Remembering a First Memory!

 

My first cognizant memory was the New Years' Eve when I was two-years-old.  I'm not sure why I remember it was that date, but know that the memory has always been my memory - not an event that my siblings or parents told.  Both my Mom and Dad confirmed the memory over the years, but the clue was the fact that I had the croup that year. We were living in a house owned by Dr. Robert Elder, that was very near the feed mill owned by my parents.  In fact, this lot adjoined the feed mill lot.  [Important for a genealogist, who always tries to put the whole story together.]

I was feeling better in the evening, and was lying on the couch wrapped up.  Soon, people in the neighborhood (town of Cedar Hill)  were shooting fireworks in celebration of the coming New Year.  I'm sure that my brothers had a few firecrackers and maybe a few rockets of their own to propel in the stars. 

I remember Dad picking me up off of the couch, and wrapped me in a soft, orange plaid blanket with satin wrapped bound edges.  He carried me outside to see the fireworks.  I remember the laughter of my siblings, the noise of firecrackers, the oohs when a colorful rocket exploded in the air, and the brilliant colors. As the fireworks continued, I remember seeing the bright light reflecting on my Dad's face.  I was warm, secure and protected.  There were other people around watching these fireworks outside, but, mostly, I remember seeing the faces of my family.  

My older brothers always enjoyed shooting fireworks.  This pattern  continued into adulthood. Other than this strange year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have gathered in the Summer to enjoy fireworks at my brother - Denny's house.   As a fireman, he always ensured that the fireworks were handled safely, always made with proper precautions, and available equipment.  As the younger nieces and nephews grew, they were allowed to participate in the family tradition.

I think that the reason this memory remains so vivid in my mind, is that it includes the faces of my family. My family has always provided a warm, secure place to grow, be loved, and be encouraged.  It has been a long time, but FAMILY ALWAYS COUNT!  I understand that not all of us have been blessed to grow in an family like this.  I wish all of you a HAPPY NEW YEAR that brings you joy, love and happiness in your life.   

I look forward to sharing more of my memories with you in the coming days.  Memories shared are part of Keeping The Story Alive!        J. Mark Lowe

Thinking About Disasters That Impact Families - Titanic

J. Mark Lowe, CG, FUGA

After spending the morning with my brother and sister-in-law, I came home and turned on the television thinking I would watch some college football.  However, being a genealogist, I noticed the program that first came on had folks in period costume.  Okay, they attracted my attention and I realized it was James Cameron's presentation of the Titanic story.

With recent flooding, wildfires, and massive snow blizzards, I began to realize how these disasters impact the lives of families.  Remember in 1912, we did not have instant news service.  Families often had to wait days for news.  Here are the first newspaper stories reported in Nashville, Tennessee. 

“At 10:25 tonight the steamship Titanic called “C Q D” and reported having struck an iceberg. The steamer said that immediate assistance was required.

Half an hour afterwards another message came reporting that they were sinking by the head and that women were being put off in the lifeboats.

The weather is calm and clear, the Titanic’s wireless operator reported and give the position as 41:46 north latitude and 5:14 west longitude… [Nashville Tennessean and the Nashville American, 15 April 1912, p 1.]

Steamer Hits Iceberg: Montreal

The White Star liner Titanic, the largest vessel afloat, left Southampton April 10 on her maiden voyage for New York. She is a vessel of 46,328 tons, is 882 feet six inches long and displaces 66,000 tons.

The Titanic carried about 1,300 passengers of whom 250 in the first cabin. Among those are F.D. Millet, the Artist and President of the Consolidated American Academy at Rome; Major Archibald Butt, military aid of President Taft; C.M. Hays, President of the Grand Trunk Railway; J. Bruce Ismay, Chairman, and Managing Director of the White Star Line; Henry B. Harris, the American theatrical manager; W.T. Stead, Mrs. Isador Straus; Mr. and Mrs. John Jacob Astor; Mr. and Mrs. G.D. Widener; Benj. Guggenheim and Mr. and Mrs. Henry Widener.

Captain K.J. Smith is in command of the Titanic.

… On leaving Southampton last Wednesday the steamer had a rather exciting moment. While passing the White Star liner Oceanic and the American liner New York which were berthed alongside one another the action of the Titanic’s triple screws dragged the New York from her moorings.  Her stern swung into midstream and narrowly escaped striking the Titanic.

The Titanic is a luxuriously fitted out vessel, and her accommodations for cabin passengers are elegant…” [reported from Cape Race, N.F.

[Nashville Tennessean and the Nashville American, 15 April 1912, p 1.]

Prominent Men Who Sank With Titanic  Captain E.J. Smith, who followed the unwritten law of the sea and went down with his wounded ship, Titanic, began his sea life as a boy in 1869, when he joined the Senator Weber, an American clipper, purchased by A. Gibson & Co. of Liverpool. After serving as an apprentice he went to the square-rigger Lizzie Fennell as fourth officer. In 1880 he was appointed fourth officer of the White Star steamship Celtic – the old Celtic, which subsequently was sold to the Thingvalin company and renamed the America.

Capt. Smith never met with an accident until last September, when his newest command, the Olympic, sister ship of the Titanic, was in collision with the British cruiser, Hawke, while going through the Solent.

Capt. Smith maintained that shipbuilding was such a perfect art nowadays that absolute disaster, involving the passengers, was inconceivable. Whatever happened, he contended, there would be time enough before the vessel sank to save the lives of every person on board.

“I will go a bit farther,” he added. “I will saw that I cannot imagine any condition that would cause the ship to founder, I cannot conceive of any vital disaster happening to this vessel. Modern shipbuilding has gone beyond that.”

[Nashville Tennessean and the Nashville American, 21 Apr 1912, p 5.]

Perhaps you are thinking about checking the Passenger Lists for family.  Read this article by Kimberly Powell (About.com) who discusses the original list and final list of passengers.

http://genealogy.about.com/b/2007/04/15/the-passengers-of-the-titanic.htm

Neal McEwen discusses C.Q.D and history:

http://telegraph-office.com/pages/arc2-2.html

Here's a current article from Ottawa about the cemetery in Halifax where Titanic victim are buried. 

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Gravesites+Titanic+victims+Halifax+cemetery+receive/9031103/story.html

This is always more to every story, and I will share more from the local perspective of this horrible tragedy. 

Remember to Keep Your Stories Alive. 

Mark

 

Remembering 3.5 disks and Genealogy

J. Mark Lowe

I've been sorting through some old files and drawers - sorting and remembering. Although I've been doing genealogy since the early 1960s, I've been a tech geek almost that long. My Dad bought me a modern manual typewriter after I complained to Santa that the Sears Toy Typewriter he brought me couldn't handle the speed I needed.
I owned a Sinclair and a Tandy TRS-80. Once I was able to purchase a cassette tape recorder and cable, I setup a retrieval database for my genealogy and began to load family group information. You can imagine my excitement when they came out with 8" floppy disks and drives that would allow flexibility and data storage. My this time I also had created a bookkeeping system where daily invoices could be entered while adjusting actual inventory.
Smaller and sturdy drives were being discussed. The community thought that the technology would change the way we did genealogy. Instead of printing and copying all those pages, we could mail a 3.5" floppy disk and the whole family would be included. Of course, this was the discussion with the same folks who sat around with a dial-up of 300bps chatting late at night on Prodigy or Compuserve.
There was a discussion of a technology conference focused on genealogy called GenTech. Excitedly, I looked into the conference and saw they were interested in the new interactive genealogical coursework I was creating using HTML. I was thrilled to present my session in Ft. Wayne and talk with other techies. I remember meeting Alan Mann at that conference. Some of the technology sessions were groundbreakings, while others seemed old. We shared our ideas and occasionally there were a few concepts that were more like dreams. There were lots of genealogical software titles then - but most were very simple databases at best.
One of those nights on Compuserve, I met a great genealogist and fellow nerd who had written a genealogical program called Brother's Keeper. His name was John Steed.
I had gone through several versions before this one was released.

John Steed was a techie and a genealogist. Once I had Brothers' Keeper, I was really to enter data on every Southerner and a few Yankees who might be related to me. One feature which was especially interesting to me was the Calculate Relationship. You could choose any two people in your database and calculate their relationship based on the data entered. Wow.
Whirrrrr-Ding, Whirrrr-Ding - my cell phone vibrates near my desktop computer. As I check Facebook and Google +, I float over to Ancestry to check a census record. Ahhh, let check those Kentucky Death Certificates and I print one out and save a copy to his data area. It's 2011, and we still have John Steed and lots of other great techies - who bring new tools to my table.
I'm reminded of Ecclesiastes 1:9 which ends with "... there is no new thing under the sun." New tools which help us get to records more quickly and without a trip to the repository. Use the tools, but remember that 3.5" disks did not change the story, nor did the USB drive make understanding the relationship of Mom & 2 daughters, who married three brothers any easier to explain. Genealogy will always require a human component - YOU, and your parents, in-laws, & siblings, etc, etc, etc. Do your part by sharing the past and keeping the story alive.
Thanks to John and all of the great innovators that keep genealogical records & data at my fingertips. See you at RootsTech.

Charleston SC backdrop for National Genealogical Society - pt 1

Kathryn Hopkins and Laine Sutherland, two friends from Tennessee, who traveled to Charleston, SC for the NGS Conference





Charleston SC - National Genealogical Society
Visiting Charleston SC was a great opportunity to renew old friendships, learn about new genealogical resources, and rediscover one of America's great cities. Thanks to the National Genealogical Society for scheduling their annual conference in the Holy City. The Convention Center is actually in North Charleston, but the entire region offers so many restaurants, shops and activities - that focusing on genealogy remained difficult.
The pre-Conference activities included the APG roundtable. The Association of Professional Genealogists hosted the event titled “Looking for Clients in all the Right Places.” The panel consisted of Maureen Taylor, known as the Photo Detective, and author of The Last Muster; Marie Varrelman Melchiori CG, CGL, a renowned Military Records Specialist, Kenyatta D. Berry, current Vice President of APG, also active with several high-profile television projects; and me. There is definitely a move in the genealogical community moving towards more technology and communication. I announced my intent to tweet live during my lectures during the conference.
We discussed how we built our respective businesses, marketing techniques, and how we dealt with new clients. The audience certainly brought many great questions to the table including marketing via Facebook, Groupon, and the web. Thanks to Liesa Healy-Miller for serving as Moderator of the Panel and Beverly Rice for Coordinating the Event.
Buzzy Jackson opened the Conference with her unique blend of humor and storytelling reminding all of us to keep the story alive. The Archivist of the US, David Ferriero discussed the 1940 census and the status of our National Archives.
One of the highlights of the week was the re-emergence of Helen F. M. Leary to the National Conference. Helen has inspired so many genealogists throughout the years. Many of her lectures are available from the North Carolina Genealogical Society. She also edited my favorite genealogical reference - North Carolina Research also available from NCGS.
So much happened throughout the week, that I must ponder and prioritize. More later.

Even Perfect Genealogists Miss Records

This photograph was taken at Granny Martin's house in Edmonson Co. Kentucky. My Dad, Joseph Wyatt Lowe, is marked with a blue square and the other square is above his Grandmother - Granny Martin - Clara Black Smith Martin.

J. Mark Lowe
Although I don't define myself as a 'Perfect Genealogist,' I do teach across the country sharing my experience as a Professional Researcher. It is only fair to share this new discovery of a record regarding my family, which seems so obvious to me now.
Let's talk about my beginning years. My genealogical search began when I was 7 years old. My family had just left a Martin Family Reunion in Smiths Grove, Kentucky. As soon as we drove away from the reunion, I began asking my Dad about that other Lowe family who attended the reunion - Who are they? How are they related to us?
He explained that they were related to us on the Martin side of our family and the Lowe side of our family. As a 7-year-old this was not clear to me, so I continued to quiz Dad. It was a hot July afternoon and we were packed like sardines in the car, but my Dad made a left turn and then a right turn and then a left turn. He stopped the car and hopped out. I quickly climbed into the seat and hopped out with him. We were in a cemetery.
We stood at the foot of the gravestone of my Dad's Martin grandparents. 'This is my Grandmother. We called her Granny Martin, he name was Clara Smith Martin." He told me other stories about her, and I remembered seeing some pictures of Granny Martin. Next to Granny Martin was buried her husband, James Wyatt Martin. My Dad told me that he was named for his Grandfather Martin (Wyatt) and his Great Grandfather Lowe (Joseph) - he also told me that Papa Martin died about 5 years before he was born. I had heard my Dad tell me many stories about Granny Martin and her family. My Dad was born at Granny Martin's house on the hill in Rocky Hill Station in Edmonson County. (and many that I don't have time to recollect here.)
Going back to the cemetery -->
My Dad pointed to the stones in the next row by his Grandparents. This is Rebecca James Martin, we called her Aunt Jim. She was Granny's sister and married Uncle Mike Martin. In the next row, is Martha Margaret Ann Gilmore Potter Smith Martin. She was Granny's and Aunt Jim's mother and married Uncle John Martin. So you see, a Mom and her two daughters married three brothers.
This 7-year-old needed more information and a genealogist was hatched.
I have so much documentation on Granny Martin and her family, I have original land documents, mortgages, cards, letters, etc. With the beginning of the Civil War Sesquicentennial, a cousin asked me about our Civil War Ancestors. I knew that Granny Martin's father, Moses M. Smith, served in the Union Army. He died when she was a young girl and is buried in Berea Christian Church cemetery in Polkville. However, I had never looked for a pension for Moses M. Smith, since he died a young man and his widow remarried in a reasonable time after his death. I decided to do a search for Moses M. Smith in the new records offered on the Civil War. Within the list of available records there was a listing in "Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934." Suddenly, I realized he had a young daughter living at this time - my GGrandmother Clara Smith. The pension index card indicated an application for a minor was filed in 1883 and the Guardian was F.M. Hardcastle. I knew that Mr. Hardcastle was married to Clara's Mother's sister (Aunt). This Moses M. Smith served in the 52d Kentucky Mounted Infantry.
Remember this index is titled by NARA as "General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. T288" As a good researcher, read the appropriate finding aids and explanations.
I now have a new record to review about my Great-Grandmother Clara Smith Martin and hopefully her father. This is a testament to a regular review of your previous genealogical research. A review may prompt a search in an additional area or encourage further research in a focused area. In honor of the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War, Ancestry.com is offering free access to these records.
I'm still learning about my family and enjoy sharing the stories my Dad told me along the way. Consider a review of your research, focusing on the Civil War era. Are there additional records that will shed light on your Ancestors? Whatever your choice, tell their stories and keep their story alive. I'm doing my part.