Thursday, January 26, 2023

Thump Thump. Thump Thump.

 

Uncle Peg’s Chronicles

January 26, 2023

“Thump Thump. Thump Thump”

 

 

Number of pages in Outline Descendant Report: 155 (up from 153 last chronicle)

Number of pages in the basic Descendant Report: 238 (up from 236 last chronicle)

 

Francis Holmes is # 1. I am now # 331. # 330, where I was last week, is now Margaret Holmes Clifford.

Jonathan Marquez (Frances Anne Holmes Ballantyne line) is last at # 491.

# 486, where he was last week, is now Keith Wellman.

This should change weekly, if I’m doing my job.

 

Something new in stats, just for fun:

 

I put the names of all descendants of Francis Holmes who are either in our Facebook group or on my mailing list for chronicles, in a bag. Spouses and friends are not included as they do not get numbered in the program’s default. Those who have no descendants are also not numbered, but I’ll include them with their parent’s number. I pull out three names, and include them for two weeks. Next week, I’ll draw three more. This is for fun, but if the three names I drew were not in my tree that I am using now, I insert them. Win-win exercise.

 

The three I drew last week are:

 

·         Angela Gautreau, # ii, daughter of Anne Marie Holmes Gautreau, is now # 328. #327, where Anne was last week, is now Robert Holmes.

·         Dan Fielding is now # 480. Last week, he was # 477, who is now Leanne Ballantyne Gaines.           

·         Karen Davis Jones, is now # 464. Last week, she was # 461, who is now Joseph Booth.

 

New this week are:

 

 

·         Karl Holmes is # 334. Karl, in the Charles R Holmes line, is my first cousin. He was born in the same hospital about four months after me, so I’ve known him our entire lives. Karl and Pauline Sarrazin retired from teaching and enjoy life to the fullest. I know they love to ski and travel and spend time at their cottage. Although he doesn’t work on genealogy, he certainly enjoys reading it and finding out more about our family roots and ties. He’s one of my regular commenters, and I am certainly grateful for all commenters.

 

·         Elizabeth Steeves is # i, daughter of Jerome Steeves, #214. I met Elizabeth a few years back, when Mum and I returned home from a visit to my sister via Lincoln. We had a lovely chat, and Elizabeth and I often correspond about family history and matters. Elizabeth is in the Alfred Steeves and Caroline Holmes line – better known as Alf and Carrie – and is the daughter of Jerome and Bjorg Elfar Steeves. Jerome and Bjorg met in Iceland, where Jerome was stationed during WWII. She volunteers at the Lincoln Historical Society, and I’m sure they appreciate her efforts there.

 

·         Celia Nolte Anklesaria is # 416. She is in the Charles R Holmes line, and is the daughter of Ralph and Janet Minella Nolte. She and her husband, Hoshi Anklesaria, have one son, Philip, and a daughter-in-law, Maika. I must tell the worm story, although I can never remember if it was Celia’s story, or her sister Julia’s. They were visiting Hill Grove from Texas, and it was time to leave. Celia had picked an apple from the orchard, and found a worm. She wanted to keep the worm as a pet, but she lost it. They family could not leave until she found another apple with a worm in it – she fussed so.

 

FYI, this takes a lot of time, but it’s kind of fun. I do it on Tuesdays rather than Thursdays. Watch for your name.

~

 

My genealogy goals for this week were:

 

·         Write up the minutes from the genealogy society meeting.

·         Send story about Phoebe McMonagle Holmes and her recipe for Raspberry Dumplings to Jeff. Outline: bread and milk for Christmas; a summer drink for the grandkids; sharing the dumpling recipe.

·         Continue revising the William Holmes line for the Lincoln project.

·         Chronicle several times, and publish on Thursday morning.

·         Add a few more people to the tree so the stats move.

·         Continue researching and writing about William Lotham for the “Where There’s a Will” article.

·         Write a rough draft for the “About” section in our group.

·         Continue working on my April presentation for the genealogical society.

I wrote up the minutes. No procrastinating this time.

I continued revising the William Holmes line for the Lincoln project. I got stuck at Louis Anthony Holmes, son of Fenwicke Lindsay Holmes. By stuck, I mean that I found some interesting stuff and wanted to look into his life a little further.

As you can see, I chronicled.

I spent most of my research time on the William Lothum article, as I have a deadline. It’s coming along, and I think I have reached a conclusion, which is more about Francis Holmes than William Lothum.

I wrote a draft for the “About” section of our Facebook group. Needs work. You can read my scribbles below.

I worked on my April presentation. I snipped a couple of slides for your reading pleasure.

~

The New “About” Section for our Facebook Group: A Draft. I welcome your comments and suggestions. If you think it is too long, it is. Part of the writing process is cutting.

“I can never recall details and don’t know all of the people, but it’s like a pulse, good to know it’s strong and steady.”

Thanks to Doug Holmes for this simile. It makes me smile. Thump thump. Thump thump.

We are the a Holmes family (there are many) and a few relations connections. We either descend from Francis Holmes or are married/partnered/other to descendants of Francis Holmes. Francis (c.1600 – 1675), immigrant ancestor from England c. 1635, spent his adult years in Stamford, Fairfield, Connecticut, where he is buried. His fourteen generations of descendants are now spread out all over the world.

I try to draw “cousins” back to this small virtual space, so we can meet family, learn our history, make plans, and share our news and accomplishments. You are welcome to help me with this.

In the 1920s, the descendants of Daniel Holmes and Charlotte Hoyt gathered several times in Petitcodiac, New Brunswick; Lincoln, Maine; and China, Maine. They came from as far as California to the north-east. Five of their twelve still-living children (fix this) attended some or all of these reunions. At that time, this particular branch of the descendants the descendants of Daniel and Charlotte Hoyt Holmes either knew or knew of each other. Those who attended were instructed to write to those who couldn’t attend, telling them about the gatherings/happenings.

In this new millennium, many of their descendants, including me, no longer knew or knew about their ancestors. We strive to change this. We have some passionate genealogists working on the tree. We gathered in person in 2014 and 2016. We continue on, virtually.

I often hear, “I don’t know the people.” I don’t know you all, either. The ones I know best are either cousins I have met and/or those who comment and share in this group. Perhaps, even though you don’t know them, you could keep in mind that they are fellow descendants or interested connections, and read on.

The pulse got pretty weak, but it has picked up. Small family groups join other groups, and with each joining, the Holmes pulse beats stronger and steadier. You can help by asking your Holmes cousins if they would like to join us. Their surnames may not be Holmes, but they should have some connection to or special interest in our family.

In order to protect this group and keep information confidential, I keep the settings private. This means that no one can scroll to us and find us. In a way that is a detriment, but when I had it open to all, I had lots of people asking to join. When I asked about their lineage, they generally were not related at all. Plus, having it open to all brings in problems with scammers and spammers. It is a necessity. However, we want to welcome family members, so it is up to us to advertise our little group. You are also welcome to share your news and photographs.

The administers ask that you help to keep this site a warm, welcoming place for everyone in our family. Please recognize that we are a diverse group of people. The place for our personal beliefs and points of view, which sometimes become issues of contention and are unrelated to family history and news, is on our own personal Facebooks. We appreciate your cooperation.

~

A Bit of my April Power Point Presentation

 

"Hook, Lines, and Sinker: The Five Lives of my Gramp - Who will you choose?" This workshop will show you how to create an outline that will make it easy to write your article. Click to enlarge.

 





~

I don’t think many of you will be interested in this, but I need to keep a record in case I lose it. I read over the sections but I didn’t do the exercises. I learned a lot. The name of the writing I seem to be reading is called Secretary Hand. Mind you, I think my secretaries were not writing as polished as this. I do that too. Sometimes I can’t even read my own scribbling. From Family Tree magazine:

“5 Strategies for Deciphering Old Handwriting on Documents”

By Danny Arsenault

 


 

https://familytreemagazine.com/records/documentary-evidence/?fbclid=IwAR1Ix7QIW-HFdyBdes4_aL7XyzrAlD5kPDVedh3Bah15gxtQ5Y9XF1tIcRk

This link took me to the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, and this article: Quarantine Reading: Learn to read Secretary Hand.

~

Have a great week! I hope your pulse is strong and steady.

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