52 Ancestors: #9 William A. Blincow (1831-1903)

William A. Blincow was born in 1831 in England, possibly Northamptonshire. His parents were William Blincow and Elizabeth (I believe Robinson). William married Betsy Wikes (or Wilkes) Howe in 1860. William and Betsy had eight children, five born in England.

               William Blicow, (1861-1946)

               Richard Blincow (1864-1872)

               Frederick Howe Blincow (1867-1952)

 Mary Elizabeth “Polly” Blincow (1869-1951)

               Eliza “Nellie” Helen Blincow (1870-1955)

After immigrating in 1872, William and Betsy had three more children, all born in Nebraska.

               Frank Robert Blincow (1872-1945)

               Ada Louise Blincow (1873-1957)

               George Blincow (1877-1952)

I have “heard” that both first and second papers for naturalization were filed in York County, Nebraska, but I have been unable to obtain copies yet.  The family lived moved to Kansas (William was a farmer) sometime before 1894 because the family is listed in the 1895 Kansas State Census for Thomas County.  In the 1900 census William was listed as working as a clerk for the district court in Thomas County, Kansas.  He died in 1903 in Colby, Kansas, and was buried in Beulah Cemetery in Thomas County, Kansas.

 

 

5 June - I have a date with DNA

On June 5 I will be in Burbank, California, for a day of DNA education.  This "Family History and DNA: Genetic Genealogy in 2014" is part of the SCGS Jamboree conference. 

For a year or two I really didn't think much about DNA.  I didn't think it applied to me, or could help me with my genealogy research as the families I'm most interested in had daughters of daughters, with no sons in the lines.  Then I started thinking about the changes during the past 3 years, including the 1940 census, and realized that genealogy is not a static study, but a dynamic one. 

Last year I also attended the DNA day.  It was great, I think, but oh, was I a novice!  Well, I still am.  However, I'm going to be more prepared this year.  I now recognize some of the speakers.  I ordered some of the books from last year's resources list. I intend to start reading them (soon, I hope).  And I'm reading blogs, and I'm ordering the DNA test kits.  Hopefully I'll have some numbers before June so that I can get some advice on understanding them, if I haven't figured it out before then.

So....Do you have a date with DNA?  If yes, I look forward to seeing you in Burbank in June.  Because I know I can learn and understand this.  It's just going to take some time (AND effort).  But like The Little Engine That Could, I think I can, I think I can, I think I can, I thought I could.....

Artichokes and Skateboard Parks = Family History

You read the title and are now possibly asking, "What in the world do artichokes and skateboard parks have in common and how are they related to family history?"

Well, last week we had two of our grandsons over.  Actually only for 3 days, because Monday was driving and Friday was driving.  During the 3 days we went to 4 skateboard parks (although the boys ride scooters), went to some of their favorite restaurants (Red Lobster, Chompies and Herb 'n' Flavors (for hummus and baba ghanoosh)) and to the movies with Grandpa and a friend to see Monument Men.  And, yes.  We ate artichokes, even though I had to pay an exorbitant price for 4 of them.

So, I started wondering what our descendants would think about skateboard parks: these large cement holes in the ground, with mounds, steps, bowls, ramps, and a variety of other shapes.  I remember when skate boarders rode in old swimming pools.  Now we build these elaborate creations.  Kids spend hours in them.  Does it make sense?  It definitely is good exercise.  And it's great for balance.  So, if an alien from outer space came to visit, what would they think? 

And then, the artichokes.  Our grandchildren LOVE artichokes and they only have had them at Grandpa and Grandma's house.  So, I started wondering, how did we learn to eat these thistles?  How did we learn to take the outside leaves off, one at a time, and dip them before scraping them against our teeth?  Isn't this family history?  In the past when I've questioned why we eat something, or how we learned that a strange looking food was good, I didn't think about it as tradition.  But in our family artichokes are tradition, just as eating turkey at Thanksgiving, or having hamburgers on Memorial Day. 

Have you wondered about the foods we eat?  How we started eating them or preparing them in a particular way?  And are they part of your family tradition?  And what would your descendants think?

52 Ancestors: #8 Jane Francis Lemon Blackmore (1835-1927)

Jane Francis Lemon was born in Virginia or Pennsylvania in 1835.  Her parents were George Lemon and Mary Shane.  Jane married Thomas Greenslade Blackmore in December 1853 in Peoria County, Illinois.  I believe that Jane’s mother was married 3 times, with George Lemon being her first spouse.  I believe that George died about 1838, but I haven’t documented that information yet.   

Then sometime before 1850, Jane Frances, her brother George, and Mary Shane Blackmore King, and second spouse William King, moved to Illinois.

Jane and Thomas Blackmore had seven children (5 single births and then twins), all of whom were born in Illinois.  Each of their children lived to adulthood and were married, at least once.   The family moved to Nebraska sometime between 1870 and 1880, and then went on to Colorado before 1896.  While Thomas died in 1898 in Colorado, Jane Frances lived until 1927.  I have been unable to find her in the 1900 census records, but in 1910 and 1920 she was living in Illinois, again.  Now she is listed as living with her daughter Mary and son-in-law William Cottrell. Jane is buried in Five Mile Cemetery near Saunemin, Illinois.    

52 Ancestors: #7 Thomas Greenslade Blackmore (1828-1898)

Thomas Greenslade Blackmore was born in 1828, probably in Somerset, England.  His parents were John Blackmore and Sarah Greenslade.  It appears that the family emigrated from England before 1850, since Thomas had a brother Henry born in New York about 1835.  (This is speculation; no documentation yet.)

Thomas married Jane Frances Lemon in 1853 in Peoria County, Illinois.  They had seven children: Mary Frances, Charles, Benjamin, Henry, George and twins Callie and Calvin.    Thomas appears to have been a successful farmer as the 1870 census stated that his real estate value was $13,200.  I found Thomas and family in Livingston County, Illinois, in the 1850, 1860 and 1870 census records.  Sometime between 1870 and 1880 the family moved to Nebraska, in the North Platte area.  Then, by 1896, it appears that Thomas and at least some of the family moved to Colorado because he is listed in a Colorado State Business Directory as the owner of a confectionary shop.

 

Thomas died in Granite Colorado in 1898 and was buried in the Granite Cemetery. 

GRIP - Here I Come!

I don't want to brag.  Well, maybe I do. 

I just finished registering for my third visit to LaRoche College in Pittsburgh for GRIP.  Yes, I'm very excited. 

I'm going to be in the Practical Genetic Genealogy course.  The recommended books have been ordered.  So, next week I can start reading. 

I wish all of you who registered got your first choice.  Unfortunately I'm sure that some of you didn't because there are already two waiting lists, and it's just 30 minutes into registration.  Still, I hope to see all of you in Pittsburgh in July.

By the way, I sort of yelled at my husband about 10 am MST.  Here I am, getting ready to hit the registration button when it shows.  And what does he do?  He wants to talk to be about coffee.  Yes.  Coffee.  And this is even after I talked about 10 am Wednesday for the past week.  And, yes.  Before I began writing this I went and apologized and we laughed about it.  After all, we're retired.  And we don't "clock watch" any more.

RootsTech From Home - Recorded Sessions Available

For those of us who were unable to watch five talks, plus keynote talks, each day, this is to let you know that they are all available at RootsTech.  Just look for the link to the recorded sessions and then search through and decide which one/ones you want to hear.

There are some great ones.  And don't miss the keynote addresses.  Each day the keynote address was different.  You won't want to skip them. 

Have a great time.  And remember, you can pause any time it's necessary for you to continue your life outside of genealogy.

RootsTech 2014 from Home

Even though I'm not at RootsTech, I've been watching/listening to some of the presentations.  I printed off the schedule of streamed sessions, but I forgot that the keynote addresses were also available to watch.

So, on Thursday, I was a little late checking in.  But I was able to go back and listen to the keynote addresses during the "lunch" break.  That's really nice. Ree Drummond was really fun to listen to.  I'm not sure I want to blog about my family now, but I wish I had thought about that when me children were younger and at home.  Oh, yes.  That was before computers and blogging, etc.  Well,  I was definitely planning on tuning in early enough on Friday morning.

I loved Tammy Hepps presentation on working from home.  Unfortunately I missed some of Ron Tanner's talk on FamilySearch Family Tree.  I'll check that one out again, once the 2014 sessions are available.  The DNA talk was "Intro to DNA for Genealogists" by James Rader.  I was quite confused with this one.  And I felt that he wasn't prepared to speak for the time period, since he kept checking the time and then deciding whether or not to continue or not.  I started watching the "Genealogy in the Cloud" but then household stuff got in the way.  I'll definitely check that one out later.

Friday, I was much better at tuning in on time, but still a little late. The keynote addresses were fantastic, in my opinion.  I loved Judy Russell's comment about truth and a good story.  I went back to listen to that part to make sure I had her exact words.  I'm hoping that she'll let me use them in a couple of presentations I'm going to be making soon.

I missed the morning streamed session but watched Lisa Alzo.  I need to watch that one again, because I wasn't aware of some of the social media options she mentioned.  I understand blogs and facebook, and twitter, a little.  But there's SO... much more.  Then, I was really enjoying Crista Cowen's talk.  BUT, the phone rang.  I muted the talk and spent a great hour talking with my daughter-in-law, knowing that I could back up and hear Crista's talk after the phone call.  No such luck.  The feed stopped working.  I refreshed, shut the computer off and started again, changed from IE to Firefox and back.  Nothing worked.  Well, that's another one to go on my list for later.

Overall it was a good two days, with lots of interesting info.  I did post on facebook, asking if a company was recording any of the other presentations so that I could purchase them later.  Unfortunately, I just kept getting the response that the live-streamed ones will be available later.  That wasn't what I meant, but that's OK.  I'll contact someone next week and ask.  What I was hoping for was that recordings (video or audio only) of other speakers would be available for purchase since I can get them at SCGS's Jamboree, FGS and NGS. 

I'm looking forward to Saturday's talks, although I'll probably miss the first one (things to do in my non-genealogy life). 

I'm hoping that all of you who have been reading my rambles check out the RootsTech.com web site and watch the sessions, once they are recorded for 2014.  Of course, if you missed any of the 2013 talks, it appears that they are still available. 

52 Ancestors: #6 - Mary Elizabeth “Polly” Blincow Blackmore (1869-1951)

Mary, who in most records was listed as Polly, was born in England in 1869 to William Blincow and Betsy Wikes Howe.  She immigrated in 1872 and she and her family moved to Nebraska, soon thereafter.

 

Polly married a York, Nebraska, neighbor, George Blackmore, in 1887.  They had eight children, including 5 boys (Henry, Harold, Leonard, George and Clifford) and 3 girls (Ada, Mattie and Reba), born between 1888 and 1904.  Two of their boys died young: one as an infant (Leonard) and one at age 10 (Henry Irvin). 

 

This Blackmore family lived in Nebraska until at least 1891.  Then by 1893 they lived in Colby County, Kansas.    By 1895 they were in Colorado and lived in Granite and Rifle. 

 

Polly died in 1951, two years after George.  She was buried in the Rose Hill Cemetery, in Rifle, Colorado, next to her husband.