Today's post is about my re-newed search for my paternal family, my Guerins. Now that I have very successfully completed my first family history book for part of my maternal family side; I am on a new quest to further persue my dad's family. His picture is seen here at the top of this page, and his name is Armand Rene` Guerin. My younger brother is proudly named after our dad in memory of him. My dad was part of the first generation of my Guerins to be born in the United States; as his father immigrated here from France in the very early 1900's. No, he did not pass through Ellis Island, like so many others did. Instead, he arrived through Quebec, Canada along with hundreds of other french citizens. My pipe`s (pronounced pip-ay), which is french for grandpa, name was Andre` Cyrille Guerin; and he made the journey here alone, at the age of 21, leaving his family behind in his hometown of Chauffour et` Treschy, near Paris. Thanks to the wonders of Google Earth, I was able to pinpoint the exact location of his hometown, and even take a small tour of it at street level!
My next hope is to locate Andre` and his family in France, and track their movements to identify his siblings. I have both of Andre`s parents names from his Social Security card application. They are Narcisse (Nelson) Guerin and Matilda Fueilleret. Hopefully, this will not be a big stumbling block or brick wall; since foreign countries document their citizens quite different than what we do in the USA. Wish me luck as I am sure that I will need it!
It has been 2 weeks since my last post. Alot has happened in my family since the last time I visited my blog to write. It is a very sad time for my family right now. We lost a very beautiful young woman last Friday to a terrible disease, known as Cystic Fibrosis. She was a bright shining light, who always had a smile on her face, and an amazing amount of courage. She fought a lifelong battle that very few can truly understand. I am dedicating this post to honor her memory.
Even though we, as humans cannot predict our future, as far as our health is concerned; it is indeed very helpful to have an insight to hereditary diseases carried or introduced by our ancestors. With the current advances in medical technology, scientists are slowly discovering that there are spcific genes or cells that will identify particular diseases. Stem cell research is still in it's infancy, but in time, the hope is that, cures will be found.
Through my several years of research, collecting family death certificates, I have been able to trace some of the many serious health problems to specific family lines. When we visit our doctor's and they ask us for our family medical history, we do the best we can, providing what we have been told verbally. However; if we can be more detailed, and specific in that information, it can only benefit us and the next generations that follow.
Today is Valentine's Day. Was love in the air for you, or did it leave you gasping for breath while you read through an old love letter or two that was discovered in your grandmother's personal belongings? I have yet to discover such a precious item as that; but back in those days, as tough as the times were for some couples, they still found time for good old fashioned romance. Words like spooning, courting, beaus, and chastity come to mind. Love letters were written, and emotions and hearts were pure and true. There was a love song that used to play on the radio called "Sealed with a Kiss". When a young girl or woman wrote a love note to her beau, she would literally seal it with a kiss. She would put on her favorite color of lipstick, and gently press the page to her lips. Some would even lightly spritz a bit of her perfume on it as well. The idea of romance is a lost artform, that is fading faster than time itself. Today's generation could definitely use a course or two on the subject; if one was given. I am making a solemn promise to myself, beginning tonight, I intend to re-discover the lost art of writing love letters.
I am very happy to report that my personal experience from the RootsTech2012 conference was one of unabashed excitement about all the upcoming technology changes and updates. I believe in my heart that when all the new software updates are released, and I am able to implement several other new features, that it will bring my family history to a whole new level! There will be new Gedcom file programs, a new world of Cloud Storage, which is still in it's infancy. Mobile applications to enable us to take our family trees with us; plus there are many free genealogy podcasts available to watch, and as of January 2012, if we insert important keywords in our blogposts, our blogs will be searchable for others. I for one plan to take full advantage of as many of the podcasts as time will permit. My hat goes off to everyone who worked behind the scenes to put this annual conference together, and who were gracious enough to freely stream many of the presentations.
Todays post is to report that I won't be writing any regular posts this week, due to a very imortant genealogy conference that I will be attending on-line. It is called RootsTech2012, and will combine the very best of the latest in technology and genealogy. I hope to learn much from the pros, and will report my findings in my next post as they apply accordingly. Until then, keep going through those family photos, old home movies, and family Bibles, letters or journals!
Where did you hang your hat as a child? I chose today's post to be about this famous picture of the log cabin that my Burnum grandparents lived in for a few years with all their children you see lined up. This is an edited image naming everyone from left to right. As per the date at the top of the image, this picture was taken in August of 1940. Amazingly enough, this very same log cabin is still standing today, and is located on West Shore Drive, Grand Isle, Vermont. It has also been labeled as the 4th oldest log cabin structure for Vermont's Historical Society. I have also been informed by a cousin that a descendant of the original family who built it is currently residing in it part time; using it as a studio. He had heard about this picture being taken, and asked my family's permission to screen print this image onto t-shirts to sell to tourists. I hope to own one of these shirts someday. My challenge to you today is to pick a family photo from your album, and write a story about it. In years to come, you will be immensely glad that you did!
One thing I have discovered in my adventures into my past, is the frequency of what I like to call "Inter-familial Marriage." Back before there were laws to prevent these types of marriages from occurring, it happened on a fairly regular basis. First and second cousins marrying each other, and in some cases, an uncle would marry his neice! Historically, the upper crust of society, those having royal or blue blood as they referred to it, would practice that idea of a family member marrying another family member with the thought in mind of "keeping the bloodlines pure". Later, history would prove that it was not such a good idea, as bad genes were created, and diseases were introduced to the line. so, I have asked myself, what were they thinking, when I found evidence of that practice occurring within a few of my family lines! It reminded me of the perverbial red-neck joke, "I would like you to meet my wife and sister", and there is only 1 woman standing there. It's no wonder, that our family is literally riddled with several hereditary diseases that have been passed down through the generations.How about an instance where a brother and sister choose to live together as husband and wife, and even produce children from their relationship?Could they have been considering a possible approach to the Mormon lifestyle? What if your siblings or children were to do that? How would you feel?
