Sarah Jessica Parker Connection?

My g-g-g-grandfather left Logan County, Ohio in early 1849 and headed west toward El Dorado County, California to search for gold. He never came back.

Sound familiar?

If you saw the first episode of "Who Do You Think You Are?" you might recall that this also describes Sarah Jessica Parker's g-g-g-g-grandfather.

Her ancestor was John S. Hodge. Mine was William Moore. Not the same person. Just shows how common the Gold Rush experience was. My William was 53 when he died on the way to California. He never made it to El Dorado. Another man in his company kept a journal of the trip and so records William's death in Nebraska Territory.

But that doesn't mean I don't have a connection to Sarah Jessica Parker. William's wife, Anna Askren, had a nephew, James Askren, who married Margaret Hodge, sister of John S. Hodge.

I can't wait for the next episode of "Who Do You Think You Are?"

40 Famous Relatives

All the rage lately on facebook are those lists like "25 random things about me" and "100 books we haven't read." I propose a list that has some relevance to genealogists.

I have put an X next to the famous people I am related to. Of course, we’re all related, but these are the ones I can show a link to. Which are you related to?

1. George Washington ( )
2. Barack Obama ( )
3. George Bush ( )
4. Franklin Roosevelt ( )
5. Teddy Roosevelt ( )
6. Jimmy Carter (x)
7. Hillary Clinton (x)
8. Sarah Palin ( )
9. Jefferson Davis ( )
10. The Duchess of Cornwall (x)
11. Robert Goulet (x)
12. Madonna (x)
13. Kevin Federline (x)
14. Clark Gable (x)
15. Clint Eastwood ( )
16. Humphrey Bogart ( )
17. Kim Basinger ( )
18. Brad Pitt ( )
19. Katharine Hepburn ( )
20. Johnny Depp ( )
21. Bruce Lee ( )
22. Paris Hilton ( )
23. Farrah Fawcett ( )
24. Christina Aguilera ( )
25. Elvis Presley ( )
26. Jon Stewart ( )
27. Phyllis Diller’s husband “Fang” ( )
28. Edgar Allen Poe ( )
29. Toni Morrison ( )
30. Jack Kerouac (x)
31. Frederick Douglass ( )
32. Bill Gates ( )
33. Amelia Earhart ( )
34. Thomas Edison ( )
35. Brigham Young ( )
36. Charlemagne ( )
37. Aaron, brother of Moses ( )
38. A woman pictured on US currency ( )
39. A child pictured on US currency ( )
40. A Cherokee princess ( )

Political Tricks & Treats

Here are the answers to my last posting on California politics. A couple of them were a bit tricky.

Ansel Adams ~ Republican when he lived in San Francisco, Democrat in Yosemite
Dorothea Lange ~ Democrat
Roy Disney ~ Declines to State (1924-1954)
Walt Disney ~ Republican (1924-1954)
George Burns ~ Declines to State, later Democrat
Gracie Allen ~ Democrat
Marion Morrison / John Wayne ~ Republican
Milton Berle ~ Democrat
Ronald Reagan ~ Democrat
Buck Owens ~ 1952-1956 Republican; 1958 Declines to State
Mel Blanc ~ Democrat
Shirley Temple Black ~ Republican
Max Baer ~ Democrat
Duke Snider ~ Democrat
Ernest & Julio Gallo ~ Democrats; changed to Republicans sometime in 1930s
John Steinbeck ~ Democrat
Wm R Hearst ~ Democrat (1930s-1950)
Julia Morgan ~ Republican
Frank Gehry / Goldberg ~ Democrat
William Hewlett ~ Republican
David Packard ~ Republican
Mrs Aimee S McPherson ~ 1922-1930 Prohibition; 1936-1944 Democrat
Julia McWilliams Child ~ Republican

---------------------------------------------

One Halloween in the 1950s, my Republican father took me around the neighborhood. As he sent me up to knock on the first door, he told me to say “trick-or-treat” and then, after I got my treats, to say “I like Ike!” I did as he said and was rewarded with an additional handful of candy. Jackpot! I tried it at the next house and again got extra treats.

As I continued down the block this way, I began to feel anxious. I knew my mother, a staunch Democrat, would kill me if she found out. I could feel it in my stomach. This worry was too much for me so for the rest of the block I stuck to “trick-or-treat.”

Whatever your reasons for how to cast your vote, just vote!

~Sharon the Genealogist

Political Test

Ancestry.com has California voter registrations on their site. The lists are said to be from 1900 through 1968 but coverage varies vastly by county. The rolls include address, party affiliation, and often occupation.

Here is a list of some famous Californians and their listed occupations. Can you guess their party? I’ll post the answers in a day or so.

Ansel Adams ~ photographer
Dorothea Lange ~ photographer
Roy Disney ~ photographer, motion pictures
Walt Disney ~ cartoonist, producer
George Burns ~ actor
Gracie Allen ~ actress
Marion Morrison/John Wayne ~ actor
Milton Berle ~ actor
Ronald Reagan ~ motion pictures, army officer
Buck Owens ~
Mel Blanc ~ dialectician
Shirley Temple Black ~
Max Baer ~ pugilist
Duke Snider ~
Ernest & Julio Gallo ~ farmers, vintners
John Steinbeck ~ journalist, writer
Wm R Hearst ~ journalist
Julia Morgan ~ architect
Frank Goldberg / Gehry ~
William Hewlett ~ engineer
David Packard ~ engineer
Mrs Aimee S Mcpherson ~ evang, minister
Julia McWilliams Child ~ housekeeper

Fiddling Around at the Roadshow

A recent Antiques Roadshow segment featured an evaluation of a violin by M. Nebel, dated 1921. The appraiser, Clare Givens, stated that “… the books say he didn't come to the United States till 1927, but this violin is a clear indication that the book was wrong.”

You can see the segment at the Antiques Roadshow website on PBS.org.

(I don’t understand how other people can watch a piece like that and not scream at the TV, “Well, CHECK IT OUT, you dodos!” It’s like this compulsion that takes over. I can hardly sit and watch the rest of the show without dashing off to the computer. Anyone else have this affliction?)

Here is what I find when I finally check it out. In the 1930 census, where Martin lived in Philadelphia in the same household as his brother Hans, he said he first came to this country in 1923.

The April 27, 1923 passenger list of the SS Hannover includes Martin Nebel, violin maker aged 26, born in Mittenwald, joining his uncle Martin Nebel in New Jersey. He states that he has never been in the US before.

He appears to have traveled back to Germany in 1927, 1929, and 1932. Each time he returned he was asked if he had been in the US before. Each time he said he had first arrived in 1923.

Clare Givens was pleased when she heard about the records. She told me she had thought the label said 1924 but the producers (dodos!) convinced her it said 1921.

I love Antiques Roadshow, the historical insights I gain from it, and the curiosity it triggers. It does make my husband nervous to watch it with me, though, because of my occasional outbursts. But no such outbursts when he appeared with his Disneyland ticket book:

BackTrack Back

I recently attended the SCGS Jamboree and had a blast. One of the highlights was the blogger summit where I got to meet a bunch of great bloggers. I had met none of them in person before but I had read and enjoyed all their blogs. The summit made me nostalgic for my own blog and got me thinking I might see if I could revive it.

So why did I stop? One was technical. Some kind of confusion about my account and identity that I just got tired of trying to figure out. I'm still not sure it's cleared up but I seem to be able to post this. Another reason was that I got busy. One of the motives for this blog's existence was to give me an outlet for my genealogy addiction. Some time before my last post on this blog, I found another way to channel my obsession. No predictions on how I'll deal with this in the future, but I’m here for now.

Back at the SCGS conference, I had a brief encounter that made me smile. While waiting for the start of the blogger summit, I went over to Randy Seaver’s wife (easily identified in her "Geneaholic's Widow" T-shirt) to introduce myself and make small-talk. Randy is, of course, the geneaholic behind Genea-Musings and he was one of the panelists we were there to hear. Linda and I chatted a bit about our families and then she asked me, "So how do you know Randy?" Made me think she might not fully appreciate the impact of blogging and why all those people were in the room.

Discredited

When Roger and I watch a movie, we always watch the credits at the end. All those names! We enjoy reading and wondering about the names as they scroll by. Not just the stars, but all those behind-the-scenes name that most folks don't see because they are filing out of the theater.

Sometimes we wonder where a name came from. Like, what kind of a name is Garant? It appears in the credits of Night at the Museum. (Pierre Garand, Rouen to Quebec 1665) What about the name Winick in Charlotte's Web? (Abraham Winnik, Russia to New York 1906)

Now and then we recognize a nicely corrupted Swiss name like Niswanger or Lookabill. Or we spot a probable cousin named Robidou or Dutcher.

Some of the names just have to be read aloud. Go ahead, nobody's listening:

Samrod Shenassa
Hazel Catmull
Sergio Mimica-Gezzan
B. Tennyson Sebastian III
Mark 'Guns' Navarette

Speaking of movies, you might want to rent Akeelah and the Bee. If you pay attention, you will see Roger and me sitting right behind Angela Bassett in the auditorium at USC. Besides being able to see us on the big screen, you will probably enjoy the movie.

Our names, however, do not appear in the credits.