Category Archives: Let’s Talk About

Let’s Talk About: Hood Canal

by Donna Phillips


Everybody in Washington knows about Hood Canal but how much do we know? Is it a river, a bay or a fjord??

Named by Capt. George Vancouver on May 13, 1792, in honor of Admiral Lord Samuel Hood, Hood Canal is a fjord-like body of water lying west of the main basins of Puget Sound. It is a natural waterway and not a man-made canal. 

Hood Canal is long (about 50 miles)  and narrow (average width, 1.5 miles), with a mean depth of 177 feet and has 213 miles of shoreline and 42 miles of tideland. 

Formed some 13,000 years ago, Hood Canal was created by retreating glaciers. True fjords are long narrow inlets in valleys carved by glacial activity; hence Hood Canal originating off Puget Sound and the Salish Sea.

This is a proposal to change the name of Hood Canal to Salish Fjord since the feature is not a canal. This name change would also honor the Salish Nation whose peoples have been there for thousands of years. 

Stay tuned on that idea. 🙂  

Let’s Talk About: Keechelus

by Donna Phillips

This is the view of Lake Keechelus that we usually see as we zoom over Snoqualmie Pass, right? But it has a different, more lovely, view:

Keechelus is both a lake and a reservoir in Kittitas County, Washington (approximately 50 miles southeast of Seattle). 


I had long thought this lake was a reservoir for Seattle’s water, but not so.  The lake was/is the source of the Yakima River and is used as a storage reservoir for the Yakima irrigation needs. Although a natural lake, Keechelus Lake’s storage capacity and discharge is controlled by Keechelus Dam, a 128-foot high earth-fill structure built in 1917.


The name Keechelus comes from the Native American term meaning “few fish,” in contrast to nearby Kachess Lake, whose name means “more fish.” 


As you zoom along I-90 the next time, take a good look at Keechelus Lake and, being in the know, smile. 

Let’s Talk About: Castle Clinton

by Donna Phillips

If you’ve been to Castle Garden you’ve been to Castle Clinton! This monument is a restored circular sandstone fort within Battery Park at the southern end of Manhattan in New York City. 

Castle Clinton stands near where Fort Amsterdam was built in 1626; this fort was demolished by 1790 after the Revolutionary War. As war was still on the horizon, a new fort on the site was deemed necessary. Originally known as West Battery, and constructed between 1808 and 1811, this fort never saw warfare and by 1822 the fort was ceded to the city by an act of Congress. The fort reopened as Castle Garden in 1824. 

Between 1824 and 1855, the structure has functioned as a beer garden, exhibition hall, theater and public aquarium. Jenny Lind gave her first U.S. performance here in 1850 with tickets costing the 2023 equivalent of over $8000. 

From 1855 to 1890, Castle Garden was the first American immigration station. More than 7.5 million people came to America here between 1855 and 1890. (The Ellis Island Immigration Station opened in 1892.)

According to the Wikipedia article, “many of Castle Garden’s original immigrant passenger records were stored at Ellis Island where they were destroyed in a fire in 1897.” That’s the sad news; the happy news is that the majority of immigrants processed at Castle Garden were from Denmark, England, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Russia, Scotland and Sweden. 

So did your immigrant ancestor come to America through Castle Clinton??? 

P.S. Wikipedia has a dandy long informational article on this place. 

Let’s Talk About: Washington Trivia…Quiz & Prize!

by Donna Phillips


This is/was SUCH a delightful little book and it will be YOURS…. IF you can honestly take the quiz and send your answers to me. Honestly means no internet searching for answers! See how much Washington trivia you really know! Here goes:


1. List the names of the territorial governors (are 14). 


2. List the names of the state governors (are 23 to newly elected Ferguson).


3. What is the Washington State’s official  __________:

Amphibian – Bird – Dinosaur – Endemic Mammal – Fish – Flower – Fruit = Grass – Insect – Marine Mammal – Tree – Vegetable – Fossil – Gem – Waterfall


If you choose to take this quiz, copy and paste your answers in an email to me, Donna243@gmail.com, with “QUIZ” in the subject line, and your mailing address.

 Deadline is February 28, 2025. Have fun!

Let’s Talk About: FamilySearch Mobile App

by Donna Phillips

Note: The FamilySearch Mobile app is a simplified version of the web version and does require that you are comfortable using and navigating a mobile phone or tablet. 

Have you ever had to fill up some too-long minutes waiting…. at an appointment at Les Schwab, for a prescription to be filled, or for the doctor or for the kids’ game to get over?? Here is something to help made that “empty” time productive (and to keep your blood pressure down from waiting). Viola! Try the FamilySearch Mobile App!

The FamilySearch Mobile App consists of three major parts:

1. Family Tree — is a full featured genealogy app to add, edit and share your family story and use record hints to grow your family tree branches.(You likely have already used this feature.)

2. Memories — is a way to capture important family events as they happen, to use your phone to preserve photos or documents or to record audio stories from older generations.

3. Get Involved — is a fun way to help make historical records searchable for free online, to make it possible for people to find their ancestors online, to give back to the community in a simple and easy way and to use your spare time in a meaningful way.  

Here’s how to download the FamilySearch Mobile App:

* Open the Apple App Store or Google Play Store or go to www.familysearch.org/mobile-apps.  For Kindles, first download the Google Play app or ta the Play Store for Android.

*Search for FamilySearch

*Once found, download thusly:

    ** Android: tap INSTALL

    ** Apple: tap GET

    ** Kindle: tap GET APP

    ** When the app finished its installation, tap the icon to open it and login using your FamilySearch credentials.

Let’s Talk About: Early Traveling Part 2

by Donna Phillips

Recently enjoyed a visual trip through Long Day’s Journey: The Steamboat & Stagecoach Era in the Northwest by Carlos Arnaldo Schwates, published in 1999. What an eye-opener! This book was “a study of transportation in American life, focusing on the era defined by the steamboat and stagecoach.” Boy oh boy did it ever!  


Part 2: Overland Stagecoach Etiquette: “Never ride in cold weather with tight boots or shoes, nor close-fitting gloves. Bathe your feet before staring in cold water and wear loose overshoes and gloves two or three sizes to large. When the driver asks you to get off and walk, do it without grumbling. He will not request it unless absolutely necessary. If a team runs away, sit still and take your chances; if you jump, nine times out of ten you will be hurt. In very cold weather abstain entirely from liquor while on the road; a man will freeze twice as quick while under its influence. Don’t growl at food at stations; stage companies generally provide the best they can. Don’t keep the stage waiting; many a virtuous man has lost his character by so doing. Don’t smoke a strong pipe inside, especially in the morning and spit out on the leeward side of the coach. If you have anything to take in a bottle, pass it around; a man who drinks by himself in such a case is lost to all human feeling. Provide stimulants before starting; ranch whiskey is not always nectar. 


Be sure to take two heavy blanket with you; you will need them! Don’t swear, nor lop over on your neighbor when sleeping. Take small change to pay expenses. Never attempt to fire a gun or pistol while on the road; it may frighten the team and the careless handling and cocking of the weapon makes people nervous. Don’t discuss politics or religion. Do not point out places on the road where horrible murders have been committed if delicate women are among the passengers. Don’t linger too long at the pewter wash basin at the station. Don’t grease your hair before starting or dust will stock there in sufficient quantities.”

This stagecoach etiquette advice was published in the Omaha Herald, October 3, 1877. 

Italian Interest Group of the Eastside Genealogical Society Using Social Security Records to Break Down Brick Walls

by Charles Hansen
Using Social Security Records to Break Down Brick Walls
Social Security records can provide clues to your ancestor’s name, origin, and social history. Learn what records are available and how to find and interpret them. In this presentation we will cover a brief history of Social Security Benefits, the anatomy of the SSN, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, what is the Death Master File (DMF) and Social Security Death Index (SSDI) and how to interpret Social Security records found on Ancestry and FamilySearch.
                          ZOOM Meeting When:           15-Feb-2025, Saturday
Time:             1:30 PM (PDT) Presenter:    Roslyn I. Torella
Kerri Tannenbaum Roslyn Torella specializes in Italian and immigrant genealogy through her business, Mahoning Valley Roots. She wrote a monthly Italian genealogy column for La Gazzetta Italiana for many years and is treasurer and newsletter editor for the Mahoning County Chapter of the Ohio Genealogical Society. She has published in the National Genealogical Society (NGS) Magazine. Roslyn enjoys conducting workshops and lectures on genealogy and is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists. She lives in Lowellville, Ohio, where she is known as her hometown’s “unofficial, self-appointed historian” and has written and published a book about her hometown’s wicked past.
If you aren’t an active member, you must request meeting access. Below is the link to request a meeting invitation. Please send me an invitation link
COUNTDOWN TO THE MEETING:
Days Hours Minutes Seconds
Eastside Genealogical Society
– Italian Interest Group
P.O. Box 374
Bellevue, WA 98009-0374

Let’s Talk About: Early Traveling Part 1

by Donna Phillips

Recently enjoyed a visual trip through Long Day’s Journey: The Steamboat & Stagecoach Era in the Northwest by Carlos Arnaldo Schwates, published in 1999. What an eye-opener! This book was “a study of transportation in American life, focusing on the era defined by the steamboat and stagecoach.” Boy oh boy did it ever!


The many pictures in the book tell the tale. Here are men in hats, vests and white shirts. Here are women in hats, long skirts with babies and baggage. All are waiting to board a river steamboat heading west. (Pause to imagine this: lots of uncomfortable clothing, no rest rooms or privacy, babies howling, bring all your own food and mud everywhere. Would YOU survive?) Not until the completion of the railroad link in the late 1800s (Great Lakes to Puget Sound) did the trip from east to west become quicker, easier and less dangerous. 


Stagecoach travel was no less daunting by our modern standards. Stage routes did wind from Omaha, Kansas City or St. Joseph and could get you to Salt Lake City, Boise, Helena, Sacramento, Portland or Tacoma. An ad in Denver’s Rocky Mountain News in 1864 proclaimed that taking the overland stage route “would take passengers in quick time and with every convenience offered from Atchison, Kansas, to Salt Lake City in “only” five days. Pause to imagine those five days: Packed elbow to elbow on wooden seats, jostling along in a carriage with bad springs, open windows letting in dust and insects (or rain and snow), dressed in way too many clothes and with other unwashed people, smelly babies and men smoking. Potty stops were spare, with no privacy, and no food or water unless you brought your own. There were frequent stops to help get the coach out of the muddy road ruts. And of course there were Indians and bandits. I won’t speak for you, but I doubt that I would have survived with my sanity intact and my bowels impacted. 


Part Two next time…. “Advice to Passengers.” 

Let’s Talk About: Days of Yore Washday

by Donna Phillips


Don’t we groan when the laundry basket overflows and we’ve no choice but to do the wash? We’ve got it SOOO much easier than our ancestors did!!  This bit was printed in the December 2010 issue of The Bulletin (Eastern Washington Genealogical Society). Enjoy………. and be thankful!

Grandma’s “Receet” for Washington Clothes….. Years ago, a Kentucky grandmother gave a new bride the following directions for washing clothes. It appears below just as it was written and despite the spelling has a bit of philosophy:

1. bild fire in backyard to heet kettle of rain water

2. set tubs so smoke won’t blow in eyes if wind is pert

3. shave one hole cake lie soap in billin water

4. sort things, make 3 piles. 1puile white, 1 pile cullord, 1 pile work briches and rags (Guess what “rags” meant!!)

5. stir flour in cold water to smooth then thin down with billin water

6. Rub dirty spots on board, scrub hard, then bile. Rub collord, don’t bile, just rench in starch.

7. take white things out of kettle with broom-stick handle, then rench, blew and starch.

8. spread tee towels on grass

9. hang old rags on fence

10. pour rench water on flour bed

11. turn tubs upside down

12. go put on clean dress, smooth hair with side combs, brew cup of set, set and rest and rock a spell and count blessins. 

When we see movie or TV shows with our ancestors in snowy white SHEETS, I always think “how did they ever…..!” 

Let’s Talk About: Family Tree W&M..?

by Donna Phillips


Would you be interested in knowing of a One-Stop-Shopping Place for genealogy research???? WELL, it’s here! Almost, anyway. 

Family Tree is not just a magazine that you find on many news stands. (Although the magazine is well worth the price, it is surely is cheaper by subscription.)

Family Tree offers:

* A really, really helpful bi-monthly magazine both in print and e-edition. 

*A website with a hundred “clicks” to check out!

* A long list of FREE resources, forms, guides and E-books.

* A long list of Cheat Sheets for help with various websites (Like The Big Four).

*A long list of country-centric guides.

*A long list of (paid) 13 courses to teach you “more better.”

*A YouTube channel offering free tutorials…like Finding Ancestors Who Worked on the Railroad.

* A list of 15 Cheat Sheets one can order (like for Ancestry, Find My Past, My Heritage, Jewish Genealogy, Adoption, Scandinavian, Scottish plus Civil War Genealogy and US Census Genealogy (plus packages of several).

I most enthusiastically urge you to take a cold January winter day or afternoon and click to www.FamilyTreeMagazine.com. With soft background music, and a warm drink nearby, you’re in for a learning treat, I guarantee it!