Signing Off

Kermit the Frog (as Bob Crachit in the Muppet Christmas Carol) says something like "Life is a series of beginnings and endings." Wise words.  I've decided to stop writing the Dalpiaz and Ryan family blogs and concentrate my efforts instead on the Gathering the Cousins blog.  The original intent of the blogs was to share family history discoveries that you readers could take at your own pace.  This is post # 470 and after seven years, it's time to move that forward to a more public forum, which is what the Gathering the Cousins blog is.  I hope you'll find time to read that.

In the meantime, here's one last little stroll down memory lane for you.

Thank you for reading and for your kind words (especially Paula!).  Merry Christmas to All and To All a Good Night. 

Christmas Classic from 1966

You'd think all this bad weather that kept me home these last couple of days would have meant I'd be right on top of the blogging.........but, not so much.  I did, however, break through a brick wall with regard to converting my digitized home movies into a format I can share here on the blog!!!!!  So, here's an appropriate one for this time of year.  It's also CLASSIC.  I think you'll enjoy the trip down memory lane.

Alice May Brotherton Campbell 1887 - 1916

I am currently reading a book called The Black Flag written by Barry Stacks of Gloucester.  Though not exceptionally well written, I am enjoying Gloucester as a main character in the book.  The Black Flag refers to ships returning to harbor flying a black flag indicating a death on board while at sea.  It's an interesting coincidence that I'd been trying to verify that a William Campbell who died at sea aboard a Gloucester vessel in 1905 was the Campbell in-law that I was looking for.  My search led me to a new cousin and a new "view" on what the Ryans looked like back in the day.

This is Alice May Brotherton, daughter of Mary Ryan and John J. Brotherton.  I recently showed you a picture of Mary Ryan Brotherton I found on my last trip to Gloucester.  This young lady is just beautiful!  Unfortunately she died at a very young age due to kidney problems.  She did marry C. Angus Campbell whose father William is the aforementioned death at sea I was attempting to confirm. I got this picture from our new cousin who is a descendant of Angus and Alice Campbell. 

This cousin, Pam, was able to verify that the William Campbell I'd found in the newspaper as having died at  sea aboard the Schooner Senator was indeed Alice's father-in-law.  Pam was tickled that I could provide her with the verification of his death at sea and I was very pleased to obtain this picture--especially since most of those old Ryan ancestors weren't overly fair of face. I'm certain God blessed them with other qualities. 

Victims of the Prevailing Epidemic

The Ebola crisis recently in the news brings to mind the flu epidemic of 1918-19.  This pandemic killed 50 MILLION people, largely healthy young adults from age 20-50.  You could feel fine in the morning and be dead by midnight.  So I wasn't surprised to find a family connection to this crisis as a result of my recent Gloucester research.  Sadly, this is a particularly tragic story.

William Bentley is a first cousin of ours, William being the grandson of Captain John Bentley. 

You will note he married Blanche Wagner.  Blanche and her sister Margaret survived a horrific fire as children that killed two of their siblings.  Their father had recently committed suicide and I can only imagine how difficult it must have been for their mother to move forward in her life.  Obviously she did and the girls went on to marry and have families.  I posted about this family and fire earlier. 

Tragically, you also notice that Margaret also died in the flu epidemic just one day after William died, leaving behind four young children including a 2 month old baby. 

Very tragic story all the way around.  Flu related news was all over the papers in this time period, in Gloucester and around the world.  Sometimes we don't consider that our families participated in the history of our country or world, but this is one small thread in the tapestry of world history. 

Just a reminder to check out the Gathering the Cousins blog once in a while.  I try to alternate Italian posts with Irish interests but you may find each interesting.  I usually update a post from the past with a little polish to make it more readable to a general audience.  The purpose is as "cousin bait" so that anyone with the same family history interests might come across it and make contact.  The more hits it gets, the higher it will appear in search results.  Let's hope we "catch" a cousin! :)

Birthday greetings

This blog was created November 2007 upon our return from a fall trip to Gloucester so it is celebrating its 7th birthday!  Wow! Seven years of following my ramblings and wandering.  Congratulations to you all for hanging in there.  I have a gift for you!

I was tickled to find a picture to accompany this obituary for Mary (Ryan) Brotherton.  Mary was our immigrant Timothy Ryan's daughter--she was born in 1866 and died 1943.  This Mary appears to have been named after a sister Mary who died when she was 2 a few years before this Mary was born.  This picture was obviously from later in her life but I see a little resemblance here to her brother William (who is our direct Ryan ancestor). 

This is William Ryan and his wife Catherine (Bentley) from whom we descend.  If you look at William and Mary I think we get a glimpse into what immigrant Timothy might have looked like.  But perhaps they favor their mother instead..........

In related birthday news, it was also Uncle Tim's birthday this week.  He turned 73.  Happy Birthday!

Paddy Ryan in the Flicker Yearbook Class of 1945

While in Gloucester, I visited the archives at the Cape Ann Museum.  I was looking for records pertaining to widows and orphans of lost fisherman, but what I found was Dad's high school yearbook: Flicker 1944-45.  This yearbook has been available on eBay for some time but I was not willing to pay $65 for something I was pretty sure we threw out when we emptied 42 Bruce Street.  The staff very nicely made copies for me.

This was in the "When They Were Young" section of the yearbook and I sure do wish we had this photo on hand.  I see Paula in this picture.  No wonder Paula is Uncle Tim's "favorite niece". 

As you know, Dad was a cheerleader in college as well as in high school.  He's the guy in the white pants here (you probably figured that out).  Look at the crowd behind them!

This is the Boys Glee Club.  I think these are ROTC uniforms. (Reserved Officers Training Corps) I do remember Dad was actively involved in such programs.  In the mid 1940s, it would have been very common as World War II raged overseas. 

I saw this senior picture and couldn't help but think there was a time when such a character would find himself stuffed in a locker every single day.  If you read his summary, you'll see his ambition is "to go around the world in the Merchant Marine with Umbriago at the wheel."  Umbriago was apparently an imaginary sidekick to Jimmy Durante.  I don't quite get it either, but I'll bet it's clever. 

A few days after I got these, Jim found another copy of the yearbook in a local bookstore.  Someone had very handily labeled all the seniors in the book and this verified that "Paddy" appeared several other times in the yearbook as well but I think these pictures are a fair reflection of Dad in high school.

A Nor'Easter for my birthday!

It's been an interesting weather week here in Gloucester.  A nor'easter hit with a bit more impact than I think was expected.  Though it didn't feel threatening in any way, the wind blew ferociously and the rain came in sheets.  When we went out to take the pictures, I had to anchor myself carefully.

It was pretty impressive and we did get to observe some of it from the Elks Club where we had lunch with Uncle Peter and his girlfriend Andrea.  It's been great to spend a little time with Peter, especially since we missed him the last time we were here.  He's full of great stories I can't wait to share.

Jim arrived last Saturday to start his extended stay (and finish mine:) ).  His brother Robert and wife Bobbie came also for a few days so we had a good time showing them around.  I had a very nice birthday--I've decided I very much like spending it here.  And Paula is on her way this weekend for a visit which everyone is looking forward to. 

Our time here is wrapping up and I feel very settled.  My bloodlines are full of sea air and family stories.  I've begun to recognize people on the streets and in the stores so it's probably time to return home!  See you on the other side.

Report from the Gloucester Front

I am collecting all sorts of stuff I can't wait to share but it will need to wait til I get back to my scanner at 2682 Colesville Road.  Today I went to the library at the Cape Ann Museum and dug up Dad's high school yearbook.  CLASSIC stuff in there, let me assure you.

As some of you know, Paula and I follow a blog called Good Morning Gloucester, Joey Ciaramitaro is the host.  He works off the dock that is at the base of Haskell Street (remember that BIG hill?).  By coincidence, I came across a newspaper article in a 1938 Gloucester Daily Times that described the marriage of two sisters--one of the couples I'm pretty sure are his grandparents Joseph (his name) and Felicia (his sister's name).  I printed it for him and decided to deliver it.  Unfortunately I kind of forgot that people WORK on the dock and I interrupted him unloading fish into some guy's truck so I did not linger.  The fish wasn't the only reason.  But I did introduce myself and leave the article for him.  I would want someone to do the same for me.  He may have used the paper to wrap fish.  If he did, I think we'll hear about it on the podcast. 

We are very happy with the apartment. 

Daytime

Evening

 

 

I haven't seen much of the kids this week but I have babysitting on my calendar for Friday and Saturday!  Jim and I went to the Elks with Tim for Oktoberfest -- I think you saw the Facebook picture but here you go again

We had chicken schnitzel and Timothy's company.  Priceless.  The band that played was the same band that played at Giuseppe's on our last visit!!!!!

We went to Boston University to watch a Harpursville alum play against them for her UConn team.  UConn won in a shootout after double overtime.  I was a good test run for my planned trip to Boston tomorrow by train and subway.  Wish me luck. 

When Jim comes back this weekend, it will be for his 10 day visit.  His brother Robert and wife Bobbie are planning to come for a few days so we'll get to be the guides this time.

I forgot to mention that I went with the kids to the Topsfield Fair and had a blast.  Their parents allowed them to "win" plastic trumpets that tooted all the way down the midway.  It made everyone smile as they marched by.

This is me after the Tilt-a-Whirl

First October 2014 Gloucester Report

As you know, I am spending most of this month in Gloucester.  I'm lucky enough to have all the time in the world to do family history research to my heart's content and still share the weekends with Jim.  Already I have gotten a great deal of cool information to share.  But most of that is going to have to wait until I can access my scanner.

For now, here's a little treat for your eyes:

These were taken at the Cape Ann Marina Fall Fest -- also featured on Good Morning Gloucester for those that follow Joey (Paula!).  It was drizzling but still lots of fun.  This is the "home" marina for Wicked Tuna and we always check out the FV (fishing vessels) when we stop by there.

Our first night we decided to have dinner at Giuseppe's, a restaurant we hadn't been to in a while.  We were having a drink at the bar while we waited for Tim and Emmy to join us.  A woman was celebrating her 94th birthday so Jim offered to buy her a shot to celebrate.  She refused (which is when I knew she wasn't related) but was quite charming and Jim flirted her up pretty good.  We were telling this story to Tim and Emmy after we had been seated when a man approached the table and asked Jim if he was the guy that offered the birthday lady a drink.  He thought it was a cool thing to do, so he left his gift card saying it had a little left on it for us to apply to our dinner.  He said he was paying it forward.

I thought it was a nice turn of events after my recent efforts to do the same until we heard the very next day that Giuseppe's had unexpectedly closed its doors for good!  Makes me wonder if that guy knew something we didn't......and I hope the place we have Jim's birthday dinner will still be open the next day.

Patrick H. Ryan 1935-2009

BAM!  Another door is closed.  Remember John "Jack" Ryan who died of an accidental gunshot wound?  Tim and Peter refer to him as Uncle Jack, so I will follow suit here.  When Jack died, he left a wife Monica and two children, according to his obituary.  I was curious what happened to them so I started researching them.

First of all, I had to find out the names for the children and found them in the 1940 census Monica Ryan and children Patrick and Sheila.  Though I don't have Monica's death fully determined, I did find her son Patrick's obituary.

Handsome guy.  The obituary also contains a valuable clue for his sister Sheila, who apparently married a Morrison.  Sadly, he suffered from Alzheimer's Disease-- a particular insult considering that his childhood was likely difficult after his father's accidental death.  I find it interesting that Patricks are few and far between in our Ryan family. 

On another note, perhaps you've heard that Amy "said Yes to the dress"!  I took a trip to Erie yesterday so that she could show me the dress she'd fallen in love with.  Unfortunately, the shop sample of this dress had been sold so Amy couldn't model it for me.  She had pictures from a previous visit and it is quite beautiful.  But the confirming fact for me was that she loved it so the dress has been ordered.  It was much more emotional than I was expecting.

The emotions were on high alert after we found some evidence in our house that Ron Henry had stopped by for a visit recently.  He had a habit of moving the toilet paper around in the downstairs bathroom, which kind of drove me nuts.  When he died, I thought "Well, at least I won't have to go move the toilet paper back any more."  The night before I went to Erie, the toilet paper roll had been moved to Ron's favorite spot.  We believe it's a message from Ron.  He would have belly laughed himself silly to hear me tell the story of driving out to Erie to find my hung over daughter ready to go to the bridal store to try on a dress that wasn't there.   And then paying for it.  Cue the emotions.

Update from the Homefront

I haven't done much genealogy lately, which has apparently impacted my creativity.  I've been fretting and worrying about the blog so I guess I'll just offer some updates and hope for the best in the near future.


First of all, our little Shea went missing over a month ago and we now believe she's using the Litter Box in the Sky.  She was Jim's cat and was especially fond of him.  She would be very antsy when he was gone and quite contented in his lap every night.  She was a birthday gift to Jim and he named her appropriately.  Now both his favorite Sheas are gone.

I spent some quality time with the Kilmurray children recently, which was a blast for me.  We went over to Austin Lincoln (it's been AGES since I've been there) and explored on foot with our cameras nearby.  I came home with about 700 pictures and videos taken by Delaney and Breyen.  Here are a couple:

We had a great day.  I was also able to get to Breyen's football game this week.  Go B-Man!

 I also had a couple of interesting "Pay it Forward" experiences in the last few weeks.  There's a Facebook initiative to Pay it Forward that I decided to try and it was an interesting exercise.  You promise to send off a little token of remembrance to the Facebook friends that agree to give it a try.  Some of my Facebook friends that agreed are people I know well and see often.  A couple are not and those were the ones I found to be intriguing.  I took the opportunity to stop and think of these people carefully in ways I don't generally.  I found little tokens to send off that I think will appeal to their interests and personalities.  No pressure (like with Christmas) and no timeline (ditto).  I liked taking time to think of those that don't often come right to mind.  Then these friends are supposed to offer the same out to their Facebook friends.  It's a neat way to spread a little kindness.

The other experience took a bit longer to come to fruition.  Quite a while ago, I bought a small bunch of ephemera  at an auction that included personal items like letters and pictures.  I had promised myself that someday I would reunite such memorabilia to remaining family members, and these items seemed to be good candidates.  I carefully reviewed the items, taking note of names and dates then did some research to see if I could find this family online.  It seemed there were 2-3 potential family members with tress on Ancestry.com for whom this might be valuable material.  I wasn't sure how to proceed picking the family to whom I would offer these items first so I responded in the time honored tradition of putting it away to think about later.

Several months later ( and within the time since the last blog post), I renewed these efforts and decided to select the family tree that seemed to be best documented.  I contacted the tree owner to offer to send the items along and apparently picked absolutely the correct person.  The items seem to belong to her grandfather.  This woman believes she is the only living descendant of this man and she was very pleased to agree to accept the items.  So off they went!  I know how happy I would be and was glad to be able to bring that joy to someone else.

Perhaps the good karma will open the creative gates for me in the near future.  Thanks for hanging in here with the blog.

August 1994 was sweet

I'll be taking a break from the recent historical posts about long lost ancestors and related family members.  I can almost hear the collective "whew!".  I thought it would be fun to dive back into the photo albums again and see what was going on 20 years ago this month.  Turns out there was quite a bit going on that month!

All the while that Jim was doing marching band and the kids were young, we'd typically take our own vacation time during the month of August, so I guess it's not too surprising to find so much for August 1994.
It was the summer that we got our new pole barn built after the old one caved in under heavy snow in a previous winter. Harry was still with us (minus a portion of his tail and a large amount of his dignity). I went to Silver Creek for the 20th class reunion.  Amy was 6 and Ryan would turn 3 in a couple of months.  Jim and I took a trip to Chicago that summer and left the kids on Long Island for a few days so they had their own little vacation.

We went to Sesame Place.  Jim got whisked up to the stage by a very large Ernie (which Ryan did not like on little bit) to help them with their schtick.  It's pretty sad when Ernie is laughing at you.

It was Ryan Patrick's first summer.  I think they all look pretty happy

Here's a classic. No further explanation needed.

Mary Jane feeding watermelon to Ryan P on our old patio.

A very pensive little girl at the Syracuse Zoo.  Who knew then what her future held?

So, it was a very busy month but that's what you do when the kids are young.  I often miss the "excuse" to go to some of these places now that the children are older.  I'd feel like a stalker at Sesame Place without a child by my side!

 

 

A reminder (shameless plug) about the new public blog Gathering the Cousins.  I created it specifically as "cousin bait"--that perhaps one day an unknown relative would stumble upon it and recognize either the Irish or the Italian lines as their own.  It would be great if you'd visit the site once in a while--I think the more hits it has, the more likely it will be to show up high enough on someone's search results to be found.  To have a relative find us this way would be a serious affirmation of my efforts with blogging and family history research.

Quite the Character

I have some follow-up to last week's post about Grampie's siblings.  The colorful Uncle Art has gotten a little more colorful for us this week upon my discovery of a couple of very interesting newspaper articles.

The first article I found was called "Five Fugitives Are Freed in New York to Face Trial in Taunton in Hi-Jacking Case" from the Boston Daily Globe in 1927 when Arthur would have been about 34 years old.  This Arthur Ryan gave a New York City address.  This incident stemmed from "transportation a month ago of two motorvan loads of liquor from Taunton to New York".  Rum running.  Actually there are other hints in the newspaper that the Ryan boys were heavily involved in rum running back in the day.  Anyhow, I wasn't sure this was "our" Arthur but I wasn't sure it wasn't either so I kept looking til I came across the articles above.

It seems this Arthur Ryan of Gloucester (of the right age for "our" Arthur) used an assumed identity as Ernest T. Leach and was arrested on grand larceny charges in connection with the theft of almost $100,000 (yes--that's the right number of zeroes) in GOVERNMENT securities from a New York City bank.  The article states that Leach admitted obtaining these bonds through an underworld acquaintance. Bazinga--this matches what Sharen's mother thought she remembered.  It's enough to make me believe this is indeed our Arthur.  An official black sheep.

Jim says, "And there's your sign!"

Time will tell

I've recently been back in touch with a distant cousin, Sharen Ryan Elliott.  She is a twin granddaughter of Grampie's oldest brother Richard.  See, twins on the Ryan side of the family!  In the couple of times I've been in touch with her, she's given some interesting Ryan tidbits that I think help round out the story of Grampie and his siblings. 

Sharen sent me this picture of Grampie's parents William H. Ryan and Catherine Bentley Ryan.  I do not have a date for this picture but he died in 1934 and their last child was born in 1910 so we can assume sometime between those dates.  Catherine's long dress makes me think it's in the 1910s, but this needs further research.   This is the Catherine (Katherine) found dead in her bed by Grampie in 1945.  I feel very fortunate to have this picture.  He certainly appears to be an "old salt", doesn't he?

To briefly review their family, lives seemingly full of misfortune, tragedy and dysfunction:

Richard Sr.  and his wife Ida had 4 children including Richard Jr --Sharen's father.  She says Richard Sr. died in 1948 at the age of 57 of heart trouble and complications of alcoholism.  Ida was the runaway wife I've posted about in an earlier post. 

Richard Sr. is sitting on the dock here int his picture also from Sharen.

Arthur B. was second in line.  He married Gertrude Gordon and they had at least one daughter, Elinor.  There are a number of Eleanors in this family!  Sharen says he left Gloucester at the age of 16 to live with his aunt and uncle Bentley in a nearby town.  She also notes that Uncle Art was "quite the character....seems he had problems with the Mob and ended up down in Mexico for a while hiding!"  I don't have it confirmed but it appears from the local funeral home records that he may have died in 1955 perhaps in Florida.

William H. Ryan Jr. died as a young father in New York City of acute chronic alcoholism.  He worked at Ellis Island Immigration station and had two daughters.  I haven't yet been able to track that family but he was only 38 when he died in June 1933.

Everett B. Ryan died about a year later of a broken neck while attempting to hang himself.  Everett was clearly troubled and was being treated at the State Hospital for some time prior to this.  He also had a wife and children (6).  It was only a month before this incident that his father William Sr. died also at the Danvers State Hospital.  It was a very difficult year or so for the family.

Chester was "mentally deficient" according to his draft registration and Dad's stories.  It appears to me he lived with his family until he couldn't any more.  I don't have his death confirmed either (yet).

Grampie was next in line, the 6th boy in a row in that family.

Aunt Bud, Viola (or Violet) was the 7th child and the first girl!  She never married and was Dad's favorite aunt (the only Ryan aunt!).  She was a dance instructor and beautician before she moved back with her brother Grampie ill with cancer.

Here's Dad with Aunt Bud and his mother.  I think this young man is Peter, probably at Dad's college graduation at St. Bonaventure--so Aunt Bud thought enough of Dad to take that trip.  I love her purse!


John "Jack" Ryan was the youngest boy, shot accidentally by a friend and died of complications several weeks later.  I am working to locate those two children as well.  It's especially sad to note he died only a week or so before Christmas with two young children at home. 

In 1910, an infant girl was born and died on the same day.  She is listed as Dala but I don't know if that's some kind of abbreviation or her name.  Isn't THAT sad?

Overall, it seems a pretty sad tale to me.  But perhaps it only seems so from the distance time creates.  Time will tell our tale as well.

We celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary yesterday with the (now traditional) hot dog and beer at the stadium.  This tradition started out feeling like a sad state of affairs but has now woven its way into our own little culture.  It helps that another couple from Jim's section of season ticket holders shares the very same anniversary with us.  Ed and Patty enjoy having this quirky coincidence in common so we make an effort to share the bounty of the stadium meal with them each year.

Last night, we were able to go to one of the skyboxes to watch the game and stay out of the rain.  This provided us with a better opportunity for real conversation--the kind you can't have in the open air stadium seating shared with others.  Hang on to your hats because this is where we learn that Patty is called Patty Anne -- and only by her family members.  Like me, she doesn't really like to hear it come from a non-blood's mouth.  And the quirky conicidence doesn't stop there--she also has 4 sisters and 1 brother!!!  By the time this information spilled out, the men were getting a little nervous.  As well they should. 

I admit that I do not always look excitedly forward to spending our anniversary at the stadium one more time, but yesterday was a night to remember despite the rain and cancelled fireworks.  Here are some photographic reminders of that day in 1985:

I like this one for the reminder of the blue kitchen, empties on the washing machine, July calendar on the door, Nanny and Mom helping out.  Who's that girl with the glasses next to Nanny? :)

Seeing the fire truck outside the church and realizing he really did get a fire truck!

Dad and his camera!  Happy Birthday Dad.

I think this is before we defiled the Elks Club Elk

Don't we all look young!

We spent our honeymoon in Gloucester.  Jim reminded Emmy this week that he has been in her life for 29 years now!  An anniversary well remembered.

Flynn vs. Alfred 1927

I don't know about you, but I never tire of reading these articles.  This is from an Alfred area newspaper following their 57-0 drubbing at the hands of St. Bonaventure led by Weenie.  He gained 310 yards and scored 4 touchdowns in this game.  Another article about this game referred to him as "brilliant".  Who wouldn't love to read that about their beloved grandfather?

Maybe this cool (almost fall-like) morning brought this to mind today.  Seriously it is so much fun to Google Weenie. (Well, be careful to include the Flynn part maybe with Olean so you don't get any nasty surprises in the results).  If  you haven't done so while you are wasting time on the internet, I strongly recommend it. 

Paula mentioned the porch of the kitchen at 206 Tompkins street from the last post.  Yes, I remember that porch too.  I think Nanny had flowers out there we were sometimes allowed to water with one of those watering cans that had a very long skinny curved neck.  I always loved to do that.  And the bubbles, of course!  Nice, comforting memories.  Ahhhhh........

A House is Not a Home...is it?

Recently we went to Erie and stopped in Olean on our way.   Jim drove by Nanny and Weenie's house for me at 206 Tompkins Street.  This is what it looks like today:

Looks pretty much the same.  The fence wasn't there in those days but otherwise nearly the same as I remember.  I expect I'm not the only one of us that has fond memories of this place, but the very first thing that comes to my mind when I think of it is the stale smoke smell.  And even though the words "stale smoke smell" generally do not make me smile, somehow that olfactory memory is a fond one.  The other general impression I remember is one of darkness or muted light.  I don't remember lots of sunlight streaming in and the furniture was dark wood with that richly colored Oriental carpet softening the patter of little feet. 

A little bit of research indicates that house was built around 1930 which means it was fairly new in house years while we were visitors.  It didn't have a "new" feel to me.  It is still rental property today.  I can't help but wonder why Nanny and Weenie rented all those years. 

Nanny and Grampie's house on Haskell Street in Gloucester looked like this in recent years:

It has changed hands several times since Nanny and Grampie lived there.  It also changed its number:  from 34 to 24.  My memories of this place are hazier--we didn't visit often but it seemed relatively big to me and more open that the Olean house.  Records seem to indicate it was built around 1900 so it had lived a pretty significant life before we descended upon it.  Nanny and Grampie did not live on Haskell Street in the 1930 census but did so in the 1940 census.  At that time, they reported they lived in the same house 5 years earlier.  These records also state they owned the house, worth $3500 in 1940.  Anyhow, every time we go to Gloucester we drive by it and I smile at the memories.

Judy shared the news of her impending move after many years on Alice Street.  Since it is the home the boys grew up in, I'm sure there will be many memories encased within those walls.  That house will hold those memories always just as the Olean and Gloucester houses did for our parents and for us.  In that regard, I'm not sure the song lyrics have it quite right.  "A house is not a home" is 100% true but can you deny the faint smiles you generate when you see these pictures?  If the walls could speak........

Good luck to Judy, Patrick and the boys.  Empty nest feelings might be somewhat softened by your new surroundings.  I hope so.

Have you ever thought about how the weekend concept came to be?  I hadn't so I was intrigued by the following written by Marie Wells of the New England Historic Genealogical Society:

It’s a steamy summer weekend, so what do you do?  You toss the kids (and/or the grandkids) into the car and head for the shore.  Time to get some respite from the heat with those cooling ocean breezes, and to commune with nature for a few hours.  Ah, but when you get there, you find that several thousand of your closest friends and neighbors had the same idea.  With perhaps three square feet of sand to call your own and the water as crowded as the sole working elevator in a high rise office building, you make the best of a fine tradition that goes back many, many decades.

Or does it?

For the first couple of centuries after the Pilgrims first anchored the Mayflower in Provincetown Harbor, work was life, and life was work.  No thought was given toward leisure time; in fact, in Puritan Massachusetts, the one day that work was forbidden was to be spent at the meeting house for the Sabbath services – which lasted all day.  Only after the Civil War when manufacturing and huge factories became the way of life for hundreds of thousands of people, many of them immigrants, was there something – though still paltry - called “leisure time.”  The well-to-do had enjoyed leisure time for years, and built large, ornate “cottages” in resort areas such as Newport, Rhode Island, to get away during the hot summers in style.  But little thought was given to whether the working class even deserved time off and/or access to recreational amenities.  

One man changed all that, a man still held up as a symbol of overwhelming capitalism, but a man who knew a good thing when it swam up and bit him in the posterior.

In 1909, Edsel Ford publicly announced, "Every man needs more than one day a week for rest and recreation....The Ford Company always has sought to promote [an] ideal home life for its employees. We believe that in order to live properly every man should have more time to spend with his family." And in 1926, Henry Ford made his son’s words reality:  he shut down all his factories for all of Saturday and Sunday, thus creating The Weekend.  No one had done it before, but Ford had cars to sell and knew that people would by them only if they had leisure time in which to enjoy them.  What a concept!

How interesting the tie between your family's beloved Fords and leisure weekend time!  We are looking forward to upcoming weekend festivities on Long Island when our nephew Brad  will get married.  This event points to the changing nature of the concept of weekends and leisure time.  This wedding will be held on a Sunday.  When we were growing up, this just wasn't done--the phrase "non-traditional" didn't even cover such an idea.  Catholics weren't allowed Sunday marriages so as not to interfere with church services.  Sundays were held as sacrosanct.  Businesses were ALL closed.  You went to church and spent time with your families on Sundays.  Period.  

 

As we all have seen, Sundays are no longer off limits for working, shopping, alcohol or weddings!  It seems the weekend pendulum is swinging back to the earlier days when it made no difference what day of the week it was for workers, shopkeepers, liquor stores or young couples seeking to be married. 

As a child, I really did not enjoy Sundays.  I was supremely bored, so I still enjoy the freedom that Sundays now bring.  It's still a weekend day, but with the added benefit of open shops and family weddings!!!  As you may know, Amy plans to be married on a Sunday next summer so we are also becoming part of the pendulum swing.  WooHoo!

BAM! Walter Brown 1849-1908

A few posts ago, I mentioned that Walter Brown was bedeviling me in terms of "closing the door" on his life.  Walter was Grampie Brown's younger brother.  Unlike Grampie (William S. Brown), Walter was born in the United States.  Though an early census record indicates he was born in Albany County, a later census indicates he was born in Michigan (where his sisters settled).  I am more inclined to believe he was born in New York State since that earlier census record was recorded much closer to the actual event.  I have the family pretty well documented and I don't believe they were in Michigan in 1849, but I could be proven mistaken one day in the future.

Walter apparently worked with metal--his occupation was listed as tinsmith and metal laborer over the years.  He came from a long history of blacksmithing and tinsmithing seems not too far removed from that.  He married Sarah Armstrong and lived in the Buffalo NY area.  Sarah and Walter had two children William and Maria.  Again, not easy to locate yet another William Brown in Buffalo but the search will continue.

This case was cracked when I found Grampie Brown living with Sarah after Walter died.  I'd had this death notice but wasn't sure it was the right Walter until I found that little tidbit.

Further evidence was located in a gravestone picture located somewhat by accident while following Ancestry.com leads:

This picture wouldn't have made sense without knowing a little about Walter's wife Sarah.  It's in Holy Cross Cemetery (presumably Buffalo though I'm not sure--ready for another road trip to Buffalo, Paula?)

This is a case where several small clues lead me to conclude that our Walter Brown died in 1908:  the gravestone combined with the newspaper obituary combined with the census record.  None of these, standing alone, would lead to such a conclusion but TOGETHER they paint another picture of one of our family members.  It brings me great satisfaction to hunt these clues down and try to match them up.  I'm embarrassed to admit how many of these clues have been right in my files all along but that's a different story for another day.

Rose Ring 1973-2013

A while ago, I did some posts telling the story of some of my cherished possessions.  They included Mom's baby shoes, a charm bracelet from Nanny Ryan and Weenie's lighter.  It is important to document the stories behind these things so that, someday long into the future, our children can make informed decisions about what to do with them.  This is such a story.

My rose colored ring was part of my first major purchase once I had a "real" job at Brooks' in Walton.  I bought another ring at the same time from the jewelry store in town--Paveglio's maybe.  They were on sale.   The other ring had a small purple stone in it that fell out several years later but I had an engagement ring to wear on that finger soon after so I didn't miss that one very much.  But I've worn the rose ring every day since about 1973.

Until about a year ago.  I was gardening and went to dump the cart when my ring got caught in a nasty yank.  My finger was sore for several days and the ring was badly misshapen. 

The picture doesn't really do the damage justice.  Anyhow, I thought I could live without the ring.  I wore the "root beer" ring in my little finger instead but I came to the conclusion that I really missed wearing that ring so I took it in for repair.  Initially, they told me it would be about $40 to reshape the ring.  I figured $1/year maintenance wasn't a bad price to pay for something I was really missing. 

But, of course, it can't be that easy.  The phone call comes from the jeweler that the ring needs more significant repair at a price that was probably about 3 times its original cost.  Understand that this wasn't real high quality gold or anything, it just meant a lot to me because it was the first thing I bought with my own money (and it was pretty too), so the original cost wasn't more than I could pay on a part time minimum wage salary from Brooks.  Reluctantly I told them not to continue with the repair. 

Then--epiphany.  This ring is a symbol of my work life.  It was shiny and pretty back when I first started in the work world.  With retirement looming, the ring gets stretched and pulled so far out of shape that it can no longer be worn.  Perfect analogy for the ending of my professional career.  I left teaching feeling kind of wrecked and bent out of shape.  So I'm pleased to keep the ring to symbolize my working years.  And when I'm gone, it can be too.