Take a look at popular summer activites dating as far back as 1870.
What reminds you of the sights, sounds, tastes, and fun of summers gone by? Take a look at how generations of Americans have spent their leisure hours during the long, and often hot, days of summer.
1870
“The Greatest Show on Earth”
In 1870, P. T. Barnum’s Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan, and Circus debuted.
Put on your hip waders and dig up some worms. It’s time to find ancestors.
July was always my favorite month when I was growing up. It was the month when my grandfather and I escaped the scorching heat by going fishing. We’d get the cane poles out, dig up some worms, fill a fruit jar with cold water, pack a lunch, and take off.
Could this be true?
My computer screen is glowing with the tantalizing possibility that I might have some of the Scottish brogue and blood I’ve always secretly wished for. Or perhaps I’m the lineal offspring of William Rawling, rector of Great Snoring. I assume he must be some sort of relation, considering my family’s prodigious adenoidal talents.
Ten years ago, Ancestry.com opened its virtual doors to the public by putting searchable versions of a few family history-related databases online. But Ancestry.com wasn’t the only digital visionary in the family history field back then. See who else is turning ten this year:
Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter (EOGN)
How did we ever do without Dick Eastman’s newsletter?
Perhaps finding myself a thousand miles away from everyone when I was just a bride started my deep longing to connect with family past and present. At first, my main connections to my family, my history, and my home were old-fashioned handwritten letters and an occasional (then expensive) phone call.
It’s the same routine each time John Broggi hears that a hurricane is coming. “I get my family out,” he says. Family always comes first. Mementos like family photos, heirlooms, and other cherished possessions all go in large plastic bags. John intentionally leaves air in each bag so it floats, just to be safe. Then John takes everything up to highest point in his house.
Maybe not, if you’ve been searching for her by name in the 1910 census online. But now that’s all changed at Ancestry.com.
In June, Ancestry.com announced the completion of its every-name index for the 1910 U.S. Federal Census. What’s the big deal?
A look at anniversaries.
Anniversaries provide us with wonderful excuses to pause and step away from our daily business and stress. I’m so blessed to be able to recall several milestones this year. My husband, Bob, and I celebrated forty-five years of marriage in the spring.
There is an old saying in real estate—the three most important things about a home are location, location, location. The same holds true in genealogy. Over the years, I have learned the value of networking with other genealogists who share my location, location, location interests. For example, my maiden name is Munk, and I have a number of Munk ancestors on the island of Bornholm in Denmark.