Saturday, July 21, 2007

House History Part 2 - Resources


Where To Find the Past?

Once you have a general idea of the age of your home, there are several places you can look to find more clues to it's past. The main difference between researching your home and researching your family, is that you will in general be using only local resources. Your house is not likely to have traveled, and is probably sitting in the same place it's been since the original family moved in.

Local Memory

The first, and maybe most obvious source of information, is to ask around your neighborhood. Do you have elderly neighbors who have been in the area for a long time? They are an incredible resource, not only for names but for events and occurrences that took place in your home. In my own research, the house next door is still owned by the original family. They were able to tell us all sorts of stories, and pointed us to the grand-daughter of the man who built our house. While there were a lot of things she couldn't remember, she gave me a name and that spiraled into a detailed portrait of our home's first family. She also shared early photos, such as the one above, which I feel extremely lucky to have copies of.

Federal Census Records

An equally valuable resource is the Federal Census Records. The Census has been taken every ten years since 1790. The website http://www.ancestry.com/ has access to the records, but it is a paid service. Your public library may have a subscription to the Heritage Quest database, where you can find the census records with your library card. Each census is indexed by location and name. The indexes are made from transcriptions of the data, so sometimes there are errors. If you can't find what you're looking for using the index, it often pays to take the extra time and scroll through page by page. The census provides information about the people living in your home, their ages and occupations, and in the 1930 census you can even see if they had a radio. The records have been most valuable for me in providing names, which I can then search for in other places.

Local Museums

Your village, town or county museum is a great place to poke around in. Our village museum has a collection of obituaries going back many, many decades. It only took our incredibly knowledgeable historian a few minutes to locate the obituaries I was looking for. These short articles listed several organizations in which our people were involved in, giving us yet another direction to head in. You can also find out a bit about the town you live in, such as any industry or other reasons why people may have been attracted to the area at the time your home was built.

Historic Newspapers

Many newspapers across the country have been digitized and indexed in archives for use by the general public. In Central New York, the Syracuse Post-Standard has a historic archive available for the subscription fee of $6.95 a month. This is an incredibly valuable resource which I used to to find additional obituaries, social notes, bowling scores and church activities that involved the people living in my home. When I discovered that one family member had died of polio, I dug a little deeper and found that there was much concern over an outbreak a few months previous to his death. The local news can provide a much deeper understanding of what was impacting people during a particular time period.

A simple Google search may bring up links to the newspaper collection you are looking for. Some are free, some are paid subscriptions. Also check your local library as they often will have access to local archives of publications.


All of the information in this, and the previous post, comes from my personal experience researching my home. The resources I have described were the most valuable ones I found to use. I hope that the information is helpful and ask that you leave comments to let me know how I can improve this blog. Thanks!!

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Research Your Home's History --- The Beginning


Why a House History?

People who buy old houses often develop an attachment to the little things in their homes that make them unique: details in the woodwork, creaks in the floor, even cracks in the old plaster walls. At least, I did. Our home became another member of the family to us, complete with personality... and a history that it seemed to want to share.

Shortly after moving in I began to find signs of the people who had lived here before us. A growth chart in a closet, a partial name stenciled on the basement wall, a map of the upstairs rooms and their measurements under the window seat cabinet... I became very interested in learning about these people. Who were they? What were they like? They traveled through their day-to-day lives in the same rooms that we do...were they anything like us? And what did this house look like when it was new?

I decided to start digging...through the house, the local museum and any old records I could find. The result was a three year project that, though still not entirely complete (will it ever be?), has given us a renewed respect for our home. The knowledge has guided us in the renovations and decorating of the place as we have become more sensitive to the original character that the house posseses.

Researching your home's history is a rewarding hobby, the methods of which are the same as for researching your family's genealogy, with some slight variations. I will warn you, though, that it is an obsessive hobby that can drive you to spend hours searching for the answer to one small question, only to end up with several new questions to ponder.

Where To Begin?

If you would like to start, the first thing you'll need to do is to study the house itself. Take some time to get to know the details of your home. Do you know about how old it is? Grab a flashlight and start looking for anything left by previous owners, such as writing on the walls. Check the basement and attic. Look around outside for names or initials written in concrete. Also, look at the design details of your home. They will give you clues to the building's age and whether there were additions added on. Make note of anything you might find, including any old landscaping or plants that you think may have been there for quite awhile.

The following site is a great resource for identifying the approximate age and style of your home. It is full of interesting information.

http://www.oldhouseweb.com/stories/Features/Architectural_Housing_Styles/

Good Luck! And check back as I will continue to post information on this topic over the next couple of weeks. My next post will list some good resources available to get your house history up and going.


Friday, July 13, 2007

Mmmmm....Fresh-Squeezed Lemonade!


Making fresh-squeezed lemonade on a hot summer day is one of those activities everyone should be required to do on their summer vacation. The recipe really doesn't matter so much as the experience of squeezing the juice and drinking the end-result under a shade tree in the backyard.

There are as many recipes for lemonade as there are people who like to drink it! But here is a very simple and quick way to stir up a pitcher full of old-fashioned flavor! Measurements are not exact because much depends on your own individual tastes.

You'll need 5 or 6 lemons, about 1 1/2 quarts of water and a cup or so of sugar. Squeeze the juice of all but one of the lemons using a reamer or glass juicer. Strain into your pitcher to remove the seeds and pulp. Add the water and sugar, to your taste, and stir. Slice the remaining lemon and place in the pitcher for added flavor and to make it pretty. Or, you can place a slice in each glass before serving. Voila! Easy!

An optional step that I use when I have time is to boil the lemon rinds in 1 1/2 cups of the water for 7 or 8 minutes to extract even more lemony flavor. Add that to the juice, sugar and remaining water and stir. Fill glasses with ice and pour in the delicious beverage!

Enjoy!

vintage image from http://www.art-e-zine.co.uk/vintageresources.html

Wednesday, July 11, 2007


Here is the latest photo of my Harrison's Yellow Rose. It didn't bloom this year, but hopefully it will continue its strong growth so that next year it will be able to. Thanks for the division, Mom! I'm so proud that I haven't killed this one yet!!

Collecting Antique Linens


Antique shows and garage sales are everywhere in the summer months, and with them comes the opportunity to pick up some great items at bargain prices. I always try to compile a list of pieces I'd like to find before the season arrives so I don't go too crazy with spur of the moment purchases, but one item I almost always go a little overboard with is old linens. For whatever reason, the look and feel of these once common, everyday items and the importance they held in households of the past are absolutely irresistable to me. Used here and there in the home, they give a very cozy, cottagey feel to every room.

Once upon a time, every respectable home contained a nice assortment of tablecloths, napkins, dresser scarves and doilies, most of which were likely the handiwork of the woman of the house, a collection amassed over a long period of time. Unfortunately, the skills required to create these beautiful items are becoming lost as fewer and fewer women have the need, desire or time to learn how it's done.

Thankfully, many of these old collections are finding their way into the hands of people who treasure them. Right now there is a great abundance of them available, but that has begun to change, as well as the prices attached to them. The quality of antique linens is often much higher than manufactured pieces found in department stores, so their value is only likely to rise over the years as they become harder and harder to find. Time is of the essence, so begin your collection now.

Choose linens that appeal to you, and don't be afraid to use them. That was, after all, why they were created. They do, however, have to be cared for properly but it is not difficult to do and is, in fact, something I look forward to. And I don't even like to do laundry!

An excellent source of information on laundering antique linens is http://antiques.about.com/cs/textiles/a/aa031900.htm

There are so many reasons for collecting old linens: availability, affordability, beauty and history. It's hard to leave a show without a few in hand.

Monday, July 9, 2007

An Evening in Fair Haven



What could possibly be better than spending time at the lake on a hot summer day? According to my kids there isn't anything that comes close! We spent Saturday afternoon and evening on the bay in Fair Haven, NY, a small community on the south shore of Lake Ontario. Each year their Fourth of July celebrations include a beautiful tradition called "The Ring of Fire". At 9:30 or so on the specified night, all the residents surrounding the bay light flares along the waterfront.


















The scene is breathtaking, and a magical backdrop for the children as they swirled their sparklers in the air.


After about 30 minutes, the flares began to burn out and the lake became dark again...just in time for the huge fireworks display to begin. What an amazing way to wrap up a long day on the water.... and what fantastic memories to bring home!!


Here are some other photos taken:











Friday, July 6, 2007

****************************************
The following is a poem by Laura Ingalls Wilder,
written to her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane:

My pictures hang in memory's hall,
Both pictures grave and pictures gay,
And some are great and some are small,
And some, alas, are sad and gray.
But as you go from day to day,
Painting your pictures one by one,
May brightness touch your brush alway
And shadows flee before the sun.
May steady hand be yours, that you
May blend their tints in harmony,
And pictures bright and brave and true
Hang on the walls of memory.

*****************************************************


75 Years of Little House


In 1932 Laura Ingalls Wilder published her first book in the famous Little House series, Little House in the Big Woods, and started on her path of becoming one of the best-loved authors of all time. In the years that followed, she would publish seven more stories chronicling her childhood days and preserving forever the experiences of her pioneer family. A ninth book, The First Four Years, was published in 1971, three years after the death of her daughter, Rose.

After 75 years, the popularity of Mrs. Wilder's stories has not diminished. Today they are still often missing from the library shelves due to their popularity, and multiple copies have to be ordered to satisfy the eager readers. From time to time I still page through my threadbare copies of the books, which my parents gave me so that the library copies would not fall apart from my constant borrowing of them. They do not lose their charm as the reader grows in age, despite the fact that they were written for children.

Many people are not aware that Mrs. Wilder was a published writer before she wrote the Little House books. She was a regular columnist for the Missouri Ruralist and also wrote articles for various magazines during the first two decades of the 20th century. Several books have been published in recent years that include collections of her writings. These writings, which are written in the same friendly style as her more famous books, give us a peek at the adult Laura and are surprisingly relevant to life today. A Little House Sampler, edited by William T. Anderson, Little House in the Ozarks, and I Remember Laura, both compiled by Stephen W. Hines, are filled with bits and pieces that when read together give us a different, yet equally charming view of this talented writer.

People often smile when I tell them that Laura Ingalls Wilder is my all-time favorite author. They find it amusing, but I think they really do understand why...at least if they've read the books. Mrs. Wilder has left us a historically significant record of the frontier days of the United States written in a manner that makes you feel like you're listening to a good friend. Her writing is like comfort food for the soul. As a history buff, parent and school teacher I come back to her time and time again.

Just as a side-note: I grew up in New York's North Country, nearby to the setting of Laura's second book, Farmer Boy, which tells of her husband Almanzo's boyhood in the town of Burke, NY, just outside the village of Malone. Almanzo would be 150 years old this year. The Almanzo Wilder Farm in Burke is the only homesite of the Little House books that boasts the original house. You can explore the kitchen and pantry, Father's attic workroom, the dining room with it's woven carpets, and of course, the parlour which once wore patched white and gold wallpaper to cover the splotch made from the blacking brush.

Please see the links at left for more information on Almanzo and Laura.
A Quote From My Latest Recommended Read:

"When my generation of women walked away from the kitchen we were escorted down that path by a profiteering industry that knew a tired, vulnerable marketing target when they saw it. "Hey ladies," it said to us, "go ahead, get liberated.
We'll take care of dinner." They threw open the door and we walked into a nutritional crisis and genuinely toxic food supply......We came a long way, baby, into bad eating habits and collaterally impaired family dynamics. No matter what else we do or believe, food remains at the center of every culture. Ours now runs on empty calories."

- Barbara Kingsolver
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle