Tika & The Ten Rules of the Canoe

Near Poulso, Washington, is the resting place of Chief Seattle (ca 1786-1866) who was chief of the Squamish people. Near the cemetery is the Squamish Museum where we learned all about this tribe and their lives and times.

Calling themselves the Canoe People and this message was framed and on the wall in that museum. I'll retype the rules for you so you can read them........ we think they're darn good Rules for Living:

1.  Keep going! Every stroke we take is one less we have to make.
2.  Respect and trust cannot exist in anger; there is to be no abuse of self or others.
3.  The adaptable animal survives; be flexible.
4.  Every story is important: the gift of each enriches all.
5.  Nothing occurs in isolation; we all pull and support each other.
6.  Always nourish yourself; a hungry person has no charity.
7.  Our experiences are not enhanced through criticism.
8.  The journey is what we enjoy.
9.  A good teacher always allows the student to learn.
10. When given a choice at all, be a worker bee..... make honey!

Tika says, "Well, I cannot read but they do sound good to me."

Tika & Lost Marriage Records

Tika went with us last weekend to the park to mark the wedding of our grandson. It was a very low-key, low-cost affair but abounding in family love (which is all that counts). Evan and Whitney were married by his Uncle Timothy, with Aunt Jane as the photographer.

On the way home Tika and I got to wondering........... for this marriage there were no newspaper notices, stories or announcements, no photographs except what family took and the requisite paperwork was signed there in the park. Evan's mother took it upon herself to ramrod  and secure the official paperwork.

No wonder we sometimes cannot find any official mention of our ancestor's marriage! They got married in the little church or the backyard and between there and the county office the paperwork got lost when the parson forded a stream and his bag got soaked. Or nobody was in charge of the paperwork and it just got forgotten or lost and was never properly filed.

If this marriage had been 150 years ago, in a little church, backyard or park near the couple's home, where would you maybe find a record of the marriage? Perhaps in a church bulletin or history mention? Perhaps in the local little newspaper..... if somebody submitted the story? Perhaps in the family Bible..... which is where today? Perhaps in a letter to a family member who could not attend..... which is where today? Perhaps in the diaries of those attending........ where to find them today? Or perhaps in the journals of the bride and groom.... no doubt written long after the event? Or the "Grandmother, Tell Me Your Story?" books?

Tika's point here is this: you may never find that one piece of paper, that one official record, for the marriage of your ancestor. To "prove" that marriage you will have to collect bits and pieces and secondary evidence. 'Tiz the way of life, I guess, mused Tika.

Who was asleep on my lap by this point. Smart, tired little dogger.

Tika & Heart-Shaped Rocks

For over thirty years, my daughter and I have collected heart-shaped rocks. We were first hooked on this hobby by walking on Pacific beaches and looking for beach treasures. We soon found heart-shaped rocks and were amazed and delighted to find many rocks.... and everywhere!!.... in that distinctive shape. (The heart shape is my daughter's favorite.)

As our travel circles widened, our heart-shaped rock collection grew to include coral hearts from the beaches of Hawaii and slate hearts from the beaches of Maine and granite hearts from the banks of the Columbia River and from all points in between. This photo was taken of my "find" in Arizona.

My Jane jazzed up her collection by buying those fancy rock hearts that you seen in so many gift shops. We mounted our heart-shaped rocks in patterns on driftwood boards and hung them in our homes, always a delight to the eye.

There is a family history or genealogy parallel here.

As we'd walk the beaches we'd spot "wannabee" rocks and "leave-er-ite" rocks, and "nope" rocks. A rock was either a heart-shaped rock or it was not.

Genealogy is a bit like collecting heart-shaped rocks. A new name is either your ancestor or he or she is not.

Jane has tried grinding unwanted parts of some almost-heart-shaped rocks to remove what does not fit. You cannot and should not grind away unwanted ancestors. And you most certainly cannot grind away dates, places or connections in your family history just to make the fit.

When we're scouting for heart-shaped rocks, we gather into our bag only rocks that are for sure  heart-shaped. No "making them fit."

When you're researching your family, make sure you gather into your bag only persons that are for sure ancestors. No "making them fit."

Tika most surely agrees!

Tika & Lighthouses

Are you as fascinated by lighthouses as I am? I love to visit lighthouses and enjoy the view from the top of ones open to the public and visit every one that I can.  So what is a lighthouse?   

         

A lighthouse is a tower, building or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways.  Lighthouses mark dangerous coastline, hazardous shoals, reefs and safe entries to harbors. (This definition from the website, www.lighthousefriends.com.)

What are the lighthouses in our genealogy? What are the "aids to navigation" for us in researching our family history?  What warns us from "dangerous coastlines, hazardous shoals and reefs" and then provides us "safe entry" into harbors? 

I think there is a 1-word answer to the above question: Documentation. With proper documentation of every bit of information that we enter onto our charts we ensure a "safe harbor" and we avoid "hazardous shoals and reefs" of the dreaded general-ology.   (It has been said that genealogy without documentation is mythology or fiction at best.)

Documentation will serve us well if we will but employ it faithfully. What is documentation? Stay tuned…

Tika says, "Is this my new chew toy?"

Tika & Rocks (Documentation)

Documentation is, according to Webster's Dictionary, "anything printed or written that is relied upon to record or prove something."

Documentation is, then, something printed or written that substantiates as correct a conclusion…… something that documents your research conclusions.

To me, documentation is finding the answer to a question.

I have collected rocks from my travels. I arrange them on my deck and like to look at them and remember where I found them. Got to thinking one day about the geological origins of my rocks and which rocks came from the seashore.

So my question was: Are any of my rocks sea rocks?

Looking carefully at each one I could see that some are sandstone, some granite, some lave, some petrified wood, some basalt, etc. Very different origins. Only three prove to answer my question. Only three can "prove" that they are sea rocks. One is coral-turned-to-stone from the Pacific Island of Kiribati, one a different coral from Maui and one large one is sandstone-with-shells from an Oregon beach. Only these three document the answer to my question.

How do they do so? By what they are……….. corals and seashells only live in ocean water.

How does any of this apply to genealogy? Just as visualization documents my sea rocks, when I find and see the real, correct, answer to my genealogy question then I know I have my documentation.

Tika says, "This makes no sense to me." I hope it does to you. 

Tika & A Really Good Research Plan

Years, ago, EWGS (the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society) had Patricia Law Hatcher as our Spring Seminar speaker. She was fabulous in every way. I still have some of the notes I took that day.

Pat explained the difference between A Typical Researcher's Cycle and A Top Notch Researcher's Cycle.

It's really quite simple............. think of a circle divided into four equal parts. In a Typical Researcher's Cycle, 1/4 of the circle is allotted to Preparation,  1/2 of the circle to Research, and only the 1/4 remaining is devoted to Analysis & Writing.

In a Top Notch Researcher's Cycle the divisions are much different:  3/4 of the circle is allotted to Preparation & Analysis & Writing and only the 1/4 remaining is for Research.

Think about the difference. An "ordinary" researcher spends little time in preparation and little time in analysis and the writing up of the findings or the story but spends the majority of their genealogy time in research.  A top notch" researcher spends fully 3/4 of their time in preparation and analysis and writing and a scant 1/4 of the time in research.

I've thought about this and pondered upon Pat's words for many years now and the truth of her words have become clearer and clearer to me as time has passed. To be an effective genealogist, you cannot just spend time in research. You must be specific in your research and really study what you've found. And you really must write up your findings in a narrative. There is no better way to "lay all the cards on the table" so to speak and see if you have really found all the correct answers. I encourage you to follow Pat's direction.

She ended the day with us by sharing this quote: "Writing, then pondering what you wrote is the best preparation for research." 

Well, you know Tika by now. She listened, but was not really interested in all of this.

Tika & A Test

Tika says it's been much, much too hot for much heavy-duty thinking so she suggested we give you all a test today. (That's Dachshund Logic for you.) It's an easy test.............. answers next week. But Tika and I would love to read your answers posted as comments! And this is from your memory...no Google help!

1.  How long was the 100 Years' War?

2.  What country makes Panama hats?

3.  Which animal do we get cat-gut from?

4.  In what month do Russians celebrate the October Revolution?

5.  What is a camel's hair brush made of?

6.  The Canary Island in the Pacific are named for what animal?

7.  What was King George VI's first name?

8.  What color is a purple finch?

9.  What are Chinese gooseberries and where are they from?

10. What color is the "black box" on commercial airlines?

Tika & A Family Puzzle

Have you even seen a family group like this one? Welcome to the Samuel Wells Metsker family of Douglas County, Kansas. I invite you to spot what's really unusual about this family and then to post your comment. Who among you will be the first with the sharpest eyes?

Samuel Wells Metsker was born in 1838 in Blair Co, PA, and died in 1907 in Douglas Co, KS. He was the son of Jacob Metsker and Elizabeth Christian. The couple married about 1861 in Kansas and had eleven children:

1.  Alonzo Byron Metsker, 1862-1921, m. Nellie Capps.
2.  Clara Delvina Metsker, b. 1863, m. Isaac Hershey.
3.  Emma Florence Metsker, 1864-1884.
4.  Granville Harrison Metsker, b. 1866, m. Effie Martin.
5.  Ida Jane Metsker, b. 1867, m. William Warner.
6.  Kellie Leota Metsker, 1869-1940, m. Albert Jefts.
7.  Minnie Nevada Metsker, b. 1871, m. Edwin Jay.
8.  Oma Pierre Metsker, 1873-1873.
9.  Quincy Roy Metsker, b. 1874.
10. Sonora Tolena Metsker, 1876-1946, never married.
11. Urban Victor Metsker, 1877-1864, never married.

(This comes from the Fall 1994 issue of the Fellowship of Brethren Genealogists Newsletter. Submitter was Dolores Baker of Wichita, Kansas.)

Now Tika does not really care about puzzles or brain-stumpers or unusual family groups.  She never has.... even when she was a tiny puppy.  But we do!

Tika & Family Ties

Sandy from Florida came to visit us and gained Tika's love and trust right away. Why not, since she is family?

Sandy is the ex-wife of the son of my husband's father and his first wife. (Can you figure that out?) So she is biologically aunt-by-marriage to my children and we are same to her son. Since all of our children share Phillips' ancestry, that makes us cousins!

After Sandy's visit I got to thinking about Collateral Research or some might call it Descendancy Research.  Whatever you term it, looking for the relatives-of-the-relatives-of-the-relatives, etc. is a worthwhile pursuit. The goal of any search is to find answers and/or new information. The goal of connecting up with a distant, shirt-tail, relative is the same: to find answers and/or new information. But the best part of this sort of research is that you often find "stuff and things" that you would never find elsewhere.

For instance, since Sandy's son comes from Chuck Phillips' first wife, Sandy could tell me more details about her life.... things I did not know. Things I had not looked for since "it's not my line"..... hubby comes from the second wife.

Another connection I've made this month with the descendants of the first wife was to get pictures that I would never have seen otherwise. It's sad but true that most of us only take the time to really dig into our own pedigree line and too often ignore those collateral folks, even close ones.

"Shape up!" Tika reminds us. "Think how great it was to spend time with a distant cousin and think what you both learned!" Tika is one smart little dachshund dogger.

Tika & Perspective

This time I was explaining to Tika. "Perspective is everything," I told her. "From where you are looking makes a huge difference on what you see." Tika wagged her tail appreciatively.

We were playing on the grass in the front yard when I realized this perspective bit. The top photo shows how the yard looks atop her four-inch legs. The lower photo shows it from my standing-up point of view. The biggest difference, as I see it, is how far you can see... you only and mostly see near and far but not much of the center or middle. 

Do we do genealogy this way? Look mostly or only at the "grass" right in front of us as the only and main thing we see or do we "stand up" and look at the big picture?? Looking at the "grass" means you're stumped on a problem and just don't see a solution. But if you would "stand up", enlarge your perspective, you would get a different and likely clearer view of your problem. Doesn't that make sense?

By this point Tika was wriggling on her back in the grass............ and from her upside-down perspective she was not seeing much of anything. "Ah, little Tika dog," I smiled.

Tika & Trivia Today

When my daughter and I visited Old Sturbridge Village (supposed to be an 1830s New England village) there was one house where you could lay upon the beds and pick things up.... a "touch and feel" house. So I did plop down on this bed!

This was a rope bed and it was surprisingly comfortable. You've heard the expression, "Sleep tight tonight?" Well (as I understand) it has to do with these ropes.... when company came the ropes were tightened up making a less-saggy and more comfortable bed. Now you know..... would you enjoy a rope bed?

Tika was quite overwhelmed when I explained to her:  Folks living in many different countries are enjoying Tikas Teachings......... U.S., Canada, France, Turkey, Russia, Latvia, Japan and Malaysia. Would love to know what those folks think of Tika's blog really.

Tika says, "Did you know?  A mile on the ocean and a mile on land are not the same distance. You will burn 7% more calories walking on dirt than pavement. Only male turkeys gobble. And you burn more calories sleeping than watching TV. Well now you do!"

Tika & Glass

I photographed these glass windows at the House of Seven Gables in Salem, Massachusetts, last May. Both my daughter and I were fascinated by the irregularities in the glass which, we were told, were original. Did you know that glass is made mostly from sand melted at a high temperature? This famous old house was constructed in 1668 so they knew how to make glass for windows, albeit crudely, even way back then.

In the earliest times and especially on the frontier, our ancestors' homes did not have glass windows. The reasons for this were two: it was heavy and fragile to transport and it was expensive to buy. Some places, some cultures, put a tax on the number of glassed-windows in a house.

Glass windows are a luxury that we today totally take for granted. Not so in days gone by.

"Phooey," says Tika. "I'd rather my glass be sandy places where I can run and go swimming!" 

Tika & Unusual Moms & Dates

Few days ago in our local paper I read the short article about the world's oldest known wild bird.....a 62 year old albatross on Midway Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.... is now a new mother again.

The bird, a Laysan albatross whom biologists have named Wisdom...... received her first ID band during the Eisenhower administration in 1956 and since then has worn out five ID bands.....always returning annually to Midway and raising her chick. Pretty darn amazing.

This little story begs the question: could a 62 year old woman birth a baby? Which, Tika was teaching me, is why we must scrutinize those dates on our family charts because it's more than rare for a 62 year old mother to be correct on those charts. And we know that sometimes those kind of date scrambles can show up!

Another baby-mom bit that I recently came up was printed in The History of Barnstable County (MA): Town of Brewster.  On page 897-8 it speaks of one Thomas Crosby who came from Eastham in 1700 to become one of the first settlers of Barnstable. With his wife, Sarah, he had twelve children..... including a set of triplets, Mercy, Ann and Increase.  While the blurb does not say if all twelve children lived to adulthood, the fact that the triplets were named suggests that they did. And how unusual is it for a set of triplets, born in the 17th century, to live to adulthood????

Tika continued her teachings to me:  A mini-dachshund litter litter of puppies is typically never more than four, "and that's plenty!" Tika said.

Tika & The Heat: What To Do When It's HOT

When it's this hot here in Spokane, Tika says, "Let me in! Let's go chase some Ancestry wavy leaves!" Good idea, Tika.

What do YOU do when you have a totally dead-end brick-wall ancestor that seemingly beamed down from some planet? No wavy leaves on this guy........... James R. Nelson, born about 1880 in Nebraska. With Claudia Fish had five children between 1901-1907 and then in 1909 they got married in Topeka, Kansas. And then the five children were placed in an orphanage and given up. Stories say he was the proverbial travelling salesman. Talk about a dead end.

Rendezvoused with Julie at our downtown library today; this is her family history problem. But it's my brother-in-law's lineage too, so we had to meet and talk and share.

Good thing to do on a beastly hot July day...... but what do you do if there are no wavy leaves?????

Tika & Differences in Ancestry & FamilySearch

Tika was with us out fishing on Williams Lake (southwest of Spokane). While Handy Man fished (and got five nice trout) we took a swim and enjoyed the scenery. We were happily sitting in the bow of the boat, looking at these basaltic cliffs when Tika asked, "Wow. Two towers in one cliff. Isn't that a good image to teach about using Ancestry and FamilySearch?"

Tika knows I enjoy teaching entry-level genealogists and am always looking for easy ways to illustrate a point. She was right-on about these cliffs!

Beginners will ask, "Which website should I start with? Which website is better? Ancestry or FamilySearch?" I shall use this picture to show that Ancestry (on the left) and FamilySearch (on the right) are two parts of the same cliff..............they are the two bestest websites for beginners (or anybody else, for that matter). Both of those rocky cliffs contain the same basaltic rocks. Both of those websites contain the same sort of information. Yes, there are differences, just like with the rocks making up these cliffs. But the information contained in Ancestry and FamilySearch are the same:  information on our ancestors.

"Besides," asked Tika, "isn't FamilySearch free?"  Tika is one smart little dashchund.

Tika & Psychometrics

Tika was asking me the other day, "Is there another word for genealogy or family history?" Remembering a talk I heard a while back, I hesitantly told her, "Yes, I think there is; it's called psychometrics." Here's how Wikipedia explains this new word or concept:

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Psychometrics is the field of study concerned with the theory and technique of psychological measurement,

which includes the measurement of knowledge, abilities, attitudes, personality traits, and educational 

measurement. The field is primarily concerned with the construction and validation of measurement instruments

such as questionnaires, tests, and personality assessments.

Tika said, "Huh?"

Being a word person, I do like words, especially new-to-me words. So how does this word apply to genealogy?

Well, wouldn't we like to understand more about our ancestors' knowledge, attitudes, abilities, education and 

personality traits? Is there a way to understand their lives better by just digging into the records they left behind?

Guess it would take an expert in this field to explain it to me. It does sound fascinating, doesn't it?

After explaining all of this to her, Tika said, "Let's talk about something fun!" So here goes:  "What does it mean 

to be "all of a twitter?"  Wanna guess? 

Tika & Thumbies

Tika was looking at (well, laying on) a brochure that I carried home the other day. I'd picked it up at Heritage Funeral Home and it was offering Thumbies: Fingerprint Keepsakes. Ever heard of these?

The brochure reads: "Meadow Hill helps you create keepsakes of the people you love and the times you want to remember. Three-dimensional Thumbies are crafted from fingerprints, footprints or handprints using the time-honored process of  wax casting. The finished pieces are ever so touchable, making real our memories at each stage of life's cycle."

This company, Meadow Hill, takes the fingerprint or footprint (like of a tiny baby) and creates a pendant either in a round or heart shape. Or smaller round circles for charms on a bracelet. Or even rings.  "A keepsake for all ages and stages."

Tika is not endorsing this as a product but just bringing a new wrinkle to your attention. In fact, I could find no website listed on the brochure but a Google search for "Meadow Hill Thumbies" will bring you the information. P.S. They are not cheap.

Tika wanted to know, "Do dogs have fingerprints? Pad-prints?" I honestly did not know the answer.

Tika & The Fish

This is Fish. He is a Japanese Fighting Fish so he lives alone in his bowl. I've put some ivy cuttings down into the bowl to give him a more natural environment. The first picture shows him in all his colorful glory:

This next picture shows the point of today's lesson. I feed him once daily with proper fish food which he gobbles up. (I've trained him to come to the surface when I spoon-bang on the rim of the bowl.) One day I thought, "well, he is a fish and fish like insects so I'll feed him a tiny bug." Ha! He eyed them and circled them but did not recognize them as food (even the live ones squirming in the water) and did not bite at them. Finally I took a spoon and removed them...... and fed him fish food!

Here's the point of the story: are we, as working, practicing genealogists, so bound by tradition or custom or whatever that we do not recognize a new opportunity when it's presented to us????? Do we "bite" to use a new website or a new technique or do we circle and go away??

Tika says that even a dumb fish ought to have been able to recognize such a great opportunity. "And you're smarter than a fish!" she said emphatically.

Tika & July 4th & Cemeteries

Spokane has two military cemeteries; one is the small Fort George Wright Cemetery and one is the brand new military cemetery southwest of town. I enjoy taking Tika and walking the Centennial Trail which runs past this spot. We always pause to remember why the cemetery is here and remember those resting therein. Thanks to the Spokane Historical website for the sketch of  the Fort George Wright cemetery. (My pictures from fall 2012.)

When Fort George Wright was constructed in the 1890s, effort was made to ensure a proper final resting place could be afforded the men who died there during in military service. A peaceful spot was selected away from the main base, overlooking the Spokane River. In 1900, remains from Fort Sherman  (in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho) and Fort Spokane (west of Spokane on the Columbia River) were disinterred and moved to the Fort George Wright Cemetery. 

Families of active duty soldiers were allowed in the cemetery, and you will notice a preponderance of infant and small child  graves throughout the grounds. This is owing in large part to the high mortality rates of late 19th and early 20th century children. Advances in modern medicine would cut these rates dramatically. But they now serve as a sad reminder of a time  before modern medical practice. 

Veterans of all branches of the military are represented at the cemetery. The cemetery was always integrated, as shown by the black veterans of the Spanish-American War that are interred here, such as Andrew Booker and William Morris, whose 25th Infantry fought alongside Theodore Roosevelt during the famous battles near San Juan Hill. Navy men such as Eugene Alfred Gideon are buried here. Gideon died during WWII after serving onboard the U.S.S. Denver, a light cruiser which served during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. US Army Ranger Infantryman James Francis Clopton is here interred. He fell in battle during the infamous "May Massacre" during the Korean War, during which the 23rd Infantry was hit with friendly fire followed by a massive Chinese attack. 

Throughout the grounds you will notice trees marked as "Gettysburg Address Sycamores". These were planted from the seeds of the very old Sycamores that overlook the Gettysburg battlefield. These are just some of the improvements made to the grounds by Fairchild Air Force base, which still maintains the cemetery. Behind the cemetery, make sure to take in the spectacular view of the Spokane River below. The peaceful nature of the location is perfect for quite reflection and remembrance. 

Tika & Hawaiian Bells & Birth Announcements

Leaving Tika happily with Gramma Kay last February, we enjoyed some time in Kauai. We visited the museum near Waimea Canyon and I was fascinated by display of the Bell Stone. That's me tapping the stone and it really did ring like a bell!

Once home, and reading an old booklet Legends of Wailua, I learned much more about the importance of the Bell Stone to the ancient Hawaiians:  "Whenever the King wanted more men of strength to be added to his family..... he would send word to the common people that any expectant mother who knew (from their Kahuna) that she was going to have a son, would be permitted to walk the King's Path to the Holo-Holo-Lu Heiau and have her baby there. ............. After giving birth to the child, she would be sent back to her home as she was a commoner and could not stay in the Wailua (sacred) area. Her child, however, was left in the care of the priests.

After the birth, the baby's navel cord was cut and wrapped in a tapa cloth and placed in a crack in a big rock, called the Navel Rock, where it would remain for four days. After that time, the Kahunas would look to see if the tapa bundle was still there. If it was not, the Kahunas believed that rats had stolen the navel cord and since rats are thieves, the child too would be a thief and therefore the child would be executed. If however the cord was still in the Navel Rock it was a sign the child would be good.

When the cord was found intact, there was great joy and celebration. The Kahunas would march in a line on the King's Path to the Bell Stone. While marching they would chant prayers of rejoicing. Upon arrival at the Bell Stone they would chant different prayers while tapping the Bell Stone in such a way as to produce a ringing sound. This was the announcement to the people of Kauai that a child had passed the test and a new high chief had been born to a commoner."

Tika says to us, "And how did you announce the birth of your child?? And what if that baby had been a girl? And seems to me the Hawaiian genealogy is just as mixed up and uncertain as any other lineage."