This looks like the place to be. If you are going to visit the coast of Maine the trip would not be complete without stopping at Watchtide By The Sea.  A unique bed and breakfast with a huge dose of American history.

 Watchtide . . . by the Sea! invites you to experience the unhurried lifestyle along the midcoast of Maine.  This historic bed and breakfast inn on three-plus landscaped acres offers some of the finest accommodations on the Maine coast -- five comfortable rooms with private baths, tasteful period furnishings and accessories, and the sense of history that only a 200-year-old home can convey. 

          Each morning you'll awaken to a superb, creative multi-course breakfast served on our 60-foot enclosed sunporch as you watch a spectacular sunrise over the glistening waters of the bay.  Spend your day relaxing on  the sunporch or in our guest lounge, reading in our library, or strolling in our flowering gardens.  Venture out for sightseeing, visiting the many interesting galleries, museums, antique shops, parks and historic sites along the coast road, or sailing on one of  America's most attractive waterways.

          Less than an hour's drive from Rockland, Camden, Bar Harbor, Mount Desert Island and Acadia National Park, the inn is located on Coastal Route 1 in Searsport, a seacoast town famous for its clipper ships and sea captains in the mid-1800s and today considered the antiques capitol of Maine.

          In August, 1794, Brigadier General Hanry Knox acquired the original deed to the Watchtide property.  General Knox, one of George Washington's most reliable aides during the American Revolution, was the new nation's first Secretary of War and is acknowledged as the founder of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.  After General Knox sold the property, well-to-do merchants and sea captains resided here until the Pettee family purchased it in 1901 and retained ownership for half a century.  One of the daughters, Frances Pettee, and three roommates from Wellesley College opened a tea house on the site in 1917 which evolved into the College Club Inn, one of the most popular stopping-off places on the Maine coast.  The inn hosted many notables, among them Eleanor Roosevelt who made regular visits with her entourage as she traveled the coastal route to Campobello Island in New Brunswick, Canada, where the Roosevelt family spent their summers.  In April, 2000, the College Club Inn was placed on the National Register of Historic Places   by the U.S. Department of the Interior.   A framed document certifying this recognition hangs proudly in the main entry hall at Watchtide . . . by the Sea!

          The present owners and innkeepers, Patricia and Frank Kulla, take great pleasure in continuing the tradition of hospitality established at the inn many decades ago.  Today, as in years past, they are welcoming guests to enjoy the warmth and special ambiance of a stay at this unique, historic bed and breakfast inn overlooking beautiful Penobscot Bay.

Kevin’s Story, Part 31, Fire Department Volunteer

Some little boys are interested in family history, some want to grow up and be a soldier or a policeman, most want to be just like there dad, I wanted to be a fireman.  In the 1950's those that served their country were honored above all.  The next best thing was serving your community.  As a little boy, all I saw was the glitz and glamour of being a fireman.  I could imagine myself climbing that 30 foot ladder grabbing that little kid, putting them over my shoulder and taking them to safety.  Or holding onto that fire hose and saving a house.

With friends devoting there lives to the fire department I understand what it means to serve.  When they serve there whole family serves.  They don’t get a lot of high fives from the community like I thought they would.  Maybe a nod on the forth of July when they blow the horn of the fire engine.  Our dedicated firemen are just unbelievable.  No way I could fill their shoes.  We took a group of young boys down to the local fire department for a tour ten years ago.  The kids got way more than a tour, they got to see what a fireman’s life is like.  At the end of the tour they got out the sixty foot ladder truck and showed us how they fight a fire on a high rise.  Each and every firemen had that glint in the eye that I must have had at five years old.  Every time we dial 911, they come flying in the door ready to help.  The whole emergency response team shows up at the door in less than five minutes.

To all of you that give so much so that we can have a better life, we are thankful that your dream came true.

Kevin’s Story, Part 29, I lived down the street from

 

Thank you dailyishphoto.blogspot.com for this, the best picture of this house I have ever seen.  A perfect picture for this time of year.  I have ten pictures that don’t even come close.  Great job, I have to follow your blog and wait for another great picture.

You may have to go back and read Part 25 again because, that window was close to this house.  I guess this should be a quiz.  Well the famous writer did not live in the house when I lived close by.  I don’t even remember seeing the house when I was little.  If you get to see it in person, you won’t forget it.  It has a completely different look when surrounded by snow.

The mansion was built in 1858 for $7,000.00.  I would wager the last paint job cost more than that.  Maybe if you lived in a house like this you could write awesome books also.  So who lives in the house now?

Kevin’s Story, Part 16, Looking for the sister

A sister?

Who, where, when, who?

I was talking to a cousin and they mentioned that they had been friends with your sister for a long time.  What’s her name?  I don’t know much of anything else, you’ll have to ask him.

Pause for 3 weeks while I try to get hold of him by phone.  (This is killing me) (Not the Jeff Dunham - Achmed the Dead Terrorist "I KILL YOU") The phone fell out of my hand when he finally answered.  I thought I had lost the connection.  Damn cell phones.  I understand that I may have a sister running around out there?  Yeeeessss.

What’s her name, how do you know her, what, what, how, what?

So I will call her and ask her to call you.  OKAY!

Just to find out a little piece of information, wow.  How exciting.  The joy of finding out the possibility of a sister.

The wait.

A word of wisdom from someone with not much of it.  Change the way you look at family.  Stop judging, stop saying bad things about them, stop tearing them down, stop being jealous.  Start forgetting the bad stuff in the past, start to remember the good stuff, start looking at them for who they are, start enjoying them while you have them.  Life is too short to hold onto the bad stuff and not long enough to find out about the good stuff.

To Be Continued . . . . . . .

Having a Child

When you are young you really don’t think about having a child or being a parent.  Oh I knew when I was a teenager that I wanted a family some day, but I never really thought about it.  When I got married I didn’t even think about it.  Not until I found out my wife didn’t want children.  Don’t you think I should have asked that after a few dates and not a few years after marriage.  I just assumed everyone wanted a house full of kids.  Never thought how much that might cost or how I was going to support them.

You can never really know what love is until you have a child. I have never adopted a child but I guess it is just about the same.  When I was talking to wife two on the phone (1300 miles away) she said we are pregnant.  It took my breath away.  I don’t think I ever really understood what happiness was until that second.  When you hold that baby for the first time I am positive that God has your back.  That is when I understood what a blessing meant.  It wasn’t just written in a book, it was happening to us.

From my perspective (a guy that doesn’t think too much about stuff) going through everything is worth that first time you are introduced to the little person that just changed your life forever.  Wife two told me that if I wanted another one that I would have to have it myself.  If that was really possible, I might chicken out.

Kevin The Bold

They say there was a reason for the name Kevin.  The first hint may come from my grandmothers maiden name, Farrell. If that doesn’t help, her mothers maiden name was Boyle.  Some heavy Irish accents in that house.

Others would suggest the name was more related to the possibility of this little guy resembling Kevin The Bold when he grew up.

In the 1950's Kevin The Bold was a household name.   Kreigh Collins developed a comic strip named Mitzi McCoy.  It appeared every Sunday starting November 7, 1948. Mitzi’s ancestor from the 1500's Kevin The Bold joined the characters on September 24, 1950. Not long after the comic strip was renamed Kevin the Bold.

The story goes that the young shepherd Kevin became a trusted employee of King Henry VIII.  He and his cohorts Pedro and Brett had many adventures that lasted a couple decades.  Many of the strips echoed Mr. Collins own life.  The Collins family took a year off and spent it sailing, and the youngest of the four sons was named Kevin.

Mom either really liked the name or hoped I would end up working for the King.  Obviously any resemblance to the picture above is only accidental. 

Kevin's Story, Part 11, Graduation

Not mine, not a family history graduate, my son graduated from high school this week.  Time keeps ticking along.  It seems like yesterday that he was graduating from Kindergarten.  Amazing how his sister ten years older than he would be teaching the little ones in the same room that he attended only twelve years ago.  Things have changed.  Maggie stepped into the building as a five year old and stepped out of the same building twelve years later as a high school graduate in 1948, Kevin started Kindergarten in Maine, finished Kindergarten in Wilmington California on the other side of the Country.  First grade was in Connecticut, second grade Vallejo, California. Twelve years twelve schools?  Not that bad, maybe nine schools.  It wasn’t easy keeping our children in the same schools for twelve years.

Why couldn’t they teach me how to remember family history in school.  I learned algebra, and trig.  Why not teach the importance of family history.  In the seventh grade (Junior High School when I attended, where did the term middle school come from?  I digress) In the seventh grade they should have a class, Family History 101, that teaches you how to interview your grandparents.  In the eight grade, Family History 201, how to interview your parents.  If only I would have asked a few questions.

My first gift to you, if I can figure out how to attach it, “In The Life Of”.  Get out the video camera and have your kids ask grandma and grandpa a few questions.  https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B6827uafnKGDZWEyZGZmNjMtMTAyMC00OTAwLWE5YzgtMjI5YmNhZmI5MGIy&hl=en_US&authkey=CNCkn_EO

Photo’s, The Dummies Guide, Part 1

What better way to save your family history than to include photo's of your ancestors on that family tree.  If you have a just a few photo’s now, you will probably have a lot of photo’s later.  Find a way to organize your work now.  It will save you from duplicating and wasting your time.

What do you want to do with your photo’s?  Are you going to store them, share them with family members, post them on the Internet for all to see?  Maybe you want to create a memorial slide show for a family member that is no longer with us.  How about your grandma’s 85 birthday party?

Is the quality of your photo good enough?  If you are going to share them on the Internet then maybe they are fine.  What size should the picture be?  Many questions.  Some basic answers will follow.  Most important, I am not a photographer.  If you want the best then consult a pro.  I will try to bring you up to speed to help you with your genealogy work.  Anything past that you should do some additional study.

I love to work on photo’s and use a few programs to help me.  If that’s not your interest, I suggest you get help from someone that loves to.  I suggest you talk to Lisa at http://www.retrophotorestoration.com/.  Take a look at her website and see what is possible.  Lisa is passionate about working with her photo’s and will take the same care with yours.  If you think it is impossible, contact Lisa.
                                                                                                                                          
Most importantly.  Backup your work.  Have a backup plan and stick to it.  If you are going to digitize your pictures, make sure a copy of the work is protected and stored at a different place than the original.

To Be Continued . . . .

Kevin's Story, Part 7

The ancestry question is looming.  I now have a list with 22 names on it.  I remember my Aunt Marion and Uncle Henry were really into genealogy research.  They only visited a couple times as I was growing up.  When they did my Uncle Henry would get up early Sunday morning and say “you ready to go”  Off to church we would go.  Only a few times in my life had I seen a man have such a love of the Lord.  Not the going to church ‘cause he has to kinda guy, the kind that is just so positive about the Lords love for us.  He had a profound effect on the rest of my life.  (A different story)  Anyway Uncle Henry would take me to breakfast after church.

Twenty five years go by and I travel to Texas to work at Bell Helicopter.  My Aunt and Uncle do not live far away so I decide to look them up.  I visit with them for four hours and ten minutes, four hours of which they show me the family tree they have been working on.  They are so excited because they just found a long lost family member.  They take me into the hobby room, which has every horizontal surface lined with family tree pages.  A file cabinet full of paper, and stories of trips they have taken to find stuff.  They devoted years to the project, It’s all coming back to me.

Fifteen years go by and I’m thinking, I’ll just give them a call.  Not in the book.  411 no help.  I have no idea how to contact anyone on that side of the family.

To be continued . . .

Kevins Story, Part 3

Maggie’s world in the 1940's was probably full of war.  America needed hope but that was taken over by rage at our attackers.  That gave focus to life in America.  From rationing, to scrap drives to collect steel, rubber, and what ever they needed for the troops.  They still sat around the radio, but they listened to news of the war and not as much baseball.

It is real important to understand how hard life was in America.  American’s came from somewhere then.  Your family was from Italy or Poland, maybe Germany or England.  You were Jewish, Catholic, or of some faith.  You knew your roots.  You were proud of your heritage, your country, your town, and your team.  Dad wore the pants in the family.  He didn’t give too many atta boys.  You knew were you stood and if you messed up, you knew it was going to be bad.   You tried to avoid trouble if you could but, knew that you had better tell the truth when asked or it was going to be much worst.  Talk about family values, no they didn’t talk about anything.  If it had to do with boys and girls, you better learn the facts from a friend because you weren’t going to learn it at home.  Unless you made a mistake.  And then it still wasn’t talked about.

As Maggie became a teenager and the war started to wind down it was a great time to be alive.  American’s had jobs, they had hope, and manufacturing revolution fueled by war innovations was about to explode.  The advancements in medicine like Penicillin changed everything in the 1940's.  Note: The first electronic computer was made in the 1940's and it wasn’t called a PC.  It was called ENIAC and weighted 30 tons.  http://ei.cs.vt.edu/~history/ENIAC.Richey.HTML .

To be continued . . .

Heirloom or Junk

What is an heirloom.  When I got married twenty years ago we found ourselves integrating family, friends, and stuff.  If you have two houses full of stuff and you have to fit it all into one bucket, what do you do?  So we went about making some really tough decisions.  We decided to keep all the family and friends.

I asked, “Are you bringing all three cats?”  With my three cats and two dogs I wasn’t sure they were all going to make it.  They did!  She said, “Your dishes are all chipped, maybe we should just use mine.”   I asked, “ What should we do with your bedroom set”.  She said, “I can’t possibly get rid of any of those pieces”.  I asked, “Do you want to put the area rugs over the carpeting like that?”  She said, “That couch is an antique”.  I asked, “Can I keep my favorite chair?”  She said, “Most of the things I am bringing are heirlooms, your stuff is just junk.”

I didn’t like hearing that at all.  I loved my chair.  So what if the cats had clawed it up a bit.  A man has the right to be comfortable in his own chair.  I wonder what happened to that chair?  Between you and I, what did I know about heirlooms or what was of value?  I had no idea what might even be of sentimental value. As you research your family history, take the time to inventory the things you would like to pass down.  Go do it now!  (Not if your driving, wait till you get home.)  Open you favorite word processing program and make a list of the items that may possibly have value.  Take a picture and put it on the same page.  List where it came from, the date, any story behind the piece, who you want it to go to, and anything else you can remember.  Email the file to yourself and another family member in case your computer crashes.

I need to put in a plug for another one of my favorite tools in my tool box.  Family Tree Magazine.  After opening my big mouth and told you what to do about heirlooms, I thought that it would be better to organize the mess as you go.  I thought I would look to see if they have any recommendations.  They have a form for that, http://www.familytreemagazine.com/upload/images/pdf/artifact.pdf.

The Stork

The stork could have come to the house in our ancestors days.  Your Mom could have been in a family way or expecting.  Today we don’t need a stork because babies come by magic through the front door.  Mom’s get driven away and come back from the store with a baby.  They could have picked one out that wasn’t so loud.

Searching for records about stork visits may not be as simple as the if the baby shows up at the front door.  There is a difference between types of records and maybe there is no record at all.  What if your grandfather was born on the farm?  My bio-dad was born on the farm and there was no record.  However, he did qualify for social security.  But you need a birth certificate to get a social security card?  In other countries it could be even harder to find records, we have it easy in America.  A record of live birth is a way for a person to get a social security card if they do not have a birth certificate.  You typically need to have an idea where you were born and someone standing beside you to vouch for you.  In my case my brother went with my bio-dad to the recorders office and said “this has always been my Dad”.  If only the stork keep records our job would be easier.

Surnames

Before we go to far in cataloging our family history, we should consider surnames.  Surname is sometimes called family name but most think of last name.  As we go back in history we find that last names were not always used.  When you are doing research before the thirteen hundreds last names may be associated with a town, or an area of land.

Consider if your name is Jim Smith.   You look up everything you can find on the Smith family name.  When you are done you have 100 pages of things to read about the Smith family.  Did you forget about your mothers family?  Back to the computer and look up everything you can find on the Jones family.  How about your grand parents?  Great grand parents?

As you can see it can grow very fast.  Every generation back almost doubles the amount of surnames.  I made the mistake of trying to keep track of all the surnames in my family.  It became a full time job.  At fourteen generations back I quit.

Many family historians start at a point in history and work there way forward.  The Smith family in America.  As we work back to find our history, search for the real treasure chest, a family history story written about the families history after arriving in America.  I recently came across one at freepages.  While doing research about your family history, if you find a new surname, take a trip to the site. http://freepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/directory/genealogy.html

Kevin’s Ancestry Story, Part 2

To understand Kevin’s ancestry story, you have to realize what happened to Maggie.  Maybe this should be renamed “Maggie’s story as told by Kevin”.  But really this is a story about family history.  About heritage and the search for the facts.  Do you know your story?  Are you sure?  What if?  I knew my story for 54 years and then it changed.  Do you like change?  Let’s leave the jury out about the change thing.  At the end you can decide.  I already know.

America in the 1930's was somewhat like 2009.  A bust of the stock market, no jobs, income down 40%, and little to eat for many Americans.  Maine may be a long way from the heartland of America, but they felt the hard times also.  Survival was the name of the game.  (Can’t you hear Lena Horne or Billie Holiday music in the background?)  At that time the Government wanted to let the free market find it’s way, but as the 1940's approached the Government took over and worked to regulate our way out of the mess.  Social security, unions, employee rights, a fair wage for a fair days work.  Back in Maine a preteen didn’t think about those things.  They were more concerned with playing games, listening to the Boston Red Socks on the radio.  Dom DiMaggio and Ted Williams were household names in the North East.  Christmas morning may have brought you a new present under the tree.  New meant, hand made out of something else, but you would have loved it.

To be continued . . .

Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness

If you have slammed into a stone wall and can not find a way over, do you give up?  Most of us give up so don’t feel bad.  A year goes by and you find yourself back at the same stone wall and you don’t want to give up this time.  If you could just fly to the other side of the country and spend a day or two doing some research you might be able to solve the riddle.

What if you could get a little help from a friend?  Well, Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness helps you find a friend if you have no other options.  They have volunteers standing by that may be able to help solve that riddle.

The site is free but they do accept donations at http://www.raogk.org/support.html if you are able to give.  To find there site go to http://www.raogk.org/index.html.  If you would like to volunteer, they are accepting applications.

What a fantastic act of random kindness.  Thank you.

Kevin's Ancestry Story, Part 1

A long story.

It did take a long time (55 years) for the story to develop.  The story started 55 years ago or, the story started two years ago, in what I call ancestry years.  Ancestry years is how long it took someone to figure out what the real story was.  I’m not going to change the names to protect the innocent or guilty.  Facts are what is important in ancestry talk.  Note: when you are doing your research, try to get the real facts.  If the family members are still with us, get there permission to put the real facts down in a public place.  So the story starts in 1954.  There was this girl.  That’s not correct, start over.  There was this young woman all of 23 years old.  She was a beautiful long auburn haired five foot two and eyes of blue.  Let’s call her Maggie.

Maggie was born appropriately on Christmas day in 1930.  Her Mom died when she was 7 and typically that would mess some people up for life.  Maybe it made her stronger?  That’s what they say in the movies.  She grew up being tormented by three older brothers.  That’s probably what made her stronger.  Just like any normal girl growing up in the thirties in Maine, she lived a hard but awesome life.  In a town of hundreds there was only one school.  On her first day of school she walked into the front door to attend the first grade and walked out the same door on her last day of the twelfth grade.

To be continued . . .   Feel free to follow along at ancestrybykevin.blogspot.com

Try A Different Spelling

Names are not always spelled correctly.  About as good as my spelling.  I was doing research on the Wotton surname.  I restricted my searching to "Wotton" so I would only get the correct person.  The problem with is that it could be spelled wrong.  The name sounds like Waaton the way most pronounce it.  Can you imagine when they came to America and attempted to tell the Government official the name was Waaton.  He says "how you spellin' that?".  They may not have been able to read or write.  So the Government official spells it Waton.  If you hit a brick wall, try different spellings to see if anything pops up.

Paid vs Free Research Sites

Is anything really free?  Many things are free in life including family history research sites.  Sometimes free is not so free and many times more frustrating than it's worth.  If you are following along, I plan to take on the free claims one at a time and let you know just how free they are.  My goal is to review one site each week.  I plan on starting with the big ones first.  Then I want to investigate sites around the world.

Paid sites make your life much easier.  So, if you are in a hurry, or you have deep pockets, I will recommend some of my favorites.  Many of the paid sites are linked together.  The records are available no matter which site you subscribe to.

I will attempt to catalog the different types of sites also.  Each site specializes in or is better at one thing or another.  So if you are planning on spending money for a sites tools, you may want to wait around awhile and get some suggestions.

If you are on a limited budget, there is an amazing amount of information available.  You just have to know where to find it.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Genealogy

Some folks just have to have a book.  If you are one of those, you want to bend over the corners, like the smell of the new book, this is a good tool to have on your shelf.  

The original book by Christine Rose and Kay Germain Ingalls is available used.  A 2nd edition published in 2006 is also available.  If you have to have a copy on your iPad, there is an eBook version available.  Under $20.00.

The Generations Project

There is a new show on TV.  Every week they are going to follow real people as they search for there family history.  


You can find the new show on BYUtv.  Check your local listings for times and dates.  For more information visit www.byutv.org.  The first show of the new season.

• Xander and Carrie
  Airdate: March 29, 2011
• Xander and Carrie, whose twin boys were saved from a genetic disease by an anonymous bone-marrow donor, set out to test the relationship between genetic and genealogical ancestry while searching for the disease in their own family histories.