A Post Card From Dalhousie N.B.

I was asked how do I know if Lillian Balfour was from Dalhousie and all I have are memories of my father's and of my own. The photo shows the long hill down to the harbor and I recall her telling me how she would slide down it in the winter. The reverse side I believe would date the time as after 1915.
It was addressed to my uncle who must have remained in school while she traveled. She refers to the boys as been well ( I'm inferring she's referring to my other uncle and my father as being with her). The ages of the brothers at this time would be about 11,9 and 2. The first child was born in Boston in 1904, so I'm guessing a marriage around 1902 or 1903, coming to the U.S. maybe around 1900 or 1901. I recall she worked in Boston and probably met my grandfather there. He was a railroad engineer whom I have posted about before. I find no record of her prior to 1910 (Census 1910 Webster Ma.)
P.s. I Googled H.V. Henderson and found him listed with (1920-1960) .If compared to other publishers the dates would refer to the time in business.
This would now date my postcard as post 1920. The site I found is
http://www.metropostcard.com/publishersh.html
The boys ages would now be at least 16,14, and 7.

I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY, EXCEPT THANK YOU

MY GOODNESS !! I've been nominated by Gini at http://www.ginisology.blogspot.com/
for the Kreativ Blogger Award.
When I started this blog almost a year ago, I was disappointed by the lack of comments from our families (except of course my daughter Lynn). I did get a E-Mail from my brother (I think it was first one he ever made) who rarely uses a computer. I felt like that tree falling in the forest with nobody around to hear the fall (does it still make a sound?). Then I posted that photo over "footnote Mavens" Carnival or maybe it was the comments I made on "Ernie's Journey's", and all of a sudden I had follower's. I think it's great, the way this GeneaBloggers Group is a source of encouragement.
I'm going to pass on the list of seven just now, many of you have all ready been listed. I'll think on this because you are all deserving.

And Out of the Corner of My Eye

Well this afternoon we took a ride over to a Co-Op Antique shop. You know the kind where dealers set up a cube with their wares. As I cruised the isles for genealogy books, I spied a fellow looking at a city directory. The advertisements on the front cover had got my attention. I circled around until the man left and picked it up. Well it included the small town we had lived in (I, from the 4th grade until I married), so I looked up my parents and there they were, along with so many other families I knew. I wasn't going to buy it (it was well worn and I thought a little pricey[I've been told that I wouldn't spend a nickel to see a mouse eat a bale of hay], but my wife insisted [price has never bothered her ;-) ].
I'm so glad that I did, as the book is full of memories and information. Most of the time you find a line of info on-line with a name and address of some one you may never have known. This book had people and business' of my childhood. As thumbed thru the pages, I'd say oh look there's Mr and Mrs. ---, I didn't know her name was Julia. Or that obituary I read the other day, the directory showed the woman had been a widow in 1954 (wow). I saw that we didn't have a phone at the time. We lived in a 2 family house on a long dirt road, and it was the only house on it. The owner lived below us and they had one. Another line probably wasn't available.
The back of the book had telephone numbers and names listed, but they were listed by order of number not by name. That made no sense to me why the numbers were listed that way.
Another neat thing in the book was a section with the streets and roads with the name of residents in order along the road. If I can't remember the name then I'll just follow along their street till I find them.
Today has been a "blast from the past", Thanks Honey you were right again!

IT FEELS LIKE SPRING

Well it's 60 degrees today and the "BAT Truck" got a bath. The snow's melting fast. I hope that ground rat in Pennsylvania is wrong about 6 more weeks.
I took a look at the web cam up on Long Lake Naples, Maine. (link on my side bar, the live link is working today). There were some ice fishermen out there and they had their trucks out on the lake. I could never bring my self to bring mine out there. I remember when we first moved out near Crystal Lake and my dad drove our "53" Chevy down to the edge of the lake. He had all intentions of driving out ( there were a lot of other vehicles out there). Well we sat there for a few minutes before he threw the car in reverse and we drove home. I think I got my "good sense" from my "POP".

Why Do I Blog ?

First off -- WOW!! I have followers! With so many great blogs out there, it is nice to think some would take the time to read yours. I started because I enjoyed my daughter's blog so much, I thought what a great way to share with the family our history. As I've said before genealogy is much more than lists of names, it's finding things or stories to reveal something of their life. I follow quite a few blogs using Google Reader and now I've added "The Blogs I Follow" to my blog . I find that they work in conjunction with each other.
I had always thought I should write about my growing up, so my daughters and my grandchildren would know something of me, my mom and dad and their parents too. The experiences that we had were so much different than theirs. Listening to the radio before we got that television in the early 50's.
Having the ice man lug in a big chunk for the ice box in the late 40's. Using the "candle stick" phone of a neighbor until we moved to the country and got on a 4 party line. Our job experiences were a lot different than the kids have today. In high school, jobs were limited to all types of farms in our community, dairy, chicken, turkey and tobacco. Oh, and one crazy job hanging stage curtains in schools all over Ct and Mass. My mom when she was younger along with her sister and parents worked in thread and cloth mills. Those big granite or brick buildings stand empty or converted to condos or hold a variety of small business. I guess what I'm trying to say is our world is constantly changing, what I've experienced is not what my grandchildren will experience nor is it like our ancestors life time. There's a lot of stories hidden in these lines that I need to share, I hope the kids find it interesting.

P.S. One tidbit I picked up on "Facebook Bootcamp for Genea-Blogers"
is to export your blog. I backup mine to my computer and a backup drive.
Maybe I''ll cut and paste some of this stuff into a little booklet, that would be neat. And who knows maybe someday I'll really come out of my shell and join Facebook ;-)

Does 3rd Cousin 4 Times Removed Count?

My GG Grandmother was a third cousin to Abe Lincoln, which would make them Great Great Grandchildren of the same Lincoln back in the early 1700's.
Try to keep that straight in your head. I'm not 100% sure yet but I think my 5th great grandfather (Lincoln) was born in Massachusetts in around 1778.
Its a challenge to get focused on any family for the branches are many. I hope to get back to the Lincoln's soon. Interestedly at the time of 1850 census the town of Washington was in Lincoln County, Maine. Other towns in the neighborhood were Liberty, Freedom and Unity if that isn't a patriotic area I don't know what is. Branches of our tree lived in them all.
I found the "Vital Records of Washington Maine" compiled by Marlene A. Groves at the Godfrey Library in Middletown Ct.. In it Sarah E. Lincoln is married on March 9,1850. What is interesting and what makes makes genealogy so difficult is what you may find in a census. In the Washington Me. 1850 census Sarah E.(18) is listed as a daughter of James Lincoln and 9 days later we have our Sarah E.(19) listed with her husband Almond Newhall. It is easy to go off on a wrong tangent. Unfortunately neither birth was recorded.
P.S. I read another blog today with tips on researching genealogy and he talked about who might have given the info to a census taker and whether
they understood the questions. It makes me wonder if the two Sarah E.'s were the same person. If question about the families children was understood as "who are your children" and not as "the names of the children living in the house".

I Wish You Could Speak

I'm re posting this picture to enter it into the "Smile for the Camera" Blog Carnival. My hope is that others can offer comments on any clues contained in the photograph. As I said in my previous post that it has intrigued me for years.
It was with my grandmothers album, and I suspect that it may be from her family in New Brunswick Canada. My uneducated guess is that it was taken around 1900. The women's clothes could help date it, as well as the frame.
I think the older woman on the left interesting as it looks as she intended not to look at the camera. She may even be an Native American. If from Dalhousie,New Brunswick the family name would be Balfour, but as of yet I haven't located any records to match my grand mothers birth in 1882.
Even without names the picture will remain a wonderful image of our past.