Sunday, January 31, 2021

Organizing Family Collections 2021

 I just had a 2016 post show up in my feed. It is just six months after our move and it lists my projects that need to be worked on. Here is what I have accomplished and what I have yet to do. This year I made more headway than in all the other four years before that combined. Something about staying home and having hours to work on these tasks. Looking forward to accomplishing the rest soon!

Projects Completed:
2'X2' stack of papers from multiple ancestral families sorted
resulted in four totes: our ancestors research, Tidd family research, Client research and Watts family research.
Fifteen boxes of children's school work and other items sorted
Ten totes of my mother's things sorted
Postcard collections sorted and put into notebooks
Forty albums of my mother's pictures condensed into ten albums and shared with siblings

Projects to complete:
Five boxes of children's school work and other items sorted
Five boxes of my mother's things to sort
Eight boxes of family keepsakes to sort
Five boxes of family pictures from 1992 to sort and put into albums
Ten picture albums to be redone from magnetic albums

Writing the annual family newsletter

We will see where I am by the end of 2021.

Oregon Research Resources

 

Oregon Research Resources

 

Oregon History Timeline

https://www.ereferencedesk.com/resources/state-history-timeline/oregon.html

 

Oregon State Archives

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_State_Archives

 

Oregon State Archives – Oregon Historical Records Index

https://genealogy.state.or.us/

 

Oregon State Archives – Early Oregonian Search

https://secure.sos.state.or.us/prs/processLogin.do

 

Oregon-California Trail Association

http://www.octa-trails.org

 

OCTA Paper Trail

https://www.paper-trail.org/Search

 

Oregon State Genealogy-Government Resources

https://sos.oregon.gov/blue-book/Pages/facts/topics/genealogy-government.aspx

 

Oregon Historical Society – Research and Library

https://www.ohs.org/

 

The Oregon Encyclopedia – Oregon Historical Society

https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/lucier_etienne_1793_1853_/

 

ORGenWeb

https://www.orgenweb.org/

 

Familysearch.org - Oregon, United States Genealogy, Migration Routes, online catalog

https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Oregon,_United_States_Genealogy

https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Oregon_Trail

 

Genealogical Forum of Oregon – online catalog

https://gfo.org/

 

Oregon History and Genealogy

http://www.oregongenealogy.com/

 

Oregon Genealogical Society

https://oregongs.org/

 

Oregon State Library

https://library.oregonstate.edu/

 

University of Oregon Knight Library

https://library.uoregon.edu/

Cyndi’s List United States – Oregon

https://www.cyndislist.com/us/or/

 

Legends of America

https://www.legendsofamerica.com/north-west-company/

 

Champoeg Meetings

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champoeg_Meetings

 

Oregon Trail

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_Trail

 

Oregon Trail Historic Routes

https://oregoncf.org/Templates/media/files/grants/RFP_with_OHT_Map.pdf

 

Hawaiian passenger lists

https://www.germanroots.com/miscports/hawaii.html

 

Jason Lee, Protestant Christian Minister for Methodist Episcopal Church

https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/lee_jason/#.YBM8nTFKiUk


St. Paul Mission Historical Society, collections of digitized records

http://spmhs.com/

https://spmhs.pastperfectonline.com/

 

The Early History of the Catholic Church in Oregon by Msgr. Patrick S. Brennan

https://monsignorpat.com/early-catholic-church-in-oregon.html

 

Catholic Sentinel Archives

https://catholicsentinel.org/Content/About-Us/Archives/15/81

 

Catholic Church records of the Pacific Northwest: compiled by Harriet Duncan Munnick

https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000631128

 

George Brown French Prarie Historian, donated his collection to GFO

https://catholicsentinel.org/Content/Social/Social/Article/George-Brown/-2/-2/37654

 

Msgr. Wilfred P. Schoenberg – The Historian of the Catholic Church in the Oregon Country

https://www.amazon.com/History-Catholic-Pacific-Northwest-1743-1983/dp/0912405252

 

Catholic Pioneers of the Oregon Country

https://www.jstor.org/stable/25011498?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents

 

Oregon Catholic Historical Society

https://catholicsentinel.org/Content/News/Local/Article/Society-members-seek-to-preserve-Oregon-s-wealth-of-Catholic-history/2/35/1742

 

The Oregon Indian reservations have websites that include some historical info:

Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde - Grand Ronde Tribal History Curriculum

https://www.grandronde.org/history-culture/culture/curriculum/

 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA33xEMg9mbqQFEHKsyocT3YRdmzzlneX

 

Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation

https://ctuir.org/about/history-culture/

 

Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs

https://warmsprings-nsn.gov/history/

 

Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians

http://www.ctsi.nsn.us/

http://www.ctsi.nsn.us/chinook-indian-tribe-siletz-heritage/our-history/part-i


Cultural areas of pre-Columbian North America [Alfred Kroeber]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Americans_in_the_United_States

 

Iroquois

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iroquois

 

 

 

Thank you to Gerry and Connie Lenzen for many of the links to Catholic and the Oregon Indian Reservation information.

Thursday, January 14, 2021

The Tidd Family Old Violin - Family Treasures

 

To those who can truly appreciate a fantastic find:

I just had to share this. After 20+ years of research and gathering family relics the highlight came last night. My Aunt by marriage called yesterday (10 August 1999) and said she had an old violin she would like to pass on to me. I had read of the Old Violin of Daniel Tidd of 1824 of Holliston, Mass. and Independence, Iowa, but never did I ever dream that I would see it. It was the thrill of a true genealogist to be given possession of such a treasure. My Aunt had been given it by my grandmother Zella Straw Olsen, whose mother was Lucy Tidd Straw, whose father was Daniel Tidd. "He bought it in 1842 on the island of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean when he was an eighteen year old sailor on the whaling ship the Endeavor. He bought it from another sailor for $8.00 and who said he had stolen it from a Negro. Daniel played it his entire life until passing on in 1913. He brought it with him when he came to Independence in 1860. His son Herbert H. Tidd inherited it. It was cracked so it was sent to be repaired in 1917 to Greeley, Colorado to Geo. Fisk. Herb Tidd played it for several years before he gave it to the family of Abby Tidd Darling of Greeley in 1937. Cora Darling Bliss sent it to my grandmother in 1955." My grandmother in turn passed it on to my Aunt who played the violin. I am not sure why she choose to pass it on to me when she has children of her own, but I am very grateful she did. It is in a handmade wood case with the trademark G&B. The violin has initials carved into the side that are difficult to make out. It is battered and scared like in the story of the old violin. I know nothing of violins, but I know it will always be one of our family treasures.

Susan LeBlanc, Oregon


Story of the Old Violin

 

            These words were given by Herbert H. Tidd when he brought the violin to Greeley, Colo. to be given to Donald E. Bliss.

            Summer of 1937

            Father sailed on a whaling ship, the “Endeavor” in 1842 from New Bedford, Mass. They were three months reaching Madagaskar Island in the Indian Ocean.

            He was a lad of 18 years.

            He had left home unknown to his parents and sisters at Holliston, Mass. When they went to his room they found these words on the chest- “Gone to Sea”.

            While in the Island he made a bargain with another sailor giving him the sum of $8.00 for this violin. This sailor said he had stolen the violin form a Negro.

Father owned and played on it until his death in 1913. I used it for a number of years in orchestra, the Allerton Orchestra of Independence, Iowa.

            When on the return trip to New Bedford, Mass. in 1845 they stopped at the historic Island of St. Helena in the Southern Atlantic visiting the building in which Napoleon lived during his exile.

            After that return Father ran on ships sailing between Boston and Caracas, Venezuela.

            His trade was that of a shoe maker while at home.

            In 1860 he came to Iowa – brought the violin with him.

            At the time the violin being cracked and became quite unusable. It was about 1917 that it was sent to Geo. Fisk, Greeley, Colo. violin maker. He did a good job of repairing it.

            Happy memories of seeing and hearing Uncle Daniel play on his violin will remain long with his friends and relatives.

 

C.D.B.

(Cora Darling Bliss)

Friday, January 8, 2021

December 21 to 31. Ten Amazing Days

 We have been home a week. Ten days in Wyoming and going from 65' above sea level to over 6500' sea level and now back to 65' has done wonders for me. Not to mention the weather being near zero degrees most of the time we were there. It is pleasant to be back in Oregon. We loved seeing our daughter and her family after over two years apart. Every moment together was amazing. Our wonderful children gave us the gift of plane fare, then they had our carpets cleaned and celebrated at our house without us. Flying was amazing and the airline employees were wonderful. We did learn some new tricks with the Covid restrictions. People for the most part were courteous and helpful. Everyone wore their masks and kept their social distance. After weighing the risks of going and even wondering after we went if we should have gone, I feel we made the right choice. Now we are back to staying home. It is tough and we are very grateful for telephones and internet connections. Making it through day by day is certainly challenging.