Kinfolk News: November 2009

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun - Famous Look-Alikes

Randy came up with a really fun exercise.

Here are the instructions:

1) Go to http://www.myheritage.com/ - you don't have to be a registered member to use this feature. Click on the "Celebrities and Fun" tab.

2) Click on the "Celebrity Collage" tab, and then on the "Create my Collage" button.

3) Upload a photograph with your face (or another person's face) to the site (the face must be at least 100 x 100 pixels) and click on the "Run face recognition" button.

4) Select a collage template, and the faces (up to 8) to go into the collage template. Click on "Next" and "Preview" your template, which should bring up the template for you to review. You could click on "Save" and it would go off to your selected social networking site.

5) Figure out how to show your collage on your blog or social network site

Since I'm a bit shy, I decided to find out which celebrities my parents look like.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Terms of Service

at 5:49:00 PM

Terms of Service

Terms: By accessing this web site, you are agreeing to be bound by these web site Terms and Conditions of Use, all applicable laws and regulations, and agree that you are responsible for compliance with any applicable local laws. If you do not agree with any of these terms, you are prohibited from using or accessing this site. The materials contained in this web site are protected by applicable copyright and trade mark law.

Copyright: Kinfolk News: Random Thoughts and Research Notes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License and is owned and administered by Regina De León.

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Comments: I am not responsible for the comments of others. I will moderate and edit the comments that I feel are offensive or unsuited to the subject matter of this site.

Liability: As a reader, you will not hold me liable for any harm, defamation, damages or anything else arising from the use or inability to use this site. The content of this site should not be taken as fact or absolute. The sites linked on this blog are not my responsibility and are not in my control.

Links: Kinfolk News: Random Thoughts and Research Notes has not reviewed all of the sites linked to its web site/blog and is not responsible for the contents of any such linked site. The inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement by Kinfolk News: Random Thoughts and Research Notes of that site. Use of any such linked web site is at the user's own risk.

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This policy was last modified on 25 November 2009.

* (Inspiration for this disclaimer provided by Thomas of GeneaBloggers and Tina of Tina’s Genealogical Wish List. Thanks a bunch!)

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Wordless Wednesday - Raft to Tom Sawyer Island- Disneyland 1964

at 8:03:00 PM

Photo: Disneyland - "Raft to Tom Sawyer Island", July 1964. Anaheim. Orange Co., California. Digital image.

This attraction no longer exists at Disneyland California. Here is an interesting article about the Raft to Tom Sawyer Island.

Tombstone Tuesday: O.T. Montgomery

at 7:35:00 PM

Oda Theodore Montgomery was my great grandfather.

Born: 6 April 1894 in Tennessee

Died: 28 January 1927 in San Antonio, Bexar Co., Texas

Buried in Locke Hill Cemetery - San Antonio, Bexar Co., Texas

This is a photo of Oda and wife, Minnie with two for their four children, Frank and Gladys taken bout 1919.

Pages from Oda's memorial book. It is unknown who wrote all the information in this book. It was given to me by my grandmother, Gladys.

Oda's death certificate.

- Photo: Marker of O.T. Montgomery, 2006. Added to Find A grave by: Kenny, Julie & Grandson, 9/05/2006. San Antonio,Bexar County,Texas, USA. Digital image. Used with permission.

- Photo: Oda Theodore Montgomery & Family, circa 1919. Location unknown. Digital image.

- Memorial Book of Oda Theodore Montgomery, ca. 1927; Privately held by Regina De León, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE], California, 1990. Given to me by grandmother, Gladys Jane Montgomery Crew Holland.

- Texas Bureau of Vital Statistics. Texas death certificate index entry. From FamilySearch Internet (www.familysearch.org),
24 November 2009. Certificate RN364, Oda Theodore Montgomery, 28 January 1927.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Treasure Chest Thursday - Leaf Quilt

at 10:37:00 AM

Here is another one of my Grandma Crew's creations. I don't think this is a very original design but it was hand stitched with love and care. This quilt is bigger then the "girl on a swing" quilt. Made for a bigger bed, probably with the hope that I would get married someday. (My grandmother developed arthritis and could not see very well. She would have stopped making quilts long before I was married.)

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Wordless Wednesday - Disneyland "The Columbia" July 1964

at 8:43:00 AM

Photo: Disneyland - "The Comlubia", July 1964. Anaheim. Orange Co., California. Digital image.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Tombstone Tuesday - My Dad

at 10:21:00 AM

There is no marker for this post. My Dad was cremated and his ashes were scattered in one of his favorite fishing spots.

Dad never wanted a funeral, or a memorial, or anything to mark his passing. The family and a few friends did have a "Celebration of Life" wake at his house.

His ashes were scattered by my Brother and the rest of the family scattered roses into the water. It was a touching way to say "Until we meet again."

Photo: Dad's Ashes with roses, 31 October 1998. Truth or Consequences, Sierra Co., New Mexico. Digital image.

J C Bynum

Born 12 January 1931 in Borger, Hutchinson Co., Texas

Died 27 October 1998 in Albuquerque, Bernalillo Co., New Mexico

Monday, November 16, 2009

Kreativ Blogger Awards

at 11:21:00 AM

Thank you to Felicia R Mathis at My Nola Heritage and Thomas MacEntee at Destination: Austin Family for bestowing me with a Kreativ Blogger award. I don't know what I did to deserve it but it is much appreciated!

So from looking at Felicia's and Thomas' blogs, I need to tell you seven things that you don't know about me then nominate seven deserving blogs.

So here goes, seven things you don't know about me:

- I love to read. I usually have two to three books I'm reading at any one time. But they have to be of different kinds. I just can't keep two novels going at the same time.

- I'm the youngest of two only children. An explanation may be needed at some point.

- I was a gymnast from ages 9 to 16. I did Artistic Gymnastics (you know, balance beam, vault, etc.) from ages 9 to 13 then switched to Rhythmic Gymnastics (ribbon, ball, hoop, etc.) I won second place in both state championship and regional championship the last year I competed. Guess I should post my photos and awards on my blog sometime.

- I hate bugs. No. Wait. Hate is not the right word. I have a bug phobia. Anything that creeps, crawls, flies, jumps or can scale walls is NOT my friend! There are exceptions but VERY few.

- I'm terrified of the doctor and dentist. Sorry, there is no explanation.

- I love movies based on classic novels. The A&E edition of Pride and Prejudice and the BBC edition of North & South are among my favorites.

- I'm an Addams Family fan. I used to collect everything I could get my hands on Addams Family related. Still want the Addams Family Barbie dolls though. Sigh.

So there you have it, seven things you did not know about me.

Now my picks for the Kreativ Blogger award.

Cemetery Explorers

Tina's Genealogical Wish List

Lost Family Treasures

Kathy Wait Myers Genealogy

West in New England

Of Trolls and Lemons

Our Twigs

I'm looking forward to finding out more about each of the nominated blog authors.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Still a newbie... blog tweaking continues

at 12:44:00 PM

Today I've been tweaking my blog. I finally got around to adding FeedBurner and the email subscription widget. Thanks Thomas for your wonderful, step-by-step instructions! [If you haven't set yours up yet get the instructions on GeneaBloggers.]

I also managed to add my Creative Commons license and My Free Copyright license. This was a pretty simple process. Just needed to fill-in some information and html code was generated. Cut and paste to blog layout. I can handle that!

I'm still trying to get my Terms of Service, Privacy and Comment Moderation policies posted and linked. Terms of Service and Privacy need to be edited and posted. Seems I'm just to lazy to work on them. They are so boring! But that is next on my To Do list.

I'm having trouble with the Comment Moderation because I switched the comments away from Blogger and to Disquss. Basically, I like Disquss better then Blogger's comment form but I am unable to add the Comment Moderation Policy directly to the comment block. I've been in touch with Disquss and they told me it was possible to add it but it would have to be added to my blog template. Now being new to this, I don't feel comfortable doing that. I found someone from Disquss who is supposed to help but have not heard back from them. Oh well... I can let that go for now.

All these little things reminded me how much I still don't know about running a blog. After a year, I'm still a newbie. Hopefully, I'll get the hang of this soon!

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Treasure Chest Thursday - Girl on a Swing Quilt

at 4:03:00 PM

This is one of several quilts that my grandmother Crew made for me. I am the youngest grandchild and thus received many of her quilts. This one is not stuffed and is great for warm weather. As with all her quilts, she saved every dress, curtain and bed sheet to make them.

I've never seen another quilt with this simple patten before. It could be a design of her own making.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Wordless Wednesday - My Veteran Stars

at 12:57:00 AM

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Tombstone Tuesday - Baby Joyce Ann Birck

at 10:20:00 AM

Joyce Ann Birck

Born: 28 December 1934 in Fredericksburg, Gillespie County, Texas

Died: 29 May 1935 in Fredericksburg, Gillespie County, Texas
Buried: Der Stadt Friedhof Cemetery -
Fredericksburg,Gillespie County,Texas

Daughter of Rose Margaret Ersch and Erie Edwin Birck.

I am only very distantly related to this child but I posted it because of Joyce's beautiful photograph.

Marker photos courtesy of Find A Grave contributor, Charlene Gish.

Photo: Burial site for Joyce Ann Birk. Der Stadt Friedhof Cemetery - Fredericksburg, Gillespie County, Tesas. Digital image by Charlene Gish. Privately held by Regina De León, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE], California, 2009. All rights reserved.

Photo: Marker for Joyce Ann Birk. Der Stadt Friedhof Cemetery - Fredericksburg, Gillespie County, Tesas. Digital image by Charlene Gish. Privately held by Regina De León, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE], California, 2009. All rights reserved.

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Wordless Wednesday - Marineland of the Pacific 1964

at 8:32:00 AM

Photo: Marineland, 1964. Palos Verdes Peninsula, Los Angelese County, California, USA. Digital image. Privately held by Regina De León, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE], California, 2009. All rights reserved.

For information about this now closed amusement park see:

"Marineland of the Pacific." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Marineland of the Pacific Historical Society
Marineland was demolished and replaced by houses/condos in 2007.
Photos of the abandoned buildings can be seen here.

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Tombstone Tuesday - Emilie and August Birck

at 6:51:00 PM

August Birck

Birth: Dec. 14, 1871, Gillespie County, Texas, USA (Per marker)

(14 Nov 1870 per death certificate.)

Death: : Feb. 17, 1934, Fredericksburg, Gillespie County,Texas, USA

Emilie Peese Birck

Birth: Jul. 28, 1882, Luckenbach, Gillespie County, Texas, USA

Death: Apr. 23, 1958, Fredericksburg, Gillespie County, Texas, USA

Trinity Lutheran Church Cemetery, Stonewall, Gillespie County, Texas, USA

Yesterday I was poking around in the census records trying to locate my great granduncle, Edgar Schmidt and his wife, Nelda Birck. I was able to locate Nelda in several census records and that lead me to her parents, August Birck and Emilie (Peese) Birck. I was also able to find both August and Emilie's respective death certificates. After I found those, I went to Find A Grave to see if someone had posted a memorial for each. Luckily, contributor John Shuck posted their memorials along with the above photo. He was nice enough to transfer the memorials to me and give me permission to post his photo as well.

Find A Grave Memorial for August Birk

Find A Grave Memorial for Emilie Peese Birk.