Category Archives: Let’s Talk About

Let’s Talk About: Remembering Mt.St.Helens

by Donna Phillips


If you were living in Washington on Sunday, May 18, 1980, do you remember what you were doing? I was walking to church on that sunny day and remember hearing what I thought was a sonic boom. (Fairchild AFB is just west of town.) An hour later, I fled home and was among thousands of Washingtonians wondering WHAT IN THE WORLD IS HAPPENING?

At 8:32 that morning, Mt. St. Helens erupted as the result of an earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale. Here’s what happened:

  • Eruption lasted 9 hours
  • Nearly 230 square miles of forest were destroyed
  • The explosion blew a crater 1968.5 feet deep and almost 1 1/2 miles wide from rim to rim on the mountain’s face
  • The speed of the subsequent landslide was estimated to be between 70 and 150 mph
  • As much as 600 feet of debris were deposited in the nearby North Fork Toutle River
  • An estimated 7000 big game animals were killed in the blast
  • An estimated 12 million chinook and coho fingerlings and 40,000 young salmon were destroyed
  • 60 people living near the mountain were killed

I remember gathering my family close, including my future son-in-law. I remember them playing RISK for hours. I remember waking up Monday and Tuesday morning to everything coated with white ash….. and nobody knew how dangerous it might be to breathe or to our cars. Spokane, among many eastern Washington cities, stood in shocked stillness. 

Now, 45 years later, we still see white streaks in the banks along I-90 when we head west. And I wonder how many baby girls born that day were named Helen or Ashley???
Will Mt. St. Helens blow again? She is considered the volcano in the Cascades most likely to erupt again in our lifetimes,  and scientists expect it to erupt again though the timing and magnitude are uncertain. (So says Google.)

Let’s Talk About: Wreck of the Peter Iredale

by Donna Phillips

 

 (note the horse and wagon)   

Strollers along a particular stretch of Oregon beach sometimes are lucky enough to see the fading remnants of a shipwreck. I’d bet that when they do, they wonder “what happened?” 

Ships, and everything about ships, is vital to our collective family history. Our ancestors traveled in ships, fished from small ships, explored in ships, fought battles in ships, migrated in ships ………. and often died in ships. 

The Peter Iredale is rather famous. She was a four-masted steel bark built in Maryport, England, in 1890. In September, 1906, she sailed north from Mexico bound for Portland where she was to pick up a cargo of wheat to return to England. From the Oregon History Project website we learn:

“Despite encountering heavy fog, she managed to safely reach the mouth of the Columbia River in the early morning of October 25. The captain of the ship later recalled that as they waited for a pilot ‘a heavy southeast wind blew and a strong current prevailed. Before the vessel could be veered around, she was in the breakers and all efforts to keep her off were unavailing.’ She ran aground at Clatsop Beach, hitting so hard that three of her masts snapped from the impact. Fortunately, none of the crew were seriously injured.”

Our Washington coast, particularly around the Columbia River mouth, is known as the “Graveyard of the Pacific,” and has seen approximately 2000 wrecks since 1792 with about 700 lives lost. The sandbar at Columbia’s mouth is three miles wide and reaches seven miles into the open ocean, and being sand, is constantly shifting, making it a navigational nightmare.

Do you have ships mentioned in your family history? If you do, and would enjoy learning more, click to www.ShipIndex.org. This is a fabulous database all about ships………sailing, steam, fighting or sunken ships. 

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Let’s Talk About: Old Postcards

by Donna Phillips

I confess: I cannot help myself from browsing through the boxes of old postcards that I may encounter at a thrift shop.

Case in point, the two above.  Both had writing on the reverse side……….. old German. Which of course I could not read. So I took them with me to RootsTech in March and requested help on B-1 in the FamilySearch Library.

The card at the top was addressed to “Fraulein Luise Koller, Frankfurt a Main, Niederrad.” It was from “Heinrich.” Was Heinrich the handsome suitor of Luise? Or was that a commercial photo? 

The lower one REALLY intrigued me. Was this a real person in real clothes or a costumed funny? This card, dated 1919, was from Erik Lund to “the family Moller in Vestergade.” Erik says he is “sending to you my picture.” Wonder what they thought! 

So teaches Wikipedia: “A postcard is a rectangular piece of thick paper, sent without an envelope and for a lower fee. Production of postcards blossomed in the late 19th and each 20th centuries and an easy and quick way for individuals to communicate. The study and collecting of postcards is termed deltiology. (Remember that when you’re invited to be on Jeopardy.) 

Do you have any old postcards in your collected personal family history archive?

Let’s Talk About: Dostadning: Swedish Death Cleaning

by Donna Phillips

Disclaimer: This is not my office but it surely could be.  Is this your office? Kitchen? Pantry? Spare room? Closet? Storage drawers? 

While back, I came upon this little book: The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, by Margareta Magnusson. While the title sounds a tad foreboding, the premise is simple and profound: Rid your world of stuff…. stuff you don’t want, don’t need, never used and never liked and do it now!

My favorite presentation to give to fellow genealogists is “Leave A Legacy and NOT A Mess.” I teach that YOU collected all that stuff, and while it means the world to you, it may well not mean a sniff to your descendants (immediate descendants anyway). It is imperative that YOU do something with all that stuff. No excuses. 

This premise 100% applies to your clothes-shoes-Tshirts, your kitchen gadgets, your shelves of unfinished projects, your unused collection of clipped recipes, your 200 books, your dozens of different baking pans that you never use anymore. You get the idea. 

At my age, and facing a domicile move, this is rather uppermost in my mind. And I assert that it might should be in yours too. Be nice to your descendants. Consider it a Pre-Death House Cleaning For the Benefit of Your Children.

And know what? You’ll be FREE! No more looking around and being dismayed at all the stuff that’s cluttering your life. Free! 

P.S. Does any library or genealogy society want all your genealogy? Those books, binder and boxes of research notes. NO WAY, JOSE. You collected it; it’s up to YOU to dispose of it all. And this is 100% true: If you want your family to value your life’s work, leave it to them in an organized fashion…. preferably online. 

Let’s Talk About: Census Taking & Evolution of Names

by Donna Phillips

Bet we’ve all seen this wonderful Norman Rockwell painting, The Census Taker, which he did in 1940 for a Saturday Evening Post cover. Look carefully at the red-headed mom counting on her fingers….

We genealogists both love and hate the censuses. And we each could cite examples of our feelings for both reactions. May I share an example of “scratching our heads” regarding census information?

Way, way back in 1998, Barbara Johnson shared with me her research example of names:

  • 1820 – DE-Kent Co – Garrettson Jarrell
  • 1830 – IN-Franklin Co – Garrett Fitzgerald
  • 1840 – IN-Franklin Co – Garret F. Jarrell
  • 1850 – IN-Marshall Co – Garrett Jerrell
  • 1860 – IN-Marshall Co  Mortality Schedule – Garrett Fitzgerald
  • 1870 – IN-Marshall Co – Permelia Gerrall
  • 1880 – IN-Marshall Co – Olphelia Jerrolds
  • Then Permelia Jarrell until her death in 1903.

But checking on www.FindAGrave.org, her obituary posted there calls her Parmela Jarrell. 

Think how these surnames morphed over 100 years. Think about your ancestral surnames. Is your mind open to the many possible, potential changes??????

When Barbara shared this story with me so long ago, she added: “There was a common practice among what appear to be related families in these areas to use a middle initial “F” to stand for a dropped “Fitz” and eventually the “Fitz” was just dropped.” 

There are surely a million words written explaining and or describing the evolution of surnames but OUR surname is what matters to US, right? 

Let’s Talk About: Honoring Memorial Day Part 2

by Donna Phillips

In a small cemetery in the Dutch city of Roermond, one can visit this most unique set of tombstones. It comprises two almost identical pillars on either side of a wall separating the Catholic part from the Protestant part. Each pillar has a carved arm and hand that clasp the other across the wall. The monument marks the graves of Josephina Van Aefferden, a Catholic, and Jacobus Van Gorkum, a Protestant, who were happily married in life but had to be buried in separate sections of the cemetery. This Dutch listed it as a State Monument in 2002 and the “Grave with the Little Hands” proves that love is stronger than death. (And certainly stronger than mens’ rules.)Did you know that Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day? In the spring of 1866, Henry C. Welles, a druggist in the village of Waterloo, NY, suggested that the patriots who died in the Civil War should be honored by decorating their graves. A committee was formed and the plan was implemented. Decoration Day was officially proclaimed on May 5, 1868 and was first observed officially on May 30, 1868. The South did not observe Decoration Day, preferring to honor their dead on separate days until after WWI. In 1882 the name was changed to Memorial Day and soldiers who had died in other wars were also honored. In 1971, Memorial Day was declared a national holiday to be held on the last Monday in May.

 While families may use the day for welcome-to-summer-fun, the original intent was to honor those who died for our freedom. 

Let’s Talk About: Salt: A History

by Donna Phillips

Salt is one of the most common elements on our planet and is essential for all life. As far back as 6000 B.C., salt has been an integral part the history of the world and a fundamental element in the rise and fall of countless civilizations. 

Throughout history, salt has been highly valued and even used as currency. Did you know the term salary was derived from the word salt? Countless treaties and wartime strategies revolved around the making or denying of salt and it was closely tied to the rise of power and dominance by rulers. 

Salt is the subject of generations of lore, tales and idioms. Terms like “not worth his salt” and “salt of the earth.” In many civilizations, salt has been extensively used for the improvement of luck, wellbeing, cleansing and purifying. 

Today we hear that “salt is essential for all life” and the media blasts that we consume too much salt in our daily diet which is detrimental to our health. And is there a “healthy” salt?

Google says: There isn’t a single “healthiest” salt, as all types are primarily sodium chloride, and the differences in trace minerals are negligible for most people. However, sea salt and pink Himalayan salt, which are less processed and retain some trace minerals, are often considered slightly healthier than table salt. 

(Thanks to a Salt Lake Visitors’ Guide for this info. And Google.)

Let’s Talk About: FamilySearch Library: Updated & Wunnerful

by Donna Phillips

The eager researchers still queue up and stampede into the FamilySearch Library when the doors open at 9:00. Some things never change. But there have been a long list up changes to “our favorite library” since you were there last.

For openers, the entire first floor is now a Discovery Center where an army of experienced volunteers guide visitors to discover their ancestry. There is a new and expanded snack room on the first floor. 

On the second floor, ALL the cabinets of microfilm are GONE and the huge now-open area is filled with computer stations… with each station having TWO monitors! All our beloved books remain on the third floor. Down on B-1 and B-2, the International floors, the layout has completely changed too. 

There are more helpers…. from your computer station you sign up for a helper with your particular question and they will come to you! Copies are now free, as are flash drives. (Gee, first no more dimes and now no more copy cards. 🙂 

Even the restrooms have been redone (at least the women’s rooms). There is new carpeting, new signs and displays and no more rather obnoxious loud speaker announcements. 

The Salt Lake Airport is now almost overwhelmingly HUGE! The main corridor has this “salt waves” (what I call it) art work as a welcome display. 

Makes me eager to go back even as I type this. When shall we go? 

Let’s Talk About: FamilySearch Center Portal

by Donna Phillips


Perhaps you’re missing out on a research bet? And if something is free, why not consider using it? Well!

The FamilySearch Center Portal is exactly what those words signify. At any designated FamilySearch Center, any researcher can access FOR FREE, a long list of websites that otherwise would be accessibly by personal subscription only.   Did you catch that: FREE?

Think your research might be helped by looking into one of these:

  • 19th Century British Library Newspapers
  • Alexander Street Press (indexed information of Civil War history: soldiers, battles, photos and maps)
  • American Ancestors (formerly New England Historic Genealogical Society)
  • Ancestry (Institution version….. databases but not Trees)
  • ArkivDigital (Swedish Church Records0
  • British Newspaper Archive
  • FamNet (New Zealand records)
  • Findmypast (UK ancestry)
  • Fold3 (U.S. military records)
  • GoldieMay (suite of software power tools for genealogists)
  • Irish Ancestors
  • MyHeritage (library edition…. no trees)
  • Paper Trail (records of the Oregon Trail and other westward migration trails)

All of these wonderful opportunities but don’t overlook checking out the nearly 2,000,000,000 names in the FamilySearch trees!! This database is compiled by folks like you and me and while it may contain errors and inconsistencies, it also can provide great clues. 

Find one near you and GO!

Let’s Talk About: Eggs: Easter & Other

by Donna Phillips


The traditional act of painting eggs is called Pysanka. A pysanka is a Ukrainian Easter egg, decorated using a batik method. Egg dyes were once made out of natural items such as onion peels, tree bark, flower petals and juice. Today we buy pellets! 
Bet you didn’t know that ostrich eggs with engraved decoration that are 60,000 years old have been found in Africa? That the Easter Egg Museum in Poland has over 1500 eggs on display? That the most popular chocolate egg in the world today is the Cadbury’s Creme Egg; if all of these made in a year were piled on top of each other, it would be ten times higher than Mt. Everest! The Annual White House Easter Egg Roll began with President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1878. The term Easter comes from Eastre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess who symbolized the hare and the egg. 

Bet you also didn’t know that the color of a chicken egg shell is primarily determined by the hen’s genetics and the pigments deposited on the shell during its formation, leading to a variety of colors like white, blue, brown and green. And that there are 200 different breeds of chickens? All eggs are the same inside: white and yellow. The egg carton was invented in 1911. 

Have you had your egg today? There are only 78 calories in a large boiled egg. 🙂