly three-quarters of American children play team sports, but parents often put too much pressure on their kids. To make sports more family-friendly: Don’t push athletics on your child. Don’t use commands during games (say “good pass,” not “pass the ball”). And don’t engage in postgame analysis (let the coaches coach; parents should be supportive).

 

Q.17
Which behavior is more vital to a happy relationship?
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Answer 17. Which behavior is more vital to a happy relationship?

Supporting your partner during a difficult period
Celebrating your partner after an accomplishment ✓

Researchers at the University of California at Santa Barbara asked men and women to share good news with their partners. Those with the strongest relationships didn’t just toast their partner’s achievement (“Good job, honey”) but attributed it to their unique self (“Only someone with your ingenuity could have won that big account”). The scientists concluded that it’s more important to congratulate your partner when things go right than to console when things go wrong.

Q.18
How many Americans attend a family reunion every year?
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Answer 18. How many Americans attend a family reunion every year?

25 million
50 million
100 million ✓

About 40 percent of Americans attend an annual reunion, with another 25 percent attending one every few years. To increase bonding during reunions, hold a family trivia contest or play intergenerational games like capture the flag. Having fun together is a key part of building a strong family identity.

Q.19
Most people say their family is:
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Answer 19. Most people say their family is:

Happy ✓
Unhappy

Three-quarters of American adults say their family is the most important element of their lives, and 85 percent say that the family they have today is as close as or closer than the family they grew up with.

 

The Secrets of Happy Families Quiz Completed

Then, what do happy families do right? Happy families adapt. They talk—a lot. They go out and play.  And they make the decision to keep working on their family. In the end, this may be the most enduring lesson of all. What’s the biggest secret to a happy family? Trying.

Adapted from The Secrets of Happy Families: Improve Your Mornings, Rethink Family Dinner, Fight Smarter, Go Out and Play, and Much More, by Bruce Feiler (Feb. 19, William Morrow

Read an exclusive excerpt from Bruce Feiler’s new book  - How Creating a Mission Statement Can Make Your Family Stronger – :

By early Saturday afternoon, David Kidder, the bachelor dad of three young boys for the weekend, was showing signs of losing his wits. His wife, Johanna, was traveling on business. Jack, their 6-year-old, was jumping on the sofa. Stephen, their 4-year-old, was tugging at the refrigerator door. And Lucas, not quite 2, had disappeared. Kidder went sprinting through their home in Mamaroneck, New York. Within seconds, he issued a plaintive cry from the bathroom. “Oh, Lukie, what are you doing?”

Lucas had stripped himself down to his diaper, unfurled half a roll of toilet paper, and was stuffing the garland—and his clothes—into the toilet.

“Come on, we’ve got to get you cleaned up,” Kidder said. He dispatched the two older boys to the backyard, scooped up Lucas, and scurried up two flights of stairs.

As I followed this train of testosterone through the house, I noticed the same decorative item hanging prominently in several rooms. It was a framed piece of paper, cobalt blue, with the word KIDDER in bright vermilion letters in the center. Immediately under it was the phrase, DO UNTO OTHERS. And all around the page were an array of short phrases with bolded words: FAITH, PURPOSE, KNOWLEDGE, JUSTICE.

“That’s our belief board,” Kidder said. “Everything we believe as a family is on that sheet of paper.”

Once Lucas was distracted, Kidder sat down and explained. A serial entrepreneur, Kidder had started four different companies. “If I’ve learned anything in 20 years,” he said, “it’s that young companies typically fail because they don’t communicate their values. You have a charismatic leader with a bunch of beliefs, but those beliefs don’t translate to the rest of the company.”

To solve that problem, Kidder created a playbook for his latest company, with everything from the values of the company to how to run meetings. That’s when he began to wonder: Is there a similar operating system for being a parent?

Every parent I know worries about teaching values to their children. How do we make sure they understand that some beliefs are timeless? How do we build a healthy family culture and ensure that those qualities are passed on to our kids?

In 1989, Stephen Covey came up with an innovative answer. A management consultant from Utah with a Harvard MBA, Covey often asked his corporate clients to write a one-sentence answer to the question, “What is the essential mission or purpose of this organization, and what is its main strategy in accomplishing that purpose?” He then asked executives to read their answers out loud. Participants were usually shocked at how much their answers differed from one another. Covey then helped them create a more unified mission statement.

Covey was not alone, of course. Companies had been identifying their core values and writing mission statements for decades. Covey’s innovation was to apply a similar process to families. He suggested that families create a family mission statement.

“The goal,” he wrote, “is to create a clear, compelling vision of what you and your family are all about.” He said the family mission statement was like the flight plan of an airplane. “Good families—even great families—are off track 90 percent of the time,” he wrote. What makes them good is they have a clear destination in mind, and they have a flight plan to get there. As a result, when they face the inevitable turbulence and human error, they keep coming back to their plan.

Covey said creating his own family’s statement was the most transforming event in his family’s history. He and his wife first looked over their marital covenant, in which they had included 10 abilities they wanted their children to have. They then asked their kids a series of questions, including “What makes you want to come home?” and “What embarrasses you about our family?” Next the kids wrote their own statements. Their teenage son Sean, a high school football star, wrote, “We’re one heck of a family, and we kick butt!” Finally they ended up with their single sentence:

“The mission of our family is to create a nurturing place of faith, order, truth, love, happiness, and relaxation, and to provide opportunity for each individual to become responsibly independent, and effectively interdependent, in order to serve worthy purposes in society.”

Covey lists a dozen examples of other families’ mission statements. They range from the homiletic: Our family mission: To love each other . . . To help each other . . . To believe in each other . . . To wisely use our time, talents, and resources to bless others . . . To worship together . . . Forever. To the sly: No empty chairs.

I had a range of reactions to this exercise. On the one hand, I found the whole thing a little corny. It seemed cumbersome, heavy-handed, and a tad humorless. Also, the pressure of fitting everything into a single sentence seemed liked a good way to end up with a long-winded sentence. On the other hand, I kinda loved the idea. I’m corny! I also thought Covey’s idea captured something inherently true: How can we ask our children to uphold our family’s values if we never articulate what those values are?

Around this time my wife Linda came home one day complaining about some branding problem she was having at work. She co-founded and runs an organization called Endeavor that supports high-impact entrepreneurs around the world. For years, she has worked with branding gurus on Madison Avenue who help the organization identify its central mission and core values. It was a powerful, even emotional, process for everyone on her team.

That’s when it hit me: What if we tried something similar with our family? What if we tried to create our own brand, so to speak? It could include a family mission statement like the one Covey proposed. It could include a list of shared values, maybe even a swoosh or some other cool logo.

Linda pointed out that brands have an external purpose families don’t exactly have. We weren’t selling running shoes, after all. But as I had seen with Linda’s organization, brands also have an internal purpose. They force everyone to sit down, talk about what they believe in, and articulate a common vision. Could that process help us define for our girls, and ourselves, the values we actually believed in? There was only one way to find out.

 Buy the Book Here:

The Secrets of Happy Families

Bruce Feiler

Best Price $12.29
or Buy New $14.29

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Genealogy Resources in Newfoundland

February 1, 2013 By

by ES

Vinland to the Norse or commonly known as Newfoundland, in Canada, is the biggest island in North America and the most easterly point. Ancestors of Newfoundland were known as “Beothuk,” they are people who appeared to be from Labrador, the region on the Canadian mainland.

Court of Arms of Newfoundland and Labrador Image

According to history, after Beothuk, the next settlers to be considered as ancestors of Newfoundland are Native Americans referred to as Micmac. For more genealogy information in Newfoundland, you can check on the following resources: http://www.newfoundlandlabrador.com/

There are government agencies which you can visit to learn more about Newfoundland’s genealogy such as:

 

Department of Government Services and Land

The  department issues documents concerning birth, marriage and death records. There are different service centers in Newfoundland where you can learn more about the said documents. Application forms are also available in the said centers.

 

Provincial Archives

Records of history and other history-related data may be obtained from the Provincial Archives. Church records such as baptismal, marriage and interment certificates are the most common documents that can be gathered in the said agency. The register of vital statistics such as baptismal and marriage certificates are also available there.

 

Public Library

There are three public libraries in Newfoundland, the  ”St. John’s Public Libraries.” The libraries which you can visit and are helpful tools in your genealogical study are:

 

1.         A.C. Hunter Public Library

2.         Marjorie Mews Public Library

3.         Michael Donovan Public Library

 

Genealogy Associations of Newfoundland :

Association of Newfoundland and Labrador Archives or ANLA

This is a center located in St. John’s Newfoundland. Archive records of the province are well-kept in the said center. Aside from obtaining records, the center also administers and promotes archives education programs through training and workshops.

 

The Newfoundland Historical Society

This organization is  the first heritage association in the province. It aims to uphold the history and heritage of Newfoundland through its programs and activities.

Through the information gathered from the organization, you will be able to gather data to clear the cobwebs in your genealogy search.

 

Other Helpful Associations:

1.         Bay St. George Heritage Association in Stephenville

2.         Ferryland Historical Society in Ferryland

3.         Alberta Family Histories Society

 

Other resources which you can check for your Newfoundland genealogy research is Newfoundland’s Grand Banks. This is a genealogy website to help genealogists with their research on Newfoundland. Any person who will visit the said site will be able to locate fundamental data of genealogy and history of the said province. Other useful information is the documents from directories, church, and cemeteries.

 

The internet is a good venue to learn more about your family lineage in Newfoundland. All you need to do is enter the keywords in a search engine and all relevant information regarding the entered keywords will be shown. These days, there are free genealogy websites which you can check so you will not have to dole out a dollar to find more genealogy information.

Flag  and Courtof Arms of Newfoundland Image  

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Genealogy – America’s Great Immigrations

January 8, 2013 By

Hola amigos: Today I bring you “America’s Great Immigrations”- From the Native Americans, English, Scotch, Irish, the blacks slaves from Africa,the Germans, Scandinavians, Italians, Asians, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Russians, Polish, Jewish, Mexicans… ES

 

Statue of liberty Image

 

By John T Jones, Ph.D.

Ezine Articles

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_T_Jones,_Ph.D.

If you look at the 1990 United States Census you will see the country of origin of some new generation Americans and the year of their immigration into the United States of America. Those millions of you that are descended from the pilgrims that landed at Plymouth in 1620 or other early migrations will not find immigration dates in the 1900 Census for your ancestors living in the nineteenth century that are of such an early entry into the New World. One of my ancestors was an indentured servant and the 35th signer of the Mayflower Compact. After he worked off his indenture, he returned to England twice to conduct business for Plymouth Colony.

Some think that indentured servants were slaves. They were not. My ancestor could not afford to pay for passage on the Mayflower so he agreed to work for his passage for a period of years after arriving in the New World, which he did.

We all know that the Pilgrims and Puritans came to America to practice their religions and gain financial independence. Those brave souls were willing to risk their lives to achieve that goal and many died in travel.

The Great Migration

After the Emancipation Proclamation, black slaves desired to move out of the slave states to the northern and western United States. However, there was little movement until the early 1900s. In 1900 the increase of black people in non-slave states was only 2% more than it was in 1863 for a total of 10%. But this was not an immigration into the New World. It is called the Great Migration.

The black immigration was involuntary as black people were captured by slave traders and brought to the Americas in chains.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Migration_(African_American) )
Between 1790 and 1860 the slave population grew to over four million. The counties of origin were:

 

    Senegambia (Senegal-Gambia)5.8% Sierra Leone 3.4% Windward Coast (Ivory Coast) 12.1% Gold Coast (Ghana) 14.4% Bight of Benin (Nigeria) 14.5% Bight of Biafra (Nigeria) 25.1% Central and Southeast Africa (Cameroon-N. Angola) 24.7% homestead.com/wysinger/mapofafricadiaspora.html

 

If you look at the 1900 census, you will probably not see an immigration date for a black citizen. They were already here at the first of the century. You might note that the birth date for a 85-year-old citizen in 1900 when the census was taken would be 1805. While I have been indexing the 1900 Census so that it can quickly be searched by computer, I have recorded only one person this old.

If you are interested in indexing, go to my website and click on indexing at the top of the home page. You can also go directly to familysearchindexing.org

Anyone can index and anyone can access the search functions for family research at http://familysearch.org

For a tutorial on migrations to America go to http://memory.loc.gov/learn/features/immig/alt/introduction4.html Click on the group of interest and you are on your way.

Following is a brief summary:

Native Americans

Physical and DNA evidence indicates that most Native Americans came to the Americas by land bridge from Asia some thousands of years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. There were about 900,000 people speaking over 300 languages when the Pilgrims stumbled ashore.

English, Scotch, Irish

These were some of the earliest immigrants to the Americas. Financial hardship often led to debarkation from the British Isles. Many had little means and came as indentured servants. This group included many educated and skilled people. Some came for religious freedom. The Irish Potato Famine in the mid eighteen hundreds brought many to this country. When I view the 1900 Census, I find many such families. A family might have only two of eleven children living and the living two were born in the United States. The other nine may have died in the famine.

German

You will find many Germans on the 1900 Census especially in the Dakotas. They were at Jamestown. The Germans were hard-working and skilled.

Scandinavian

Wealthy Scandinavians came early to America to develop commerce. They were not the first Scandinavians to come to America. The first Scandinavians came many years before Columbus. They were the Vikings that came as early as the seventh century.

Many Scandinavians came to the Americas in the eighteen hundreds because of political strife and because they wanted religious freedom.

Italian

Well, you know who started all this. Christopher Columbus sailed the blue and landed in the Americans in 1492. He was born in Genoa in 1451. Italian immigrants came to America even before Italy was a unified nation. They like the Irish and Germans tended to flock together. I’m glad they came because I love Italian food. By the way it’s eh-tal-ion, not eye-tal-ion. Just remember that Italians are from eh-tal-y, not eye-tal-y.

Asian

Like black people, Asians had a tough time in the United States. For example, the people in Twin Falls here in Idaho did not like Chinese and ran them out of town. They ran two brothers out of town who had opened a restaurant. They just came back again and started over. I’m glad they did because I love Chinese food.

When I go into a Chinese restaurant, I usually find several who do not speak English. I’m not talking about the Mexican immigrants that often frequent Chinese Restaurants, I’m talking about Chinese employees that are continually coming into the United States.

The first Japanese didn’t come until late in the nineteenth century after Admiral Perry “opened” Japan. The first were agricultural workers in Hawaii. During World War II, many Japanese were interred for the duration of the war. I was always afraid that my friend, Teruo Fujii, would be interred, but he escaped that fate.

The old Japanese man that use to pick up coal along the railway, did leave suddenly. The rumor was that he was counting the tanks and trucks and artillery pieces that continually passed by on the trains headed for the Pacific Coast. Some kids said that he had a low-band radio (short wave).

The Chinese were durable workers and built our railroads. Many here in our part of Idaho worked old mines along the Snake River to grub out a living.

Puerto Rican, Cuban, etc.

This immigration is still going on. The Cubans find themselves “cut off” from the United States and the Puerto Ricans find themselves annexed. On they come by whatever means they can muster, the Puerto Ricans by jet and the Cubans by homemade boats and rafts. Florida and New York benefit from this migration all though not all seem to agree on this point.

Russian, Polish, Jewish

Political and economic upheaval have driven these people to America by many different routes. Some are at this day involved in the taxi strike in New York. This migration continues.

Mexican

They were already here when the Mayflower dropped anchor. The Mormon Migrations in the mid-eighteen hundreds were into Mexican Territory. These folks are still coming and one cuts my lawn every Saturday morning. Some obtain false Puerto Rican birth certificates or other papers to avoid trouble with Immigration. Oh, yes! They man the dairies and farms here in Idaho.

It’s amazing what you can learn about the human experience by old historical records. For example, the 1900 Census covers the period of the Civil War. I often wonder if a particular child “not living” was killed in that war.

Some think that studying old records is fun. Well, it certainly is educational.

John T. Jones, Ph.D. (tjbooks@hotmail.com), a retired college professor and business executive, Former editor of an international engineering magazine. To learn more about Wealthy Affiliate University go to his info site. If you desire a flagpole to Fly Old Glory, go to the business site.

 

 

 

 

 

Annual Legal Immigration  1820-2010

USA-Immigration-by-Decade

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16 Projects to Leave a Family Legacy

December 27, 2012 By

Hola amigos: Today I bring you “16 Projects to Leave a Family Legacy” or how to pass down your family history with one of these 16 legacy projects to ensure it will be around after you’re gone. Let’s face it:we are not going to be around forever…ES

 

Genealogy Tree branches Image

 

 

By Sharon DeBartolo Carmack

Family Tree  Magazine

You’ve spent years digging up data and stories to breathe life into the grandparents and great-grandparents who’ve made your existence — and your children’s — possible. But what are you doing to ensure your family’s legacy will be around after you’re gone?

Here’s something else to ponder: What if a long-ago relative started climbing your family tree, but all his efforts got pitched because he didn’t take measures to ensure his opus would outlast him?

What are you doing to ensure your family history treasures survive you? Here are 16 ways to leave a legacy.

1. Start scrapbooking. Only your imagination limits the scrapbooks you can create. There’s the standard heritage album, but also consider these five themes:

• Family reunion scrapbooks

• School scrapbooks with yearbook pages and include memorabilia .

Cemetery scrapbooks with grave marker photos, plus death certificates and obituaries.

• Immigration and migration scrapbooks with maps, passenger lists, passports and naturalization records.

• House scrapbooks with deeds, pictures and information on the people who lived in each house.

2. Assemble an album. Photo albums are a natural legacy project. Just be sure to identify the photos with names, dates and places.

3. Transcribe diaries and letters. Are you one of the lucky genealogists who’s inherited an ancestor’s diary or letters? Not only do you need to think about preserving them for the future, but you also should consider ways to make them accessible to other family members.

4. Put your family history into words. Try one of these projects:

• Family history book

• Essays: Compile a collection of essays on topics such as your own experiences or memories of relatives.

• Articles: Genealogical society journals and newsletters are good places to publish your research results or tell other researchers about a brick wall you’ve conquered.

• Letters: Whether you mail them or not, compose letters to the youngest members of your family to tell them what life was like when you were growing up.

5. Tombstone rubbings. Your descendants will find rubbings of their ancestors’ headstones more intriguing than photos. But remember, if the headstone is cracked or seems unstable, don’t attempt to make a rubbing. And always ask the cemetery superintendent or caretaker if rubbings are allowed.

6. Know your needlework heirlooms. If you’ve inherited a family tree sampler, make sure you’re displaying it in archival materials away from sunlight, or storing it in acid-free materials. You also can create your own family tree sampler or quilt using patterns from your local craft store.

7. Write your life story. Let your descendants know all about you with one of these projects:

• Journal or diary

• Research journal: Keep track of your searches and the results, but also report your joys, frustrations and feelings about the search for your ancestors.

• Memoir or autobiography: A memoir focuses on one aspect or part of your life, such as your college years, the 1970s or your military service. An autobiography details your whole life.

8. Get ‘em talking on tape. Never leave for a family reunion or relative’s house without a tape recorder or video camera. You don’t have to plan a formal session. Impromptu talks work just as well.

9. Inventory ancestral artifacts. Now’s a good time to create an inventory of your family artifacts, even those in your relatives’ possession. Photograph each item and record the following information:

• how the item came into the possession of its current owner
• the owner’s name and address
• a description of the item
• family stories associated with it
• the date it was made or acquired
• its provenance—that is, the heirloom’s history

10. Display family photos. As you collect photos of your ancestors, frame their faces for a family tree wall display.

11. Electrify your research. Digitally preserving your family history is an easy way to share it with family members who live near and far. Compile scanned photographs and documents along with family stories, and create a family Web site or make a CD-ROM scrapbook.

12. Feast on family food heritage. Gather family recipes to create a book, CD or Web site for your kin who like to cook. Along with each recipe, include a photo of the dish and the cook who’s most famous for it

13. Create a family newsletter.  Do you send an annual holiday letter summarizing your kids’ and spouse’s activities for the past year? File each one with your family history research, or keep a notebook of letters that you’ve written and received from others.

14. Save the dates. Buy a special calendar to record ancestral events, such as births, marriages and deaths.

15. Rerun yesterday’s news. Create your own family newspaper—The Thompson Gazette, The Wilson Observer, The O’Reilly Times—and fill it with clippings you’ve found about your ancestors, including obituaries, news articles, marriage and birth announcements. Publish you paper annually as a holiday tradition.

16. Give the gift of well-being. By writing a family health history, you can help your loved ones stay well while sharing genealogical facts.
Mini-scrapbooks make memorable presents! Learn how to create them in the bookOutstanding Mini-Albums by Jessica Acs.
Track down family heirlooms in person and online with the advice in our heirloom hunting guide, a digital download from ShopFamilyTree.com.

 

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“Finding Family” Book Review: The Search for an Adoptee’s Identity

December 10, 2012 By

Hola amigos: Today I bring you “Finding Family : My Search for Roots and the Secrets in My DNA”  book by Richard Hill’. This book tells the story of finding  the answer for an adoptee’s identity: the steps he took, what went right with his search, what went wrong, the dead ends, the breakthroughs… Hill’s story is the story of so many adoptee’s, and the lessons he learned teaches about people, family and the strains, successes, frustrations and failures of the search. These lessons are for anyone thinking about this journey. ES

 

Finding Family Book Image

 

by Judy G. Russell

The search for an adoptee’s identity It was August of 1964, and Richard Hill — a brand new high school graduate getting ready to start college at Michigan State — was getting checked out for a medical complaint at the office of the doctor who had taken over the practice of his long-time family physician. It turned out to be acid re-flux  and the doctor started asking him about things that could be stressing him. Was he feeling pressured about school performance? No. Was he nervous about starting college? No. And then came the question that changed his life forever. “How do you feel,” the doctor asked, looking over Richard’s records, “about being adopted?” It took Richard Hill almost 50 years to have a final answer to that question, the question that — before that August day — he’d never even considered. And his new self-published book Finding Family: My Search for Roots and the Secrets in My DNA1 tells the story of finding that answer in a straightforward, easy-to-read, and powerful way. For the first 18 years of Richard’s life, the notion that he might have been adopted had never crossed his mind. As far as he had ever known, he was, simply, the only child of Harold and Thelma Hill of Ionia, Michigan. And even after that fateful August day, it wasn’t something he plunged into. He didn’t confront his parents that day. He went off to college, looking forward and not back. But as time went by, it was almost as if fate had conspired to keep bringing the question back to the forefront of his life. The steps he took as he went about finding his answers — the things that went right with his search, the things that went wrong, the dead ends, the breakthroughs — they’re all outlined in his book. There’s much to like about this book: • It’s easy to read. The language, the structure, the choice of what to leave in and what to leave out make this the kind of book that you can read, easily, in a short time, without feeling overwhelmed with detail and without feeling like you still have a lot of questions. • It explains both the promise — and the pitfalls — of using DNA to investigate genealogy. • It doesn’t sugarcoat the process. DNA isn’t a magic bullet. You can’t take a test and find out overnight who all your relatives are. It works, yes, but only in combination with a lot of hard work slogging through the paper trail. • It doesn’t shy away from the tough moments. When his adoptive father finally told him about the adoption — and the fact that he had a brother. When he thought he must have missed a clue somewhere. His struggle to understand some of his own emotional reactions — or lack of them. His fear when he realized getting the answer in the end depended entirely on five different people agreeing to take DNA tests for a stranger who might — and might not — be their brother. • It explores the issues of adoption — and the search of adoptees for their birth families — from many perspectives. The birth parents. The adoptive parents. The courts. The “adoption angels” who can help adoptees with the process. • And it’s just plain a darned good story.

Richard Hill

In many ways, Hill’s story is the story of so many 20th century adoptees. And the lessons it teaches — about people and family and the strains, stresses, possible successes and, yes, the frustrations and failures of the search for an adoptee’s identity — are lessons anyone thinking about this journey should take to heart. And, by the way, if you think you know the Richard Hill story — if you’ve read the articles in The Wall Street Journal2 or his local Michigan newspaper3 — think again. There’s a twist at the end … And no, I’m not going to give it away here; the story is too good for spoilers. Read the book. It’s available from Amazon.com in paperback for $15.99 and for the Kindle e-reader for $14.25. It’s also available for other e-readers at Smashwords for $15.   http://www.legalgenealogist.com/

Filed Under: Genealogy Tagged With: , , , ,

Crypto Jews

December 2, 2012 By

Hola amigos: The Crypto Jews were the Jews that were forced to change religion but who kept their faith and traditions behind closed doors, and their descendants. ES

 

 

Crypto Jews Poster Image

 

 

by Am I Jewish?

http://www.amijewish.info/crypto.html

Crypto-Judaism is the secret adherence to Judaism while publicly professing to be of another faith; people who practice crypto-Judaism are referred to as “crypto-Jews”. The term crypto-Jew is also used to describe descendants of Jews who still (generally secretly) maintain some Jewish traditions, often while adhering to other faiths, most commonly Catholicism.

 

Europe

The many Marranos (in the Balearic Islands, Chuetas), who publicly professed Roman Catholicism but privately adhered to Judaism during the Spanish Inquisition, and particularly after the Alhambra decree of 1492, are the most widely known crypto-Jews. Officially they were known as “New Christians,” and there was considerable legislation directed against them in both Spain and Portugal and in their colonies, the chief activity of the Inquisition being directed against them.

The phenomenon of crypto-Judaism, however, dates back to earlier times as Jews forced or pressured to convert by their sovereign hosts secretly kept Jewish rites. The father of Maimonides, for example, is purported to have nominally embraced Islam during the Almohad persecutions of Muslim Spain in 1146.

Some of the Jewish followers of Sabbatai Zevi (known as Sabbateans) and later of Jacob Frank (known as “Frankists”) formally converted to Islam and Catholicism respectively, but maintained aspects of their versions of Messianic Judaism.

Many crypto-Jews live in Russia and other Eastern European countries, though many of them may have become Jews publicly since the end of Communism. It also appears that there are, or have been, several classes of Crypto-Jews in Muslim lands; thus the ancestors of the Daggatuns probably kept up their Jewish practises a long time after their nominal adoption of Islam. This was also done by the Maimins of Salonica (Grätz, in “Monatsschrift,” Feb., 1884), and near Khorassan there still remain a number of Jews known as the “Jedid al-Islam,” who were converted to Islam half a century ago (“Il Vessillo Israelitico,” April, 1884). In central Iran, there is a village called Sebe, where the local Muslims practice many Jewish customs, such as women lighting a candle on Friday night (the eve of the Jewish Sabbath). Prior to sundown on Friday, they prepare a small fire which they leave on throughout Saturday, so as not to ignite the fire on Sabbath. It is believed Sebe is one of several Persian Jewish communities who underwent forced mass conversion to Islam.

Small communities of crypto-Jews are still said to exist, allegedly still maintaining their hidden traditions, in the Balearic Islands, in Portugal especially at Covilhã, northeastern Brazil, and throughout Spain.

One interesting example is the “Belmonte Jews” in Portugal. A whole community survived in secrecy for hundreds of years by maintaining a tradition of intermarriage and by hiding all the external signs of their faith. The Jewish community in Belmonte goes back to the 12th century and they were only discovered in the 20th century. Their rich Sephardic tradition of Crypto-Judaism is unique. Only recently did they contact other Jews and part of them now profess Orthodox Judaism, although many still retain their centuries-old traditions. [1]
Xuetes

The Xuetes are a minority on the Balearic island of Majorca (Mallorca) that are descended almost entirely from crypto-Jews, forced to convert in 1391 C.E. The term “xueta” literally translates to “pig” in Catalan, similar to the old Spanish (Castilian) term of the same meaning.

Today, they comprise a population of 20,000-25,000 on an island of 750,000; they have professed Roman Catholicism for centuries but have only recently seen a lessening in ethnic tensions with ethnic Majorcans. According to some Orthodox Rabbis, the majority of Xuetes are probably Jewish under Jewish law due to the low rate of intermarriage with outside groups.[citation needed] Only recently have intermarriages between the two groups been more prevalent or noticeable.

During World War II, Nazi Germany is known to have pressured Majorcan religious authorities into surrendering the Xuetes, targeted because of their Jewish ancestry; religious authorities are reported to have refused the Nazi request.[citation needed]

Several Xuetes are reported to have “reconverted” to Judaism, and some are known to work as Rabbis.

 

North America

There are three distinct historical components to colonial roots of crypto-Judaism, largely restricted to Spanish-held territories in Mexico, each with distinct geographical and temporal aspects: early colonial roots, the frontier province of Nuevo Leon, and the later northern frontier provinces. The crypto-Jewish traditions have complex histories and are typically embedded in an amalgam of cryptic Roman Catholic and Judaic traditons. In many ways resurgent Judaic practices mirrored indigenous traditions practiced loosely under Roman Catholic veil.

 

Early colonial period – 1500s

In the early days of the European colonization of Mexico, crypto-Jewish conversos from both Spain and Portugal migrated to the Mexican port of Vera Cruz as well to Mexico City (the revitalized Tenochtitlan), a Spanish-controlled colony that was thought to be more lax in inquisition-related matters.

Many of the immigrants from Portugal were secondary immigrants from the Jewish Expulsion in Spain of 1492. However, a later similar decree was also issued in Portugal in 1497 effectively converted all Jewish children, making them wards of the state unless the parents also converted. Therefore, many of the early crypto-Jewish migrants to Mexico in the early colonial days were technically first to second generation Portuguese with Spanish roots before that. The number of such Portuguese migrants was significant enough that the label of “Portuguese” became synonymous with “Jewish” throughout the Spanish colonies. Immigration to Mexico offered lucrative trade possibilities in a well-populated colony with nascent Spanish culture counterbalanced by a large non-Christian population. It was largely thought that inquisition-activities would be lax given that the lands were over-whelmingly populated by non-Christian indigenous peoples.

So many perceived crypto-Jews were going to Mexico during the 1500s that officials complained in written documents to Spain that Spanish society in Mexico would become significantly Jewish. Officials found and condemned clandestine synagogues in Mexico City. At this point, colonial administrators instituted la Ley de la Pureza de Sangre (Blood Purity Laws), which prohibited migration to Mexico for New Christians (Nuevo Christiano), i.e. anyone who could not prove to be Old Christians for at least the last three generations. During this early time the Mexican Inquisition was formally instituted to insure the orthodoxy of all migrants into Mexico. The Mexico Inquisition was also deployed in the traditional manner to begin ensuring orthodoxy of converted indigenous peoples. The first burnings or Autos da Fe of the Mexican Inquisition were largely targeted at indigenous converts convicted of heresy or crypto-Jews convicted of relapsing into their ancestral faith.

Except for the province of Nuevo Leon, the early migration of crypto-Jewish converts did not continue unabated past the initiation of the Blood Purity Laws.

 

Nuevo Leon – 1590s to early 1600s

The history of the colonization of Mexico can be described as a northward expansion over increasingly hostile geography well-populated by hostile tribes and loose confederations of indigenous peoples. This expansion was largely financed by the exploitation of mineral wealth, the exploitation of indigenous peoples as labor in mines and the establishment of ranchos for livestock. One troublesome region was a large expanse covering the North-Eastern quadrant of the current geography of Mexico. Chichimec, Apache and other tribes had proved resistant to Christianization and “settling” and in general were perceived to render the frontier (frontera) a lawless and unsettled region.

Luis Carvajal y de la Cueva was a Portuguese royal accountant and a New Christian, who received a royal charter to settle the large expanse of land in the hostile frontier, named Nuevo Leon. Significantly, Carvajal y de la Cueva received an exemption from the King of Spain to allow any New Christian to participate in the settling of this region. This exemption allowed an increased number of peoples to come to the hostile region while doing so with immigrants that were legally barred from entering Mexico elsewhere. Carvajal chartered ships from Portugal and the passenger list is thought to have consisted exclusively of New Christians.

With Carvajal as governor the colony was based in the city of Monterrey, currently in the state of Nuevo Leon. Within a few years, reports were filed in Mexico City claiming specifically of Jewish rites being performed in the Northern Province and of lax Christianization efforts to convert heathen indigenous peoples.

The governor, his immediate family members and others were called to appear before the Inquisition in Mexico City. They were arrested and jailed. The governor subsequently died in jail, while his family members were rehabilitated. One of these was Anna Carvajal, a niece of the Governor. She and others were eventually caught again and sentenced to a burning at the stake for relapsing.

The governor’s nephews changed their name to Lumbroso. One of these was Joseph Lumbroso, also known as Luis de carvajal el mozo, who is said to have circumcised himself in the desert to conform to Jewish law. His memoirs, letters and inquisition record survive. Two other nephews also changed their names to Lumbroso and became famous rabbis in Italy.

During the time in which Governor Carvajal was in office, the city of Monterrey became a target of migration by other crypto-Jews feeling the pressure of the Mexican Inquisition in the south. Thus, the story of Nuevo Leon and the founding of Monterrey is significant for openly concentrating a crypto-Jewish community from all parts of Mexico. Such Jewish communities did not exist in Mexico until the immigration of Ashkenazi communities in the late 1800s and 1900s.

Former Spanish-territories in the southwestern U.S. 1600s-1700s

Due to the activities of the Mexican Inquisition in Nuevo Leon, many crypto-Jewish descendants migrated to other frontier colonies further west to the trade routes passing through the towns of Sierra Madres Occidental and Chihuahua and further north on the trade route to El Paso (Texas) and Santa Fe (New Mexico), and somewhat less in California.

In the former Spanish-held Southwestern United States, some Hispanic Roman Catholics have stated a belief that they are descended from crypto-Jews and have started practicing Judaism. They often cite as evidence memories of older relatives practicing Jewish traditions. Skeptics of the authenticity of the Jewish ancestry of Latinos of the Southwest argue that these remembered traditions could be those of Ashkenazi, not Sephardi, Jews and may possibly be constructed memories due to suggestion by proponents. It is also argued that the Jewish traditions practiced by older relatives were introduced by groups of Evangelical Protestant Christians who purposely acquired and employed Jewish traditions as part of their religious practices.

 

Current times

Recent genetic research, however, has shown that many Latinos of the American Southwest are indeed descended from Anusim (Sephardic Jews who were forced to convert to Roman Catholicism). Michael Hammer, a research professor at the University of Arizona and an expert on Jewish genetics, said that fewer than 1% of non-Jews possessed the male-specific “Cohanim marker” (which in itself is not necessarily endemic to all Jews, but is prevalent among Jews claiming descent from hereditary priests), and 30 of 78 Latinos tested in New Mexico were found to be carriers. DNA testing of Hispanic populations also revealed between 10% and 15% of men living in New Mexico, south Texas and northern Mexico have a Y chromosome that traces back to the Middle East.

In northern Mexico, Monterrey, the capital city of the State of Nuevo León, that shares a border with Texas, is said to contain descendants of Crypto-Jews. Monterrey was founded by Luis Carvajal y de la Cueva who although had converted to Roman Catholicism, in 1590 was accused by the Spanish Inquisition of heresy. It was officially found that members of his extended family had reverted to Judaism and he was exiled from the territory then known as New Spain. A large portion of his extended family, 121 people, was executed in Mexico City in 1596. They included most of the original settlers of Monterrey.

The State of Jalisco also has several cities with large numbers of Anusim, mainly Guadalajara, Ciudad Guzman, and Puerto Vallarta, although a steady influx of Ashkenazi Jews from Eastern Europe during the late 1800s and early to mid-1900s into Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Veracruz is also widely known.

Today, there are between 150,000 and 180,000 Mexican Jews, both Ashkenazi and Sephardi. Researchers and historians say that number would rise considerably if Anusim (or Crypto-Jews) were included in those estimates.

 

Central, South America and Caribbean

As in the American Southwest, in the department of Antioquia, Colombia, many families also hold traditions, handed down memories and oral accounts of Jewish descent. In this population, Y chromosome genetic analysis has shown an origin of founders predominantly from “southern Spain but also suggest that a fraction came from northern Iberia and that some possibly had a Sephardic origin”.

In addition to these communities, other now Roman Catholic-professing communities descendants of Crypto-Jews are also said to exist in Cuba, Puerto Rico [4], and amidst the populations of various other Spanish-speaking countries of South America (Argentina, Venezuela, Chile and Ecuador). From these communities comes the proverb, “Catholic by faith, Jewish by blood”.

All the above localities were former territories of either the Spanish or Portuguese Empires, where the Inquisition eventually followed and continued persecuting the Jews who had settled there, and where it endured for longer than it had in Spain itself. [5]

 

Famous Crypto-Jews

Luis de Carvajal was the governor of the state of Nuevo Leon, a northern Mexico province in which the restriction against immigration from conversos was relaxed in order to encourage migration to the peril-fraught frontier. He was responsible for bringing a significant group of crypto-Jewish conversos living in Portugal since the Expulsion of 1492.

Luis de carvajal el mozo, was the nephew of Jose Luis Carvajal y de la Cueva, the only crypto Jew of the Spanish colonial era whose memoirs have been preserved.

Rita Moreno, actress, and Fidel Castro, President of Cuba, among others, “have acknowledged Marrano ancestry” .

Baruch Spinoza was the son of Iberian conversos, but grew up in the Jewish community in Amsterdam and was well versed in the teachings of Judaism.

Miguel de Cervantes is suspected by some scholars of Judaic Studies to have been a crypto-Jew.

Rodrigo Lopez (physician) was a marrano who fled from Portugal to England and became physician to Queen Elizabeth.
This article incorporates text from the 1901–1906 Jewish Encyclopedia, a publication now in the public domain.

 

Your ancestors may have been Jewish
if they were…

Bedouin tribe “Bedul from Petra
Bene Ephraim (Telugu Jews)
Bene-Israel
Beta Israel
Bnei Menashe
Hadhramaut
Havila
House of Israel in Ghana
Igbo
Karaites
Kashmiri
Kurds
Lemba
Lusi
Mar
Marranos
Mizo
Mohammedan Berbers of West Africa
Mountain Jews
Pathan (Pashtun)
Samaritans
Shinlung
Xueta

Your ancestors may have been Jewish
if they came from…
Afghanistan
Algeria
Argentina
Arizona
Austria
Baghdad
Balearic Islands
Belgium
Brazil
Buchara
Bulgaria
Burma
China
Cochin
Croatia
Curacao
Djerba
Egypt
France
Georgia
Ghana
Greece
India
Iran
Italy
Japan
Kurdistan
Libya
Malta
Mexico
Morocco
New Mexico
Nigeria
Pakistan
Peru
Portugal
Romania
Serbia
Spain
Texas
Thailand
The Sahara
Tunisia
Turkey
Uzbekistan
Venezuala
Yemen

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