Sometimes a ghost taps you on the shoulder and pushes you to help. On a sunny August day, Thomas G. O’Connor’s ghost did just that. He found me at the Portland police museum, pointed to an empty picture frame, and said it was reserved for him.
O’Connor died on 29 August 1867—the first Portland policeman to be killed in the line of duty.
Time for Another Rescue
It’s heartening to know how many folks out there are kind enough to protect another family’s possessions and make the effort to get these possessions back into the right hands. Carol Hertensteiner of Missouri is just one of these generous people.
Carol wrote me about a daybook that would clearly be invaluable to a member of its family of origin.
How can one daughter’s birth certificate send you in so many directions? See for yourself.
1. More Kids
“Triplet” and “or other” are crossed out, but “Twin” isn’t. An Arizona birth index check http://genealogy.az.gov shows Charles Emmett Edwards born the same date to the same parents.
2. Where They Hung Their Hat
Elizabeth was born in 1915, but where were her parents in 1910?
Sometimes the information you want about a specific relative can’t be found in the usual sources—birth, marriage, and death registrations, church registers, censuses, military and pension files, and courthouse, land, and probate records that often describe relationships. So where do you turn?
Rich and Famous
Hoping Junior will make enough money to pay his way—and yours? Give him the first name of the wealthiest men—John. Rather have an inventor in the house? Try John again, although Charles and William run a close second and third (if you’re hoping he wins a Nobel prize, you may also want to slip the name Robert in there).
For a wealthy daughter, try Anne, Barbara, or Margaret.
Confusion is almost guaranteed when a family insists upon using the same first name in multiple generations. Let’s say a man named John has six sons, including one named John. All of the sons, in turn, have a son named John. The result is six first cousins, a grandfather, and a father all with the same name. There needs to be a way to tell them apart.
“I tell ya’, life ain’t easy for a boy named Sue.”
While he laments his name in the Johnny Cash song, “A Boy Named Sue,” he’s not alone—there are plenty of unusual names out there. Here are just a few, both surnames and given names that I’ve encountered in years of family histor y research:
Colorful.
An introduction to the method behind the seeming madness of patronymics.
Patronymics. It’s the kind of word that makes people flinch—particularly people trying to trace their Scandinavian family roots. Some people don’t know what patronymics are, others have a vague idea, and a few think they have the system down. But even those few may misunderstand what patronymics are really all about.
Just what drives us to name a rose a rose.
Someday, when he’s a little older, Harry Wait will find out just where his name came from.
He’ll recognize that he was named Harry after his grandfather, which is true, and his great-grandfather before that. But someday Harry’s father, Andrew, will explain that Harry’s not a third but a fourth.
When and how other countries celebrate their own version of Thanksgiving.
Think Thanksgiving is simply an American tradition? It’s not. Throughout history, every culture and every land had celebrated the year’s bountiful harvest. While customs and rituals have changed over time, each of these festivals and celebrations still unite families and nations.