The latest Carnival of Genealogy prompt is The Happy Dance – The Joy of Genealogy:

“Almost everyone has experienced it. Tell us about the first time, or the last time, or the best time. What event, what document, what special find has caused you to stand up and cheer, to go crazy with joy?”

I’ve had a couple instances where I’ve jumped for joy when researching ancestors, but the absolute best, in my opinion, was when I found information regarding my father’s side of the family.  My mom and dad divorced when I was young, so I never had much contact with my dad.  Then once I got interested in genealogy, my dad didn’t have much to tell me.  His mom and dad were both dead so they had nothing to offer, and he didn’t know the names of his grandparents because he only knew them by their last names, for example “Grandma Bone.”  I thought for the longest time that I might never find information about his side of the family past his parents.

But I did it.  And with each new finding it seemed like I kept hitting the jackpot:

I started with census records, knowing that my grandfather’s name was Bruce Stiver and was born in 1900 in Pennsylvania, and that Bruce had a brother named Russell.  I finally found them in the 1920 census in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, living  with their parents Silas and Rosella Stiver.  Finding the names of my great-grandparents in itself was something I’m sure I did a little dance over, but this wasn’t it.

After finding out their names, I did a little poking around on the internet and found someone’s family tree that had a TON of info on Silas and his ancestors for quite a few generations on both his mother’s and father’s side.  It even had info on the Stiver clan back to when the name was previously spelled Staiber.  I had always thought that the spelling ‘Stiver’ seemed wrong, and that it was likely spelled another way back in Germany, but I didn’t know what it would be. Now I know what it was (or at least have a better idea) and now I have an alternate spelling to do searches under.

After finding this data, I discovered a cousin through a mailing list who had been researching the Stiver name for over 25 years.  She was able to confirm all the info I had found on the internet and to top it off she had info regarding Silas’s wife Rosella, whose maiden name, she was able to tell me, was Wells.  She also had a photo of Silas, Rosella, and two children, likely their first son Harry, and Bruce when he was an infant:

I’ve gone on to document much of my grandfather Bruce Stiver’s genealogy from all of this info, including finding out that Rosella was the “Grandma Bone” that my father had remembered.  She had remarried a John Bone after Silas had died.

Now I just have to find more info on Bruce’s wife’s side of the family.  That will be a bit more tricky, as I have precious little to go on and her maiden name was Smith.  I can’t wait until I can do the happy dance regarding that side of the family as well.

I got this photograph from a relative who has no idea who any of the people are in the photo.  I identified the young girl in the man’s arms as my great-grandmother, Thelma (Seibert) Furry.  That means the photo was taken around 1911 or 1912, probably in Louisville, Kentucky since that is where my great-grandmother lived until she was about 6 years old.

I’d like to know who all of the other people are in the photo, but I’m most curious about the older man standing on the right, holding a chicken.  I think he is the same man pictured in this photo I posted a few months ago.

If anyone recognizes these people.  PLEASE let me know.

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This is for the 9th Edition of Smile For The Camera: Who Are You – I Really Want To Know?

I first found the original 99 things meme via Randy Seaver over at Genea-Musings this morning.  Then this afternoon, I found a genealogical list via Donna Pointkouski at What’s Past Is Prolouge, that was originally posted by, and since expanded and compiled by Becky at Kinexxions.  (My genealogical list of things may have slight variations from these other lists as I started it early and didn’t update it as it was later changed by Becky.):

Things you’ve already done: bold

Things you want to do: italicize

Things you haven’t done and don’t want to – leave in plain font

Original version:

1. Started your own blog. (Um… duh!)
2. Slept under the stars.
3. Played in a band. (If elementary school orchestra/band count)
4. Visited Hawaii.
5. Watched a meteor shower.
6. Given more than you can afford to charity.
7. Been to Disneyland/world.
8. Climbed a mountain. (A small one in West Virginia)
9. Held a praying mantis.
10. Sang a solo.
11. Bungee jumped.
12. Visited Paris.
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch.
15. Adopted a child. (I’ve thought about it, at least.  We’re not sure that we want any more than 2 children.)
16. Had food poisoning.
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty.
18. Grown your own vegetables.
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France.
20. Slept on an overnight train.
21. Had a pillow fight. (Even one, as a child, where I actually feared for my life… two against one is NOT fun.)
22. Hitch hiked.
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill.
24. Built a snow fort.
25. Held a lamb.
26. Gone skinny dipping.
27. Run a marathon.
28. Ridden a gondola in Venice.
29. Seen a total eclipse.
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset.
31. Hit a home run.
32. Been on a cruise.  (Might be nice.)
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person.
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors.
35. Seen an Amish community.
36. Taught yourself a new language. (Japanese – I have some Pimsleur audio courses all ready to go, just haven’t done it.)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied. (I’m pretty satisfied.  I don’t think having much more money than I do now would really change that feeling.)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person.
39. Gone rock climbing.
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David in person.
41. Sung Karaoke. (Never again.)
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt.
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant.
44. Visited Africa.
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight.
46. Been transported in an ambulance.
47. Had your portrait painted. (Sort of, if oil pastel counts.)
48. Gone deep sea fishing.
49. Seen the Sistine chapel in person.
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling.
52. Kissed in the rain.
53. Played in the mud.
54. Gone to a drive-in theatre.
55. Been in a movie.
56. Visited the Great Wall of China.
57. Started a business.
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia.
60. Served at a soup kitchen.
61. Sold Girl Scout cookies.
62. Gone whale watching.
63. Gotten flowers for no reason.
64. Donated blood.
65. Gone sky diving.
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp.
67. Bounced a cheque.
68. Flown in a helicopter.
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy.
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial.
71. Eaten Caviar.
72. Pieced a quilt.
73. Stood in Times Square.
74. Toured the Everglades.
75. Been fired from a job.
76. Seen the Changing of the Guard in London.
77. Broken a bone. (Several, unfortunately.)
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle.
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person.
80. Published a book.
81. Visited the Vatican.
82. Bought a brand new car.
83. Walked in Jerusalem.
84. Had your picture in the newspaper. (Three that I can remember: Akron Beacon Journal, the Kenmore community newspaper, and the Kent State University paper.  Maybe the Cleveland Plain Dealer too, but I think that might have just been an article I wrote, minus a photo.)
85. Read the entire Bible.
86. Visited the White House.
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating. (If killing a mouse, freezing it for storage, and thawing it later for a snake counts.)
88. Had chickenpox.
89. Saved someone’s life.
90. Sat on a jury.
91. Met someone famous. (For some reason I want to say I already have, but considering I can’t remember who it would have been, I doubt it.)
92. Joined a book club.
93. Lost a loved one.
94. Had a baby. (One daughter, one on the way.)
95. Seen the Alamo in person.
96. Swum in the Great Salt Lake.
97. Been involved in a law suit.
98. Owned a cell phone.
99. Been stung by a bee.  (Been stung by at least 3 wasps though.)

Genealogical version:

1. Belong to a genealogical society.
2. Researched records onsite at a court house.
3. Transcribed records.
4. Uploaded tombstone pictures to Find-A-Grave.
5. Documented ancestors for four generations (self, parents, grandparents, great-grandparents)
6. Joined Facebook.
7. Cleaned up a run-down cemetery.
8. Joined the Genea-Bloggers Group.
9. Attended a genealogy conference.
10. Lectured at a genealogy conference.
11. Spoke on a genealogy topic at a local genealogy society.
12. Been the editor of a genealogy society newsletter.
13. Contributed to a genealogy society publication.
14. Served on the board or as an officer of a genealogy society.
15. Got lost on the way to a cemetery.
16. Talked to dead ancestors. (When they were living, that is.  And one of my fantasies is to go back in time and interview ancestors.)
17. Researched outside the state in which I live.
18. Knocked on the door of an ancestral home and visited with the current occupants.
19. Cold called a distant relative.
20. Posted messages on a surname message board.
21. Uploaded a gedcom file to the internet.
22. Googled my name.
23. Performed a random act of genealogical kindness.
24. Researched a non-related family, just for the fun of it.
25. Have been paid to do genealogical research.
26. Earn a living (majority of income) from genealogical research.
27. Wrote a letter (or email) to a previously unknown relative.
28. Contributed to one of the genealogy carnivals.
29. Responded to messages on a message board.
30. Was injured while on a genealogy excursion.
31. Know a cousin of the 4th degree or higher.
32. Disproved a family myth through research. (Well, I haven’t totally ruled out the possibility, but I really don’t see how it could be true at this point.)
33. Got a family member to let you copy photos.
34. Used a digital camera to “copy” photos or records.
35. Translated a record from a foreign language.
36. Found an immigrant ancestor’s passenger arrival record.
37. Looked at census records on microfilm, not on the computer. (When I first started out and had no clue that Ancestry.com was available… This wasn’t that long ago either.)
38. Used microfiche.
39. Visited the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.
40. Visited more than one LDS Family History Center.
41. Visited a church or place of worship of one of your ancestors.
42. Taught a class in genealogy.
43. Traced ancestors back to the 18th Century.
44. Traced ancestors back to the 17th Century. (Only if I can rely on posted internet family trees.  Haven’t proven the data myself.)
45. Traced ancestors back to the 16th Century. (Only if I can rely on posted internet family trees.  Haven’t proven the data myself.)
46. Can name all of your great-great-grandparents. (I can name all of them except on my father’s mother’s side.)
47. Found an ancestor’s Social Security application.
48. Know how to determine a soundex code without the help of a computer.
49. Used Steve Morse’s One-Step searches.
50. Own a copy of Evidence Explained by Elizabeth Shown Mills.
51. Helped someone find an ancestor using records you had never used for your own research.
52. Visited the main National Archives building in Washington, DC.
53. Visited the Library of Congress.
54. Have an ancestor who came over on the Mayflower.
55. Have an ancestor who fought in the Civil War. (A couple, on both sides.)
56. Taken a photograph of an ancestor’s tombstone.
57. Became a member of the Association of Graveyard Rabbits.
58. Can read a church record in Latin.
59. Have an ancestor who changed their name.
60. Joined a Rootsweb mailing list.
61. Participated in a genealogy meme
62. Created family history gift items (calendars, cookbooks, etc.)
63. Performed a lookup
64. Took a genealogy seminar cruise
65. Convinced a relative must have arrived here from outer space
66. Found a disturbing family secret (I would love to find something about an ancestor.)
67. Told others about that disturbing family secret
68. Combined genealogy with crafts (family picture quilt, scrapbooking)
69. Think genealogy is a passion not a hobby (Can’t it be both?)
70. Assisted finding next of kin for a deceased person (Unclaimed Persons)
71. Taught someone else how to find their roots
72. Lost valuable genealogy data due to a computer crash or hard drive failure  (I almost did and I was SICK about it.  But my computer savvy husband recovered the “lost” data.)
73. Been overwhelmed by available genealogy technology (The more ways to get and store info, the better, I think)
74. Created a family website. (I took it down though.  I should put one back up.)
75. Have more than one “genealogy” blog.
76. Was overwhelmed by the amount of family information received from someone. (Yes, but I was pleasantly overwhelmed though.)
77. Have broken through at least one brick wall. (I still have plenty more though.)
78. Visited the DAR Library in Washington D.C.
79. Borrowed microfilm from the Family History Library through a local Family History Center.
80. Have done indexing for Family Search Indexing or another genealogy project.
81. Visited the Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
82. Had an amazing serendipitous find of the “Psychic Roots” variety.
83. Have an ancestor who was a Patriot in the American Revolutionary War. (Okay, well, no… but my husband does and I almost think of his family as mine too, so, I say yes.)
84. Have an ancestor who was a Loyalist in the American Revolutionary War.
85. Have both Patriot & Loyalist ancestors.
86. Have used Border Crossing records to locate an ancestor.
87. Use maps in my genealogy research.
88. Have a convict ancestor who was transported from the UK.
89. Found a bigamist amongst the ancestors. (Unfortunately didn’t have to look for them.)
90. Visited the National Archives in Kew.
91. Visited St. Catherine’s House in London to find family records.
92. Found a cousin in Australia (or other foreign country).
93. Consistently cite my sources. (I do now, but I’m guilty of not having done it earlier.  I have WONDERFUL notes on certain aspects of my family that I now have no clue where I got the info.  Sucks.)
94. Visited a foreign country (i.e. one I don’t live in) in search of ancestors.
95. Can locate any document in my research files within a few minutes. (I wish I was that organized.)
96. Have an ancestor who was married four times (or more). (Well, not an ancestor, but a great-aunt.  She was married nine times.  Relatives think she might have been a “black widow.”)
97. Made a rubbing of an ancestors gravestone.
98. Organized a family reunion.
99. Published a family history book (on one of my families). (Not yet, but I am very close to doing so. Hoping for late Spring 2009.)
100. Learned of the death of a fairly close relative through research.
101. Have done the genealogy happy dance.
102. Sustained an injury doing the genealogy happy dance.
103. Offended a family member with my research. (I would elaborate, but I don’t want to offend again.)
104. Reunited someone with precious family photos or artifacts.

____

Updated to add items 97 – 104 to the genealogical list.

I’ve never been one for New Year’s resolutions, mainly because whenever I do make them, I never keep them because I never, or rarely, remember them after December 31st (It’s not because of drinking, I promise).  So I figure, what’s the point?  But having said that… the topic of the 63rd Carnival of Genealogy is New Year’s Resolutions, and asks “What plans do you have for your genealogy research next year? How about for your blogging?”  I think I can at least answer those questions even if I don’t consider them resolutions, per se.

What plans do you have for your genealogy research next year?

First and foremost, I want to finish writing the genealogy book on my Seibert family that has been in the works since mid 2007.  I’m almost done with it, and besides, I promised my family I would have it ready by this year’s family reunion.

I’d also love to stop procrastinating about talking to my grandfather, Floyd Cummings, about his life and relatives.  I want to videotape him in an interview talking about his life, mainly before and during WWII.  I also would like to know more about his family.  I’d like to know the specifics about his relatives, like births and deaths and such, but I’ve heard some crazy stories in passing about his family that I’d really like to know more about; how some thought his Aunt was a black widow what with having 9 husbands and them all dying, how his grandfather was able to survive the 1889 Johnstown flood, and how his father pulled a prank on a neighbor, putting the neighbor’s carriage on the top of his barn, among many others.  I’d like to know the specifics, at least as much as he can remember, before he is no longer around to tell them.  I want my next big genealogy project, after I’m done with the Seibert book, to be a book about my grandfather’s side of the family, so this will be the perfect starting point.

How about for your blogging?

No new plans for my blog.  I will continue to post when I have something to say, and otherwise not.  That’s the way I blog right now and I like that.  I don’t see any reason to change.  The only thing that may happen is that I might not get as much time to blog because I am currently pregnant and will have another child to take care of next year.

As far as non-genealogy, non-blog related plans…

I can’t really think of anything other than I’d like to finish my 2008 NaNoWriMo novel, sometime in 2009, preferably before April.  I’ve written about 60K words on it so far, but I’ve basically set it aside for the past few weeks.  I’ve only written a day or two out of each week since November 30 and I feel the need to pick it back up again and work on it more akin to what I did during the month of November.  Maybe not 1667 words per day, but at least set aside an hour each day to work on it.  I needed a bit of time off from writing, but I think it would be fun to write again.  Besides I was just getting to the good stuff.

The 62nd edition of the Carnival of Genealogy asks genealogy bloggers to write a letter to Genea-Santa, making a list of 3 gifts they would like to receive this holiday season from 3 of their ancestors.  Here are my wishes:

1.  I would love to have the broach that my great-grandmother, Thelma Seibert-Furry, had in her possession when her house was broken into.  I’m not really sure what it looked like, since I never saw it, but I’m told that it was silver with a blue stone.  It had been handed down for generations from mother to eldest daughter at least since the early 1800s and, from my research, possibly originated in Wagshurst, Baden, Germany.  Had it not been stolen from her house, I would be next in line to inherit it.

2.  I don’t know if such a family bible ever existed, but since the family was highly religious, it’s likely it did, so I will say that I would love to have the bible of my great-grandmother Araminta Terresa “Mintie” “Tessie” Adamson-Smith.  I know little to nothing about her husband except for his name, Harry Smith, and a possible birth date of July 1874.  Hopefully this bible would have some family info in it and shed some light on him and subsequently his family, making it a bit easier to wade through all of the Smiths out there.  I also only know of the names of five of their eight known children.  I’m assuming the bible would list births and deaths of the children as well.  And maybe a few extras, like the maiden name of Araminta’s mother.

3.  According to a story told to me by my grandfather, my g-g-grandfather, George G. Fyock, was part Native American and wanted to open a bar but his application for a liquor licenese was denied on those grounds.  From everything I’ve researched (and from what other’s have researched, as well) he was NOT Native American.  I would love to have the letter he received that stated why his application for a license was denied.  If it mentioned Native American status, I would have something to work with, otherwise, I think he had another reason for hiding his past and never answering questions about his parents.  It must have been a real doozy of a story to prefer lying and saying he was part Native American (realize that this was during the early 1900s) than to tell the truth about his family.

___

Update:  I just realized that I didn’t write a letter, but merely listed my wishes.  Oh well.  I hope Genea-Santa is forgiving.  I guess I just made it that much easier for him (or her) to find my wishes, rather than wading through all the brown-nosing that typically comes before and after begging for presents. 

This is a 1941 staged photo of my grandfather, Floyd Cummings, pretending to be drunk with two friends, sisters Mary O’Fay (on the left) and Renee O’Fay (on the right). The car pictured is my grandfather’s first car, a 1940 Studebaker.

The first time I saw this photo, a few years ago, it cracked me up. I wasn’t entirely sure it was a staged photo or if he really was drunk, but my grandfather assured me that it was staged; just he and a few friends having some fun.

It’s one of my all-time favorite photos of him, just because it shows his wonderful sense of humor.

_______________________

This is for the 6th Edition of Smile For The Camera: Funny Bone

This post is for the 54th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy: The Family Language
__________________

Some people call it Pittsburghese, but I think it’s more of a generalized Pennsylvania thing (or maybe just Western PA), but in any case, many of the older people in my family speak a bit different than the rest and/or use phrases that the typical person might not understand.

I thought some of the things that came out of of my grandparent’s mouths to be a bit silly. In many cases I just thought they weren’t enunciating (which is true to an extent), but others I thought were normal, at least until later on in life, when I would have to explain what a certain word or phrase meant.

Here is a sampling of a few sayings that you might hear from one of my grandparents (In some cases, I’ve added the meanings in parentheses where the context might not be enough.):

“How are you’inz?” (version of “ya’ll”; “all of you”)

“Be careful out there.  It’s slippy on that ice.”

“I can’t get it straight.  It’s so cattywompus.”

“I’m asceerd o’ heights.”

“Everything’s hunky-dory.” (okay)

“My hair is all greazy today.”

“You got ‘urself a nebby nose.” (you’re in everyone’s business; nosy)

And… one of my favorite foods as a kid: Dippy eggs. (eggs over-easy)

I said something about two weeks ago on twitter about how I always had thought that my husband was the only one with royal ancestors, but that I had recently (actually it was about three years ago now that I think about it) found out that I too am related to royalty through my dad’s side of the family.

To set the record straight though, I haven’t proven any of this… from Joe’s side of the family, or mine.

I’ve only thoroughly researching one side of my family (my maternal great-grandmother’s). For the rest of my lines, which would include the one that supposedly has royalty in it, and for Joe’s, I have only personally traced them back to the early/mid 1800’s. For people and events before that time (except for one or two lines) I’m only going by what I’ve found on the internet, and as we all know, you can’t trust everything you read, especially when it comes to stuff on the internet.

The two people that supposedly link Joe to royalty are Andrew Pierce Lee, his g-g-g grandfather on his father’s side, and Rachel Funderburg, his g-g-g-grandmother on his mother’s side. The person that supposedly links me to royalty is Christopher Wells, my g-g-g-grandfather on my father’s side.

Supposedly if you trace Andrew Pierce Lee’s ancestry, one of his ancestors is Geoffrey Plantagenet. Andrew is also, supposedly, a distant cousin of Robert The Bruce (remember the guy who fought with William Wallace in Braveheart?)

Supposedly if you trace Rachel Funderburg’s ancestry, one of her ancestors is Philipp Wilhelm.

And if you trace Christopher Well’s ancestry, supposedly one of his ancestors was King Henry II, who coincidently is the son of the same Geoffrey Plantagenet that my husband is supposed to be descended from.

It will take a lot of time and work to figure out if this info is right, so who knows if I ever will. If it’s not true though, it’s no big deal, we still have people in our family trees that I find very interesting, even if they aren’t royalty.

The prompt for the 51st Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy says:

Do you have a relative who was feisty, spoke their own mind, was a bit of a free spirit? Anyone who most people might consider a “nut” on the family tree but you know they really just followed a “different tune?” We all have at least one person whose character and habits may have made them seem “ahead of their time” and now is the chance to tell us their story.

Almost every person in my family, in one way or another, could be considered a bit of a nut or an odd-ball, but only one person comes to mind when I think of the terms and phrases “feisty” “spoke their own mind” “free spirit” and “ahead of their time” and that is my great-grandmother, Thelma Corrine (Seibert) Furry (b. 22 January 1910 in Louisville, Kentucky; d. 22 March 2000 in Barberton, Ohio).

Even at a young age Thelma Furry was a handful. Her parents ended up sending her away to school for a year because they couldn’t control her rebellious ways. However, not long after she came back from school, she ended up getting pregnant at the age of 16 and having a daughter at age 17.

Sometime between 1932 and 1938 she ended up having an illegal “back alley” abortion even though she was studying to become a lawyer at the time.

In 1940 she graduated from the Akron School of Law, becoming the first woman trial lawyer in Akron, Ohio.

She championed the causes of those who were not generally given a fair shot, even appealing two cases to the United States Supreme Court (and winning!) when the trial results were not satisfactory. A sampling of those types of clients she represented were those who were suspected of being Communists, African Americans, clients with HIV/AIDS, and homosexuals. Any person who was unfairly discriminated against was someone she would happily represent. In the early days of her career, she was also one of the few lawyers who would work pro-bono cases or accept unusual forms of payment. In at least one case, she accepted payment in the form of her client mowing her lawn.

She was very outspoken in her beliefs, and attracted quite a bit of attention because of it. Some of it in the form of hate mail. Here are two transcriptions of letters she received:

Thelma Furry, You lousy slut. If I were [you] I would keep my damnable pencil and mouth shut. Why if you want Communist “liberties” dont you just go where they already exist, not try to bring the curse to our good country. Our President is going to put you in “Camp” I hope. You will be lucky if some mother of soldier boys does not shoot you down like the dog you are. I may take a try at it my self if any thing happens to the sons I love so much. We like our country as it is, if you don’t just get your “mob” together and I am sure our government would be glad to give you free passage to Russia. Mother of 3 boys. May Gods curses rest on you!!!

________

TRAITORS BEWARE See the old man at the corner where you buy your paper? He may have a silencer equipped pistol under his coat. That extra fountain pen in the pocket of the insurance salesman who calls on you might be a cyanide gas gun. What about your milk man? Arsenic works slow but sure. Your auto mechanic may stay up nights studying booby traps. These patriots are not going to let you take their freedom away from them. They have learned the silent knife, the strangler’s cord, the target rifle that hits sparrows at 200 yards. Traitors beware. Even now the cross hairs are on the back of your necks.

But none of this ever scared her, at least outwardly. She continued to believe in the same ideals and continued to work for those people that other lawyers wouldn’t represent. I’m not sure about it, but I imagine that when she opened these letters that she just laughed at them, especially the second letter. The fact that it called her a traitor who was trying to take away freedoms, would seem absolutely ridiculous to her. It was completely opposite from her beliefs and goals. And in regards to the first letter, she most definitely wouldn’t have wanted anything bad to happen to the woman’s sons, or any other allied man serving in World War II. The type of “Communist” that the woman spoke of was not embodied by my grandmother. Unfortunately a lot of people hear the word Communist and think of completely opposite beliefs than what my grandmother held. She was a member of the Communist party for about 15 years, but she did eventually quit the party, stating that it was only because she thought her clients would be treated unfairly by juries and judges because of her political affiliation. It seems odd to me that a judge would make a decision based on a lawyer’s affiliation, but it happened at least once to one of Thelma’s clients. Fortunately Thelma and the client were able to get another trial with a different judge.

About a year ago I was reading through Thelma’s FBI file (yep, she has a FBI file, and a HUGE one at that… somewhere around 400/500 pages!) and I found a statement of hers that contradicted another person’s. I asked my grandmother, Thelma’s daughter, if she might have lied when she gave her statement. The answer she gave: “I never heard her tell a lie in my entire life. She was the kind of person who would rather go to prison than tell a lie. Just on principle. She could be belligerent. She might not answer a question, but she wouldn’t have lied.”

In her private life she was ahead of the times as well. My mom has told me stories about how Thelma was very open about sex and would speak to her about sex if the topic came up. Apparently Thelma viewed sex as simply another natural part of life and that there was no reason to be ashamed by it. This coming from a woman of her generation was simply unheard of. I actually remember finding a couple quotes by Ayn Rand about sex and sexuality in some of Thelma’s papers. One was:

“I say that sex is one of the most important aspects of man’s life and, therefore, must never be approached lightly or casually. A sexual relationship is proper only on the ground of the highest values one can find in a human being. Sex must not be anything other than a response to values. And that is why I consider promiscuity immoral. Not because sex is evil, but because sex is too good and too important.”

To end, I think that throughout her life Thelma definitely followed “the beat of her own drum,” but I also think that she got the “tune” from her father and mother.
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This is my entry for the 51st Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy: Independent Spirit

I just read this blog post by Jessica Oswalt on the Jessica’s GeneJournal blog and it got me thinking:

My husband asks me every so often why I do genealogy and frankly I’ve never had a good answer for him.

“I just love it,” I say. “I can’t explain why.”

Well, maybe now I can explain it. In college I had the best history teacher, Dr. George Vourlojanis. He made it come alive for me and I almost switched my major because of him.

I had never cared about history before I took his class. It was boring. Just a bunch of names and dates. But Dr. Vourlojanis had us do a project dealing with the Great Depression. We had to interview someone who lived through the years of the depression and find out about their life during that time. It didn’t have to be a relative, but I chose to interview my grandparents. What a gold mine that turned out to be. Genealogically and historically. Not only did I learn what it was like for them in that time, but I found out more about the Roosevelts, the New Deal, the WPA, the CCC, etc. than any history text book will teach you. It was info about how the people viewed these people/events/ideas/projects. It was all put into context and it was fascinating.

I wont lie, I always get a thrill just adding a new name to my family tree, without knowing anything else about the person, but I now realize that my main reason for doing genealogy is to find out about my family in the context of history. The more I learn about the time period they lived in and what they dealt with makes their lives more meaningful to me. And the more I learn about my family’s genealogy the more meaningful history becomes as well.