Thursday, October 31, 2002
Happy Halloween! We are in the midst of trick-or-treaters, and hoping we don't run out of candy. I need to remember that our trick-or-treating gets heavy around 7:30, and not give away so much candy at the beginning. I guess it's because it's the end of daylight savings time that every year I think it's later than it is and we aren't getting many kids.
I left work early today so I could carve a pumpkin, only to find that the grocery store down the street was out of pumpkins. Luckily I met my new next-door neighbor there, who said she had extras. So I carved one quickly, and it turned out pretty good.
A work friend of mine won a Houston dog costume contest this weekend...he (Jake the dog) was Elvis (lower left). Personally, I liked the weiner dog!
Tuesday, October 29, 2002
I did a little more poking around in the 1880 census, this time looking for the parents of Irene Marsh, who was Grandpa Batterman's mother.
I am very confident that I found Irene's mother, Josephine Coldwater. There was only one person with her name in this census, she was in Illinois, and living with two brothers whose names match the information we have. Since I can't access any of the geneaology records I have, I can't confirm the census place or birth date, but they seem reasonable.
Irene's father, Charles Marsh, was more difficult because of his common name and the fact that I wasn't sure where he lived in 1880, but I'm fairly certain I found him, too. Grandpa told me that he was a jeweller. The only other information I have about Charles comes from some of our old books. I have two of them: Hill's Manual of Social and Business Forms, and Art Monogramming and Engraving. Charles had written his name in both, along with recording his city and state. The first was published in 1881 and was marked Rochester, NY. The second was published in 1912 and was marked Elgin, IL. I therefore made the assumption that Charles was living in Rochester during the 1880 census. This information still produced a lot of results, none of which seemed to be Charles. Then I noticed that he always signed his name "Chas. F. Marsh". I searched on that, and aha! a Chas. F. Marsh in New York who was about the right age, he DID live in Rochester, and his occupation was listed as "jeweller"! This must be him! The record gives his birthplace (and that of his parents) as Connecticut, and indicates that he was living with another family. The head of household there works in a news room? Interesting.
Sunday, October 27, 2002
Yesterday was a Chore Day, but since we're pretty much done with the essential painting, Chore Day meant antique shopping, so it was actually fun. We were more successful than usual with the antiques, but I'll write more about them when I can post pictures (furniture will be delivered on Friday and Saturday).
Today I visited the Hyde Park Miniature Museum. This is a temporary exhibit of the artifacts from the original Hyde Park Miniature Museum. I had read about this museum a few times since moving here. It no longer exists. But a New York Times Sunday Magazine article a few weeks ago reminded me that a re-creation of the original was being exhibited by the Brazos Project in the Museum District until the end of the year. This exhibit was so much fun. I hadn't read the NYT article thoroughly, so the original sign displaying the rules (don't make too much noise, there are people below; this is a private museum, don't expect too much from the exhibits!). made me laugh out loud. I was impressed by the enthusiam and knowledge of the docent; it wasn't until I pointed out to him that a guest list from the 1935 lunar eclipse at the local "observatory" included people from my block that I realized that he was D.D. Smalley's grandson, Frank Davis. Frank was excited by my information, and explained that the "observatory" was his house on Dorothy Street, a few blocks away from our house.
In fact, Frank was so excited about everything that it was contagious. A lot of the fossils he had, including mastodon teeth, were found not far from here, along the Brazos River (near Brazos Bend State Park, home of the alligators). Frank told me that the gravel pits there held hundreds of specimens, and that since most local railroad beds here were built from unsorted gravel from these pits, it was common to find fossils along them. We have an abandoned railroad line five blocks from our house, so I came home an dragged Ed on a walk to look for things. I found some interesting things, but no fossils. We did cross paths with someone else who was looking for fossils, though, not because he had heard the story of the gravel pits, but because he had happened to find a fossil there just passing by awhile ago. I'll give it another shot if it ever stops raining here.
Thursday, October 24, 2002
The 1880 U.S. Census was posted online yesterday (thank you, Mormons!). I've been playing with it for about an hour. What I've found most interesting is looking at households. Try Miles Standish Meacham first. Now click on the Household link on the right (it's not that prominent). Here's what you learn. In 1880, Miles Standish Meacham was a carpenter (I have some of his tools) living in Rockford, Illinois. His wife, Margaret Frances Dear, was born in England and went by the nickname Maggie. Their son Edward was a small boy, and Edna May, our ancestor, was apparently not born yet. Also, M. S.'s father Lyman, one of the founders of Bloomingdale, IL was quite elderly and living with them.
Okay, now here's another interesting one, using the 1881 British Census: Nicholas Saunders Davis. Again, use the Household link on the right. N. S. Davis, my great-great-great grandfather, was also a carpenter. My great-great grandfather (Grandpa Davis' father), David Davis, and his twin brother Nicholas were 7 years old. Their address is familiar to us all. I was also surprised to see a servant (George Colwill) listed as a resident of Ring O'Bells.
Here is great-great grandfather Batterman. He is a grocer. His son Richard wasn't born yet. Many of his neighbors are from Hanover, as he is, and his next door neighbors are named Kolling (I'll explain later how I know this), same as his wife's maiden name! The wife and kids' names in that house are similar to those in the Batterman house. I think we can expand our Batterman (Kolling) family tree!
This is Ed's ancestor. He was a cigar maker (Ed did know this already).
Now let's look for celebrities. There is a Household link on the right side of each individual record that gets you the best information. Buffalo Bill Cody, Mark Twain (three servants), Louisa May Alcott, 13-year old Frank Lloyd Wright, Ulysses S. Grant, O. Henry, Andrew Mellon (still living with his parents) are all in this census. Check out the occupations of Buffalo Bill's household. And Grant had a Japanese body servant!
Once you are viewing a household, you can scroll through the adjacent households in the census by clicking the Previous and Next Household links (this is how I found the Kollings - Previous Household). Even though I don't know of these people, their 1880 occupations are fascinating (teamster, cigar factory, paper pail factory all in one Rockford household; the British census has charwomen and victuallers!). If anybody else finds this interesting, go here and let me know what you find. It took me awhile to figure out the best ways to search for people, but it's a fun treasure hunt (at least to me).
Monday, October 21, 2002
I painted the office over the weekend. Except for a few touchups, I now consider the interior painting to be done, although Ed disagrees (he wants to paint both bedrooms). I would like to instead take a few weekends and finish the furniture and details, then move to the exterior painting. We are going to paint the porch railings and trim a color that won't show the dirt (probably the same color as the office), as well as the beadboard porch ceiling. Porch ceilings in the old houses here are traditionally painted sky blue. I would like to do a deeper variation of that, again something that won't show the dirt (or the mold or the mildew). We might hire someone to do the exterior painting, though.
I would also like to rebuild my computer. I have not lost interest in posting here, it's just become difficult to do so. My computer, other than a short remission, has been dead since March. I've been posting from my old laptop. I don't have space on it to install things like Photoshop, and Ed's computer for some reason won't let me install anything. I also find I post more often if I use Dreamweaver. I don't mind writing pure HTML, but if I'm using styles, Dreamweaver is a nice shortcut. So, I need to get my computer up and running. Because I have all kinds of new ideas for this site, and for batterman dot org, too.
And my garden is in sorry shape, it's been neglected so long. I whacked back a lot of things, but need to revamp the whole thing for winter.
I have been gathering Christmas ideas and items for the house tour. I've bought some antique chocolate molds on eBay (I had only seen these one place before, and that company went out of business), and an antique Art Deco Christmas tree stand from Germany. Now I need a feather tree or something similar to put in it. It's not made to keep a real tree alive for long -- no place for water. Any ideas for decorating, just send them along. This is the year to overdo it! By the way, the tour has been posted on the Houston Heights Association's website.
Sunday, October 13, 2002
Update: I was just driving back from the nursery, and spotted eight low-flying military helicopters in about the same area as the lights I saw the other night. That's probably what it was, but I think the explanation makes me a little nervous!
We are having some cool (70°) weather today, so I am trying to beat my garden back into shape. The jasmine, wisteria, tangerine vine, salvia and one climbing rose have apparently been planning a coup for some time, and I haven't had time to defend my territory. But today, I will be triumphant.
Yesterday our neighbor Becky held a neighborhood party. It was a great idea; I met a lot of neighbors I didn't know, including our new next door neighbors. I've only been home one weekend since they moved in, and just haven't made it over to visit yet. They are busily unpacking and getting a room ready for their baby, who is due to arrive November 3rd.
I also found a neighbor who shared my idea of opening a bookstore on 19th Street. I've been thinking about this for awhile. There are no bookstores in the Heights other than antique and rare books. Chains don't tend to come into this neighborhood, and 19th is sorely in need of stores other than antique stores and boutiques. The spice store was a start, but they need some other stores for variety. The woman I talked to yesterday has actually done some research on the idea.
Thursday, October 10, 2002
I went for a walk tonight. As I was getting close to home, I noticed some twinkling bright lights in the western sky moving quickly toward the north. I can't think of anything they could possibly be. There were at least 5, flying randomly, blinking on and off in an irregular pattern. It was hard to follow them or tell how many there really were, though.
I just wanted to post this now in case I hear anything about UFOs tomorrow.
Monday, October 7, 2002
I have been very disappointed with this year's hurricane season. Hurricane Lili held promise; we even got an e-mail at work advising us to check voice mail before coming in the next day to see if the building was closed, and if the hurricane came while we were at work, where we should go (the bathroom). I didn't even check my voice mail that morning, though, since the day dawned bright and sunny. In fact, we've barely seen a cloud since, and could really use the rain!
We watched the first part of the Ken Burns documentary about Frank Lloyd Wright tonight. The second part is next week, but if you've missed the show, here's the website.
After the Frank Lloyd Wright show, there was a show about the Wheeling Suspension Bridge, which I really didn't know anything about. I need to see it sometime!
Wednesday, October 2, 2002
Tonight on the way home from work I saw something I don't see every day. Driving east along I-10, the traffic alert sign (which usually displays news about accidents and congestion) read "HURRICANE WARNING NEXT 400 MILES". Check out this photo of incoming Hurricane Lily (high res version here).
And how about these waves, surfers?
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