Kevin’s Story, Part 25, The Window

Let’s back up just a couple years, maybe to 1954, continued from Part 4 posted in April.  News was in the newspaper and on the radio.  Television was becoming more affordable.  You could pick up a brand new 19" black and white set for about $150.00.  The median household income was about $5,000.00 per year, so not everyone was lining up to buy a new set.   However, if you worked for a television shop you got a discount and it wasn’t long before Maggie’s Dad got a new set.  He would have just a few months of TV watching before he went to meet his maker.  By then Maggie had bigger challenges.  She was going to have to share the news that she was in trouble.

Three big brothers, there wives, step Mom, sister, Aunts and Uncle’s.  The consensus of opinion, adoption.  In 1954 girls did not become pregnant.  They went on holiday to some far away place and came back six months later like nothing had happened.  (Sidebar; [I got that from the OJ trial], we did not understand the mental damage that giving up a child for adoption would cause in the 1950's.  It wasn’t until abortion was legalized and we found out about the life long mental damage it caused that we looked at how hard it was to give up a child for adoption.)  You can imagine that I favor anything but abortion.  If you are on Facebook, search for the +9 group.  I should be the poster child because my Mom could have gone the easy way with an abortion or give me up for adoption.  It was much harder on a female then.  The right to chose is much easier the day you chose than living with the choice forever.  If you find it difficult living with a choice you made, please seek help from your church or pregnancy resource center in your area.

I am thankful that Maggie chose life for me.  It would take Maggie another 18 months before she could take me home.  She gave everything she had during those 18 months to make a home.  Back then you did not get a reward check every month for having a child you could not take care of.  Women did not have many options for work that paid enough to support a family.  Maggie found a job as a ward clerk at the Governments Dow Air Field hospital.  She found a one bedroom apartment in downtown Bangor and got to work by bus.  She would break that kid out of foster care and raise him by herself with no help from anybody.

Think back to when you were two years old.  Do you have any memories that far back?  I have one thing I can remember.  I must have been two years old and must have been in trouble.  I was required to stay on Mom’s big bed (I guess that was a time out) and take a nap.  I was not allowed to get off the bed for any reason.  (You may not have the whole picture.  It’s Bangor Maine, in the fall, cold breezy day, maybe in the 40's) Mom puts down the laundry basket, bends over grabs the latch on each side of the window, gives it everything a 5 foot 2 inch girl can give and the window finally comes up about 2 feet.  She grabs the laundry basket, bends over like a girl jumping hurtles, climbs out the window onto the roof.  I don’t ever remember being able to go outside that window and play.  I can’t see my Mom from my position on the bed.  I slowly and quietly lean over, , , , more, , , , a little bit more, , , , can’t see anything, , , more, , , oops.  I jump to my feet and try to get back on the bed but I can’t climb that thing because the bedspread pulls down when I pull up.  (I may have been vertically challenged then but I had plenty of weight) The bedspread on the floor and I have no way up on the bed.  I’m in trouble but, Mom didn’t yell yet???  Well since I’m down on the floor anyway, I slowly and quietly make my way over to the window.  Maybe I could go out and play with Mom.  I slowly peek around the window molding and see my Mom hanging up clothes.  ON THE ROOF?  This looks like a lot of fun so, being the good helper that I am, I throw a leg over the window ledge and the next 60 seconds is probably why I remember the story.

Continued . . . . .

July 4th from Footnote.com, a great resource

The United States lost two founding fathers and former presidents on July 4, 1826. Thomas Jefferson, age 83, died at his Monticello home. John Adams, age 90, died a few hours later in Quincy, Massachusetts. His last words were reportedly, “Thomas Jefferson survives,” as he had not yet heard of Jefferson’s death.

In this age of instant access, it’s hard to fathom how slowly word traveled before the telegraph, telephone, and internet. It wasn’t until over a month later, on August 14, 1826, that the news was picked up by The Times in London. The paper published extracts from newspapers which arrived in Liverpool via the ship Canada. One account, reprinted in The Times, tells of “regrets that cannot but mingle with our joy in such a singular dispensation of Providence, as the departure of Jefferson and Adams on the same day, and that day the first jubilee of our independence.”

The Times also ran a piece commemorating Adams and Jefferson the following day from a New York paper dated July 13, 1826.

As noted in the published account above, not only was the coincidence of two of our most important founding fathers dying on the same day remarkable, but the date was also the 50th anniversary of our nation’s most patriotic occasion, the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Explore Related Items on Footnote

• American Milestone Documents
• Continental Congress - Papers
• Explore more about Adams and Jefferson

Ellis Island

I found a good article written by Laura about Ellis Island on the footnote blog.  I did not realize that Ellis Island didn't open until January 1st 1892.  There is so much information available for those ancestors that came through Ellis Island.  Unfortunately, none of mine did.  Laura writes that twelve million immigrants did arrive via Ellis Island over the course of six decades.  Was yours one of them?

Consider other ports of entry.  I found a few on the east coast.

Bath, Maine, 1825 - 1867
Belfast, Maine, 1820 - 1851

We think of the United States as 1776 forward.  What if your ancestors were here before that?  One that I researched was William Dyer.  He arrived in the new world in June 1629 at the port of Boston.

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.

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 . . .

Website Recommendation - Access Genealogy

Website:  http://www.accessgenealogy.com/
Type:        Research
Cost:        Free
Look:       7
Ease:       9
Speed:     Fast

Access genealogy is a site for the researcher. If you are looking for records in the United States this is a good place to start. After 10 years as a free service they are still free. This site measures close to the top and I always seem to rate other sites in comparison to it.

The first look at the site is clean and easy to use. There are ads running on the site, but they are clean and not annoying. The only way they can keep the site free is when you support them by using there advertisers.

What is available?
Native American records
Genealogy records
State records

Under the hook look gets way better. On the right side select a state. This is the meat behind the site. They list places for free information and provide links. They also list information available on other search engines and provide links. They even provide links to sites that are by subscription. This is a web site (tool box) that I would pay for.

Things I most like: If the site does not have what your looking for it may give you links to other sites that may be able to help you. Doesn’t get much better than that.

Things I don’t like: Some of the links don’t always work. I guess it’s the nature of the beast. Overall recommendation: Highly Recommend

Free Access To Ancestry.com UK Census

If you don't know by know, ancestry.com is a huge resource for information.  The service is free however the research tools are by subscription.  That's fair.  There are two levels of subscription.  The first (Deluxe) provides research tools for the United States.  You can upgrade to the next level (World Deluxe) which gives you research tools outside the US.  If you subscribe to the Deluxe level of ancestry.com (like myself) they are offering a special benefit.  From 8pm (EST) Saturday March 25th through 8pm (EST) Sunday March 26th they are opening up there United Kingdom census records at no charge.  Thank you ancestry.com.