Genealogy Code

A couple of young neighborhood boys from up the road and a school buddy of theirs who came over to play, stopped by to say howdy to our little chihuahua and give her doggie treats to see her perform her tricks. She can beg, dance, roll over, say "please," shake paws, sit, sneeze, and stay on command and it never fails to amuse them. While here, their little friend had a problem with his britches and he learned a new code word (xyz), which led me to think of other code words we used when I was growing up.

Back in my day, when girls wore modest dresses pretty much all of the time to school and church, the unmentionables were not allowed to show. I would have died of mortification if straps slid down my arm or a slip hung below my dress hem. We used code words like "it's snowing down south" to mean one's underskirt was showing and to hitch it up, gal!

I've heard said that abbreviations or acronyms are the new code words in the English language and may take over correctly spelled words when texting on mobile devices such as cell telephones and book tablet readers. I don't know how true that may be, but it certainly is easier to use acronyms providing everyone knows what they mean. Those new to researching family history may not know the abbreviations/acronyms used by most genealogists, so I'm going to give a few common ones here.

AGS = The Association for Gravestone Studies
aka = also known as

b. = born, usually used before a date
bp = birthplace
bro = brother
bur = buried
c = circa or close to; around or about, mostly used with dates
CA = common ancestor
cem = cemetery
Co. = County
d = death date
DAR = Daughters of the American Revolution
dau. = daughter
d/o = daughter of
doc. = documentation
DNA = the hereditary code making up our bods
Dr. = a title of a physician
Eld. = Elder, a title of a Primitive Baptist preacher.
F = Female
FAN = Friends, Associates, and Neighbors

FDR - A first degree relative is a person's parent (father or mother), full sibling (brother or sister) or child. A member of a nuclear family, but without the spouse. A 2nd degree relative is a blood relative which includes the person's grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces or half-siblings. A 3rd degree relative is defined as a blood relative which includes the individual's first cousins, great-grandparents or great-grandchildren. And so forth.

FIL = father-in-law
Fr. = father

FS = for sale

FT = for trade (only) 
GAR = Grand Army of the Republic
GMa = grandmother
GP = Grand-parent or grandpa
1stGP = Great-grandparent or great-grandpa
2ndGP = Great-great grandparent or great-great grandpa
3rdGP = great-great-great grandparent or great-great-great grandpa
hh. = head of household
Hwy = highway, found on maps

ISO = in search of
J.P. = Justice of the Peace
M = Male
m. = married
m/2 = second marriage
M.G. = Minister of God
MIL = mother-in-law
MOLLUS = Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States; a veteran's organization for officers
Mos. = age in months
MOSGA = Missouri State Genealogical Association
Mr. = Mister; a title for a man (single or married)
Mrs. = Missus, title of a married woman
Ms.= Miz (the title for a liberated woman who may or may not be married), sometimes used if there is a question as to her status
no. or # = number
nee = birth or maiden surname or last name of a woman
NGS = National Genealogical Society
occ. = occupation
p. = page

PCA = DNA matches: Possible Common Ancestor(s)
PERSI = PERiodical Source Index

primary records = handwritten or oral records such as a census, marriage or death certificate
obit = obituary, a death notice found in a newspaper or other periodical
R. = range, usually found in land records
Rev. = Reverend; a title of ministers outside of the Primitive Baptists.
S = Section or south; usually found in land records
SAR = Sons of the American Revolution

secondary records -- those printed in a book or newspaper 
sis = sister
s/o = son of
sp. = spouse
Sr. = sister
St. = street, found on maps
Twp. = township
USA = United States of America
Vol. = Volume or edition
woi = without issue or children

WTB = want to buy
WWI = World War 1
WWII = World War 2
Yrs. = age in years

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Definitions:

1. A shirt-tail cousin = The phrase is used to describe a person who is related by marriage, or is a distant cousin, say a fourth cousin or beyond, or who is someone that is close to the family but not actually related by blood. It is meant as an honorary title when the relationship takes awhile to explain to a stranger. 

Emigrating Ancestors

My dictionary defines " to migrate" as to change one's place of abode on a seasonal basis such as migrating birds; " to emigrate" means permanently leaving the country or region from a certain point of departure; " to immigrate" is defined as relocating to a country or region in which one is not native in order to settle there; and " to transmigrate" also means migrating or passing from one place or condition to another. 

For our purpose, we are titling this article as "Emigrating Ancestors." They have uprooted themselves from one country and have moved lock, stock, and barrel to another, in this case, to the Americas to seek a better life. As we find more ancestors whom have emigrated from there to here, we'll continue to add them to this list. All dates are approximate. 

GOLDEN, William (1613-1672) Emigrated from Ireland in 1635 on the ship "George Jo." Died in Monmouth Co, NJ.

LOVEALL, Henry (1694-1772). Emigrated from Cambridge-shire, England. Died in Baltimore Co, MD.

MORGAN, Col. Morgan (1688-1766) Emigrated from Wales. Died in Berkeley Co, WV.

RUSH, William (1615-1690); Emigrated 1635. Ship: Matthew of London."

STEPP, James (bc. 1760) England. 

STOUT, Richard (1614-1705); Emigrated from Nottinghamshire, England. Died in Middletown, N.J. 

SULLENS, John (1739-1808) Son of Richard. Emigrated from England. Died in St. Louis Co., MO.

SULLENS, Richard (1720-1771) Father of John, Josiah & Nathan. Emigrated from England. Died in Putnam Co, TN.

December Holiday Traditions

In a week, a niece will be marrying and I wonder what Christmas holiday traditions she will carry on and make new with her fiancé. I know one of her mother's (my sister) traditions was to purchase dated Christmas ornaments at every place they traveled to on vacation.'

When David and I married, we made the mistake of not talking about how we wanted to celebrate the holidays with each other and our parents. David just assumed that I would go along with his family's traditions and his toe tripped over a speed bump when he discovered his bride had some wishes of her own in addition to both our parents expecting us to celebrate the holidays with them that first Christmas. Oops!

One thing common to both of us was that we had celebrated Christmas together with our extended families -- grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. We decided that we wanted to continue that tradition, however, deciding who got first dibs without ruffling feathers became a major struggle as both of our parents lived in the same metro area and our grandparents lived out of town in opposite directions. A few years ago, I read of a couple of capital ideas I wish we could have implemented in the beginning of our journey together as man and wife -- alternate holidays every month on an annual basis (I'd have to write it in on my calendar so I wouldn't forget) or make one holiday such as Thanksgiving a paternal holiday always and Christmas a maternal one or visa versa. 

My family stayed home for most of the holidays during the year and celebrated them together, along with school parties. We were only able to visit my grandparents in southwestern Kansas and the panhandle of Oklahoma two times a year as they lived an 8-10 hour drive away. First my parents and siblings would open gifts at home, around my brother's birthday on the 21st, then drive to the Kansas grandparents, spending several days there and then going on to the Oklahoma grandparents before returning home. We had three Christmas' in one!

Some of my favorite memories from those times are -- looking up and seeing the "great star" (Jupiter and another planet's conjunction) in the sky as from a mattress in my folk's station wagon (mom and dad almost always made up a bed for us four kids so we could sleep while they drove all night); getting out of school because of a blizzard that roared through Oklahoma; playing with our cousins; attending church with our grandparents and seeing old friends; Christmas dinner; watching for familiar towns along the way down and the mounting excitement of being almost there and the alternate -- the growing homesickness as we pass those same towns coming back and the longing to be home; and watching my grandmother's eyes mist with tears as they waved goodbye to us. My grandparents have all graduated to heaven and as I write this, I miss them very much and know I won't be able to celebrate holidays with them again until I meet them in the sky. 

David's immediate family spent the night at his paternal grandparent's home and woke up at dawn on Christmas morning to open gifts. Then in the afternoon, they would all pile in the car to go visit his mother's parents. He said his favorite memory was hanging out with all his cousins. And let me tell you, he has quite a few in Cole and Miller Counties, MO. 
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Some of our blended Christmas traditions came when we had our son. I found a recipe for a Christmas cottage in the newspaper and we'd get together, either with his cousins or his homeschool friends and make them from pop-tarts, frosting, and Christmas candies. It's very much like a gingerbread house.

We also had a birthday party for Jesus with cake and ice cream after my aunt gave our son a book about celebrating Jesus' birthday with a party. We made Christmas ornaments together and exchanged them with friends' homemade ones. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas we drove around to see the lights and generally, we'd wait until after Thanksgiving, usually on my birthday to decorate the house for Christmas. We also collected one or two Christmas books or videos a year and sit and read or watch them together before Christmas day. And we still love to play games and put puzzles together with our friends and family  Christmas evening! 

At my Kansas grandparents we would open gifts after Christmas dinner at noon and only after all the dishes were done and she read the Christmas story from her Bible. It seemed like it took forever before we actually got to open the gifts, but imagine our son's excitement when he was allowed as a first time reader to read his shortened version of the Christmas story at his Grandma's house! After all, Jesus is the reason for this season! 

As preschool Sunday School teachers, David and I have participated in our home church's children's pageant -- me helping with costumes and David/stage and props. In previous years, we participated in a Living Nativity (next time you see David ask him how cold it gets without long handles under a costume and about the braying donkey) and choir cantatas. This year we're reading a new devotional book called "Anticipate: An Advent Experience" by Paul Sheneman and published by Beacon Hill Press. I'm decorating paper tags based on this book's Jesse Tree symbols called "24 tags of Christmas" to hang on my Christmas tree. This would be a good book to have for your own family tradition of celebrating Advent preceding Christmas. A Jesse Tree is a version of an advent calendar. 

Hey Family, I would love it if you would add your favorite Christmas memories to the comment section below. Thanks!

Written by Dolores J. Rush. 

Colonial Dames of America

If you aren’t qualified to join the Daughters of the American Revolution but can prove that your lineage descends from pioneers who settled in America during the colonial days (from your school days, do you remember what the 13 original colonies were?), then perhaps this group is for you instead.

My encyclopedia seems to indicate that there are two groups of Colonial Dames of America. One was founded in 1890 and the other in 1891. The membership for the first depends on whether you are descended from an ancestor of distinction who resided in the colonies previous to 1776 or in the second, you were descended from a worthy ancestor settling in the colonies previous to 1750. Both groups collect and preserve records, documents, manuscripts, etc. that pertain to the colonies and the revolutionary period activities.

Most of my ancestors were ordinary men. Take for instance on my maternal grandfather’s side, the family traces back to a Peter ULLOM (me, mom, Grandpa John, Alford, Lorenzo Dow, Stephen, Peter). Peter was born in 1748 or 49 in Lancaster County, PA.

A cousin on my maternal grandmother’s side always told me I was descended from Robert MORRIS, the financier and signer of the Declaration of Independence, but it’s not been proven.

In years, we may be just shy of the requirement of colonial days, unless another family researcher has gone further back than I have. I’d love to know.