The Thankful List

November 28, 2013 by Leave a Comment

As it is Thanksgiving, I’d like to take a moment to say thanks for a few things in my life and my genealogy world.

  1. I am thankful that angioplasty has worked so well for my Mom and two weeks later she is pain free.
  2. I am thankful for the family that I laugh with, share with, argue with, and who each other nuts (I am sure the feeling is mutual)…for my nieces and nephew who always add something special to my day.
  3. I am thankful that the doctors were wrong about my the arthritis in my feet.  I was supposed to be wheel chair bound by the time I hit my 40s.  I’m still hanging in there as I inched towards 50.  It hasn’t been a picnic but at least I get to the bathroom on my own two feet.
  4. I am thankful that I finally finished my backlog  of documents needing to be input.   It has been a royal pain in the butt and I’m glad it’s over.  I discovered many documents I didn’t realize I hadn’t realized that I found the first time.
  5. I am thankful for my Nook.  The arthritis in my hands was making it difficult for me to hold books–and I love reading.  My Nook has brought that joy back into my life.
  6. I am thankful for the opportunities to be challenged intellectually and the chance to learn new things every day.  That includes playing games with people who are far smarter than me (I will beat you some day!
  7. I am thankful for all the people who transcribe, index, and digitize records so this disabled genealogist can sit at her computer and research.
  8. This vegan is especially thankful for dark chocolate (which is usually dairy free) because no world is complete without chocolate.
  9. I am thankful for my new Nikon camera and all the beautiful photos it’s been taking.
  10. I am thankful for the genealogists I’ve met in the real world and online.  They are some of the most helpful, gracious people I’ve ever met.
  11. I am thankful for all my friends.  Those of you who put up with me on social networks and don’t mind me sliding between political rants, genealogy achievements, and silly animal photos are the best!
  12. I am thankful for the things in life that make me laugh, smile, and cry.
  13. I am thankful for all the creative folks in the world who write, paint, sculpt, draw, and do all sorts of creative things I could never imagine.
  14. I am thankful for those folks who can take a bad situation and somehow find the light at the end of the tunnel.
  15. And, I am thankful for all the goofballs…the eccentrics…the dreamers…the compassionate souls…we need more of you in this world.

And, I am happy for this little boofer who some times brings me to my last nerve but who never leaves me without a smile or unintentional hysterical laughter…I could imagine starting my day without her crawling out from under my quilt.

mishafunnysleep_20131111_2319DSCN2975

 

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SNGF: Surname Distribution

November 24, 2013 by Leave a Comment

Randy has given us an interesting challenge tonight for Saturday Night Genealogy Fun.  Go over to ancestry.com and try out their Surname Distribution Map app.  I’m going to use 1920 for all my maps since these people weren’t in the US before 1882 (and most came in the 1890s).

I started with my own surname, Lassalle.  This is my Dad’s side of the tree.

From Ancestry.com:  Lassalle Name Meaning
French: variant spelling of Lasalle.Jewish: Frenchified spelling of Lossal, a habitational name from Loslau, the German name of Wlodislaw Slaski in Silesia.

I don’t expect the distribution to be in many states because of the spelling which seems unique to the region of France my ancestors were from.  But I am expecting California and Louisiana to be well covered.  Will I be right?

lassalle distribution map
I was very close, wasn’t I?  Not much that many families, were there?  No wonder everyone always spells my surname wrong even when I say it really slowly for them.

Next up, my Dad’s maternal side:  Mazeres.  This is an uncommon surname in the US.  Again, I suspect California and Louisiana because of the French roots.

There was no surname definition information for this surname.

mazeres distribution map
I am right!  In fact, it only found two families.  One in California which would be (my great grandparents?) and one in Louisiana.

Now, let’s try my Mom’s side of the tree.  First, I’ll do the Pacheco’s.  I expect it to find my people in California and Hawaii, but I also expect their to be distribution across the country especially on the East Coast and in Massachusetts particularly.  This is a Portuguese surname that also is rooted in Latino culture, so it should be located everywhere.

From Ancestry.com:

Pacheco Name Meaning
Spanish and Portuguese: from a personal name of uncertain, possibly pre-Roman, origin.

pacheco distribution map
Interesting distribution.  I thought Hawaii would be darker.

Here’s the last one:  Jackson.  I’m going to guess that Jackson is plentiful and found everywhere. ;)

From Ancestry.com:

Jackson Name Meaning
English, Scottish, and northern Irish: patronymic from Jack 1. As an American surname this has absorbed other patronymics beginning with J- in various European languages.

jackson distribution map

I tried a couple of other surnames:  Breilh (2 families in CA–not surprising as my family seems to be the only one in the US using this spelling). DeBraga (found nothing, though de Braga pulled up something in Florida). I also tried Algrava and Algarva, the surname many of the Pacheco’s took on after 1906.  I think I broke it.  LOL  It didn’t find any.  I find that interesting because there were probably more Algrava and Algarva than Breilh families in the US in 1920.  I suspect the spelling didn’t work for this.

This has been an interesting experiment!

 

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Book of Me, Prompt 12: The Year that I was Born

November 22, 2013 by Leave a Comment

[This week the Book of Me, Written by You explores the year that we were born.]

The Beginning of My Life

melody birth announcement pg1235

I was born in January 1964 on a Tuesday.  I was the last grandchild on the Lassalle side of the tree–the youngest of that generation.  I was christened in June of the same year at the local Catholic Church.  It doesn’t appear that there were any other major events in my immediate family that year.  Though, I’m fairly sure the whole year wasn’t dedicated to me…LOL

I was born two months after JFK was assassinated.  The country was in mourning and in transition.  Lyndon Baines Johnson was President.  Though, I wasn’t even alive, it feels as if I were.

I share my birthday with Matt Dillon, Mats Willander, and Prince Edward.

Entertainment News

Best Actor and Actress for 1964 were Rex Harrison (My Fair Lady) and Julie Andrews (Mary Poppins).  Best movie was My Fair Lady.

The New York Times bestseller for the week I was born was The Group by Mary McCarthy.

The Billboard #1 song the month I was born was Bobby Vinton’s “There!  I’ve Said It”.  It was soon to be followed by this group from England called The Beatles who rocked the world with their hit “I Wanna Hold Your Hand”.  Yes, I was a Beatles fan!  Though I think they were on the White Album by the time I was old enough to pay attention to what my oldest sister was listening to.

These TV Shows were on at 8pm the night I was born…Across the Seven Seas, Mr. Novak, Red Skelton Show, Combat, Where is Jim Crow?  The only one I’ve heard of is the Red Skelton Show.

Top viewing that night was McHale’s Navy, The Jack Benny Program, The Telephone Hour, and The Richard Boone Show.  I’ve heard and seen the first two many times.

World News

Did you know it was the year that…

…the first Pope flew in a plane.

…the Beatles came to the US for the first time.

…the surgeon general reported for the first time that cigarette use was a factor in the death rate in the US.

…St. Louis beat the New York Yankees in the World Series.

…Timothy Leary, Richard Alpert (later Ram Dass), and Ralph Metzner wrote a book called “The Psychedelic Experience” based on their work with psychedelic drugs at Harvard.

…Massive Civil Rights protests were taking place in Atlanta, Georgia on the day that I was born.

Local News Stories From the Daily Review

New Turbine Car will be on display at Bayfair Mall.  I have no clue what a turbine car is or was

The Alameda County Health Department Chief backed birth control for the county welfare program

A woman in Richmond fought off a strangler in her home.  He fled the scene.

Chabot College presented plans for it’s library

A woman from my home town was found shot dead in her car at Cull Canyon

The city of Oakland made it’s bid for Finley’s A’s

How Much Did It Cost?

Things were a little cheaper in those days…then again, income was much lower as well.  The average income in 1964 was $6,080.

This was from an ad for Bayfair Market at Bayfair Shopping Mall:

Frozen Vegetables 8 for $1

Ice Cream 1/2 gallon 39 cents

Peanut Butter 28 oz. 79 cents

Pillsbury Flour 5 lb.  49 cents

Butternut Coffee 2 lb can $1.00

Whole Chicken 25 cents per lb.

Bananas 3 for 39 cents

Oreos 2 for 89 cents

Campbell’s Soup 8 cans for $1

~~~~~~~

This was an entertaining and interesting look at the day I was born.  I found it to be a volatile time in the country and in the world.  It was a time of planning and progress locally with road widening, marina changes, new auto dealerships, and a focus on education.  Nationally, civil rights protests captured the nation, and locally, birth control, services for the disabled, and food for the poor were issues (much like today).

There was the usual political bickering and quite a bit of crime.  I was able to find 5 murders that happened locally in the first two pages of the newspaper.  The more I read old newspapers the more I realize that the magical time where everyone got along and the only crime committed was by the local drunk who everyone took care of didn’t really exist outside of TV and perhaps small towns.  I think that because there were no 24 hour news channels and the internet people were not as focused on the bad elements happening around them.  If you didn’t get the newspaper, you could almost avoid them completely.

Thanks to Julie Goucher for this interesting challenge :)

 

 

 

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