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GEN-NEWBIE Digest, Vol 3, Issue 1045
GEN-NEWBIE Digest, Vol 3, Issue 1045
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Message: 10
Date: Sun, 7 Sep 2008 21:13:36 -0700
From: "Joy E. Gulden"
Subject: [GN] Genealogy Questions to ask for your research.
To:
Here is the list of questions. Good luck to
everyone in their research. Joy
Yourself
1. What is the name you were given at birth?
2. When were you born?
Where? Hospital or at home?
3. Were you named after a relative or family friend?
Why was your name chosen?
4. Have you ever had a nickname?
Who gave it to you and why?
5. Did your parents or siblings like to tell any funny or embarrassing
baby stories about you?
6. What did you want to be when you grew up?
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Family
7. What is your mother's name?
8. When and where was she born?
9. Is she still alive? When did she die?
10. What is your most vivid image of your mother?
11. What is your father's name?
12. When and where was he born?
13. Is he still alive?
When did he die?
14. What is your most vivid image of your father?
15. Where did your parents meet?
16. When and where did they get married?
17. What are your brothers and sisters names?
18. What is the most enjoyable memory of time spent with your parents,
your family?
19. What are some of the most valuable lessons your parents taught you?
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Grandparents
20. What were the names of your mother's parents?
21. When and where were they born and where did they live?
22. What did they do for a living?
23. Do you have personal memories of them?
What were they like?
24. What were the names of your father's parents?
25. When and where were they born and where did they live?
26. What did they do for a living?
27. Do you have personal memories of them?
What were they like?
28. What was the most enjoyable time spent with each grandparent?
29. Did they have a favorite story that you remember them telling?
30. What do you know about your grandparent's children, other than
your parents?
31. What do you remember hearing about your GREAT-Grandparents?
32. Did you ever meet them?
33. From what part of the world did your family emigrate?
Any stories told in your family about the
crossing?
Did they become U.S. citizens?
Do you have any relatives in foreign countries?
34. Where did they settle in this country?
Why?
35. Do you have any relatives who were famous?
Or who took part in well-known historical
events?
36. How far back can you trace your family
tree?
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Childhood
The family house
37. What type of house did you live in as a child?
Other buildings on the same property?
38. If you moved during your childhood, tell where and when and
what you can remember of each house and the family circumstances
and the reason for the move.
39. In what room did you eat? Kitchen? Dining room?
40. How was your home heated?
41. Did you have a fireplace?
42. What kind of kitchen stove did your parents cook on?
What fuel was used?
43. Did you have to buy the fuel or was this a chore, such as cutting
wood, with which you had to help?
44. Did you always have electricity?
If not, when did you get it? Was it a big deal?
45. Did you ever use candles or kerosene lamps?
46. Did your family have a cellar?
Where did you store food?
47. Where did your family get water?
Was it plentiful?
What methods were used to conserve water?
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Family relations, responsibilities, conditions
48. What was your position in the family? Oldest? Youngest?
49. What were your duties as a small child?
Did you have chores?
50. Who cooked the meals?
Ironing, cleaning, etc.?
51. Did you buy or make your own clothing?
52. When did you learn to cook and who taught you?
53. Did you ever learn to sew?
Crochet?
Knit?
Embroider?
And who taught you?
54. Did you ever learn the mechanics of a car and who taught you?
55. Did your family keep in touch with distant family?
Do you still keep in touch?
56. Did you visit relatives often?
57. How did you get your mail?
58. What do you remember about family pets?
59. Were you especially close to anyone in the family?
Who?
60. How did the family spend its evenings?
61. Did you get an allowance?
How much? What did you spend it on?
62. Do you remember your family discussing world events and politics?
What were some of the topics?
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Family income and livelihood
63. What did your father do for a living?
64. Did your mother ever work outside of the home?
What did she do?
65. Did you contribute to the family income?
How?
66. When did you get your first job outside of the family?
67. Did your family have a garden?
Who did the work on the garden?
What kinds of vegetables did you grow?
68. Did your family have fruit trees?
Who did the canning?
69. Did you raise chickens?
70. What kind of meat did you eat?
71. If you lived on a farm, what crops were planted?
Who did the work? Family? Hired hands?
Did you keep a cow for milk?
Did you make your own butter and cheese?
Did anyone in the family sell eggs or butter?
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Days, seasons, and special occasions
72. What did Sunday mean to you (family dinner, etc.)?
73. Did you attend church on Sunday?
Where did you attend church?
74. Were there any other special days of the week?
75. How did you spend Christmas?
76. What kinds of gifts did you receive at Christmas?
77. Did your family observe Easter?
78. How and where did you observe the Fourth of July?
79. Other special holidays?
80. How was your birthday celebrated?
What kinds of gifts did you receive?
81. Did your family entertain often?
When?
82. Did your family attend picnics?
Family reunions?
What do you remember about them?
83. How did you keep cool in the summer?
84. What did you wear in the winter to keep warm?
85. Do you remember any particular blizzards or tornadoes or floods?
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Friends and Games
86. Did you have a favorite toy?
87. What were your favorite foods?
What did you hate?
88. What did you do for recreation?
89. What kind of books did you read?
90. Did you or your brothers or sisters have any hobbies?
91. Who was your best friend?
92. What did you and your friends do when you got together?
93. Did you and your playmates play any organized games?
94. Did you ever learn to swim? Who taught you?
95. Did you participate in youth organizations?
96. What was the most mischievous thing you did as a youngster?
97. Whom did you admire most when you were young?
98. Has there ever been anyone in your life that you considered
to be your "soul mate"?
Who was it and why did you feel that way?
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School
99. Where did you go to school?
Did you ever attend a one-room schoolhouse?
100. What were your favorite subjects?
Least-favorite?
101. Who was your favorite teacher, and why?
102. Do you still know anyone that you went to school with?
In what grade did you meet?
103. How did you get to school?
If you walked, how far? What do you remember about these walks?
Did you walk alone or with friends? Were these walks a hardship in
winter?
104. Did you ever miss a long stretch of school because of illness?
If so, what did you do to pass the time?
105. What did you do during summer vacations?
106. In high school, were you involved in sports?
What were some of the highlights?
107. Were you in the school band?
What instrument(s)?
Did you continue to play into adulthood?
108. What songs and dances were popular then?
109. What was some of the slang when you were a teenager?
110. What was your first date like?
How old were you?
What did you do?
111. What was your proudest achievement in school?
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Transportation and surroundings
112. Describe the size of the town where you lived or shopped.
113. Where did your parents shop?
114. How large or small were the stores?
115. If you lived in a small town or on the farm, did you ever go
into the city to shop?
116. What was the largest town you remember visiting when you were young?
117. Did you ever travel on a train while you were young?
118. Did you or your family own a horse and buggy?
119. When did your family acquire its first car?
What make?
How much did it cost?
120. When did you learn to drive a car?
Did someone teach you?
121. Where did your family go on vacation?
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Traditions
122. What family traditions are still practiced in your family?
123. Can you briefly tell one or more your family's best stories or "tall tales"?
124. Do you recall any family members that were "characters"?
What earned them their reputation?
125. What personal traits or characteristics seemed to "run in the family"?
126. What stories did you share with your children?
Which ones didn't you share?
127. Is there an enduring piece of advise or wisdom that's been passed
down from generation to generation in your family?
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Higher Education and Career
128. How old were you when you left home?
Where to and why did you leave?
How did it feel to be on your own?
129. How many years of school did you attend?
Did you study in your adult years?
130. What was your first job?
Do you remember how much your pay was?
131. Who influenced you most and helped you to develop your skills?
132. What careers have you had?
How long at each?
133. Would you choose the same career if you had it to do over?
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Marriage and Later Life
134. When and where did you meet your husband or wife?
135. How and when did you get engaged?
Who proposed?
How long were you engaged?
136. When and where did you marry?
How old were you and your spouse?
137. Did you go on a honeymoon?
Where?
138. Where was your first home?
Did you move around?
139. What is your spouse's occupation?
140. After living together for a time, what surprised you the most
about your spouse?
141. How would you describe your spouse? What do you admire most
about him/her?
142. What's your favorite story about your spouse?
143. Did you or your spouse go into military service?
144. If your spouse went into service, what did you do while he/she
was away?
145. What memories do you have of war years?
146. To what organizations have you belonged?
147. Have you been politically active during your lifetime?
148. Which presidents have you voted for?
149. Where and when were your children born?
What are their names?
150. Do any stories come to mind about their births?
151. What were some of the family hardships you faced?
152. What were some of the most enjoyable family activities you shared?
153. What were some of the family rules?
154. What's the most important lesson you hope your children learned from you?
155. What caused you to say "Just wait until you have children of your
own!"?
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Philosophy and Outlook
156. Do you have a philosophy of life to share with your descendants?
What is it?
157. Do you have a favorite philosopher, teacher, or writer who best
expresses your philosophy?
158. Do you have religious leanings or strong religious beliefs?
159. In your opinion, which have been the greatest advances or inventions
during your lifetime?
160. What things have given you the most pleasure or satisfaction?
161. Is there anything that has caused you perpetual concern?
What events or trends have disturbed you most in your lifetime?
162. What has been your experience in regard to the following?
Answers to prayers?
Necessity and power of love?
Will power as opposed to being ruled by one's feelings?
163. What do you consider to be your most important achievements?
What one thing are you most proud of?
164. What would you say is the funniest thing that's ever happened to you?
165. Most embarrassing?
166. What has been your favorite time of life?
167. Which person most influenced your life and why?
168. What kind of music do you like to listen to?
169. Did you travel?
Which places were most interesting and why?
Where did you never get to visit?
170. Have you ever made a sacrifice that's made a lasting impression
on you?
171. What was your wisest decision?
172. What wasn't your wisest decision?
173. What makes your family truly unique?
174. What single piece of advice do you want to leave your children
and grandchildren?
175. Any other things that are important to you?
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ROOTS-L Digest Volume 02 : Issue 258 - Interviewing
Date: Thu, 09 May 2002 11:07:22 -0600
From: ROOTS-L-request@rootsweb.com
Subject: ROOTS-L Digest V02 #258
ROOTS-L Digest Volume 02 : Issue 258
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X-Message: #11
Date: Thu, 9 May 2002 07:50:27 -0500
From: "... valentine53179"
Subject: [ROOTS-L] Your FIRST KISS? INTERVIEW questions
HERE is a G-R-E-A-T book for those that are going the route of interviewing their elders - the absolute best place to start!
All the little things that MAKE a PERSON come to the surface this route... Civil records give us documentation, not the essence of the person... An interview can make that person 'come alive'.....
I, myself, did this for about 10 years before I did any real on-line searching.... (course then there wasn't as much on line!)
and I had a rather large group of living elders....)
It is called RECORDING YOUR FAMILY HISTORY BY WILLIAM FLETCHER by Gamut, NY NY.
ISBN 0-396-08887-2 1983, 1986 runs about 300 pages
It is packed with questions to ask...And WHY you should ask them, as well as techniques for asking the questions.
I would suggest using a video camera.....even if the person is NOT VISIBLE on the video.....use it as a tape recorder.... and if you have any photos or other items discussed in the interview, pass them in front of the lens. I have found that if you cover
the flashing red light on the video (electricians tape is best), that 'life is better for you' as you tape....plus, they forget about the camera...by the end of your session, they will likely want you to come back for more 'talkin'
ALWAYS remember to hold the photos in YOUR hand as you discuss photos, then you can control the speed at which they are looked at and you get a chance to 'label' them in some way...have a pencil(s) handy....
What I do is plug in the camera before it ever gets onto the tripod. Then as soon as I have the machine locked in place and Ihave the area in the viewer, I turn on the machine... the time before the actual interviewing is just as much fun as hearing the q
uestions and as you are setting up you can be talking about what you are going to do...what the date is and where you are....ask them their address and how long they have been there, etc.....instead of breaking the bubble with the formal introduction.....
and then trying to recapture the moment... just sit down and start asking questions.... they will be eased into the interview this way but they will ask if the camera is on and just tell them oh yes, and go on with your questions....
Have a question in mind for when this happens - because it will! Your job as the interviewer is to keep the questions going....and knowing when to add to your question list on the fly.... YOU WILL BE ABLE TO DO THIS, you see it happen on TV all the time..
. now it is YOUR turn.... If you feel that you need to practice, then interview a spouse...which you should do anyway....or YOURSELF!
Always ask if an elder remembers ancestors speaking with accents, if they could speak another language, play instruments, had missing appendages, markings, eyesight/deafness, lifelong illnesses, smoking habits, ability to drive/or not, religious backgro
und, school experiences, cemeteries that they visited (that is where you will find people linked to you in some way) and churches that they went to, if even for a marriage, funeral, etc. occupations.- for them selves and for those that were older them the
mselves.. STAY ORGANIZED...do mix too many people into the interview and if GRANMA is said, ALWAYS ask "GRANDMA? and get the real name.... ALWAYS! DO NOT MISS THIS POINT!
Ask about their travelling experiences...and work experiences because this is another area(s) where they might have LIVED and that is where some of your records might be.
When you take photos of these folks remember to label them and when you take photos of cemetery monuments, use some type of large card with bold printing on it naming the cemetery, placing the card at the foot of the monument (instant labeling in the resu
lting photo)
EACH INTERVIEW should be identified with a date and the person at the beginning and on the label.....
If you interview again, ask a few questions over again....make sure that you get the same basic response.... Age is a nasty thing sometimes....If they forget something as they talk, go on to another question and come back to the question again... USE SLIG
HTLY DIFFERENT WORDS IN THE REquestion here to trigger new thought process.... Forgetting happens to all of us....that 'it is on the tip of my tongue' usually comes back after another question has been answered..... just format the question a bit differen
t.
DO NOT interview with telephones or radios or tv on and with a bunch of people around. make it one on one if at all possible. INTERVIEWING at a birthday gathering is not a good thing, although sometimes the questions do happen. Be prepared with the vide
o and take what you can get, but try to revisit one-on-one at another time...IN THEIR FAVORITE CHAIR....or at THEIR kitchen table... their comfort zones....NOT in a FORMAL setting or sterile place.....
THE ABSOLUTE BEST QUESTION for man or woman is (and be ready with your second question etc because the show is about to happen.....) is
"WHEN DID YOU GET YOUR FIRST KISS?"
It has never ever failed me.
good luck....
valentine
I have done over 50 interviews... totallying nearly 200 hours... all these tricks work...keep yuour visit on film to about 2 hours, not longer...make a date inside a two week horizon to revisit. They will want you to come back! Cause you are now their new
est FRIEND and visitor....(and you will WANT to go!)
If you cannot get the book, then get your own list together and KNOW it when you are at the interview....
Pretend you are Barbara Walters... BE PREPARED!
Also have your tapes ready to slide into the machine....all unwrapped, etc. etc. etc.
And here are a few off the top of my head....for each person you discuss in the interview....
I DO NOT EVER GIVE THE LIST AHEAD OF TIME!
Ask their parents full names, place of birth, death and cemetery/church
ask their full names, place of birth, church
Ask their grandparents (all FOUR!) etc.
Ask for listing of all the children......(then keep this for NEXT interview...) you will want them to have their address book at hand at the second interview......!
Ask WHO is the oldest family person they knew themselves....
go into some detail about this oldest person......
ask if they have anything in their home that belonged to any of these people.... (then keep this for the next interview)
when did meet your spouse...
WHO are your children (then keep this for the next interview) you will want addresses, etc..... and their children etc.
play a musical instrument.
speak another language
go to high school, where, til when,
go to college or any type,
did you ever have farm animals
did anyone have a missing limb,
failing eye sight
regular cough,
most scared time,
most happy time,
most difficult time
travel outside of the state, the country
biggest accomplishment in life
describe a house in detail,
desribe a homestead in detail
talk about work, what was done, how arrived at that occupation,
what was a daily activity like at work, was it a safe place
What was SUNDAY like in the household....hour by hour....
What was SATURDAY like in the household...hour by hour..
Were you ever with anyone as they passed away,
What were your thoughts on that....
What was the most important thing that you ever did to HELP another person.
Were you ever in a war or military service...
what was that like....
HOW did you actually get enlisted...step by step, WHERE did you enlist...
What cemeteries did your family visit...
and CHurches....
Did you ever travel by train, or airplane, horse
Did you ever smoke a pipe(storebought or?), cigar(storebought or?), cigarette, rolled/storebought
If you had an opportunity to have a different occupation, what would it have been
If you had the opportunity to change anything in your life, what would it have been....
At the second interview, ask them to get their photos out and their certificates, and all the stuff they have in their shoebox of old family stuff....
and use that as part of the second interview, along with the details of the OTHER parts of the family outline.
This second interview is always the hardest because they are WORKING at remembering...so keep it shorter and set up a third visit.....
valentine____________________
at valentine53179@hotmail.com
. . . ..Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : http://explorer.msn.com
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ROOTS-L Digest Volume 02 : Issue 260 - Interviewing
Date: Fri, 10 May 2002 05:44:32 -0600
From: ROOTS-L-request@rootsweb.com
Subject: ROOTS-L Digest V02 #260
To: ROOTS-L@rootsweb.com
ROOTS-L Digest Volume 02 : Issue 260
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X-Message: #3
Date: Thu, 9 May 2002 20:53:37 -0500
From: "... valentine53179"
Subject: [ROOTS-L] Your FIRST Kiss! Interviews - More
I don't give prepared questions to the interviewee ahead of time because the response would be too 'canned".
What you want from the interview is the essence, the spontaneity of the answer.....
You can, later, give them a family group sheet that you have prepared based on the interviewing that you have done so that they can put in the dates and places and so that they can get some help in doing it...almost like homework....
BUT specific dates on the video, at least in the first one, should not be your biggest reason for the interview...
Getting an overview of the family and an overview of the places and environments that they have been in, I think, should be the main emphasis.
Probably the most important thing to me is to get the video machine turned on asap so that the entire preparation time before the exact questioning is on the video...this is what makes this video document so valuable.... and it should not be edited. Do no
t try to edit as you are filming; it will ruin the effort... Keep this as your master for all time and 'clip' from it if you want to, but keep this as your source document...
I have regularly interviewed one person at a time, even if a spouse exists.... It keeps the train of thought within one family ..... A second interview can be for the other spouse and the third can be with the both together. This combined interview can in
clude stories about their married lives, about their children, about themselves... and the tape will show how they interact with each other. This is what you want, not just the dates... Dates you will be able to get.... Ask them to get their holy cards a
nd news clips and obits out for you so that you can copy them for your project... "maybe they can get them for the next trip"......
Although you are interviewing ONE person, you could have a helper who knows the family along with YOU and who can also ask questions.... Just be sure that neither of you editorialize on the tape... The interviewer(s) should be interviewers not interviewee
s! So watch what you are saying if it is not a QUESTION....
Ask, in time "for the next trip", to get the personal telephone books out and those of their parents....
Here are some more questions...not in any order...just as they came to mind.......
What did they do during the war effort....
When did they first drive a car....OFFICIALLY and un officially...
How much was gas then...
Did they pump gas themselves or was it pumped for them...
what was the favorite brand...
what kinds of cars did they own.... (as for a full list of these cars later....year, color, type, miles purchased new or not...)
When did they smoke their first cigarette.... All of the WHO WHAT WHERE WHEN WHY...on this one...
How much did they cost...
When was the first time they smoked in front of a parent....
What did the parents say....
What brand.....
Do they still smoke....
What brand. and how much..
ask, seriously and without judgment..... why do they smoke...have they thought of quitting...
If you ask this seriously, you will get a serious answer... Just DO NOT PASS JUDGEMENT....
What kinds of things did they do on dates..
what were the best dates..
What was a typical date like......
Did they often double date....
who were the favorite actors, actresses, favorite movies...
WHERE did they go to the movies...
How much did they pay and what were the movies like compared to todays' movie house...
Did they ever go to a play....
Have they ever ridden exotic animals...camels, elephants, and what was the occasion...
Have they ever ridden in a hot air balloon....helicopter... and what was the occasion
small plane, large ship...
Who in the family was the first to go to a 4 year college...degree in what...
Who was the first in the family to purchase a summer home....
What was the childhood home like...
(as for a layout of the home and a sketch of the facade....as part of HOMEWORK!
When was running water put in...
Electricity...
a toilet.... a telephone....
What were the days like when these were installed....Describe the day....
What kinds of chores were they responsible for as a child...
If you lived on a farm...
Sketch a layout of the farm.....
Sketch the outline of your big barn...with special attention to the roof line..
Sketch the SILO and the shape of the dome area....
What kind of chores before school...after school....
Talk about anything relating to the SILO
Was it poured cement, wood, ceramic, cement block...
DO you remember when it was built...
What can you tell about that group of days....
Talk about anything relating to the WINDMILL...
talk about anything related to the BIG BARN
What was the most dangerous thing you did on the farm...
What did you get caught doing after you were told NOT TO DO IT?
What kinds of tractors did you have.
Did you ever drive a team of horses and for what purpose...
What were you jobs during threshing..
Where did you take your milk....
Where did you purchase your groceries...
Your, clothing, shoes....
Where did you go to the DENTIST....Do you recall the first time...
The Dentists name?
Where did you go to get a professional photograph taken....
And on what occasions...
Where did you purchase your wedding dress/suit....
Your wedding ring.... Did you jointly decide on wedding rings...
What was your wedding day like...temp, kind of day, what were the festivities like...
What was your proposal like...what were THE WORDS, THE ENVIRONMENT...
What did your parents say when you told them....
What did you actually say when you told them....
How did you first meet... How soon before your first date and how soon before you married...
Where did you first live as a couple....and then where....
Were you BORN at home or in a hospital...
Were your children BORN in a hospital or at home...
What did your childhood family grow on the farm as a cash crop...
Did you have a vegetable stand...
What were your responsibilities at the stand...
How did your family get to church...
What was different about church than today...
What was the first television program that you saw...
When did you first get a color television...
a vcr... Do you know how to program the vcr or to fix the time...
Do you have a CD player or cassette player or 8 track...
Did you ever have an 8 track player...
What is the last best movie that you saw....
Who is your favorite musical artist...
When was the first time you were away from the childhood home..
When did you first get a microwave... What do you use it for mostly...
When did you first buy a camera and why did you decide to buy it..
Do you have a computer that you use?
What do you use it for...
How did you learn to use it...
When you were on the farm did you have animals....
Dairy? What kind of cows...
And where did you take your milk
What diary processed your milk....
Did you have geese, chickens, etc..
WHERE did you get the geese or ducks..
How did they get to your farm...
Who were your best friends...
Did they live near to the childhood home or near school...
What was your hardest subject in school....easiest?
WHO was your favorite teacher...subject, why...
What color were your farm buildings and what was your silo made of...
Did you ever smoke a pipe, cigar, cigarette.....Were any homemade...
Who in the family is also a genealogist...
Who in the family knows how to knit, crochet...
How did they learn...
Are any representative samples still around....
ASK about the saddest time in their lives.....
BE SURE TO HAVE another question to follow this...perhaps:
Did they ever smoke marijuana? And why was that?
Did they have any pets...
What happened when animals on the farm were sick..
When was the first time they drove a tractor?
Did they ever break an arm or leg? or finger?
Did their parent have all their fingers.. Do they know how the parent lost a finger - if appropro...
Ask if anyone in the family had heart problems..
kidney problems...
diabetes problems....
breathing problems...
Heavy coughing, light coughing....
BAD snoring....
Ask WHEN these occurred in life...teens, 20's, 30's, 40's 50 hears old...
The age is important here....it may help in determining for the future, whether these illnesses are part of environmental or hereditary reasons... make a note of these instances and time of life on your charts..
WHAT was Christmas morning like...
How did you celebrate Birthdays...
What did you wrap presents in...
How did you celebrate HALLOWEEN....
HOW did you celebrate Thanksgiving....
What did you purchase for this meal and what did you have from the farm
HOW did you get to grade school, to high school.
valentine____________________
at valentine53179@hotmail.com
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ROOTS-L Digest Volume 03 (2003) : Issue 344 - Washing Clothes
Years ago a Kentucky grandmother gave the new bride the following recipe for
washing clothes. It appears below just as it was written, and despite the
spelling, has a bit of philosophy. This is an exact copy as written and found
in an old scrap book (with spelling errors and all).
1. Bilt fire in backyard to heat kettle of rain water.
2. Set tubs so smoke wont blow in eyes if wind is pert.
3. Shave one hole cake of lie soap in bilin water.
4. Sort things, make 3 piles.
1 pile white,
1 pile colored,
1 pile work britches and rags.
5. To make starch, stir flour in cool water to smooth, then thin down with
bilin water.
6. Take white things, rub dirty spots on board, scrub hard, and then bile.
Rub colored don't bile, just rinch and starch.
7. Take things out of kettle with broomstick handle, then rinch, and starch.
8. Hang old rags on fence.
9. Spread tea towels on grass.
10. Pore rinch water in flower bed.
11. Scrub porch with hot soapy water.
12. Turn tubs upside down.
13. Go put on clean dress, smooth hair with hair combs. Brew cup of tea, sit
and rock a spell and count your blessings.
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ROOTS-L Digest Volume 01 (new 2006) : Issue 15 - Rural Life and Infant Mortality
Message: 1
Date: Sat, 14 Oct 2006 19:29:42 -0500
From: "Jo Nicholson"
Subject: Re: [ROOTS-L] Incest Babies - Illegitimate Babies
To:
Re: Joe Thurstenson's inquiry on incest babies. I am a fourth generation
Northeastern Arkansan and in these farming families, women were pregnant on
the average every two years (as soon as they stopped breastfeeding an
infant) throughout their childbearing years. As most of these were rural
families, and because pregnancies were numerous, there were many stillborns
or death shortly after birth. One of my grandmothers had 7 infant deaths
and nine living children over a period of about 22 years. The mothers were
usually overworked and in poor health, resulting in more infant deaths and
sometimes the death of the mother. My g-parents have four baby markers at
Saddle Cemetery, and there are three more baby markers at their farm
southwest of Mammoth Spring. I am sure there were illegitimate children
(called wood-colts), some probably disposed of because the girl and baby
would be considered no good. But, from what I have researched of families in
Fulton County, Arkansas in the mid-1800's to early 1900's, infant deaths
were more from what I have described above. Farm-women worked in the fields
all day, cooked 3 meals a day, did washing by hand at a creek, raised their
own gardens, cut wood, carried water, canned and cured their own vegetables
and meats, made their own bed clothing, made their children's clothing,
cared for elderly in-laws and parents, raised other's orphaned children,
went to church on Sunday, and raised large families. The country doctors
were few and far between, and most births were attended by family or a
nearby midwife. So, the infant mortality rate was high. In almost any
rural cemetery, you will see numerous baby markers, many from the same
husband/wife.
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ROOTS-L Digest Volume 01 (new 2006) : Issue 17 - Black Drawing Salve Recipe
Message: 2
Date: Sun, 15 Oct 2006 19:37:34 -0400
From: "Sharon"
Subject: [ROOTS-L] Basic Black Salve
To:
Recipe
Basic Black Salve
2 Tablespoons Bee's Wax
3 Tablespoons Cocoa Butter
3 Tablespoons Shea Butter
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon Vitamin E
1 Tablespoon Honey Powder
2 Tablespoons Activated Charcoal Powder
3 Tablespoons Rhassoul Clay
Optional: Herbal Extracts, Essential Oils - depending on what you're using the salve for
8 1/2 ounce clear jars
Black Salve is touted to do everything these days, including curing cancer. I will be staying off the cancer topic, but this is the old fashioned salve everyone used to have in the house. What it does best is absorb toxins. The common use for it is to put
a glob of it on a bee sting, slivers or a cut. It sucks out the poisons! No home should be without it.
First Step:
Put Bees wax, cocoa butter and shea butter in a small pot and heat. You want to keep it at 180 degree for at least 15 minutes. This is easier than it sounds. Just heat it on medium high until it is melted. Turn off the burner and let it sit. It should sti
ll be over 180 in 15 minutes. :)
Second Step:
Add the rest of the ingredients and stir until well blended. The easy place to buy Activated Charcoal is in your local health food store or herbal medicine store. You'll probably have to open a lot of capsules, but it is the stuff you need for this.
Third Step:
Feel free to add any relevant herbal extracts to the formula just before you spoon it in. You want to make sure it is very cooled off before adding any extracts, essential oils, or fragrance.
Fourth Step:
Once it is smooth, spoon into 1/2 ounce jars. Give a jar to everyone you know. They will thank you for it!
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ROOTS-L Digest Volume 01, Issue 48 (2006) : "Heavenly Days"
Message: 7
Date: Mon, 23 Oct 2006 12:07:12 -0500
From: "lynne227"
Subject: Re: [ROOTS-L] "Heavenly Days" e-mail about Dr's killing
babies, etc
To:
I don't know the age of "Heavenly Days" but perhaps if that person could imagine themselves back in the 1800's and even up to the 1940's in this country, it may help her to understand that babies died at birth. Many mothers died at birth also.
My gggrandfather was a rural physican in the 1840-1870's. His "office" was his home, there was no hospital around to send patients to, he rode on horseback(or later a buggy) to the patients homes. He did not have a prescription pad because there were no p
rescription drugs. He did not have any oxygen in his "kit", nor antibiotics, nor Tylenol, nor medications to treat asthma, no blood infusion products, etc. .. his wife made his bandages from ripped-up clean clothing. He did not have any prenatal vitamins
to give his expectant mothers. He did not have the ability to do blood tests as we do today. He did not have the ability to do an ultrasound. He did have a stethoscope. His physician knowlege was learned from another physician and experience, His payment
was usually some chickens, eggs, etc. -seldom cash. etc. He rec'd his cash when he sold things from his property. Can you imagine getting up in the middle of the night on a cold snowy night and mount a horse and ride miles!
and miles to help someone....that is what physicians did "back then". They often stayed by the bedside until the patient was better or died.
There was no internet, or American Medical Association. If you did have a telephone, there was no ambulance to take you to an emergency room.They got on a horse and rode to the doctor's home. Physicians tried to help people the best they could. Even in t
he 1940's, penicillin was still considered experimental. Can you believe that. It saved my spouse's life as a child but his mother had to sign a consent form that it also might of killed him.
Midwives delivered babies too and I bet that many a baby was born (and died) without anyone in attendance.
So, I am trying to say to "Heavenly Days" is that it was a completely different world back then. As a nurse, I can tell you that babies still die during and soon after birth,,,even today. I had one patient tell me one time, "if you let mother die, I will
sue you" (Mother was 98 yrs old.) So, no, we are not god, we hope we can heal but we cannot prevent death at all times. Since we don't know the circumstances, I feel that it is unfair to the physician back then to blame him To paraphrase an old Indian sa
ying, " if you haven't walked in another's mocassins, don't blame "him"." Lynne in Texas