The Slovak Yankee

Paul Hollick 1860-1911

The baptism of Paul is from May 1860 in the village of Tura Luka, Slovakia.  Gravestones are notoriously inaccurate.

Social Media and me

My history of social media is long and checkered.  Shortly after Facebook was founded at Harvard, it became apparent that the students were communicating via Facebook rather than email.  So all the faculty and staff, including us librarians, were encouraged to join Facebook so that we could communicate with the students in their chosen venue.  So I joined Facebook in something like 2005 or 2006.  This way fine but by 2010 or so, the general population was joining Facebook and it became a problem.  You see, I have a unique name.  If you search it you immediately find me.  There is one other person on the planet that shares my name and he is Germany.  So many people found me and friended me.  All people from my past and mostly people I had left in my past for a good reason.  It was terribly hard for a person with anxiety not to friend someone when asked and even though I didn't want to.  So, I had left Harvard and I simply left Facebook.  Michael is still on Facebook, but not me.  Free, after all these years.

So I went through eight years or so without any social media and that was fine.  But I wanted to stretch my wings into something current so for a New Year's resolution in 2018, I opened an Instagram account.  Now I follow about 60 people neatly divided between travelers and gay influencers.  I enjoy Instagram, but really don't know how to use it.  Instastories are a mystery to me and I enjoy watching other people's stories I have too many hangups to share more of my life on stories even if I could.

I also subscribe to about 20 or so Youtube channels, again, neatly divided between travelers and gay people.  A few people don't fit in either group, but mostly everyone is in those two groups.

I don't subscribe to any genealogy Youtubers, if there are any, and only one genealogist on Instagram who is more of a friend.  I do post genealogy photos on Instagram though.  Especially gravestones.

 

Aachen, Germany

Aachen is on the extreme westernmost part of Germany, right on the Belgium border.  The French call it Aix or Aix La Chapelle.  It's importance in European history is that it was the capital of the empire built by Charlemagne.  Seated right in the center of the town is the cathedral of Aachen which started out as the palatine chapel for Charlemagne's palace.  The romanesque architecture is still there from the time it was built.

There are gothic additions to the original church, but the church is the oldest church in northern Europe dating from the 800s.  Five years ago I discussed that I minimally had 6,000 lines from Charlemagne and possibly as much as 10,000.  So part of this pilgrimage was to see the old man himself:

There he is (or what's left of him).  The tour guide mentioned that no DNA tests had been performed since Charlemagne left over 20 children and most of western Europe descends from him.  However, scientific studies were done of the bones and they determined the person was over 7 feet tall, as Charlemagne was, and there's every reason to believe this is him.

So how's that for a grave hunt.  Finding someone who died 1201 years ago.  He was put in the elaborate coffin by Frederick Barbarossa, another ancestor of mine.

 

Tombstone Tuesday: Daniel Dudley 1719-1811

Newport, N.H.  Son of last week's Deborah (Buell) Dudley.

Tombstone Tuesday: Deborah (Buell) Dudley 1693-1789

 This is lychen-covered and I didn't want to hurt the stone.  However, you can still the name Deborah in the upper right and 1789 on the lower left.  This from the Pine Street Cemetery, Newport, N.H.

Tombstone Tuesday: Priscilla (Bearse??) Hall 1644-1712

Another Capecodgravestone.  She is the wife of John Hall (Jr.).  Although hard to read in the photo, it says she died on March 30th, 1712 at age 68.  That  ballparks her birth at 1643/44.  A Priscilla Bearse is often promoted to be this woman.  However, there is no proof of that assertion.  See Robert Charles Anderson, The Great Migration Begins, II:840-44.  When I get to the Bearse Family on my Surname Saturday posts, I'll explore this claim more thoroughly.

 

Paying It Forward (or Trying to At Least)

It was coincidence that last week a fellow blogger vented some frustration at Findagrave.  It's nice to know I am not the only genealogical blogger who at times needs to vent.  It only feels like I'm the only one.  I'm relatively new to Findagrave.  I'm still in the double digits for memorials [but, of course, I only do my direct lines really].  However, everyone has been extremely kind to me there.  Those who have had memorials for my direct lines, were only too glad to turn them over to me.  In most cases, I declined if they just agreed to link the gravestones properly.  Also, I got my first photo request in the last two months, which saved me a trip to Pennsylvania.

I spent this past weekend in Vermont and on my way up I decided to stop and get some gravestone photos from two cemeteries in New Hampshire.  The first was in Newport and was for my Dudley family.  That part of the trip went well.  I found all the graves and got all the photos.  Two of the gravestones were sadly lichen-covered.  Someday I may go back to clean them up and take new photos, but first I need to learn the best way to clean the gravestone without unintentionally hurting it.  Those photos are already on Findagrave and will keep my Tombstone Tuesdays populated for a while.  I also found a sister of my g-g-g-g-grandmother I didn't know was there, with one of her children and one grandchild.  

The second cemetery was about 10 miles south of the first in Lempster.  Supposedly another Dudley was there.  However, before I left I downloaded the three photo requests for that cemetery (there were none for the first) and armed with four different names off I went.  Sadly, I couldn't find my Dudley or two of three requests.  But I got one and I posted that photo and got a very nice thank you.  So I have fulfilled one photo request (and not even in my neck of the woods).  

Tombstone Tuesday: John Hall (Jr.) 1638-1710

Also from Capecodgravestones.  He is the brother of Rev. Gershom Hall, both sons of John and Bethia (---) Hall.

 

Tombstone Tuesday: Bethia (Bangs) Hall 1650-1696

Again from Cape Cod Gravestones.  She is the wife of Gershom Hall and the mother of Bethia (Hall) (Winslow) Hawes.   She was the daughter of Edward Bangs.

 

Tombstone Tuesday: Rev. Gershom Hall c. 1647-1732

  

From the great site Cape Cod Gravestones.  This is in the Dennis Hall Cemetery.  A great reminder to watch how towns evolve.  Dennis was set off in 1793 from Yarmouth.  So this cemetery was in Yarmouth in 1732 and the Halls were from there.  But if you are too quick (as I sometimes am) to note there is no Hall tombstone in Yarmouth, you would miss this one.