MEA's Family History & Scrapbooking

Teaching Family History Story Writing

2011-01-13T19:09:00.000-08:00

What fun I've had recently, teaching family history workshops at Mansfield's Books & More. People need to save their family stories for future generations. I enjoy reading about my ancestors and their lives in letters and story.

"Mom, you must write down the stories of your life," my daughter said.

This got me thinking about teaching others how to do it, whether they want to be publicly published or write simply for family reading. I'm also planning on doing some online classes. I'd like to develop a workshop I can teach to groups via Skype or ooVoo.

Any suggestions? Or interest?

E-Mails from the Blue about Ancestors

2009-01-19T18:28:00.000-08:00

It's exciting when someone e-mails you, asking about an ancestor and seeking information. Then you find you have a connection and can pool your data.

That happened this morning, when I received an e-mail seeking information about one of my husband's uncles, George Creston Sherwood. We haven't been in contact with any of Uncle Cres' family since his and his wife's death. So it will be enjoyable if this turns out to be a "cousin," even a distant one.

Happy New Year's from MEA's Family History & Scrapbooking

2009-01-01T08:37:00.000-08:00

May 2009 be a wonderful year for you.

It's cold (3 degrees F.) and windy here where I live.

Reflect upon 2008, but we're look forward to a grand 2009.

Parting With Geneaolgy Books

2008-12-30T10:30:00.000-08:00

As I've accumulated books about family history research, compiling family history, and writing family stories, I haven't purchased duplicates, but realize I have some I probably won't use, or which I've gone beyond.

It's always difficult for a book lover to part with books, but these, plus the many others my family and I own (6 children and adults) have begun to overwhelm the house and a storage area.

Craig's List

So we've begun listing those we can part with on Craig's List. We also make them available at our yard sales in summer, but that's sort of impractical during winter in NH. It's gratifying when people contact us about our books and are thrilled to find some they're looking for or with which to expand their knowledge and enjoyment.

So I culled out some of my family history and genealogy books....probably will find more as I investigate all nooks and crannies of our abode.

Uncle Buffalo Bill Blog

2008-12-28T17:09:00.000-08:00

Buffalo Bill Mathewson

I've developed a blog for the research and writing I'm doing about another ancestor, William "Buffalo Bill" Mathewson, who was my grandmother, Ella Banks Place's uncle. No, he wasn't Buffalo Bill Cody, although the two played prominent roles in the West and did meet.

I've written about Uncle Buffalo Bill, given talks about him, and now am developing a children's book about his life. He played an important role on the Santa Fe Trail, in Indian peace talks, developing trading posts, and founding Wichita, Kansas.

Although I haven't compiled too much online about Uncle William (Buffalo Bill) yet, I plan to do so as I finish my book.

Following Sister's Lead

2008-12-26T09:41:00.000-08:00

Since chatting with my sister last night, I've been thinking about our discussion concerning ancestors and began looking around the Internet using her clues. I haven't found anything yet, but it's filled me with enthusiasm.

I'll also have to search through some of the family records I do have. My sister gave me new insight into the people in those. She still lives in the area where we grew up and where many of our ancestors lived. As she browses through libraries and chats with researchers, perhaps she'll come up with more information.

What causes you to become enthusiastic about your family history research again after a dry spell?

A Chat with my Sister about Family History

2008-12-25T19:51:00.001-08:00

Tonight, as I was chatting with my sister who lives in another state (we often call one another on Christmas night), we began reminiscing and delving into family history. We realized that we remembered some things the same. With others, she remembered some facts and incidents while I recalled others.

So I'm planning to dig through my genealogy files and gather information for her and elaborate upon mine by adding her recollections.

When you have an opportunity, get together with your family members and see what you can recall about your childhood activities and stories of your ancestors. Then meld together your memories.

Alzheimer's & Memory Albums

2006-06-29T08:56:00.000-07:00

If you'd like to read about making Memory Books/Albums for and with Alzheimer's patients, visit my Alzheimer's Notes site at www.alzheimersnotes.com. I wrote about my experience making scrapbooks with residents at the nursing home where my mom once lived.

I also linked to Carol Moxley's story about her dad and Memory Albums.

My mom and aunt were afflicted with Alzheimer's disease. I've also made an album about my mom's Alzheimer's years and mention it in an earlier article on Alzheimer's Notes.

Some people might find it sad to do this. Our family looks at those pictures and remembers the joy we brought my mom during this time in her life. It is amazing that in just about every picture she'd smiling.

Journaling the Flowers of Your Life

2006-06-16T08:06:00.000-07:00

“Why don’t you make a little scrapbook of the flowers of your life?” a friend asked when I showed her one I’d made with photos of autumn leaves I’d taken and a poem I’d written.

“Flowers?” I asked.

“Yes,” she answered. “Make a scrapbook or journal of the flowers that have been important in your life.”

As I considered, I realized she had a good idea. I also realized that many flowers can be included in recipes, so why not print a few food ideas in this scrapbook/journal, too.

Mother’s Flower Journal

I then recalled that my mother once started a Flower Journal. She never completed it, but I found the journal when I moved her to my home several years ago.

She asked friends to write about their favorite flower. Cousin Ella and Cousin Ina made entries in it, as did the mother of one of my friends. Mother had a few other entries but didn’t carry it further.

Perhaps I could incorporate this with my Flower Journal and continue Mother’s idea.

Which Flowers?

Lilacs – The lilacs bloomed each spring beside Grandpa’s blacksmith shop. This building, I later learned, had been the original farmhouse on the property, before my father and grandfather purchased the farm. That would explain sprawling lilac bushes, white and lavender, growing on either side of the doorway.

Lily of the Valley – This grew in profusion and gave out a heady perfume in spring. It grew under the overhanging branches of the forsythia bush.

Roses – These small dark red roses I’ve never seen elsewhere. If I ever knew their name, I’ve not remembered it. They grew in the two small flower gardens in the large front lawn. Larger pink roses bloomed on taller bushes in one of the gardens.

Dahlias – Father liked these flowers and planted them around the porch and in the flower gardens. In his older years, he planted dahlias at the small retirement home he built across the road from the large farmhouse.

Crysanthemums – Mother said she carried these flowers in her wedding bouquet when she and Father married in November. She was found of them in all their autumn colors, so often Father planted them for her.

Violets – These grew in the meadows and along the brooks of our farm. What fun to pick them in the spring for bouquets on the kitchen table.

Dandelions – I recall the many saucers filled with water and dandelion heads that adorned the table, too. My younger brother brought these flowers to Mother. I once asked why she kept them. Mother pointed out that they were special because he picked them for her; it would hurt his feelings if she threw them out.

I recalled Mother’s words when my daughter and then grandchildren brought me flower heads as a special offering.

What are the flowers of your life? Why not journal and scrapbook about them? Or share your thoughts at me.allen@juno.com

(c)2006 Mary Emma Allen

Mom, Write Down Your Memories

2006-06-03T17:11:00.000-07:00

"Mom, you spend time researching our family history and telling me stories about Grandma and Great Grandma. But you need to write down your memories for me and your grandchildren," my daughter reminded me.

So often we think other people's memories and stories are more interesting and important than our own. However, to our families, as Beth reminded me, ours are a part of our family heritage as well.

I began relating some of my childhood memories, as well as those of later years, so they would become part of my daughter's and my grandchildren's background.

Perhaps in the future, they will be as excited to learn about my life as I am about my great grandmother's letters telling of homesteading in the Midwest. Your journals, your stories, and your memorabilia are part of the heritage that binds your family together.

Creating a Happy Book

2006-04-13T17:43:00.000-07:00

My grandson has a Happy Book. It contains pictures he’s drawn or pasted in about enjoyable things in his life. These can be events and objects that make him happy.

Whenever he’s feeling discouraged, he’s to get the book out and look through it.

Why don’t we all create Happy Books? We can do them as a family or individually. They could be a fun family project. This also is an enjoyable activity for Grandma and the grandchildren.

These can be any size, from large albums to small 4 x 4-inch albums or scrapbooks we carry with us. You can simply place photos and pictures from magazines in them. Or you can use scrapbooking techniques.

The Happy Book might revolve around one topic. Or it can be a mix of things you enjoy and make you feel happy.

*Poetry, inspirational and humorous sayings
*Pictures of enjoyable memories and experiences
*Pictures of dreams you hope to achieve
*Pictures of trips you’d like to take
*Places you’ve visited

Once you begin using your imagination, the ideas are limitless…and just the process of putting these together start you on the Road to Happy!

©2006 Mary Emma Allen

Incidents from the Past Incorporated into Stories

2006-03-25T06:32:00.000-08:00

Mother’s contributions to my stories

If our parents and grandparents have told us stories about their childhoods, it’s interesting to weave those incidents into tales of our own. This may be simply retelling these stories for our family heritage and future generations. If we’re writers, these give us fodder for our story mill.

I’ve incorporated many of the incidents from my mom’s life into stories, cooking columns, and essays. For instance, she fell through the ice on the pond near their one-room school, sliding at recess. I used this incident and Mother’s rescue by her sister in my story, The Christmas Surprise. Mother and Auntie aren't named in the story, nor are they characters. However, the idea for the ice rescue comes from Mother's recollections that she related to us children.

In my middle reader novel, Papa Goes to War, the falling through the ice idea appears again. This time, the younger brother, Josh, walks onto thin ice, and his sister, Mandy, tries to save him. This varies somewhat from Mother’s experience. However, if I’d never heard her story, repeatedly, throughout my childhood, I wouldn’t have the idea or knowledge to write about this incident.

Even though we may not think your family life and your experiences enter into your writing, they do in subtle ways. Just your knowledge of situations and topics enable you to write the stories you do.

So look over your life and jot down ideas for stories and articles.

Following the Trails of Ancestors

2006-03-20T16:48:00.000-08:00

The search for one’s ancestors and family history can lead you on fascinating jaunts and adventures of discovery. As I delve into the stories of my ancestors’ lives, I’m led to parts of the country, distant from where I grew up. Following the trails of my ancestors has enabled me to visit interesting places, make new friends, and meet relatives.

When I was growing up in southeastern New York State, my world mainly revolved around the family I lived with and my mom’s parents and cousins 45 miles away. One aunt and uncle lived in New Hampshire, so visits with them opened our world.

However, as I searched for ancestors, I was led to western New York, Rhode Island, Illinois, Kansas, and Civil War sites of the South. My genealogy travels opened up new vistas and brought me to historic sites.

Ancestors in Binghamton, NY & Kansas

As I looked for Great Grandmother Olive’s origins, I discovered she grew up near Binghamton, NY, three hours’ drive west from where I spent my childhood. I’ve visited that area and discovered more about this branch of my family.

This research introduced me to Olive’s brother, mentioned only as Uncle William Mathewson in Grandma’s photo album. However, he was known in Kansas, where he settled, as the original Buffalo Bill. He left home and took up life in the West as a fur trapper and explorer.

Eventually Uncle Buffalo Bill Mathewson established trading posts on the Santa Fe Trail, married an adventurous English woman, helped found Wichita, Kansas, and was an Indian peacemaker requested by the natives at treaty talks.

Uncle George in a Civil War Cemetery

William and my Great Grandmother Olive’s half-brother, George, perished from dysentery during the Civil War. Research led me to a cemetery at Marietta, GA, north of Atlanta. On a sunny spring day, my husband and I visited the Union Cemetery, followed a description their mother’s letter, and found a marker with Uncle George’s name on it.

There also was a tall monument with a star on it, described by Great Great Grandmother Eliza. How interesting to find this evidence that Uncle George did fight in the War Between the States and was buried where his mother believed.

Early Settlers in Providence, RI

Tracing the Mathewson family to their beginnings in this country, led me to Providence, RI. There we find a street called Mathewson Street and a theatre named after this family. I’ve walked along this street, trying to visualize it as the area might have looked when the early Mathewsons lived there.

From Providence and nearby Johnstown, various Mathewsons headed westward like many other families in Rhode Island. First my direct ancestors moved to the Windsor, CT area, where William married Tabitha Chaffee. Some of their children were born there and others in Triangle, Broome County NY in the early 1800s. My family descended from them.

Tracing only one branch of my family, the Mathewsons, has led me to various parts of the country. Other areas I’ve researched from my parents’ families include Columbia County, NY, Quaker Hill, NY, Salina, KS, Welton, IA, Low Moor, IA and Seattle, WA.

Meeting Today’s Descendants

In my research I’ve discovered second and third cousins and we’ve shared information and memories. Friendships have evolved as we’ve gotten to know one another.

Following the trail of your ancestors’ lives can take you to many new areas of the country and to foreign countries. As you travel for genealogy purposes, you’ll also find other enjoyable aspects of these regions.

©2006

(Mary Emma Allen combines genealogy, scrapbooking, and travel into a fascinating aspect of her career. She also teaches classes on family history, scrapbooking, and travel writing. Visit her blogs: http://vagabondtravelers.blogspot.com and http://trailsendquilters.blogspot.com . E-mail: me.allen@juno.com )

Creating a Youngster's Heritage Recipe Book

2006-01-09T19:26:00.000-08:00

“Why don’t you write down our favorite recipes in a book for me?” our granddaughter asked her mom.

So creating a heritage recipe book for a Christmas gift resulted. The family favorites have been written down, with space for the young cook to add more. I’ll go through some of those that date back to her great, great grandmother and see if she wants to add those, along with the stories behind them.

Favorite recipes can tell one aspect of a family’s story. When were they served? Who traditionally prepared them? Were they handed down through the generations or a new recipe you discovered and recently began serving?

Various Methods of Compiling Recipes

You’ll find various methods of compiling these recipes. Try something mentioned below, combine one or two of them, or seek out something of your own.

*Recipe Cards – These are one of the easiest ways to collect recipes. You can put them in a recipe box, or slide them into compartments in a photo album

*Books made especially for recipe collecting – My daughter found a three-ring recipe binder, made especially for jotting down recipes on the included pages. You also can add sketches.

*Photo albums of various sizes where you can include photos – These have pages for inserting recipe cards and for larger pages with recipes written on them. There is room, too, for photos of family gatherings, youngsters cooking, and foods they’ve made.

*Albums that incorporate scrapbooking techniques – With scrapbook albums, you can paste or attach recipes on cards or scrapbooking papers. Then adorn with photos and various decorative touches.

*Computer programs that save recipes and stories – There are a number of computer programs that enable you to compile a cookbook. You can save these on CD or print off and make into book format.

© 2005

(Mary Emma Allen researches family food history from her multigenerational home in Plymouth, NH. She also writes stories for children and is working on a book based around her family during the Civil War era. E—mail: me.allen@juno.com)

Scrapbook of Christmas Letters

2005-12-22T18:34:00.000-08:00

Along with jotting memories in a journal, you can incorporate this into a scrapbook with photos of memorable times and experiences. You also can add sketches to your journal and scrapbook pages.

One way I’m trying to keep a record of yearly memories is by building a scrapbook around the annual Christmas letters I write to friends and family. Some people add photos to these letters (so much easier in these days of digital cameras and computers).

This Christmas letter gives a recap of the year gone by and you can add to it as you have time. I also like to keep the letters and photos sent to me by family members and include them in the scrapbook.

(c)2005

(If you have questions or information to share, e-mail me: me.allen@juno.com. Type "Scrapbooking Blog" in the subject line.)

Searching for Wallace

2005-11-15T18:42:00.000-08:00

Wallace Enoch Allen, husband of Mary Jane McCracken, seems to have dropped into her life “out of the blue.” We’ve been searching for him for a number of years…first my husband's uncle with help from his cousins , then Howard’s grand nephew, , and now Howard’s great, grand niece, DeAnn Jensen, and his nephew, Jim Allen and Jim’s wife Mary.

Putting together the puzzle of one’s past can be fun and fascinating, yet very frustrating at times, too. Searching for Wallace has been all of these and we’re by nowhere finished in our search.

Getting to meet relatives in this search is enjoyable and finding out about the lives of those people you’re researching is interesting as well.

Searching for Wallace has become an adventure as we go down first one trail then another. We'll think we have figured out his ancestry at last, only to find that's another Wallace living in the same era. We now have two Wallace's whose lives might be one person or they could be two. Dates and places are so similar in some cases. Yet there is data in one that's not found in the other.

We're "meeting" many people of the past in our research and wonder how many are ancestors. As we keep searching, we'll find one day that missing piece that will put the puzzle together.

The bare essentials of his life: Wallace supposedly was born near Bangor, Maine around 1853 with a father whose name was George. No mention is made of his mother in any records. Then he lived in St. John, NB, Canada a year or two before marrying Mary Jane McCracken in 1876. They had two children before moving to East Boston, MA, in 1880, following Mary Jane's sister Elizabeth. They eventually purchased a farm in Everett, MA, which still is in the family. We find them in census records and business directories. Wallace died in 1916, although he wasn't living with Mary Jane at the time. She died in 1920. They're buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Everett.

(c)2005

(If you're related to a Wallace Allen, let us know. Perhaps we have a common ancestry. e-mail at: me.allen@juno.com )

Researching Your Family Through Quilting

2005-10-05T14:12:00.000-07:00

As I read my grandfather’s writings, Fifty Years Ago, Rural Life from 1876, I was delighted to realize he’d included information about his mother’s quilting at Trails End Farm, in Dutchess County, NY. I knew, from this, that my quilting heritage definitely traced back to my great grandmother, Mary Barker Coon, and beyond.

Papa Coon, as our family referred to Burton Barker Coon, writer and farmer, mentioned the women getting together for afternoon tea and cutting out pieces for quilt blocks. “They would take their sewing along and have a very pleasant time. All the girls were brought up to piece quilts, bake bread and do all kinds of housework….,” he related.

Then he mentioned “quilting bees” that were common in his childhood. “The quilting frames would be brought down from the garret, the middle of the sitting room cleared, the frames put together with clamps, and the corners laid on the backs of four chairs. Then the quilt, pieced perhaps by a daughter in the family, would be stretched on the frame, the cotton batting inserted, and all would be ready for the bee.”

He told how four or five neighborhood ladies came to help. “Needles and tongues would vie with each other in making bed spreads and history,” he wrote.

Papa Coon called each quilt a “sort of souvenir piece.”

“I used to like to hear my mother tell, ‘Now I had a dress like that, and an apron like that, and you had a little green sun bonnet, and a dress like that, and grandma a dress like that, and Aunt Susie one like that.”

He described the quilts: “ I could see them all in stately array. There were no loud patterns. The figures were small and the colors very bright and lasting.”

From my mother’s tales of sewing get-togethers when she was a child and Mary Barker Coon an elderly lady, I imagined my great grandmother stitching quilts in her younger days. Her son’s description of quilting when he was growing up substantiates that quilting occurred at Trails End Farm in the 1800s. He also indicated that his mother learned to sew quilts when she was a young girl, before she married and came to live at Trails End.

As you research your ancestry, you may find that you have a fascinating quilting heritage, too.

©2005

(If you have any questions or information to share, e-mail me at: me.allen@juno.com. Include the words “Quilting Blog” in the subject line.)

Scrapbooking Family Recipes

2005-09-02T06:49:00.000-07:00

By using your scrapbooking techniques, you can develop an interesting recipe scrapbook or journal to use currently and to preserve cooking memories for future generations. My aunt saved recipes in a notebook, handwritten and frequently with notations of the person from whom she acquired it.

I’ve began to consider making a scrapbook or picture journal of some of the recipes, photocopying them in her handwriting, then attaching it to the page of a scrapbook. Illustrations and photos could accompany these, perhaps with journal entries about the person whose recipe it is.

Grandma Coon’s Recipes

With the recipes Auntie noted as Grandma Coon’s, I could post a photo of this lady. I have one of her with her husband and son (my grandfather) in front of their farmhouse. There’s another of Grandma posing for a photographer.

Since the scrapbook will consist for family information and pleasure, I’ll include some details about Grandma, gleaned from family research, my grandfather’s writings, and memories told by my mom.

Nanny’s Recipes

These recipes were referred to as “Ma’s Recipes” by Auntie and my mother. I always called her Nanny. So I can include my memories of food prepared and served at her home and at ours when she visited.

I have numerous pictures of this lady, both as a young woman and as the grandmother I recall. They will add interest and memories for my family.

Other Relatives’ Recipes

The list could go on, since I’ve collected, over the years, recipes from relatives on both my mother and father’s side of the family. There are cousins, aunts, and close family friends.

“And don’t forget yourself,” my daughter often reminds me when we’re collecting family memories and pictures. This would include the picture my mom took of me holding the first loaf of bread I baked….all by myself when I was eight years old.

Do You Have Family Recipes for a Scrapbook?

Almost everyone has recipes memories they could include in a scrapbook. These might trace back for several generations, or they may be recipes you’ve collected and found favorites.

Do you have recipes you accumulated in your travels? My daughter asked for a Sweet Potato Biscuit recipe where she and her husband dined on their honeymoon. This could be included on a scrapbook page along with a photo of their trip.

We have family favorite acquired on a backpacking trip into the mountains of Wyoming. The outfitter’s cook created a dish of sausage, potatoes, cabbage, and onions that tasted delicious after a day of trekking at 10,000 feet. He didn’t have ingredient amounts, so we, by trial and error, came up with a version at home that tasted almost like his.

The list could go on and on and will make for a fascinating scrapbook. Look for recipes in your family and life...create your own recipe memory scrapbook.

©2005 Mary Emma Allen

(I write, journal, and scrapbook from her multigenerational home in Plymouth, NH. If anyone is interested, Iwill teach workshops in scrapbooking your family recipes and memories. E-mail me at: me.allen@juno.com )

The Fun of Discovering Your Roots

2005-08-18T14:01:00.000-07:00

Discovering one's roots and incorporating it with scrapbooking becomes an enjoyable activity. When I can tie it in with my writing and art, it becomes even more exciting.

Finding the stories behind my ancestors, learning about their lives, and discovering why various traits have come down through the generations enables me to understand myself better. These stories also are enjoyable to hand down to future generations.

I've discovered second and third cousins through my research and find it fun to exchange family data with them. I didn't have any first cousins when I was growing up and always wished I had. So finding "cousins" in later years and sharing family genealogy stories becomes an added bonus.

Traveling throughout the country, to areas where they migrated and settled, expands my knowledge of history. Incorporating much of this into scrapbooks and journals saves it for my daughter and grandchildren.

(c)2005