A new blog you might like!

Ryan has started his own blog at http://dalpmania.blogspot.com and he'd be pleased to have you take a look and leave a comment if you like. It's meant to be from the perspective of a HS athlete and I think he does pretty well for himself.

First day of football season today so you can expect to be hearing about that! At least it's not unbearably hot today.

So Much for the Happiest Place on Earth!

OK--we are back in the real world now. The Disney trip was great and we ended up spending an extra night in Orlando--at the airport! Not as bad as it sounds because USAir (yes, USAir) gave us 2 rooms in the Hyatt right in the airport--it's a great hotel and just steps away from security check-in. Here's Amy with Ranier from her dolphin encounter!

And another announcement--no sooner did we get home than we adopted a new kitten: Izzy! Can't wait to see you all soon. Don't forget the party Sunday Aug 31.

More on names

I found Weenie's baptism certificate noting that none other than Francis and Frances Blumle themselves were Weenie's godparents! I thought you might be interested.

I always like to look at when such documents as these were issued and speculate as to why Weenie needed his baptismal certificate in 1940, for example. In this case, I believe it was probably so that Mom could receive her First Communion. Remember those days when you had to prove six different ways that you were worthy to receive sacraments from the Catholic church?

I have an additional baptismal extract for Weenie dated 1954--no doubt for Mom's wedding. Oddly enough, this 1954 extract says Bettie Lippman (as it does on her wedding record) but it says Barbara Lippman on the 1940 extract. Just noticed that today and thought I would share it!

Anyhow, I've been thinking more about names and how they came about. We know Uncle Tim's middle name Bentley comes from Captain John Bentley (his great grandfather) and Peter's middle name is also a family name (his grandmother's name was Edith Grover Handran--but I"m not really sure exactly where it came from for Edith). So we suppose that Milton is also a family name someplace. Dad was a Junior, so Milton was bestowed on his dad by his grandparents in 1901 when he was born. Since Paul Senior was child #6, I can imagine it's possible the Milton might be referring to a close friend or respected acquaintance such as with Weenie. So that's one of my new research angles. Who is Milton? It is not likely I will solve this and I may never even be able to make an educated guess but I'll never stop wondering.

A Rose by any other name....

When you study family history, you learn that some cultures have traditions when it comes to naming children. For most, the first son is named after his paternal grandfather and so forth. Although this is not as common these days, it's a tool that can be used when studying ancestors.

Weenie's parents have always been a bit of a mystery and I've been making some progress recently with Patrick and Barbara. Their parents names have been a bit elusive so it is natural that I'd be looking at Weenie's given name for clues. Francis Patrick.

The Patrick part is pretty easy, Weenie's father. But where did Francis come from? There is no evidence of Francis in either family tree even though I haven't gotten too far back with them yet. I think he was named after an influential family and town forefather in Emporium PA, Weenie's birthplace.

When Barbara's sister Anna came to America, she reported she planned to live with her Aunt Mary in Emporium Aunt Mary Gallenmiller, her brother John Bauer and husband Andrew all worked the Blumle farm (pictured).

FX Blumle was a brewer (!) and farmer. He was known as Frank and his wife Frances. I feel certain Barbara was also influenced by Aunt Mary and her patrons the Blumles. In fact, I recall the church representative telling Mom and I that Weenie had the Blumles as his godparents and that the Blumles were a very important family. I believe Francis came from the Blumle influence.

BUT Weenie's original birth certificate lists his name as James Thomas. No James' in the lineup either, but I'm not done yet! Thomas is Weenie's German (maternal) grandfather.

Ebay find!

Look what I found on Ebay today (searching for olean ny)! I have a copy of this ad but I did not know it was from 1966. Pretty cool to actually find someone you know on Ebay!

Good luck to Matthew and Ryan today at the Gus Macker. Have a great weekend everyone.

King of the trampoline

July 4, 2008

Ryan is the King. He managed to toss Matthew, Joe and Jeff all off of the trampoline. He wants to challenge Amy, Ryan, Tim, Bill and anyone else that dares take him on...

Come on up. They had a blast!

More Ryan Pets!

This is a great shot. I noticed that Paula is holding a cat--must be Cecelia? You see Fella behind Mary Jane. The handsome guy is Uncle Tim, still at military attention it seems. And Chris with a table leg??? What is up with that?