The Dress, Part 2...

The poor dress was in such bad condition, but at least now it looks like a dress and not a dishrag.  There is a label inside that says "Oppenheim & Collins, Co."  This was a women's clothing store established in New York city in 1901, and in Buffalo, NY in 1905.  (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oppenheim_Collins)

This is the front of the dress, I believe.  There is an underlayer of silk that has completely disintegrated, and the brown net trim is very fragile and is staining the cream color.  But the beading is fairly intact.

This is the dress from the back.  I don't know if the low V was possibly lined.  I am also guessing about the placement of the beaded belt around the waist.  There are several snaps and hook and eyes that I cannot match up.  But there was some mending done on the dress before I did any, so it is possible someone else moved things around.

The dress is really too fragile to hang up, let alone wear, and I think it will be placed back in the dresser at the museum for the next person to discover. 

Historic Wedding Dresses

I spent the day volunteering at Historic Palmyra Museums, helping set up an exhibit of wedding dresses.  I have always been partial to historic costume and to lace.  We found this dress stuffed in a drawer in the museum, seemingly beyond hope.  It made me sad- it was kind of like a Charlie Brown Christmas tree.  This was once a beaded lace dress, maybe about 1910.  After we sorted through the rest of the items in the dresser, I pulled it back out, and asked the curator if I could take it home and attempt to restore it a little.  She agreed, as I really can't make it worse!  Here are the before pictures....  

This is what it looked like when we found it:

Now I have to figure out where the front and back are (and the sleeves, waist....)

Stay tuned for the afters!

RIP Philip Seymour Hoffman

This is more of a public service post.  It is not about genealogy per se, but it is about friends and family.

I was 2 years ahead of Phil in high school, and although I did not know him personally, several of my close friends acted with him in school plays, and I distinctly remember his performances in The Crucible, M*A*S*H, and Death of a Salesman.

I was angry when I first heard the news, and then very sad and nostalgic as I heard old classmates and friends express sympathy and shock. We all need to learn 3 things which will make Phil's death less of a waste: 1) There should be no stigma to seeking treatment for addiction, addiction can happen even if you use just once- the chemistry of these drugs will cause you to need more each time to get the same high. 2) Treatment has to be available to anyone who needs it, without financial or legal barriers. 3) Talk with your children, friends, etc about addiction. Even if they would not even think about using or even experimenting, they will run into someone who does.  Look at us this week.

My handwriting is bad, but...

While in Salt Lake City a few weeks ago, I did some research into my husband's family.  I was able to solve a couple mysteries.  His cousin had put together a wonderful family tree, and I found the answers to two remaining questions.  But, of course, came home with another mystery!  I believe this excerpt holds the key, but we cannot decipher it.

This is from a parish register in Loikum, Germany in the 1850's.  Normally the godparents names are in this slot.  Because of other information, I believe the mother and possibly the baby died at birth.

The third and fourth lines are "kind ist bald darauf ganz" which means "child is soon quite". 

If anyone has ideas, please let me know!

How I spent my summer vacation

We went to Amsterdam, New York to buy a painting.  This even sounds strange to me and those who know me best. 

I have always been drawn to Amsterdam, New York.  You can see it in a valley from the NY State Thruway, driving between Rochester and Albany.  My sister had the same draw.  We knew our great-grandfather was from there, and we remember him as "Big Grandpa", as our only living great-grandfather when we were babies.  My sister and brother-in-law were returning home from vacation, and decided to stop in Amsterdam, where they discovered Amsterdam Castle and more importantly, the Book Hound, a treasure trove of old books.  Anyone who knows my family knows about the draw books have...

Family Sherlock on Willow Street in Amsterdam

We arranged to have a family weekend there, booking rooms at Amsterdam Castle, and meeting up at the Book Hound.  I did some research prior to the trip, and this was the precursor to becoming a professional genealogist.  I found that this part of our family immigrated from Augsburg, Germany to Amsterdam, New York in the late 1880's.  So, we drove around the city looking to see if any addresses our ancestors were listed at still existed.  They did not.  We also had an ill-fated search for graves in an abandoned cemetery, where the warning of deer ticks came too late.   Despite the lack of new genealogical discoveries, we found the people in Amsterdam to be incredibly helpful and friendly.  While looking for someplace to eat lunch, we asked at the Lucky Mini Mart, and the proprietor was so concerned that he offered to make us sandwiches!  After a stop for cookies and directions at the Dolci bakery, we had lunch at Shorty's Southside Tavern, where my teenaged nephew claimed the bacon cheeseburger the best he had ever eaten, and I agreed!  The family atmosphere at Parillo's Armory Grill at dinner also appealed to our Sicilian heritage.

A little over a year later, I had started my genealogy business, and was researching further into my own family.  I have been captivated with the story of my Swiss great-great grandmother, who immigrated to Amsterdam, New York also.  The Book Hound posted a photo of a painting for sale by a local artist, Brian Jacobs.  The subject, a Victorian woman tying her hair back, could have been my ancestor.  I had to have it.  

So, my husband and I drove out there for my birthday.  This time we stayed at Halcyon Farm, the most peaceful place I have ever been.  There were fireflies galore outside at night and spring peepers singing.  We did purchase the painting at the Book Hound, in addition to other memorabilia and books, and had a nice conversation with Dan, the owner.  Unfortunately Brian, the artist, was away that weekend, but I hope to meet him in person next time we are in Amsterdam.  We again bought cookies at the Dolci bakery, where the owners feel like family, and we ate dinner at Parillo's Armory Grill again.  We visited Riverlink Park that evening, also.  We do plan on returning so we can hike around Halcyon Farm.

Amsterdam is in the midst of a renewal, and although it has been depressed by the shutting down on industries, it is a surprisingly welcoming place for tourists, whether they are genealogists or local historians or not.

More about the dream

My heritage:

I am a third-generation Rochesterian- all four of my grandparents were born in Rochester, New York.  Further back my ancestry is early colonial British settlers in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania, lots of  German, Irish, Swiss and Sicilian.  And Amsterdam.  Amsterdam, New York.  Despite my Dutch surname, I am not from Holland.  My husband may have Dutch ancestry from way back, but so far it looks like it is all German and Danish.  More about Amsterdam, New York- stay tuned!

My projects:

In addition to doing research for clients, which is a great learning experience for me and adds to the variety of my research, I am also working on a couple of projects about my family.

Those letters I was given as a graduation gift?- I am annotating them (along with  the rest of the set which my uncle inherited) and hope to publish as a genealogical and Civil War memoir. 

The other project is a book about my great-great grandparents and their exploits.  Truth is better than fiction. 

I had a dream...

I had a dream last night about work, and it was not a nightmare!  I was searching through census records, and that is what genealogists do.  How did I get here?

My education and former career:

I spent 25 years in quality assurance in the printing and publishing industry in Rochester, NY, proofreading, researching, testing software, web development, reporting.  I also studied social sciences and foreign languages, and I have degrees in psychology and international studies.  It took me a few months to pull the skills and hobby together, but I established my genealogy business about 10 months ago. 

The logo:

When I was working on my business plan, etc, I asked my family for ideas for a name.  My mother had the winning entry- Family Sherlock.  I always wanted to be Sherlock Holmes when I was a child, and only did not pursue this when I discovered a modern-day detective was usually a police officer, and at barely 5 feet tall, even if I did pass the physical requirements and tests, I do not think anyone would want to work with this tiny recruit on the streets!  So I became a proofreader instead.  Then a legal researcher.  Then a software test engineer.  Then a web and e-mail developer.  I had been studying my family history since I was a child also, and my cousin gave me a set of letters for a graduation gift- these are the background of my logo, along with my old Sherlock magnifying glass: