Exploring.

The cherry blossoms aren't out yet, but TJ is still hanging around!

Thursday, March 28, 2013 - Jefferson Memorial - Washington, DC

Shutterfly Photobook!

I have had great luck ordering photo items from Shutterfly. A few days ago I created a print of a vacation photo to decorate my apartment and noticed they were offering a special on photobooks. I started a genealogy book a few months ago but never finished it. This sale renewed my motivation!

I should have it in about a week and I'm very excited to see how it turned out. I'll share some of the pages one it arrives.

Colonial Williamsburg, VA (part 1)

photos taken 1/19/13 - a bright, sunny, and freezing day!

I have always loved Colonial Williamsburg and walking through such historic streets. It's such a neat combination of old and new (and some new made to look old).

The Colonial Williamsburg website indicates that 88 of the buildings are original, including the Bruton Parish Church pictured above. The cemetery around the Bruton Parish Church was unique. Many of the stones are right up against the brick path around the church. I was especially intrigued by the bench built around one of the stones!

The Governor's Palace (in the last photo) was home to the following Virginia governors: Alexander Spotswood, Hugh Drysdale, William Gooch, Robert Dinwiddie, Francis Fauquier, Norborne Berkeley (Baron de Botetourt), John Murray (fourth Earl of Dunmore), Patrick Henry, and Thomas Jefferson. The structure burned down in 1781 and excavation of the foundation and reconstruction took place in the late 1920s and early 1930s (citation).

I'm still exploring if I have any ancestors who lived in Williamsburg :)

Another old book.

I think I have discovered a new interest in old books. This one I already had...it was my grandmother's. :)

A lovely old find at Goodwill.

Today my friend and I went to explore the book section of the local Goodwill store. Paperbacks are $1 and hardbacks are $2!

I found this neat old school book from 1917!

A child wrote his name and some information about his school inside the front cover. More pictures to come soon!

3 and 365

3 is the number of hours I spent in a cemetery on this lovely warm afternoon.
365 is the number of photos I took.

I'll post my favorites soon.

History Tourist. Cemetery. Hollywood. Vampires.

I have been all over the place this weekend. Today my friend and I ended up exploring some of the historic areas of Richmond, Virginia including Hollywood Cemetery.

The grounds are huge and seemingly endless. I was struck by how hilly the land along the James River is and how many individuals were laid to rest right on these steep slopes. The foggy, dark, and dreary day created an atmosphere perfect for exploring the unique and intricate memorials to the people buried here.

The cemetery is home to two United States Presidents, the only President of the Confederacy, Civil War soldiers, individuals famous for various reasons, and numerous other people who don't fall into any of those categories!

Sons of the American Revolution

Home to the Richmond Vampire?

The Church Hill Tunnel collapsed and buried a train on October 2, 1925. A few people were killed and at least one was injured. This survivor (Benjamin F Mosby) was badly burned before he emerged from the tunnel. His frightening appearance may have given way to the legend of a Vampire fleeing through Downtown Richmond, over the James River, and into the Hollywood Cemetery. Though Mr. Mosby was taken to Grace Hospital and later succumbed to his burns, the legend concludes with the vampire hiding in the vault of a Mr. W.W. Pool.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Old documents

Each one of these papers is from a document my grandparents kept for many years. The oldest is from my grandmother's elementary school diploma (1924) and the 'newest' comes from my grandfather's navy discharge papers (1946).

Surveying the damage

Ellis Island

I read in an article this morning that the hospital at Ellis Island had been added to the "America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places" list put out by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

I last visited Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty in 2009 right around the time I was really becoming interested in genealogy. There are many creative exhibits that give you statistics about immigration patterns and the lives of those entering America. One such exhibit allows you to search for ancestors that may have passed through Ellis Island...I was instantly drawn to this and waited patiently in line watching the people in front of me chuckling over their search results. 

I typed my last name into their computer and came up with...nothing! Not one person! 

I was disappointed but figured it wasn't a complete listing or there must be a trick to searching that I had missed.

I tend to be a nostalgic person and despite not finding any tangible evidence linking me to an Ellis Island ancestor, I stood in the main building and tried to imagine myself making my way through the inspection process before being turned loose into a foreign country.

After a few years of additional research I have come to the conclusion that my ancestors did not pass through Ellis Island. The very first immigrant to enter the United States this way was Annie Moore on January 1, 1892....just over 30 years after my Irish 3rd great grandfather arrived in New York. He currently holds the honor of being the "most recent" immigrant in my family tree.

I'd like to go back and visit soon.

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Today my tree contains 1338 people and 2052 records.