Books, Bones and Beyond: A Day in the Life!

Genealogy tip for the day: A Day in the Life!

Have you had an idea or task on your mind for so long that now you can’t remember if you just remember it or actually did it??? Such is the case with today’s Tip.

I have thought about passing on the idea of writing on “A Day in the Life…” of so-and-so. I did some back checking and can’t seem to find where I have written about this, but I thought I had. So if this sounds familiar to you, forgive me for being repetitious. I try not to repeat ideas, unless it’s been a long time since the last publishing of that Tip or I have an update on the topic.

If you want to write about your ancestor and can’t really find out much about them directly, you can still extrapolate more than you think. Here are some suggestions:

Choose an ancestor and pick an age or year in his or her life.

1. Where did the family live? Can you find newspapers that tell what was going on in that locality during that specific time? What’s the history of the town? Were they a founding family? What role did they play in the local community?

2. What historical events were going on at this particular time? What was the politics then? Was there a major disaster that affected them? Were they part of the push west?

3. If your ancestor was 17, how old was Mom and Dad? Were the grandparents still alive? Did they live nearby? What about extended family? What aunts, uncles, and cousins did he have and where did they live?

4. Was this person working or in school? Censuses sometimes tell you this.

If he was still in school, can you find a plat map that shows where the school was located? Often the rural schools were every few miles as children most of the time would walk to and from, or ride by horse. Because of this children didn’t always start at age 5. Kindergarten didn’t exist until into the 1900’s. Did it cost for them to go to grade school? Or was it tax supported?

If he was helping on the farm and it was the late 1800’s, then you can somewhat guess he tilled the fields by hand with horses or oxen; they had to have the blacksmith shod the feet. They would hoe by hand, use natural fertilizer; harvesting was done with horse and wagon depending on the produce. If all you know is that his family farmed, had 600 acres, and the time period you can draw from that what life was like for them.

You may not get all these questions answered, and you may think of others. But this will give you a direction to go and help get your wheels turning. Also this helps you see that researching history books which aren't directly genealogical resources are still valuable in understanding “a day in the life” of your ancestor.

“History is who we are; Genealogy is who I am” sg

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Edmund Burke

Today in History

March 22

1622		Indians attack a group of colonists in the James River area of Virginia, killing 350 residents.
1630		The first legislation prohibiting gambling is enacted in Boston.
1664		Charles II gives large tracks of land from west of the Connecticut River to the east of Delaware Bay in North America to his brother James, the Duke of York.
1719		Frederick William abolishes serfdom on crown property in Prussia.
1765		The Stamp Act is passed, the first direct British tax on the American colonists.
1775		British statesman Edmund Burke makes a speech in the House of Commons, urging the government to adopt a policy of reconciliation with America.
1790		Thomas Jefferson becomes the first U.S. Secretary of State.
1794		Congress passes laws prohibiting slave trade with foreign countries although slavery remains legal in the United States.
1834		Horace Greeley publishes New Yorker, a weekly literary and news magazine and forerunner of Harold Ross' more successful The New Yorker.
1901		Japan proclaims that it is determined to keep Russia from encroaching on Korea.
1904		The first color photograph is published in the London Daily Illustrated Mirror.
1907		Russians troops complete the evacuation of Manchuria in the face of advancing Japanese forces.
1915		A German Zepplin makes a night raid on Paris railway stations.
1919		The first international airline service is inaugurated on a weekly schedule between Paris and Brussels.
1933		President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs a bill legalizing the sale and possession of beer and wine.
1935		Persia is renamed Iran.
1946		First U.S. built rocket to leave the Earth's atmosphere reaches a 50-mile height.
1948		The United States announces a land reform plan for Korea.
1954		The London gold market reopens for the first time since 1939.
1968		President Lyndon Johnson names General William Westmoreland as Army Chief of Staff.
1972		The U.S. Senate passes the Equal Rights Amendment. The amendment fails to achieve ratification.
1974		The Viet Cong propose a new truce with the United States and South Vietnam, which includes general elections.
1990		A jury in Anchorage, Alaska, finds Captain Hazelwood not guilty in the Valdez oil spill.
Born on March 22
1599		Sir Anthony Van Dyck, Flemish artist, the namesake of the beard style.
1797		Wilhelm I, German emperor (1871-88)
1846		Randolph Caldecott, illustrator.
1907		James Gavin, U.S. Army general of the 82nd Airborne Division in WWII.
1908		Louis L'Amour, American Western novelist.
1923		Marcel Marceau, French mime.
1930		Stephen Sondheim, American composer and lyricist (A Little Night Music, Passion).
1948		Andrew Lloyd Webber, British composer (The Phantom of the Opera, Cats)

Louis L'Amour

Word for the Day

edacity

PRONUNCIATION:

(i-DAS-i-tee)

MEANING:

noun: Greediness; good appetite.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin edere (to eat). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ed- (to eat, to bite) that has given other words such as edible, comestible, obese, etch, fret, and postprandial. Earliest documented use: 1626.

USAGE:

"Allender is still undaunted, but hungry, not with the reckless experience appetite of a kid, but rather with the edacity of an older gourmand who wants as much of what he loves as possible."
Alan Tennant; The Guadalupe Mountains of Texas; U of Texas Press; 1980.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

An ounce of mother is worth a pound of clergy. -Spanish proverb

Today’s Recipe

March - Breakfast Foods

Eggs Italiano

Eggs Italiano
A poached egg on an English muffin is typical breakfast fare, but adding this full-flavored, chunky vegetable medley between the egg and muffin transforms the simple dish into an elegant brunch.

Serves: 6
Preparation time: 40 minutes

Ingredients
1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 shallot, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 pound zucchini (about 2 medium), diced
12 ounces plum tomatoes (3-4), diced
3 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil, divided
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste
8 large eggs
4 whole-wheat English muffins, split and toasted
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation
1. Fill a large, straight-sided skillet or Dutch oven with 2 inches of water; bring to a boil. Add white vinegar.

2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallot and garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in zucchini and tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until the zucchini is tender, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in 1 tablespoon basil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.

3. Meanwhile, reduce the boiling water to a gentle simmer; the water should be steaming and small bubbles should come up from the bottom of the pan. Crack each egg into a small bowl and slip them one at a time into the simmering water, taking care not to break the yolks. Cook for 4 minutes for soft set, 5 minutes for medium set and 8 minutes for hard set. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the eggs to a clean kitchen towel to drain.

4. To serve, top each muffin half with some of the vegetable mixture, an egg, a sprinkling of cheese and the remaining basil.

Enjoy!

Nutrition Facts
Per serving:
339 calories
14 g fat (4 g sat, 0 g mono)
425 mg cholesterol
33 g carbohydrate
22 g protein
5 g fiber
674 mg sodium
557 mg potassium

Nutrition Bonus: selenium (46% Daily Value), vitamin C (45% DV), vitamin A (25% DV), potassium (16% DV), iron (15% DV)

Mar 4^th Corned Beef Hash

Mar 5^th Sunday Morning Muffins

Mar 6^th Breakfast Pizza

Mar 9^th Buttermilk biscuits and Mushroom gravy

Mar 10^th Baked Fruit – 3 ways

Mar 11^th French Toast Sticks – Kid Friendly

Mar 12^th Mini Quiche

Mar 13^th Red Velvet Waffles, with cream cheese gravy – (I didn’t say they would be healthy!)

Mar 14^th Triple Berry Smoothie – not just for breakfast any more.

Mar 17^th Homemade oatmeal, 9 ways

Healthy recipes:

Mar 18^th Arugula and Chicken sausage Bread Pudding brunch