Shakin' the Family Tree

Another one of those "I Had No Idea" things

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 00:18:21 GMT

I never heard of the American Protective League, a group of private citizens who worked with federal law enforcement during World War I.

Only according to this article in Slate's The Vault, sometimes they got a tad over zealous.

Busting citizens they considered to be food hoarders.

And other stuff.

Geez...

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Family History Through the Alphabet Challenge: B is for Bits and Pieces

Sun, 03 Feb 2013 16:36:28 GMT

Logo

I loved reading this in The Atkins Chronicle, 23 Jan 2013 issue, at page 3.

75 Years Ago
From the files of Feb. 4, 1938
People of Hector will celebrate the installation of electric power Tuesday, Feb. 22. The celebration will begin at 4 o'clock. J M Danley of Scottsville is in charge of the program. H M Cheek of Hector will deliver the welcome address. Other speakers on the program will be W P Strait of Morrilton, Lieutenant Governor Bob Bailey, Judge A B Priddy, Reece Caudle and E W Hogan of Russellville.

Rural Arkansans have always been last to get most of the modern conveniences.

As early as 1913, Arkansas had, in addition to city and town electrical utilities, an electric utility that connected cities on the power grid.

So I imagine that a quarter of a century later, it was a really big deal for the little Pope County town of Hector to get electricity.

In my mind's eye, I see someone ceremoniously flipping a switch, and I hear the "oohs and aahs."

Got this photo in my email the other day.

That's my dad, and one of his favorite hunting dogs - a pointer named Rex. The year was 1972.

Dad always loved to bird hunt - back in the day when Arkansas had an abundant quail population.

Before humans destroyed their habitat.

When I was very young, he had English setters. The pointers came later. Dad and his dogs competed in field trials.

And Rex was a very cool dog.

As I read other blogs, I've noted that most bloggers try very hard to credit information they use in their blogs to appropriate sources, if it's not original content.

It does kind of bug me to see a blogger's copyright symbol displayed on so many old photographs. While I understand that the blogger is probably trying to prevent indiscriminate copying and re-use of photos, just possessing a photo doesn't grant you copyright.

From the FAQ page of the United States Copyright Office:
Copyright is the right of the author of the work or the author's heirs or assignees, not of the one who only owns or possesses the physical work itself. See Circular 1, Copyright Basics, section “Who Can Claim Copyright.”

I am taking the Family History Through the Alphabet challenge, albeit starting a few months late.

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A letter from Abe Lincoln, trying to let her down gently...

Tue, 13 Nov 2012 00:32:20 GMT

I think this is a hoot.

There's also a link to a transcript in the post.

Click here to read it.

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Highly recommended for all family historians...

Sun, 28 Oct 2012 02:26:24 GMT

Ken Burns' The War.

Six DVDs, nearly fifteen hours of material.

Four American towns, and how their citizens were affected by the war.

I learned about World War II in high school history, but not like this.

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Just neater than snuff...

Sun, 29 Jul 2012 21:11:40 GMT

Amazing how easily thinking about one thing can immediately cause me to think about my family history.

Like, I killed my subscription last month to our only daily, statewide newspaper. (If you are curious, here's the link to my open letter to the paper in my "everything else" blog.)

Until 1991, it had competition by the newspaper I read, the Arkansas Gazette.

Which led me to looking up the history of my paper.

Which led me to the name of the editor of the Gazette during the 1957 desegregation crisis in Little Rock.

Harry Scott Ashmore.

Who, as it turns out, is my 4th cousin, twice removed.

I didn't know him personally.

But still.

That's neat.

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I had no idea...

Sun, 25 Sep 2011 01:17:50 GMT

Went day tripping today.

And actually, it wasn't even a full day. But I was in high cotton...

My brother-in-law called me early in the week to see if I wanted to go to Pine Bluff with him and his parents to go find some family graves at a cemetery.

Pfffttt...I have never willingly passed up an opportunity to go graving. Especially when it's a cemetery that's new to me.

While we were at it, we also stopped at the Jefferson County Historical Society's museum in the old train depot, and ran over to the Jefferson County Library to check out some old news clippings in their genealogy section.

And stopped at one of my favorite cemeteries on the way back, where he also has relatives buried.

While we were at the museum, where they let you take photos as long as you don't use your flash, I saw this...

1907 2 horse wagon license plate

I had no idea there was any such thing...

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Those Places Thursday: Downtown Little Rock

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 23:06:51 GMT

About 20 years ago, I fell in love with the work of local artist, Richard DeSpain, and bought several of his prints of Little Rock and other areas of Arkansas.

This one was my grandmother's favorite.

After I had it framed and showed it to her, I told her the store where I bought it said it was DeSpain's interpretation of a photo of Main Street taken in the 1920's.

Oh no, she decisively corrected me. That was in the teens. I remember going with Mama on the streetcar to pay the light bill, and that's exactly the way they had the turn marked.

In the 20's they moved the power company office, and you had to go farther down the street.

Missing you, Grandma.

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We'll take a closer look at it, then...

Tue, 09 Aug 2011 01:47:37 GMT

Apparently my post about what I believe to be the very old Freeman homeplace has caused a bit of a stir with some folks.

One being my cousin-in-law, who is almost sure it isn't, and said as much to the two Freeman descendants who came to look at it up close and in person this past weekend.

He has his reasons - which he and I discussed by phone earlier this evening.

One of them being that it is not a dogtrot house, since they were usually two cabins, each with its own fireplace, with a breezeway in the middle.

And he's right about that - it isn't a dogtrot.

And I didn't say it was.

I said it is a shotgun house which was very popular with poor people, and very easily added on to, as we see in the homestead I *still* believe is the Freeman place.

My reasons are more mundane. There's that matter of the nearby creek, which isn't where it needs to be in the southwest part of Section 11 cousin-in-law says the house is in, but is there in Section 14, where I say it is.

So we'll be looking at some more plat books...

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Honoring Dads...Happy Father's Day

Sun, 19 Jun 2011 16:24:37 GMT

I have several Dads in my life, even though only one of them is my own.

For all the Dads out there, I hope this day is one you enjoy.

My Dad is nearly 75. He was 22 years old, when I, his firstborn, arrived.

I like to think we've done some growing up together. I know the last 20 years is probably where we've made the most progress.

Although Dad's story is uniquely his own, the older I get, the more I marvel at watching the cycles play out in my family, largely due to Dad.

He was the only son in his family of four kids, and third in birth order. His parents instilled in him a solid work ethic, and he was also gifted with something that's become quite rare these days - common sense.

He knew you had to work hard to get what you wanted and needed in life.

This was one of the first things he worked hard for, and he probably considered it a need at the time.

My Dad made his living with his hands. He was a mason, who created things with his hands out of block and brick. He had his own business. He worked long hours when I was a child, but I remember the times we spent together when he wasn't working.

Quite a bit of it was very close to the place where he lives now - the land of the Burris homeplace in Pope County, Arkansas...the place where his great grandfather carved out both home and business, and where his father was born. It was there that he showed me how to dig earthworms beside his Aunt Emma's chicken coop to use for bait when we fished. He was the one who showed me the low stacked stone walls our ancestors built when clearing the fields for planting.

Dad was nearly 43 years old when he married the love of his life. Together, they have made homes in three places - starting on that land, then moving to Michigan for several years, and coming full circle back to the land.

My folks and I compare notes on our family history. Dad has very matter-of-factly accepted some of the revelations I've made about our family history in the last few years.

He and I both enjoy finding the truth of our history, and recording it so it never has to be secret again.

On this Father's Day, I want Dad to know how much I appreciate the gifts of the love of family and pride of hard work he has given me.

I hope I am honoring him by passing those down.

One of the other Dads in my life is my son.

In the last few years, my son has added two daughters to his family. He is the custodial parent of his oldest daughter.

That blows me away.

My boy has become a man.

I am in awe of how he does it...

And am struck by the similarities in the two Dads - both hard-working fathers, and acutely aware of the importance of family.

My son's own dad died in 2005. They were very close, and my son was devastated. He figured out that it truly does take a village to raise a child, and has embraced his village, which includes his own cousins and their children. All the kids will grow up with rich family connections - a new generation of Burrises with strong family ties.

I'm so proud of him I could bust.

For these very special Dads, I wish for you peace and contentment today.

You've both earned it.

Love y'all...

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