Weekly Events ~ January 24 - 30

January 24th ~ This day is marked by the death of Margaret BEVERSTOCK in 1858 in Durham, England. I believe that she is my 4x great-grandmother.

January 25th ~ On this day in 1921 my grandaunt, Cora Black RITCHIE is born in Cleveland, Ohio. I have no pictures of Cora when she was young. I guess as the youngest of a large family, there was no time for baby pictures! This day is also marked by the death, in 1985 of one of Cora's older brothers, my granduncle, Thomas Albert RITCHIE.

January 28th ~ This day is marked by the death of my great-grandfather, Thomas Leopold RITCHIE in 1953 in Ravenna, Ohio. He was born in St. Andrews, Scotland, came to Canada when he was around 9, ended up working in Massachusetts by 1900 where he met and married his wife and then moved to Ohio where he raised a family of 8 children and lived the rest of his life. I would loved to have talked to him!

January 29th ~ On this day in 1775 Margaret KIRK, my 4x great-grandaunt is baptized in St. Andrews Scotland.

January 30th ~ On this day in 1698 my potential 7x great-grandfather, Niklaus ZAUGG is born in Eggiwil, Bern, Switzerland. Also on this day, in 1831 in St. Andrews, Scotland my 2x great-granduncle, Thomas SWINTON is born.

Also born on this day in 1914 is another Ritchie sibling, my granduncle George Foster RITCHIE. Uncle George was definitely a "character."  He was the story teller in the family and he always embellished those stories quite a bit.  He gave me some great information on the family history, but I've had to go over every piece to find the actual truth to the story.  I don't have many pictures of Uncle George - he was one of the younger children in the family of 8.  In the picture to the left I think he looks quite a bit like his older brother, my grandfather David Ritchie.

Finally this day is marked by the death, in 1985 of my granduncle Clair Raymond SAURER.  I always remember that Uncle Clair and Aunt Temp lived next door to my grandparents and they had a dog that was scary!  Uncle Clair loved that dog but we were always warned not to run up to it or even go near it unless Uncle Clair was around.



[this post was originally written in 2010 and has been slightly modified for 2011]

What Will 2011 Bring at Random Relatives?

I’ve been in a genealogy “funk” lately – as anyone could tell by the marked lack of posts here. It took me until Jan 18th to even get the Christmas decorations "taken down"! It’s partly to blame on my recent decision to pursue my MBA. Studying definitely takes time away from the fun stuff. It’s also been a matter of just not knowing where to start when I only have a little bit of time. That’s just an excuse though, as this great post by Susan Petersen over at Long Lost Relatives.net shows.

So, I decided to look at 2011 and jump into some genealogy activities and planning. There’s nothing like a good conference or class to get me really inspired. Here is what I’ve come up with for my 2011 schedule:

March 26 ~ Signed up for a class entitled “Techniques for Finding a German Ancestor’s Origin” offered by the St. Louis Genealogy Society.

March 30 – April 2 ~ Attending the Ohio Genealogical Society Conference in Columbus, Ohio.

July 29 & 30 ~ Attending the Midwest Family History Expo in Overland Park, Kansas.

September 7 – 10 ~ Attending FGS 2011 Conference in Springfield, Illinois

Just reading over the sessions that are being offered at OGS and FGS has really got me excited. My only complaint – and this is especially true of FGS – is that every single time period has no less than two, and often three or four, sessions that I’d just love to attend.

I also read a post today over at Find Your Folks that reminded me of an easy and close to home thing I can do to further my genealogy education - read the genealogy books I already have in my personal library!!

So, check back in periodically – those of you who are still around – and I plan to pick someone in my database….ANYONE….and do a little researching!

Advent Calendar ~ Dec 7 - Holiday Parties

Did your family throw a holiday party each year? Do you remember attending any holiday parties?

No parties here ~ but please come back tomorrow because we always had a party decorating those Christmas cookies!!



This post was written for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories. Please stop over to read Christmas memories posted by other GeneaBloggers from now through Christmas Eve.

Advent Calendar ~ Dec 6 - Santa Claus

Did you ever send a letter to Santa? Did you ever visit Santa and “make a list?” Do you still believe in Santa Claus?

I'm not sure I understand the last part of the prompt, "Do you still believe in Santa Claus?"  I mean it's not a question of belief - it's an obvious fact!!

I did receive a call from Santa once.  I think I was about 4 or 5 and all I really remember about it is that Santa Claus sounded quite a lot like my Grandpa Ritchie, but again, Santa is just magical like that - he can do anything he wants!

As for letters, I don't ever remember writing one - I'll have to ask my Mom about that.  It  seems sort of redundant to me ~ Santa Claus knows if you've been good or bad so of COURSE he knows what you want.  And besides, I sat on his lap at the mall and told him.  Somehow he didn't seem as happy about it as when I was younger....

Somewhere I have a picture of my dad dressed up as Santa and kissing my Mom - we all LOVED the song, "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus"  I should have been more prepared for some of these posts - I'll need to dig that picture out. 

**UPDATE**
I can't believe I almost forgot the BEST Santa story ever - my youngest sister was 7 years old and we were still playing Santa up big time...leaving out cookies etc.  (she was MUCH younger as she likes to say - I was 15 and my other sister was 13 at the time)  After Christmas I was coloring with her (in her new Strawberry Shortcake coloring book!) and she said to me in this very confidential tone, "I know that Santa Claus isn't real, but don't tell Mommy and Daddy I know - it would spoil it for them"  I has SUCH a hard time keeping a straight face!!!  I just made some non-committal noises and kept on coloring. 



This post was written for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories. Please stop over to read Christmas memories posted by other GeneaBloggers from now through Christmas Eve.

Advent Calendar ~ Dec 4 – Christmas Cards

Did your family send cards? Did your family display the ones they received? Do you still send Christmas cards? Do you have any cards from your ancestors?

I almost skipped this day, because my family was never much for sending out Christmas cards.  My mother has always been a school teacher and there just wasn't enough time for composing those Christmas letters and addressing cards.  Also, as my Mom herself is first to admit, she was never much into letter writing!


But as I was sorting through a scrapbook I happened upon a publication sent in December, 1961 by People's Federal Bank in Wooster, Ohio.  It was full of various things (apparently my grandmother or grandfather saved it for a house plan it contained) and there was a whole spread detailing the history of Christmas cards so I thought I'd share that for today.  Also, the cover was very cute!

This post was written for the Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories. Please stop over to read Christmas memories posted by other GeneaBloggers from now through Christmas Eve.