Sentimental Sunday - The Old High Chair

I never really thought I'd be writing about a high chair.  However, we have a very special one in my family.

 

This is the high chair that my paternal grandparents gave to my parents when they had their first child, my brother Randy in 1957.  My two brothers, my sister and I all used the high chair.  In fact, I found a picture of my brother on his first birthday and one of me, asleep as I wait for my supper.

                           Randy

 

                       Kathy

My parents hung on to the high chair and as soon as their grand children began arriving, they pulled it out again.  I couldn't find a picture of my daughter in the chair but here is my son along with dad and sister.

Eleven grandchildren and one great-grandchildren have used this high chair so far.  Here's to the old high chair and many more cute little family members to come!  Thanks Gram and Gramps.

 

Surname Saturday - Dow

On my maternal grandmother's side, we find the Dow surname.

Her mother, my great-grandmother was Leilia Elva Dow. Leilia was born January 11, 1881 in Danforth, Washington, Maine.  In the 1900 census her occupation was listed as music teacher.  I guess that helps explain her daughter Beatrice's  (my grandmother) amazing musical talent.  She could play any song she had heard.  My mom has found memories of her playing songs they had heard on the radio.  But back to Leilia.  She was the second wife of Allen Hall who she married on November 30, 1904 in Bradford, Penobscot, Maine.  Tragically, she died shortly after giving birth to a second daughter Ruby Virgie. Leilia died April 24, 1912.  The baby died May 18, 1912.  They are buried next to each other in Peter's Cove Cemetery, Orient, Maine

 

Leilia Dow Hall

Leila's father was Isaiah Lincoln Dow who was born June 3, 1839 in Danforth, Washington, Maine. He was a carpenter, building more than half the houses in Danforth during his 40 years residence there.  He married first Sarah Maxwell about 1865.  They had a son Willard Jefferson Dow.  Sarah died and Isaiah married her sister Emily Judson Maxwell.  They were married on December 22, 1871.  Isaiah died on April 7, 1918 in Danforth.  He is buried in Maple Cemetery, Danforth, Maine. 

Oliver Buffum Dow was born December 27, 1802 in Vassalborough, Maine  He was a millwright, constructing and maintaining mills and their equipment.  He and his family moved about the mill towns along the Maine and Canadian border. Oliver married Elizabeth Milburn on October 6, 1831 in Hopewell, New Brunswick, Canada.  He died June 13, 1974 in Milltown, Washington, Maine and is buried in Calais Cemetery, Calais, Maine.

Oliver's father was John Dow who was born June 4, 1771 in Berwick, York, Maine.   He married Zilpha Lincoln on February 22, 1797 in Vassalborough, Maine.  John and Zilpha were members of the Quaker monthly meetings in Vassalborough.  In March 1803 they requested a removal certificate as they moved on.  The 1820 census shows them in Harlem, Kennebec, Maine.  The 1830 census puts them in Sidney, Kennebec, Maine.  The family finally settled at Branch Mills, pioneers of the town, a hamlet made by clearing the forest.  There was a 30 mile horseback trail to Augusta, marked by blazing the trees, and for some years it was the only way to civilization.  John and Zilpha had ten children.

Moses Dow was born January 7, 1733/34.  He married Hannah Gove on December 8, 1756 in Amesbury, Essex, Massachusetts.  He was admitted to the Quaker Meeting of Dover on December 2, 1759.  He later moved to Berwick, Maine.  Moses died October 31, 1816 in Berwick, Maine. 

Moses was the son of John Dow born about 1698.  He married Patience Swett on April 20, 1731 in Amesbury, Essex, Massachusetts.  He died about 1767.

John Dow was born December 12 1665 in Hampton, Rockingham, New Hampshire.  He married Hannah Page on November 27, 1696 in Hampton.  John died November 28, 1744 in Kingston, Massachusetts.

Joseph Dow was born1638 in Watertown, Middlesex, Massachusetts.  He was the first Dow born in America.  He was a quaker, a farmer, a trapper and a surveyor.  He married Mary Sanborn on December 17, 1662 in Hampton, Rockingham, New Hampshire.  He was appointed to survey the Exeter-Hampton (NH) line in February 1669.  He also led the rebuilding of the municipal sawmill in Hampton Falls, New Hampshire in 1680.  Joseph died April 4, 1703 in Hampton, Rockingham, New Hampshire.

Henry Dow, the immigrant ancestor, was born October 6, 1605 in Ormsby, Norfolk, England.  He married Joan Nudd on February 11, 1630 in Ormsby.  In 1637, Henry and Joan came from England to American. Henry died April 21, 1659 in Hampton, Rockingham, New Hampshire.

Treasure Chest Thursday - Photo Tag Collection

I have been trying to find new and different ways to showcase my ancestors for quite some time.  A few years ago I found these Genealogy Photo Tags.

 

They came in a bundle of 31, with labels to indicate my mother, father and up through all my great-grandparents.  They are made of cardstock and include labeled space on the back of each to list the vital statistics for that ancestor.  

They came with an included metal ring to hold the set together.  They are a great way to take my basic genealogy along with me, and are interesting enough to get even some of my "not so much"  family members to take a look and even ask a question or two about our common ancestors.  

I consider them one of my better purchases and a treasure that I helped create.  Hopefully, some future genealogist in my family will think so too!

I wish I could tell you where I purchased them.  They are labeled on the back "Tag"alongs by Wildrose.

Tombstone Tuesday - Peleg Johnson

Old Fernwood Cemetery

Kingston, Rhode Island

 

Dr. Peleg Johnson

Died June 8, 1859

Doctor in the village of Kingston, Town of South Kingstown, Washington, Rhode Island

Dr. Peleg Johnson of South Kingstown, R. I., was born in 1791 and began his practice in 1816.

He died after being thrown from his horse, receiving a compound fracture of  his thigh, while on his way to see a patient.

Further reading tells me that Dr. Johnson was known to charge his patients very little for his doctoring services.  This goes along with the inscription on his tombstone which reads "In my hand no price I bring."

Family History Day - February 20, 2010 in Boston, Massachusetts

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the Family History Day 2010 in Boston.  It was co-sponsored by NEHGS (New England Historic Genealogical Society) and Ancestry.com.  The day was laid out in four sessions with two choices in each time slot.  There were also 15 minute private consultation slots with genealogists from NEHGS, along with the opportunity to have documents scanned with professional scanning equipment.

The session choices were:
        Getting the Most out of Your Ancestry.com Subcription
        Finding Immigration Records
        Best Strategies for Searching Ancestry.com
        Organize, Organize, Organize
        Discover NEHGS: Your Family History Resource
        Getting the Most out of Family Tree Maker

The day began early!  Check-in began was from 8-9:30 am  at the Westin Copley in Boston.  I rode the train from my home in southern Rhode Island.  I had a 6:22 am reservation. It was still mostly dark! The train was 20 minutes late but the sun came up.

Kingston Station

When I arrived at the event registration was in full swing. There were 700 registrations (with over 200 turned away I heard).  The organizers were well prepared but it still took about 1/2 hour to get checked in.  However, I never mind standing and talking with fellow genealogists!

NEHGS also had a book sale.  They were selling a variety of used books along with some of their newer publications.  They were also signing up new members at a great pace with a small conference discount.  I spent a few minutes at the table during the day,  checking out all the books.

I first attended the Finding Immigration Records session given by Rhonda McClure of NEHGS.  She is a great speaker and an avid genealogist herself.  She had some wonderful examples from her own research that she shared.  The room was packed.  I picked up some tips here for looking for all the many immigrant ancestors which we all have.

Next on tap for me was Organize, Organize, Organize also by Rhonda.  Here she conjoled and teased us into admitting many of our unorganized ways.  I took home some impetus to clean up my biggest mess - my digital images.  Ah, good intentions, where will they lead?

Lunch was on your own with lots of choices inside the interconnected mall area or out into a beautiful day in downtown Boston.  

Back from lunch I attended Discover NEHGS: Your Family History Resource led by Josh Taylor.  He admitted that we will see him on the upcoming "Who Do You Think You  Are"  where he helped Sarah Jessica Parker!  Josh took us through the NEHGS resources of which I have used so very little even though I have been a member for 4 or 5 years!  Again, more good intentions to be had!

I finished the day at Getting the Most out of Family Tree Maker led by Tana Pederson who has written "The Official Guide to Family Tree Maker".  It was a pretty good introduction to the latest version.

I will admit here that I use FTM but although I have purchased the latest version, 2010,  I have stuck with FTM 2006.  There were so many disappointed users of the intervening versions.  The new version looked good.  You can keep all your media files within your database, including your photos, census images etc. They can be attached to individuals and events (and would  help with the disorganized stuff I spoke about above).   If you are an ancestry.com subscription it interconnects very nicely.  I am still a bit skeptical here - how will it perform with a 10,000 plus member tree and lots of images?   How large and unwieldy will my database file become?  Anyone using it please let me know your thoughts!!

After the last session I had a pleasant train ride back to Kingston and was home by a bit after 6 pm.  A long but pleasurable day.  I am sure they could take this show on the road and do quite well!  Did I see you there?