Genealogist and Great Grandmother all in one

Last week I posted about the birth of my first great grandchild. I spent yesterday afternoon with the latest addition to our family, itty bitty Lucas. He is under 6 lbs and is so light to hold. My granddaughter commented recently that being a young great grandmother is neat since I get to spend many years with him.

That made me think about my children and their great grandparents.

My oldest son had 4 great grandparents living when he was born. One, my Grandpa Mike died when my son was 4 1/2 months old and never got to meet his first great grandchild as we were living in California and Grandpa was back in Minnesota. However, my son did spend time with three other great grandparents. He was 6 when two of them died.

My daughter also got to know those two grandparents as she was 4 when they died.

Then there was my Grandma Gert who lived until she was almost 99. My oldest son was 31 when his GGG

My first great grandchild on Labor Day!

It will always be a special family joke that my first granddaughter gave birth to my first great grandchild on Labor Day!

Lucas arrived this morning. I feel giddy. I had no trouble sleeping through it all. I had the phone on silent and slept 12 hours upon my return from the FGS genealogy conference in San Antonio. I woke up to many missed phone calls and text messages. Those messages included photos of Mommy, Daddy, and Baby. Then I opened Facebook to see the first photo had already been posted there by the Daddy. I had instructed her that the baby could not arrive while I was out of town. She waited!

I am guessing my granddaughter won't be working at the paying job on Labor Day.  However, this was a much better paying Labor Day for her. 

I have added the details to RootsMagic already. That's a genealogy software program that I have started to use. I know that family who read this won't know what that means. What an honor to add the newest generation.

So anxious to see and hold the latest addition to our family.

"No longer saved for generations, family heirlooms are being shed"

That is the title of an article in today's online Star-Tribune. I know from my own experience that not all family members want to hang on to furniture, dishes, and other items.

The sentences that really hit me are "Even highly personal items, such as scrapbooks, letters and photos, are now being shed. “We’re surprised,” Burley said. Empty the Nest sells those items to vintage dealers who buy in lots, turning mementos into artwork for others." and "Mueller has purchased other personal items, including vintage diplomas and handwritten love letters, which she plans to use, along with vintage maps, to create retro decor."

Scotland and genealogy tourism: I'll volunteer

The Scotsman.com from Edinburgh, Scotland carried an article today titled "Scotland Urged to Refocus on Genealogy Tourism."

"By BRIAN FERGUSON
Published on Sunday 25 November 2012 00:00

WHOEVER they think they are they deserve the red carpet treatment for a new study estimates people searching for their roots will be worth ­­­£2.4 billion to Scotland over the next five years.

The potential of so-called ancestral tourism has been outlined in a report by consultants TNS, which estimates a potential market of 50 million people of Scottish ancestry.

But services need to be improved if Scotland is to cash in, including promoting existing research facilities, specialist tour operators and the creation of budget “genealogy packages”."


Here's my offer: I will volunteer to be a test research tourist for this effort. My Stuart, Grant, and Forbes connections are from the area of Strathdon in Aberdeen. Robert and Mary (Grant) Stuart are my great great great grandparents. Their son James born about 1815 in that area and was later a jailer in several places in Angus. He married Helenor Edwards and had children in several places there including Arbroath. The Edwards tie into Allardyce, Leighton, and other families. Then James and Helenor came to Wisconsin with their children and descendants ended up in Minnesota, Illinois, Kansas, California, Colorado, Florida, and other places. I really need to visit both counties in Scotland and the National Archives in Edinburgh.

I need to consult some original records to make up for gaps in microfilmed records, need to visit the old "home towns" and take pictures to share, and figure out where my Stuart ancestors originated. 

Just think of all the publicity I could help them with here in the United States. I could mention my trip everywhere I lecture, in my blog, in articles in genealogy publications, on Facebook, Google+, and Twitter, in the popular press, and to my fellow family historians. I would distribute brochures every place I went. All I would require is the plane and train tickets, hotels, and of course, a guide in all the places. It could be a Christmas present to me. I am sure it will happen. Right?

Now, back to reality.

To read the full article, click here.

Picture board time of year

Yes, it's that time of year. Are you putting together a set of photos to display at a graduation open house, wedding shower, or wedding? Maybe you are doing it in a slide show format. Whichever way, it's time to also make sure those pictures are labeled. Even better, write up a few words that tell the story of the photo and the people in it. Where was it taken? How are the people related? What was the occasion?

You can purchase a special pencil to use in writing on the back of photos. I am not a preservation expert, but there are many websites with this info. A historical society gift shop, good camera store, or one place with scrapbooking supplies may have the correct kind of pencil. You may also find that you need to take better care of your photos whether they are printed or still on your computer (or camera!). One helpful website for supply and caretaking info is the Northeast Document Conservation Center. http://www.nedcc.org/resources/family.php.

I am putting together some picture boards for my oldest granddaughter's graduation party this weekend. I have done the same thing for other graduations, weddings, showers, and funerals. I wish I had typed a short little story to place beneath some of those pictures. This time I am adding some stories. These will mean a lot to me, Kaylene, and to her Dad who is my son. It will also help the guests to know more about her. Something tells me that she may not remember exactly where certain pictures were taken when she was a toddler!

Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy still has some open spots!

Yes, you read that correctly! A few of the courses have a waiting list and it never hurts to get on those. Some courses, like the one I coordinate, have agreed to add a few more students so that we don't turn you away. Not all course set-ups allow for that, but I was happy to be able to do this. I hope you are able to join us in January 2012.


I coordinate and teach in Course 1: American Research and Records: Focus on Families which is an intermediate level course that provides in-depth learning on 19th-21st century U.S. sources and the methodology for using them. The 2012 course focuses on topics related to researching families and individuals. Informative and interactive classroom hours on five mornings and one afternoon delve into significant records and strategies that take you beyond basic research tools both online and off. On-site scheduled consultations at the FHL from course instructors on three afternoons provide one-on-one

Alzheimer's Action Day: My Mom

My Mom passed away in 2008. For far too many years before that she suffered from Alzheimer's. Far too many years. Looking back to the early 1990s we can now recognize behavior that may have been early signs.

Mom was also having those small strokes that affected her behavior. We had begun to talk every 2-3 days in the 1980s and that is something I miss a lot. My Mom was not easy to live with. She was a stickler for neatness, things being done only her way, and at her time no matter what worked for everyone else. Plus she was a strict mother. All that said, no human being should ever have to go through what she did.

Mom would have been mortified if she knew her once careful and coordinated dressing, haircut, and classy jewelry were reduced to stained clothing, bedhead, and no jewelry. She would have be embarrassed to realize that she hit the people she loved and those who helped care for her. She would have rather missed going out in public than to have others be embarrassed by her behavior. To know that she had to be fed at the end would have given her nightmares and they probably did happen.

She did have a few lucid moments. One time she asked me whose little boys those were in her living room. I said they were Katie's (my daughter) boys. She said Katie was too young to have kids. I would watch old movies with her and she would nod when I talked about watching movies in our old living room where I grew up. I never told her my husband had left me as it wouldn't have been understood or so I thought. I was sitting with her one day as Sarah, one of the caregivers, was feeding her. Sarah and I were talking about the change in my life and we suddenly noticed tears running down my mother's face. She understood. From then on I talked to her as if she really did understand things and just told her about things going on in the family. I would sometimes explain in detail about the person to whom I was referring. She lost her ability to speak but at times the frightened look in her eyes said volumes.

No one should have to live almost as a vegetable, unable to talk any longer, and unable to enjoy life for a dozen years or more. My father became her security blanket and she would panic if one of us took him to do errands. That knowledge would have shocked this once strong woman who was very self-sufficient and yes, controlling. In the study of my family's history I have not come across knowledge that would lead me to think we have a history of Alzheimer's or any form of prolonged dementia. So, why Mom?

4th of July: Freedom and Family

The 4th of July was a big day in our neighborhood when I was growing up. It meant family and neighbor time. Some years it meant patriotic singing, led by my Dad's booming voice. It meant hot dogs and hamburgers cooked by my Dad, Bill, and our neighbor ,Ernie Lindberg. For many years the biggest fireworks production in St. Paul was at Highland Park on Montreal. We didn't travel to see them as our backyard on Bowdoin Street was a perfect venue for lining up the lawn chairs and watching, with sparklers in hand. As the older Lindberg sons hit their teens, somehow we had our own fireworks displays in a city where that wasn't allowed. But we reveled in it.

When my parents moved out of their house, one place they lived was a condo across from Central Park in Roseville, Minnesota. We would just walk out their patio door and watch the fireworks from Central Park. The grandchildren loved that view. Of course, we had sparklers. I miss those days.

One year my husband and I were in Washington, DC on the 4th. Talk about a busy place but what a place to be on the 4th! The music, parade, but most of all for me, the feeling of history and freedom was everywhere.

Yes, it's a day to celebrate and remember. But I also remember the Native Americans who suffered and were forced to gave up their freedom in this beautiful land. Let's not forget their sacrifice.

Sentimental Sunday: Thinking about on-site family history searches

I love to sit at my computer checking Ancestry.com, Facebook, NewspaperArchives, American Ancestors and a bunch of other websites. Today I was thinking about some other research ventures that involved on-site researching. I find it exhilarating to touch original records, get my fingers dirty paging through an old volume of court records, view an original will, or whatever the sought after record might be.

City directories at the St. Paul Public Library: discovering other people with the same surname (Cook) as my maiden grandaunts living at the same address in St. Paul. I had never heard their father or brother's names before.

Civil court records at the county courthouse: finding my father's divorce papers from his first wife. Yes, she did run off while he was overseas during WWII. There were no children. 

Correspondence with a distant cousin: finding out that our mutual ancestral surname was not Dow and was not English or Irish, but was Daoust and French-Canadian.

Family History Library in Salt Lake City: reading deeds from Arkansas on microfilm and finally connecting some Warren relatives of my father-in-law's. 

Genealogical society meeting: shared something about a 1st cousin twice removed and a fellow attendee ended up giving me a box full of clippings and stories about MY cousin who had lived in the same town with her aunt.


Newspapers at the Minnesota Historical Society: finding the 50th wedding anniversary story about Nils Christian Carlsen and Betsy Peterson, a set of my maternal great grandparents.

Newspaper clipping file at the St. Paul Public Library: finding the clippings about my mother-in-law's cousin Eddie Green that told us he was an associate of John Dillinger's.

File at the public library in Clarksville, Arkansas: seeing the names of other people also researching my father-in-law's family.

Civil war pension reading at the National Archives in Washington, DC: viewing the complete pension files of ancestors and siblings. 

Area Research Center in Wisconsin: seeing the signature of my own great grandfather in the papers of the St. Andrew Society.

Cemeteries in Wisconsin: seeing the stones for my German ancestors in Fort Atkinson and Watertown.

Wordless Wednesday: My Paternal Grandmother Olga (Carlsen) Stuart

Thanks to my cousin, Dave Gustafson, for sharing this picture of our grandmother. She was also known as Grandma Toots!

National Tartan Day: my roots in Scotland

April 6th is National Tartan Day in the U.S. I have some proud Scottish ancestry.

Among the names I find in my ancestry in Scotland are
Stuart: Strathdon, Aberdeen; Abroath, Angus;
Grant: Strathdon, Aberdeen
Leighton/Lighton: Farnell, Angus
Niddrie/Nedry: Farnell and Kinnell, Angus
Allardice/Allardyce: Kinnell, Angus
Edward/s: Brechin, Forfar, and Abroath, Angus
Cowie: Brechin and Forfar, Angus

In the U.S. the Edward/s and Stuart families and descendants are in Fond du Lac, Ripon, Beaver Dam, Rhinelander, Sheboygan, Omro, Berlin, Fort Atkinson, and Oshkosh Wisconsin; Rutland, Vermont; Chicago and Elgin, Illinois; Cleveland, Ohio; Salina and Marysville, Kansas; and St. Paul and Roseville, Minnesota. Some descendants have lived in New Mexico, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Colorado later in the 20-21st centuries.

Generations alive when I was born

When I was born I had these ancestors alive:

Parents: William Earl and Patricia Margaret (Hanley) Stuart
Maternal Grandparents: Maurice Michael and Gertrude Margaret (Cook) Hanley
Paternal Grandparents: Earl James and Olga Theodora (Carlsen) Stuart
Maternal Great Grandparents: John Thomas and Violet (Marie Delia Malvina Daoust/Dow) Cook 
Paternal Great Grandmother: Emma Louise (Slaker) Stuart (widow of Alexander Charles Stuart)

I was 10 when my last great grandparent died, Violet (Marie Delia Malvina Daoust/Dow) Cook. She was 83.
I was 18 when my first grandparent died, Olga Theodora (Carlsen) Stuart. She was 76.
I was 51 when my last grandparent died, Gertrude (Cook) Hanley. She was 98.


When my oldest son was born he had these ancestors alive:

Wordless Wednesday: Thanksgiving 1948

Paula Stuart, age 4 1/2 months with her paternal Grandfather E. J. Stuart.

Black Sheep Sunday: Alexander Charles Stuart

I have not found anything as far as criminal activity regarding my Great Grandfather, Alexander Charles Stuart, but he still wasn't a man that his family always looked up to. Alex Stuart was born 2 August 1847 in Arbroath, Angus, Scotland, the son of James Stuart and Helenor Edward. James Stuart was born about 1815 to Robert Stuart and Mary Grant. James' date of birth and parents' names have not been proven. They come from obituaries and other sources. The likely parish is Strathdon, Aberdeen, Scotland. The parish records of Strathdon have no entries for a number of years. Helenor Edward was born 30 October 1819 in Brechin, Angus, Scotland, the daughter of James Edward and Magdelene Allardice.

In 1852 James and Helenor and four children born in Scotland sailed to America. They settled in Oshkosh and Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Helenor's brother James Edward/Edwards and family also settled in the same area.

Alex was also called Alec and A. C. In the very early 20th century he left his family in St. Paul, Minnesota, and took off for Salina, Kansas where his brother, Robert, lived. His wife, Emma Louise Slaker, was left behind to raise their seven living children. Two daughters had died previously while they were living in Ripon, Wisconsin and Elgin, Illinois. Alex was a wanderer and two of his grandchildren, Bill and Dorothy, related the stories of him always on the lookout for "something better." He was constantly on the move. Often, it was not the best thing for his growing family. They moved frequently, even within the same city, likely to stay one step ahead of the rent collector. His main occupation was that of carving tombstones.

When he abandoned his family, his oldest son, Earl James, quit school to support the family. Alex's granddaughter Dorothy, told that E. J., her Dad, lied about his age in order to get work to support the family. The grandchildren also remembered hearing that Emma was a pretty stern woman.

When Alex was going blind from glaucoma, he did come back to St. Paul permanently, for Emma to take care of him. And she did. Alex died 2 April 1942 and Emma died 11 November 1951. Both died in St. Paul.

Wordless Wednesday: The Stuart Grandchildren Christmas 1962

Christmas 1962 at 1080 Bowdoin in St. Paul

All the grandchildren of Earl James and Olga Theodora (Toots) (Carlsen) Stuart.

Wordless Wednesday -- Kay Rowan

Kay Rowan 16 November 1916 - 26 August 2000 (9 years ago today) with her grandniece Katie Warren Dougherty.

Tombstone Tuesday -- only because of a kind student

Back in the 1990s I was teaching a class at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy. That was pre-PowerPoint days! I don't remember what the class topic was but it included an overhead of a letter from a cemetery I had contacted in the 1980s.

It was from Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier, California. A lady in the class, Shirley, said that this cemetery was right by her house. As the years have passed, Shirley and her cohorts from Montana have become special friends of mine.

Fast forward to 2002 when the Federation of Genealogical Societies was to have its conference in Ontario, California. Shirley gave me an offer I could not resist -- when I arrived there she would drive me to the cemetery to visit the graves and take pictures. The graves are of a great granduncle Frederick Slaker and his family. Frederick is a brother of my great great grandmother Emma Slaker Stuart. The other sibling was Louis Slaker. The are Germans who settled in Wisconsin. Fred and Lou and their families ended up in the Los Angeles area.

More than just drive me to the cemetery, Shirley went there ahead of time, got a map, and scouted out the area where the graves are located. All this because I taught a class.

A County Fair, A Pony, Babies, and a Wedding

I knew I had this picture somewhere. Organizing my bookshelves helped to find it. The 78th Edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is "Ride 'Em Cowboy - Share Your Pony Pictures." This event is sponsored by Jasia of the Creative Gene blog.

I don't always have the opportunity to participate in the various themes, special postings, carnivals, and other wonderful Geneablogger events but this one came at the perfect time. I will be participating in-person at a large event involving Geneabloggers at the FGS Conference in Little Rock in a few weeks.

Way back in 1958 my Aunt Jeanie and Uncle Bill took me to the Ramsey County Fair. Imagine what happened to my ten year old ego when the St. Paul Sunday Pioneer Press published a picture of me! Apparently I even had to circle my own picture so I would recognize myself.

My aunt and uncle are at the very back of the picture. Bill is holding their oldest son, Rick, and Jeanie is obviously very pregnant. In fact, that baby, my cousin Maureen, was born on August 11th. I am so glad I found this picture today as Jeanie and Bill's youngest daughter, Patti, is getting married tomorrow. I know my Aunt Jeanie would be so proud and is looking down at Patti and smiling.

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Fourth of July memories

I hope you took some time to remember the importance of the 4th of July and celebrated the freedom and independence of the United States. I feel fortunate to call this country my home.

Randy Seaver, blogger extraordinaire, is known for challenging his fellow bloggers or suggesting writing assignments on a variety of things. His Genea-musings of today has the usual Saturday Night Genealogy Fun. He wants his fellow Geneabloggers to write about the 4th of July.

1. Think of the best Fourth of July you remember from your childhood.
The best one was actually year after year of the same thing. Oh was it fun. Our neighbors, the Lindbergs, had a pool. We would swim all day, have hot dogs and hamburgers cooked by our dads, and then come back to my house to watch the fireworks. From our large backyard we could see the beautiful fireworks that used to be fired off from Highland Park in St. Paul. The oldest Lindberg sons and friends usually had their own bootlegged fireworks and the younger kids had sparklers. What a simple but so enjoyable day.

2. Think of the best fourth of July you remember from your adulthood.
When my parents sold their house, they moved into a condo that was directly across from Central Park in Roseville, a St. Paul suburb. The pool was indoors but their condo had a patio that fronted on to the park where another beautiful fireworks display took place. For several years the entire family gathered there to play, swim, eat, and watch the fireworks. It was more special because my own children got to experience the Fourth with one set of grandparents.

Several years ago my husband and I were in Washington, DC over the Fourth of July. It was a hot day but we watched the parade down the Mall, did a lot of walking around, saw other events, and I was so excited to be live at the nation's Capitol to watch the entertainment and the fireworks. Suddenly I was ill -- the horrible heat that day had taken a toll on me and we ended up going back to the apartment to watch the evening events. It's not the best, but one that almost was a very special one.

3. What did you do today?
I spent the morning with my oldest granddaughter as we finished assembling my new bookshelves. Well, honestly, I just assisted her. She did almost all the work while I did a variety of things. Then I took her home and came home to continue rearranging things in my living room and dining room. Cooked on the grill and am now watching "A Capitol Fourth" live from Washington, DC. In a little while I will venture outside to see if I can catch the fireworks from a nearby lake.

I hope your day has been both fun and relaxing.

Wordless Wednesday (Well, close to it.)

First cousins David Gustafson and Paula Stuart. Both of us were born in 1948, but Dave is 6 weeks older as I keep reminding him. We are on the swing in our Grandma and Grandpa Stuart's basement at 2019 Princeton Ave. in St. Paul, Minnesota. Grandpa kept his basement so clean you could eat off the floor.