Bayside Blog
Discover. Display. Protect.Tombstone Tuesday: Edward R. TRIPPE
Taken at Spring Hill Cemetery in Easton, Md.:
The inscription at the top reads In Hoc Signo Vinces:
The phrase means “by this sign thou shalt conquer,” and it is used by the Knights Templar among others.
Scrappy Saturday: Framed
Getting ready for Scanfest.
On the last Sunday of every month, genealogists and others set aside a few hours for Scanfest. We gather our old photos and documents, set up our scanners and scan away while we chat online. It’s a good practice to scan as much as you can, for preservation purposes at the very least. Having the scheduled time set aside to do so helps me to make sure I get it done.
This past Sunday, I decided to take all of my old family photos out of their frames and scan them. I was dismayed to discover that a photo of my grandma, my mom and one of my aunts appeared to have moisture damage. The bottom of the picture has the tell-tale warp of one that’s gotten wet.
The photo won't lay flat due to moisture damage.
On the back of the frame, I noticed what look like mildew spots. Perhaps this photo was stored in a box that got wet or was simply on display in an environment with high humidity.
In the bottom-left corner are mildew spots.
Closer shot of the mildew damage.
I scanned the photo and decided to ditch at least the back of its original frame, plus the cardboard pieces that were used to stabilize the photo in the frame. I put the photo (which I think may actually be a scan and not the original) into a photo-safe storage box until I can find a new frame for it.
When you find photos like this, it’s best not to put them back in the same environment that caused the damage. You should try to isolate the damaged photo from other materials because it may still retain moisture that can spread to other photos and papers if you are not careful.
In general, it’s best to keep photos, books and documents in a place without temperature fluctuations and with low humidity. Since that is not always possible, I recommend setting aside time to scan your family photos and other heirlooms. At the very least, you may want to take inventory of the older photos/frames that you have and check them for moisture, dust and other damage that could be causing your photos to deteriorate.
If you are interested in joining a future Scanfest, watch the AnceStories blog for the announcement of the next session and a link to the chatroom. Scanfest usually takes place from 2-5 p.m. EST/11 a.m.-1 p.m. PST.
Follow Friday: TV Time Out
For this week’s Follow Friday post, I’d like to call your attention to two genealogy-related TV shows debuting this year.
“Who Do You Think You Are” will debut on March 5 on NBC. This show will trace the roots of several celebrities including Spike Lee, Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, to name a few. Watch a preview here.
But you don’t have to wait until March for such a show. Next week, on February 10, “Faces of America” with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., debuts on PBS. If the preview clips featuring Stephen Colbert’s story are any indication, this show will be excellent. So weird to see him break character, huh? Follow the show on Twitter for updates.
Somewhat Wordy Wednesday: Mind the Gap
This is a gap in the fence that separates the Tylor House in Easton from its neighbor to the south. Rumor has it that two sisters once occupied the Tylor House and the residence next door and left the gap in the fence to make it easier to visit one another. The footsteps in the snow in this pic were left by the mailman. These days, he’s the only one to make use of the pass-through.
When Wilson Tylor built the Tylor House, the parcel of land that it sat on was pretty large. That parcel has since been divided into other lots. Did he build a house on the adjacent lot for one of his daughters? Or was it a subsequent owner and her sister that were neighbors? I’ll need to do more digging into the history of both properties to find the answer.
Tombstone Tuesday: The Cannons
This headstone, found in Spring Hill Cemetery in Easton, Md., is interesting to me for a couple of reasons: the symbols accompanying the husband’s name and the lack of a death date for the wife (and I’m pretty sure she’s dead, otherwise, she’d be 132 years young).
I did some preliminary searches and was not able to find information about Mary Virginia Kirk Cannon’s death. Some might suggest that perhaps she remarried and was therefore buried with the subsequent husband. However, she would have been 81 when Everett Cannon died — that doesn’t completely rule out another marriage, but I think it diminishes the likelihood quite a bit.
There are other possible scenarios — perhaps she moved far away before she passed and was buried elsewhere. Or perhaps her family couldn’t afford to have her stone engraved with her death date.
Turning back to the symbols on the grave. The one on the left-hand side represents the Shriners, a group of Master Masons. The symbol on the right-hand side looks like the Rotary wheel symbol to me. I’d never seen either symbol on a grave before.
Shriner's Symbol
Rotary Wheel
52 Weeks to a Better Genealogy, Week 5: WorldCat
Ha! Finally caught up. I must profess my love for WorldCat — I use it all the time when helping patrons at the Internet Public Library because it’s the easiest way for me to tell what libraries are closest to them (if they’ve given me their location). It’s easy enough to show folks how to look up a book on this service and locate the closest copy, even if they haven’t given me their location.
If you find a book on Google Books, you can click through from there (use the “Find in a library” link) to see the book’s WorldCat results including which libraries near you may have it. Often when I stumble upon a book this way, I check out the subject headings for the book (see the red box below; click on the image for a larger version):
If you’re really lucky, the subject headings for your book will include surnames — click on the related headings for more titles focused on these subjects. It’s a serendipitous way to discover new resources.
52 Weeks to a Better Genealogy: Inter-Library Loan
I’m late (again) for this weekly series, but I’m also going to take a different spin on the original mission from We Tree:
“Learn about your local public library’s inter-library loan (ILL) policy. Pick a genealogy-related book that you want to read that is not in your library’s collection. Ask the librarian how to request the book from another library. Find the different library systems from which you can request books through your own library, as this can dramatically increase the number of genealogy books to which you have access. If you have a genealogy blog, write about your experience with requesting items through your library’s ILL service.”
I’ve used and am a huge proponent of inter-library loan (ILL) services. Through my volunteer work with the Internet Public Library, I constantly refer patrons to their local libraries because even if their library doesn’t have a particular book that they may need or want, they usually can request it via inter-library loan.
The state of Maryland actually maintains a fleet of vehicles for this purpose (and if I could find my spring 2008 class notes, I could tell you exactly how many). The other morning, I saw a van belonging to the Eastern Shore Regional Library heading west on Route 50 here on the Shore. I wonder if they were transporting books for the ILL program.
Here’s how the ILL loan process works at my library: once I determine that a book I need is not available in my library’s catalog, but is available at another library in the system (either via WorldCat [more on this in a future post] or on Marina, the state’s library holdings database), I simply call or email the library and ask them to request the book for me. They also can request books from out-of-state institutions, but there is a $5 charge for this (still cheaper than having to buy your own copy of most books!). The hitch is that if a book is in high demand, you may have to wait a while before it becomes available to send your way.
I’ve also used the ILL system within the University System of Maryland libraries. I work on the College Park campus, but when I needed a book at one of the campuses in Baltimore, I was able to request that it be sent to one of the libraries on the College Park campus for me to pick up. Way more convenient!
Scrappy Saturday: Free Stuff!
Free Googley Eye Download from Creative Memories
Need I say more? For those into digital scrapbooking, Creative Memories offers a plethora of free doo-dads you can add to your pages and other digital projects. Be sure to click on the images in each post on their Digital Freebies page to bring up the high-res versions before you download them.
But, wait! There’s more. (Said in my hokeyest TV announcer voice). You can try their digital scrapbooking software for free too! Try it before you buy it. Download the free software here.
Already hooked on digitial? Then I highly recommend investing in Storybook Creator Plus 3.0 — it’s got lots of new features that make the original version that much easier to use and offers a lot more capability. Purchase it to download direct to your PC here.
As always, if you have questions about any of CM’s products, contact me!
(Un)dead Follow Friday
Their focus is on the dead, but their tweets are quite lively. For this week’s Follow Friday recommendations, I thought I’d highlight those who specialize in cemeteries — news surrounding them and their preservation.
Some may find it creepy that there are those of us who enjoy wandering around graveyards, but every stone tells a story and beneath each marker lies someone’s ancestor. They should not be forgotten.
Follow CemeteryMan101 for the latest news involving cemeteries across the country and the world. From preservation to management to history, he scours the news for reports on burial grounds.
Follow jackrobinson181 to learn about his latest forays into cemetery preservation, especially African-American burial sites. His mission is very worthwhile and his posts are always interesting, often with photos and/or movies accompanying them.
Follow southerngraves for interesting posts on a variety of cemetery-related topics from the U.S. South, including recommended reading and history. Bonus points for being a scrapbooker too!
Follow fairangels for updates on the Online Searchable Death Indexes (his creation) and some beautiful photography, along with other links of interest to genealogists/historians.
Finally, visit Cemetery Curiosities for a unique view on graveyards, specifically those mementos left behind by friends and relatives at the gravesites of their loved ones. These artifacts can offer an interesting view on someone’s life and their relationships with others.
Tombstone Tuesday: John J. JUMP
Tombstone for John J. JUMP
I saw this unusual tombstone for John J. JUMP at Easton’s Spring Hill Cemetery a couple of weeks ago. I originally thought he may have been a sailor, because the wheel on his tombstone sort of resembled a ship’s wheel, but this may not be the case. In researching symbols on tombstones, I learned that a broken wheel can simply signify a life cut short.
John J. Jump | Born Oct. 26, 1847 | Passed from Earth to Heaven | Dec. 6, 1882 | Aged 35 years
That would certainly be the case for Jump, who was only 35 when he died.
