All families have at least one relative interested in tracing their roots and each family member is expected to add to the family history so that it can be handed down from generation to generation. With computers now everywhere in the world, it has become easier to find out a great deal about your roots.
This interest may be because of our unsettled times; knowing where we came from gives us a solid foundation for our lives.
A cousin in New Mexico became known to us when she sent a letter with questions upon questions. She is a serious genealogist and is tracking down the family history, going back to church and legal records in Europe and then finally making a trip to Germany and Switzerland hoping to find out the things that didn’t seem to be recorded at various locations. She also made a trip to Salt Lake City where the Mormons have collected all kinds of information.
So, all local family members have collected all of the documents they have in their possession, had copies made of legal documents, scraps of paper that have been tucked into books or the family Bible, old pictures, birth and christening, confirmation, marriage certificates and obituaries and sent them off to her. Many of the items in our family are written in German. It is the “old” German and there are not many who can translate it. It is intriguing to look at these certificates and wonder what they might tell you. Perhaps my cousin will find out.
One day, she tells us, she hopes to have it all put together and have a booklet printed up in which it will tell us who our relation once was and where they come from. How lucky here in Canastota and Oneida there are families in the Italian heritage know where their families came from as they have only recently in the past 50 – 75 years came to the U.S. and know of their heritage. I am the third generation to have relatives who came to the U.S. in the 1910s or later.
Do you have clippings from papers about your family and other people who interest you hoping that one day you will put all of these into a scrap book? Scrapbooking has become a very popular pastime now and this would be a right time for you to start thinking of placing them into one receptacle where they would be kept and not get misplaced or lost. How many pictures, photographs have you without any identification on the backside? Even you perhaps don’t know who they are in the photo. As time goes by and people pass away there is no one to ask to identify the photos. At our house, we are guilty of not identifying the subject, the happening (birthday, anniversary, reunion, etc.) when the photo was taken. Identifying is important.
A great-aunt in our family kept such a scrapbook. In it are numerous newspaper clippings that tell you what the photograph that is also with the clipping tells the occasion. This is one way of cutting time in keeping a diary of such events that might have occurred and helping in the fact that you wouldn’t have to note it all. There are short cuts you can take if you only can think of noting them at the time and with computers it goes a lot faster.
If your son or daughter has a history assignment such as we had in our days in school, you had to write an assignment on “where your family came from.” You got home and told your mom or dad what was expected of you to write and the questions came flying at you. Some could answer them very easily, while others were vague and either had to consult with their parents, or you directed the child to interview your grandparents, if they were available. That is what is meant by keeping some form of family history along with other reasons such as the student who might be taking a course that will send them to Europe or some other foreign country where there might be relatives they could visit, if you knew where they were. Exchange students either Rotary Club sponsors here visiting us in our country and perhaps a guest in your home can be of interest if there is any connection with your family roots. Our high school children who have the opportunity to visit other countries as students sponsored by Rotary or Lions clubs also have a reason to know if they are visiting a country they might have had relatives leave to move to America.
The searching for your ancestors can be time consuming, interesting, and intriguing. It’s fun and exciting as you learn more and more about who you are.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Spring cleaning dates me
A couple of weeks ago while the weather was still wintry, I decided I would start doing some of my annual inside work and not feel sorry for myself because I couldn’t be outside.
So the kitchen had to have its general once-a-year cleaning. I moved out most of the furniture to clean the ceiling and walls. I don’t know if other people do this, but it’s something I do to avoid having to paint them for as long as I can. Everything has to be removed from the walls, the clock, decorations, a lamp and calendar. Some of this was done the night before to help me get an early start.
With everyone forewarned not to come into the kitchen, I finished my task in one day. Can you move your stove and refrigerator out to clean behind them? Fortunately the fridge and stove are on wheels and can be rolled out. Those two things are always the challenge, but everything is now clean in the kitchen.
I know many people only clean when it needs doing; they have a good idea, too.
I’m told that today’s homeowner especially housewives (if you can call them that because nowadays most ladies of the house have careers) don’t do housecleaning in spring or fall any longer, so I guess I’m dating myself when I say I do spring cleaning. Homes are cleaned when rooms need a new coat of paint or wallpaper, rugs are shampooed by commercial cleaners, windows can be done by persons who do this as a business if you can afford it, your work is done by tradesmen. Others do it when they have the time or can get their husbands or other relative to take care of it.
These days there are many gadgets that make all of these projects so much easier. There are machines to shampoo rugs, wash windows, sand or polish hardwood floors and other tasks. Back in grandma’s day, carpets were pulled up and hung on the backyard clothesline for someone to pound with the carpet beater to remove the dust and dirt.
Everything was done by hand. Windows were cleaned outside and in. Walls and baseboards were scrubbed; it was backbreaking on your hands and knees.
Those were the days of coal-burning furnaces and smoke was a detriment for your house cleaning.
Curtains weren’t made of the miracle fabrics today. When they were washed after soaking overnight to try and get them white, you had to pin them on curtain stretchers that were put together beforehand and taken outside on the porch for the curtains to dry on them in the fresh air. Today they are put in the automatic washer and some ladies hang them back up immediately from the washer while others might hang them out for a few minutes for the sun to dry them before hanging them back up.
Grandmother and mom would have to remove the curtains from the stretchers after they had finished the windows and possibly the whole room and with luck they could be hung back up but sometimes might have to be “touched up” with the iron. Imagine it. Aren’t you glad that you are living in this century?
If you own property it can be a burden at times. There is always something that needs fixing, repairing or renovating. If you rent you have none of those worries. There is much satisfaction when you “do it yourself” but you don’t have the carefree life of the people who rent. The choice is yours, but I like doing things for myself and being able to either step back and admire my work or if it hasn’t turned out the way I thought, thinking, oh well, who knows the difference besides me. I’m not a perfectionist.
This edition of Canastota Corner originally ran April 21, 2010.
The line on wash
The other morning I looked out the kitchen window and noticed my neighbor had a line full of clothes hanging out. The wind was blowing a gale that particular morning and I thought to myself, she had courage to try keeping clothes on the line today.
It was the first time I had noticed anyone hanging a washing outdoors, but the milder weather has arrived and I expect she might be trying to save on electricity. Then as I picked up the paper off the front porch another neighbor had her clothesline full of clothes. It reminded me of when my nephew who lives at our house washed one of his prized jackets, hung it outside on the line and it too was a high windy day. He had hung it in the early evening. I mentioned he should keep a watch of it, but did he? The next morning it was gone, could someone have taken it? I told him to look down along the creek. Sure enough, the jacket was hung up on a rock in the creek. With his grandfather’s high boots he tracked down the creek and retrieved his jacket, which happened to be denim. He remarked, “I guess it is now stone-washed for sure.”
Do you have a clothesline you can use in the summertime? There is nothing more wonderful than the smell of sun-dried washing, especially your bedding. Sheets have a wonderful scent that can put you to sleep at night.
I know there are some housing developments that ban clotheslines. Even in residential neighborhoods there are those people who object to their neighbors hanging out washing. With “green” systems so encouraged, it would seem they would become more tolerant.
A gentleman went a nearby village board to try make it illegal to hang clothes outside. He’s told his neighbor to cut it out, but she continued. So he took action. The board denied his request. I don’t imagine he was very happy.
Sometimes people don’t take into consideration that perhaps the woman didn’t have a dryer and couldn’t afford to go to a laundromat to dry her clothes.
If you have ever been or if you are one that does go to the laundromat it’s a shock to those who don’t use them. The cost of doing a family wash for a week is enormous.
Time was when if you had a roll of quarters ($10) you could most often get it all done, but not today. I had a bedspread and I had to use one of the heavy-duty machines at the laundromat. The cost was $2.50 for the small machine and $7.50 for the large one to wash and 25 cents to dry.
It’s interesting to go to the laundromat, especially if you don’t have to do your wash. If you plan to stay while your washing is done, then you have the opportunity to read magazines that are offered by the owners or those who leave them for others to enjoy. Some people bring their own reading material.
There is always a bulletin board with all kinds of cards and reading material for you to examine. You can generally find a babysitter’s phone number, handyman, products for sale such as eggs, spices, baked goods, etc. It’s like an open market for almost anything anyone might need.
You might happen to be there when someone had brought one or two kids along. They can be good for a short time, but if mom has a lot of washing, they might get to be kind of noisy and a pesky.
By the time their wash is done and dried, you might find me in my car enjoying peace and quiet and sympathizing with the poor mother.
If she is smart and knows her kids, she will bring along grandma or an aunt to help entertain the little ones for the sake of herself and the other patrons using the facilities. We’ve been there ourselves.
This edition of Canastota Corner originally ran April 14, 2010.
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