Harvesting Ancestors-Lessons from the Garden

In genealogy, as in many other pursuits, we reap what we sow.  This summarizes several lessons learned this past Saturday from professional genealogist, Sharon Batiste Gillins at the Clayton Library in Houston.  The metaphors from the garden that she used in her presentation entitled Harvesting Ancestors-Lessons from the Garden provided excellent examples of genealogical lessons with a broad appeal.  I highly recommend her as a keynote speaker for your upcoming genealogical events.

A gardner at work, 1607
SOURCE: Wikipedia citing Anonymous - Hausbuch der Mendelschen Zwölfbrüderstiftung, Band 2. Nürnberg 1550–1791. Stadtbibliothek Nürnberg, Amb. 317b.2°, via http://www.nuernberger-hausbuecher.de/, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13207509

Gardening is one of Ms. Gillins favorite past times as it gives her time to "mull and ponder" about the things that occupy her mind in her genealogical research.  Her practices learned from the garden were compared to genealogical practices and illustrated with examples from genealogical research.  The content was definitely suitable and accessible to beginners, intermediate and advanced researchers.  All of us need to practice the good research habits that were demonstrated in this presentation.

For example: "you can't garden without getting dirty."  This garden reality leads to the realization that genealogy research is physically demanding and messy work.  Ms. Gillins used an image from a county courthouse to illustrate the heavy volumes that must be lifted in dusty rooms filled with allergens.  Genealogy research can be a strain on the eyes and the back.  Exploring old cemeteries exposes a genealogist to the hazards of brambles, thorns, bugs and snakes.  We must prepare ourselves for the difficult and challenging work of genealogy.

"Know your soil: it is the foundation of the garden" leads to her recommendation that we "learn the context in which our ancestors lived."  The geography, history and political organization of the localities in which we are researching, is a necessary preface to understanding the lives of our ancestors.  Laws influence the shape and form of records that were formed in the past to suit certain political purposes.  Understanding the historical context of those records that we use today for genealogy helps us to analyze and interpret our family history.  She went further by describing sources and how they are helpful in understanding the context including almanacs, city directories, maps and land information.

Some of the other lessons that she taught were:

Garden: "The harvest comes after a long growing season." Genealogy: "Credible results must be cultivated over time."

Garden: "Get in close; important details can be easily overlooked" Genealogy: "Mine every document for hidden information."

And there were many more lessons.  You will have to invite her to speak to your genealogical society to learn them all.

I was especially gratified when Ms. Gillins used another metaphor of a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle to explain the process of fitting the genealogical facts together into an image of our family history. "Some of the pieces look like they should fit but really don't."  We need to avoid the tendency to force fit the pieces of our "Ancestor Puzzles."

I first learned of Ms. Gillins talents when I read an amazing article about her discovery of some artifacts of a slave from the Moody Mansion that have been sent to the Smithsonian.  I met her last year when she spoke at the Family History Conference of the Texas State Genealogical Society.  I was impressed by the depth and the wide applicability of the examples in her presentations.

She will be one of the featured speakers at the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research coming up in June 2016 in Track 10 on Researching African American Genealogy: Black Roots in Unique Collections. Sign up soon as classes at the IHGR are filling up fast.  This will also be the last opportunity for those of us in Texas to attend the IHGR in Alabama before it moves to Georgia. Hearing Ms. Gillins speak will help you to find a bountiful harvest of ancestors!

Labor Day- Occupational Research

Labor Day is a good time to reflect on the occupations of our ancestors.  My great grandfather, Antonino Cimino, was a contadino or peasant farm laborer in Sicily.  He immigrated to Omaha, Nebraska in 1906 and the 1910 census shows that he worked as a laborer for the railroad.
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Antonino moved his family to Sioux City, Iowa about 1912.  On his 1918 World War I draft card, his occupation was written as:  Laborer, C.M. St. P. at 22nd St. Yards, Sioux City, Iowa.  The abbreviation stands for Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad also known as the "Milwaukee Road".  The 1920 census states that "Tony" was working in the Round House at the rail yard.  Today the yard has been turned into a museum known as the Milwaukee Yard.  A visit to this museum is on my bucket list!  In the meantime, we all can take a mini tour of the Railroad Shops here.

My grandfather, Richard Cimino, worked in a packing house in Sioux City, according to the 1930 census.  By 1947, he had moved to Sacramento, California.  I was able to trace his work history through the Sacramento city directories:

• 1947 casing worker, Andrew DeWied Casing Company.
• 1949 his occupation changed to "driver" no company name listed.
• 1952 laborer with State Division of Highways
• 1953 stockman with State Division of Highways
• 1956 clerk State Dept of Public Works
• 1958-1975 storekeeper State Division of Highways
• 1977 retired

My father, Richard J. Cimino, worked while going to school  at a service station and also baled hay.   After high school, he worked as an Electrician Apprentice for 18 months but did not like that there were periods of unemployment in the construction industry.  From 1956 to 1986,  he was employed by Pacific Telephone as a supply man, installer, repairman and desk man on the test board. While in Woodland in the 1950's, he worked the graveyard shift supplying the trucks for the next day.  There was a tomato field next to his building. He would pick ripe tomatoes and sprinkle them with salt for a delicious snack.  

In Sacramento, he worked at 24th & S Streets, as a supply man and later as an installer.  He enjoyed going to the homes of customers when he was a telephone installer, especially the older homes.   Sometimes he would offer to buy their unwanted trash that became his treasure.  On one occasion, I remember that Dad took us to an old house that he had serviced so we could dig antique bottles in the backyard. Dad has always had a passion for antiques and collectibles.  

My father drove a truck similar to this one while employed with Pacific Bell in Sacramento and Santa Rosa.
When I worked for the phone company in the summers of 1973 &1974, I drove a Ford Econoline at Lake Tahoe.

When I was in college, Dad was able to get me a summer job with the phone company.  He transferred to Santa Rosa and he says that was the best thing that ever happened to him.  He loved the weather and the people of Sonoma County.  After retirement from the phone company, he was employed as a school bus driver for the Windsor School District.  He was fully retired by 1996.  His retirement business has been buying and selling collectible toy cars.  He had a camper van that he used to travel to toy shows inscribed with "Cimino's Machines in Miniature."

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UPCOMING EVENT:

One of my clients is interested in documenting her ancestor's occupational experience as a cowboy on the Chisolm Trail.  The 1867 Settlement in Texas City is already well documented as a "Freedom Village" founded by ex-slaves who were cowboys on the Butler Ranch in Galveston County.  All are welcome to join the 5th Annual historical street festival in celebration of the 1867 Settlement Historical District. The event will include a parade, a trail ride and a new historical exhibit.  See the flyer below for more information.

WHEN: September 26, 2015 @ 9:00 am – 7:00 pm
WHERE: 1867 Settlement Historical District & Bell House Museum
106 South Bell Drive
Texas City, TX 77591
COST: Free
CONTACT: Cynthia at 409-770-3085 or Frankie at 409-599-1967

Father's Day Weekend Recap- Ireland, Scotland, Texas and Tahoe

It has been a very busy weekend for me with many celebrations and genealogical connections.

On Saturday, I had the pleasure of presenting two sessions at the Houston Family Genealogy Day sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. My class handouts for the both the Irish and Scottish session are posted here.  In addition, there are handouts from several of the other presenters that are profiled here.

For those that attended my presentation on Irish genealogy,  I offer the following previous blog posts that I have written on Irish genealogy:

Ancestor Puzzles: My Dilemma with the Lord of the Manor ...

Feb 16, 2015

My paternal grandmother's ancestor, James McCrory, left County Monaghan, Ireland, settled in Lancashire, England married an innkeeper's daughter, Sarah Lee and took her to Pennsylvania. I have had the good fortune to ...

Irish Genealogy- NOT ALL THE RECORDS BURNED!

Jul 30, 2011

My wife and I traveled to Ireland in April 2008 and spent time in Dublin and Belfast with five days spent at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. I was able to document many of my family stories in the records at PRONI ...

City Directories Contain Pieces of Your Ancestor Puzzle

Nov 24, 2014

However now that we know that Bridget Ann Moss was born in Ireland and that she had a son, William Patrick Moss born 1879 in California, it appears fairly certain that this is not my family. Annie Lanstein Moss and her ...

Ancestor Puzzles: Fishing with a Bigger Net- More ...

Feb 02, 2015

Born in County Fermanagh, Ireland in 1828, he immigrated to America in 1853 according to the 1900 census. He settled in Schuyler County, Missouri. On 31 March 1859, he married Mary Nevin in Schuyler County. In 1860 he ...

I acquired a wealth of material for future blog posts over the course of the weekend not the least of which was my Father's Day visit to the new Bryan Museum in Galveston.  The Bryan Museum is a MUST SEE historical and artisitic attraction.  My family was on the first tour of the day yesterday, which was led by the Bryan Museum curator. The tour also included a drop-in by Mr. J.P. Bryan who highlighted some of his favorite pieces in the collection.  The Changing Gallery features a special exhibition honoring the Buffalo Soldiers of the 9th and 10th U.S. Cavalry to mark the occasion of the 150th Anniversary of Juneteenth.  This exhibit will run through Labor Day but visit the museum soon and visit often.

I want to thank both of my daughters for being such good sports about my family history addiction.  They both encouraged me with tips on new developments in the family history world:

To help bring thousands of records to light, the Freedmen’s Bureau Project was created as a set of partnerships between FamilySearch International and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Afro­-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS), and the California African American Museum.  Read more about it at http://www.discoverfreedmen.org/

I have also been having a lot of fun with a product called the Simply Fun Conversation Ring.

Each ring contains 98 question cards with a variety of conversation starters. It can be used two ways, ask questions to each other or predict how the other will answer the question.

Compact, sturdy cards on a ring go anywhere. Great to keep in your purse, car, on coffee or dinner table, etc.  Questions cover a variety of topics that are great for children and adults.

Great for: car trips, sports activities, waiting in line, hospital or nursing home visits, classrooms, gift toppers, around the kitchen table, at a restaurant, family reunions & gatherings, small group activities.

One of the questions was about the most beautiful place that we had every visited and Lake Tahoe was on the top of my list.  Coincidentally, my sister was also waxing poetic about Tahoe on Facebook.  My siblings and I have very fond memories of a place called Valhalla also known as the Heller estate at Lake Tahoe.

Nick Cimino and Uncle Jack Kelly on the pier at Valhalla about 1970.

Nick Cimino in front of the boat house at Valhalla, Lake Tahoe, June 1965.

Magnolia Cemetery, League City, Texas

Magnolia Cemetery

The Galveston Historical Foundation has announced that Melodey Hauch and Floyd “Lanny” Martin have been selected to receive a 2014 Sally Wallace Preservation Award for their community service with regard to the Magnolia Cemetery project. The selection jury convened in July to review all of the submitted nominations and chose Melodey and Lanny to receive a 2014 Preservation Award.  Melodey and Lanny partnered with Pastor William Henry King III of the Greater New Hope Missionary Baptist Church to preserve and record the graves in the Magnolia Cemetery.

Magnolia Cemetery is located in League City, Galveston County, Texas on the border of League City and Dickinson. The entrance is reached by turning off of State Highway 3 onto 18th Street in Dickinson which is the border between the two cities. Most of the burials were of Dickinson residents.  Historically, the cemetery was known as the Dickinson Colored Cemetery and that name is found in numerous obituaries and death certificates.  The online Find a Grave page for Magnolia Cemetery currently includes 556 graves.

A group of five volunteers including Melodey and Lanny surveyed the cemetery during 2006; taking photos of the headstones dated 1905 to 2005 and created a computer file with 126 names and dates taken from the headstones. They noticed a number of obvious graves, many covered with concrete slabs that had no inscriptions. Melodey and Lanny visited Mainland Funeral Home in La Marque, Texas and were able to find the names of additional people who were buried in the cemetery in unmarked graves.  Lanny has scoured the Texas Death Certificate Databases on FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com and the Galveston Daily News obituary pages to find records on dozens of unmarked graves.  Melodey and Lanny have written a book that captures the story of the preservation effort.  

The 2014 Sally Wallace Preservation Awards will be presented at a reception on Saturday, August 23, from 4 pm- 6pm, at the 1861 Custom House (502 20th Street).  Admission is $15 per person or $100 for a reserved table for eight (8). The reception will include a short program, light hors d’oeuvres, beer and wine.  We hope that you will plan to attend the ceremony, and help us celebrate historic preservation efforts in Galveston County.

Please call the GHF offices for more information or to make reservations to the 2014 Sally Wallace Preservation Awards ceremony and reception.   GHF offices are at the 1940 Sears Building, 2228 Broadway, Galveston, TX 77550 and their phone number is 409.750.9108.

For more information:

Houston Chronicle Online Article

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Hundreds-of-unmarked-graves-found-in-League-City-4367479.php

Find a Grave Memorials

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=cr&GScid=5014&CRid=5014&pt=Magnolia%20Cemetery&