Category Archives: Let’s Talk About

Let’s Talk About…… Inland Northwest Railway Museum

by Donna Phillips


Have you been to the Inland Northwest Rail Museum just a hoot and holler west of Reardan?? If you’re into trains, train history, engines, different rail lines, anything “railroad,” this is the place to go. While not open every day year round, they have plenty of regular open days and a host of special events. Do check it out. 

Coming up on Saturday, May 11th, there are Big Happenings planned for the entire weekend and I will be offering a class on “Did Your Ancestor Work For The Railroad.” Come, enjoy the displays, the train rides and, on that day, the class…… if you happen to be on the east side of the mountains.

Railroad Facts you perhaps did not know (according to a 1990 factsheet I have):

  • Freight traffic on major U.S. railroads is measured in “ton-miles.” This is a term denoting the movement of one tone of freight a distance of one mile. Our U.S. railroads achieve millions of ton-miles every year
  • There are no legal limits on how long a train can be but there are practical limits, such as power of the engine.
  • During WWII, railroads moved practically all the men and supplies of the American Expeditionary Force to seaports. 
  • From 1 Dec 1941 to 30 Aug 1945, U.S. railroads carried approximately 44-million service men and women in special troop trains, hospital trains and in special cars attached to regular trains.
  • The first known instance of mail being moved by rail occurred in South Carolina in Nov 1831. By 1840, railroads had begun to provide space and facilities for handling of the mail enroute. But as the movement of mail by air grew, the railroads’ mail business declined. The last mail run, between Washington and New York, was in June 1977. 
  • What are the commodities carried by railroads? Coal ranks first in tonage, followed by farm products, chemicals, nonmetallic minerals, food and kindred products, frozen products, lumber and wood products.
  • Railroads are deemed vital to the U.S. economy. The steel industry depends on railroads to deliver its ore and coat; the car industry depends on railroads to deliver the steel and parts of making cars and then to carry cars to their destination. 
  • There are more railroad-railroading websites available to you than you likely have time for. Use Google and go for it! 
    • The place your railroading ancestor lived
    • The railroad he worked for
    • Railroads have historical societies and archives!

 Remember all the good railroads have done for our country, and still do, the next time you’re stuck seemingly forever at a railroad crossing. 

Seattle Genealogical Society Tip of the Week Full Text Search of Deed & Probate on FamilySearch

by Charles Hansen
TIP OF THE WEEK –
FULL-TEXT SEARCH OF DEED AND PROBATE
RECORDS NOW ON FAMILYSEARCH With all the exciting news coming out of RootsTech 2024, one that may have been missed is that FamilySearch has implemented full-text search technology on their U.S. deeds and probate records as well as Mexican Notary Records. Was a female ancestor listed on a will as a co-grantee or co-grantor? You might be able to find her father or husband’s name thanks to this exciting new technology that reads and searches the handwriting on these documents. The full-text search is still in its experimental phase. It can be accessed from the FamilySearch homepage when viewing on desktop by clicking on the FamilySearch Labs link in the lower right hand corner of the site. What discoveries will you make?
March 1, 2024

SGS eNews! comes out the first of every month. contact eNews!

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Seattle Genealogical Society4649 Sunnyside Ave N, Suite 302
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Let’s Talk About….. Fairchild Air Force Base

by Donna Phillips

Those of you who drive onto Fairchild Air Force Base have surely noticed the B-52 parked a short ways inside the gate. Well, we know for sure that my father, Col. Francis H. Potter, commanded that very plane for many missions during the Cold War of the 70s. How do we know that? This is a photo of that B-52 and our son, Benjamin, and his son Austin. Ben researched the serial number of that plane and discovered this wonderful bit of family history. And to think that it was OUR father’s plane that was chosen for permanent display!

Fairchild has quite a history. Several battles of U.S. Cavalry vs. Native Americans happened in that very patch of ground. Groups of immigrant settlers established homes, farms and orchards in that same area. The area looked prime for wheat farming. But Spokane was growing in population and that population needed transportation and the opportunity for business. 

By 1939, Spokane was in a serious business decline when James A. Ford came to the rescue. Ford had been active with the Spokane Chamber of Commerce since 1917 and during that time he had worked incessantly to bring aviation to Spokane. But the Army Signal Corps reported that “the city is located in a valley between high hills, with contrary winds and there will never be much, if any, aviation in Spokane.”

At this time, Spokane has two airlines flying into Felts Field, United and Northwest. Ford knew Spokane would soon need a bigger airport. And, just as important, he could see the war clouds gathering around the world and hoped a larger airport would attract an Army Air Force Base. 

Ford’s work worked and in 1940 a WPA project started to clear and level the county land, donated by the county, for the new field and the Army Air Forces moved right in. The airport was renamed Geiger Field; after WWII it became Spokane International Airport. 

About this same time, the announcement was made that the Army Air Force needed a separate and larger base for its operations. Again, James Ford to the rescue. It was a real battle of words, but those on the West side of the state wanted the new depot in their backyard. 

The Spokesman Review trumpeted the headline on September 11, 1941, that Spokane would get the $20-million air depot. This was great news for Spokane for it meant an estimated $8-million dollar payroll in the area due to 5400 new jobs. Not to mention the military personnel’s spending in the area. 

It turned out that having a military depot so close to a civilian airfield had its advantages, primarily being that a rail line bisected the area. 

Citizens of Spokane might have been jubilant but the eleven farmer-land-owners were not. Four sections of prime wheat land would now be gone forever. 

The town of Airway Heights got its start during the war years mostly because there was no military family housing at the depot. In 1955, the town of Airway Heights was incorporated. 

In 1951, the name was changed from Spokane Air Force Base to Fairchild Air Force Base in honor of Gen. Muir S. Fairchild, a native of Bellingham, Washington. 

(Thanks to a 1976 little book by Peggy Bal, Fairchild: Heritage of the Spokane Plains. Please forgive me if I garbled the facts a bit.) 

Let’s Talk About…… Archives & BeeHives

by Donna Phillips

I’ll admit I’m stretching a bit here, but I did catch your attention, didn’t I?

ARCHIVES. What comes to mind when you hear or read that word? Records? Information? Papers? Ledgers? Books? Rolls? Files? History? Information? All of the above??

What IS an archive: “It’s a collection of historical documents or records providing information bout a place, institution or group of people.” 

In other (crazy comparison) words, it’s a place where genealogists find honey!!

There are probably a dozen archives that you might-could access to find the family information you’re seeking. Every U.S. state has archives and most of the world’s countries do too. They’re not like public libraries…. walk in, check the catalog, pull a book off the shelf and away you go. Archives are places where history is stored. We can access it but it stays safely guarded away. 

Lucky for us, there are most usually finding aids for most any archive. (Good grammar, eh?) 

Here in Spokane we have the Eastern Washington State Historical Society archive housed in the Joel E. Ferris Library at the MAC. If you have Inland Northwest ancestors, make an appointment and GO. If you live in Central or Western Washington, go visit YOUR archives!

We also have the Washington State Library Digital Collections and the Washington Rural Heritage memory project (aka archive). Ever heard of the Northwest Digital Heritage (for WA and OR)? Of course we have the Eastern Washington Branch of the Washington State Archives out in Cheney. 

Here’s maybe a new one for you: ArchiveGrid. This is a collection of over 5million “archival material descriptions …… harvested from the web.” These documents are described as “historical documents, personal papers, family histories and more.” Try it, you just might find the “honey.” 

How about InternetArchive? This is an American digital library that has quickly become a major destination to those researching their family history online. InternetArchive is a non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, websites, music and much more. To use this site, you sign up for an account and then can download material to your account (your computer) to use at your leisure. Ah, the honey is there, no??

Click to the Society of American Archivists and download their free “Using Archives: A Guide to Effective Research.” 

Let’s Talk About…. Gold Rush Ancestors?

by Donna Phillips

 This 33-cent stamp, issued in 1999, commemorated the California Gold Rush. Did you have an answer who “went west” to make his fortune…….. but didn’t…… and possibly was never heard from again? 

I won’t recount the history of how gold was discovered; that’s easy finding-reading. I will explain that those eager gold seekers from the East who managed to make it to California by the end of 1849 numbered about 90,000. 

Life in the gold fields was pretty rough; mining work was hard and most finds were minimal. Within a year or two many gave up and, if they had the means, returned home.

The fall 2009 issue of New England Ancestors, carried an article on this topic, written by Nancy Peterson, CG. I quote:

“No official documents collected the names of fortune seekers who traveled to California. No comprehensive governmental passenger lists recorded the names of the fortune seekers who sailed to California via Panama or San Francisco. We learn of journeys to the gold fields from diaries and letters, from California newspaper listings of new arrivals, and from reminiscences written many years later. Newspapers “back home” often printed news and letters from the California-bound adventurers.”

The article continued, “Perhaps the most comprehensive resource about the Overland route is J.S. Holliday’s The World Rushed In. This book is based upon accounts by more than 500 men about their westward journeys and early lives in California. The book’s sources serve as an excellent starting point in the search for these emigrants.”

Certainly, there are other resources to be found; use Google. Check out CyndisList and the FamilySearch.org/Wiki. 

At the conclusion of her article, Peterson states: “for a comprehensive well-annotated source covering all aspect of the gold rush, see Kenneth N. Owens, Riches for All: The California Gold Rush and the World, published in 2002. I just checked (Dec 2023):

Let’s Talk Aboout….. Colfax, Whitman County

by Donna Phillips

My kiddos used to live in Pullman and so I’ve driven through Colfax a hundred times but I’ve seldom stopped. My bad, for this little town has a history AND, today, some cute little shops.

Colfax lies in the heart of the rolling Palouse hills, and is bisected by the Palouse River. Historic Steptoe Butte can be seen to the north. 

In 2022, Colfax celebrated their 150th year anniversary. In 1870, James Perkins was the first white man to see the potential in this little valley and envisioned a nice little town. Perkins and his fellow settler, Thomas Smith, soon scouted a site for a lumber mill. By 1871, the mill cut its first lumber and had its first log drive. This lumber, ordered by Waitsburg businessman, Anderson Cox, recognized the need for lumber for buildings in order that the area towns thrive. After the sawmill was established on the Palouse River, the town quickly sprang up around it. Pine trees that once covered the hills were turned into lumber for the immigrants’ homes. 

Perkins originally named the town Belleville, perhaps after a former girlfriend named Belle or perhaps after his hometown of Belleville, Indiana. But since his wife was not named Belle, the town name soon was changed to Colfax, to honor U.S. Vice President Schuyler Colfax in 1873. 

There are many inviting little shops: The Colfax Mercantile, Tick Klock Drug, the Dusty Attic and Palouse River Quilts. The little hamburger place on the east side of main street has been a staple for years……….and offers great burgers! 

The Whitman County Historical Society maintains the Perkins House where the family lived from 1887 from into the 1960s, when it was sold to the Whitman County Historical Society. It is open for visits. 

One story, told to me by a friend years ago whose husband was on the Spokane police force, explained that largely unknown in a basement of a downtown building was a complete, ready-to-go, command center in case of an environmental catastrophe on the West side, ie, Olympia. True? Wasn’t able to verify that story. Do you know?

Let’s Talk About…… The Family Tree Family

by Donna Phillips

FamilyTree is not just a magazine; not just a website and definitely not to be overlooked!

There is education and learning contained and offered here that one might could say this is “one stop shopping.” 


The magazine comes six times per year; the May/June 2023 issue (pictured above) carried that multi-page article on Colonial Roots. 

In the “5 Questions with Sunny Jane Morton,” she answered the question “How to build your own research guide for a country or region” you’ve never researched before?” Sunny’s answer: Start with the FamilySearch Research WIKI; learn about that place’s language, culture, religions, occupations and more. Browse categories about that place and create your own “research notebook.” 

Another article was “How To Write To Know,” about writing a really good, readable, family history. How can you go wrong with information like that??bThe magazine carries special inserts each month too. These are Cheat Sheets (how to do XXX) and State Research Guides. These are offered for sale on the FamilyTree website but come free with magazine subscription. 


Last but not least, the website, www.familytreemagazine.com, offers MANY different research aids and helps; some for free and some for small money. 


Subscriptons can be ordered for a print magazine or an e-magazine; your choice. But think about it……….. what could be better for a birthday present to you????

Let’s Talk About….. Trivia Again!

by Donna Phillips


Endogamy:  Know what that means? According to the website of the International Society for Genetic Genealogy, endogamy “is the practice of marrying within the same ethnic, cultural, social, religious or tribal group.”  Examples of endogamous groups include Jews, Polynesians, Mennonites, Amish, Acadians, French Canadians and folks from many Arab countries.

FamilySearchCenter: Do you have all the funds to allow subscriptions to the many paid genealogy websites that you’d like to use? Ha, not me either. Did you know that there are about 30 subscription websites that you can use FOR FREE at any FamilySearch Center! Go and you can pick up a 2-page, small-print, handout listing all these sites. Don’t know where a FamilySearchCenter is? They’re all listed on our EWGSI.org website.

Commonwealth: What is a “commonwealth?” At the time of the founding of the United States, the designation “Commonwealth” carried with it the implication of a greater degree of self-government that did the word “state.” Four states officially label themselves as “Commonwealths,” rather than “States.” They are Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Kentucky. It is also the designation of Puerto Rico.

Worth of old county histories: Knowing my ancestor, Caleb Carr, was a Baptist minister, 1810ish, who lived in Erie County, New York, I happily hefted the 500-page Centennial History of Erie County from the shelf and flipped it to the back……… alas, no index. Of course, published in 1876, these older books don’t have indexes. (Unless more recently done and then usually in a stand-alone volume.) BUT the hour I spent browsing through the pages was not a waste of time. I didn’t find any mention of Rev. Carr but I did learn about the early history of the county. Tidbits such as this:  “The structures under which the early families sheltered themselves and their families hardly rose even to the dignity of log houses. They were frequently mere cabins of small logs, (there not being help enough to handle large ones) covered with bark. Sometimes there was a floor of split logs, or “puncheons,” sometimes none. A log house 16-feet square, with a shingle roof, a board floor and a window containing six lights of glass, was a decidedly stylish residence and its owner was in some danger of being disliked as a bloated aristocrat.” 

Quote from Thomas Jefferson: “How sublime to look down into the workhouse of nature, to see her clouds, hail, snow, rain, thunder….. all fabricated at our feet! And the fgorious sun gilding the tops of the mountains and giving life to all nature.”

Quotes from Garrison Keillor: “Some people get what they want. Some people get what they got.”  ……  “After all is said and one, more is said than is done.” 

Quote from Ethel Mertz, “I Love Lucy,”  “Just because we’re married to men doesn’t mean we’ve got anything in common with them.”

Quote from AAA about travel: “Thou shalt, when in Rome, do somewhat as the Romans do, and if in difficulty, thou shalt use thy common sense and much friendliness.’

Let’s Talk About….Black Loyalist Heritage Centre

by Donna Phillips

February being Black History Month, thought I’d share this bit with you:

If your knowledge of Black History in America was as spotty as mine then when those terms come up, you first think of southern slavery and possibly some in colonial New England. But Canada? Nova Scotia? Yes, indeed!

One of Canada’s best kept secrets, the largest free Black settlement in the 1780s where people voted with their free for freedom, is the Black Loyalist Heritage Centre. This is a unique historical site, nestled in beautiful Birchtown on the western shores of Shelburne Harbour in Nova Scotia. 

This Centre (yes, centre…. Canadian spelling) tells the story of the arrival of the Black Loyalists seeking freedom on these shores at the end of the 18th century. At that time, they represented the largest free Black settlement outside of Africa. 

A quote from their website:  Welcome to the Black Loyalists Digital Collections site.

This site explores an untold story of our nation’s history: how Canada became the home of the first settlements of free blacks outside Africa.

As Revolution began in the thirteen American colonies in the late 1770s, the British were badly outnumbered. When in desperation they promised freedom to any slave of a rebel who fought the Americans on their behalf, the response was greater than they could have imagined; as many as 30 000 slaves escaped to British lines. Working as soldiers, labourers, pilots, cooks, and musicians, they were a major part of the unsucessful British war effort. As defeat became inevitable, these free blacks were evacuated to Nova Scotia with the other Loyalists.

But their hoped-for promised land never arrived. Their land was never granted, and most were reduced to a position not so different from slavery, where they were dependent on the meagre wages they could earn from manual labour. In the end most chose to seek a new life in Sierra Leone, away from the cold lands where they had experienced so much prejudice.

This is the story of those Black Loyalists.

Let’s Talk About…. It’s A Wonder We Survived

by Donna Phillips

Cocaine toothache drops for teething toddlers??? Guess it WOULD work, but would you have???


 Yes, it is a wonder that our ancestors survived the medical knowledge and practices of their times. Most any page on an old newspaper will regale you with “Miracle Cures!”  “Drunkeness Cured!” “Blindness Prevented & Cured!” Really? In reality, I’ll bet many of our ancestors suffered the same physical ailments that we have today but relief was not often in sight. 

Here’s what the ads explained and promised:

“BLINDNESS, prevented and cured by the great “Actina,” an electrical pocket battery which removes cataracts, pterygiums (?) and cures granulated lids. 18 years of proof given; no cutting or drugging. Write for our 80-page directory of diseases.”

“COMBINATION MUD BATHS, wonderful cures have been effected by taking the famous Medical Lake Mud Baths. Rheumatism, eczema and all know diseases quickly and permanently cured. We have a modern plant; our bath house has 39 tubs, all cement. Our experience is sufficient to warrant satisfaction. Medical Lake Sanitarium, Mud Pumped from the Bottom of the Lake.” 

“DRUNKENESS CURED,  Any woman can cure her husband, son or brother of liquor drinking by secretly placing this remedy in his coffee, tea or food without his knowledge, as the remedy is entirely odorless and tasteless. Any good and faithful woman can wipe out this fearful evil and permanently stop the craving for liquor….the sight or odor of whiskey will soon make him sick. Any one who will send their name and address and 4-cents in stamps to cover postage (to St. Louis) will receive by mail, sealed in a plan wrapper, a free package of this wonderful remedy and full instructions how to cure the liquor habit.” 

I found this wonderful article in Nostalgia magazine, December 2006, article by Hilda Maston.