Blog Caroling

footnoteMaven has a tradition of blog caroling. I've decided to join in this year with my favorite Christmas carol: 

Hark, The Herald Angels Sing!

Hark the herald angels sing

"Glory to the newborn King!

Peace on earth and mercy mild

God and sinners reconciled"

Joyful, all ye nations rise

Join the triumph of the skies

With the angelic host proclaim:

"Christ is born in Bethlehem"

Hark! The herald angels sing

"Glory to the newborn King!"

Christ by highest heav'n adored

Christ the everlasting Lord!

Late in time behold Him come

Offspring of a Virgin's womb

Veiled in flesh the Godhead see

Hail the incarnate Deity

Pleased as man with man to dwell

Jesus, our Emmanuel

Hark! The herald angels sing

"Glory to the newborn King!"

Hail the heav'n-born Prince of Peace!

Hail the Son of Righteousness!

Light and life to all He brings

Ris'n with healing in His wings

Mild He lays His glory by

Born that man no more may die

Born to raise the sons of earth

Born to give them second birth

Hark! The herald angels sing

"Glory to the newborn King!"

 
The Open Hymnal Project (http://openhymnal.org/ : accessed 16 December 2009), "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing."

Advent Calendar - Charitable/Volunteer Work

December 12 - Charitable/Volunteer Work

Did your family ever volunteer with a charity such as a soup kitchen, homeless or battered women’s shelter during the holidays? Or perhaps were your ancestors involved with church groups that assisted others during the holiday?

I remember the first year I was allow to go. My mom had made me a green elf costume to wear. My job was to direct everyone coming off of the buses to where Santa was. It was Christmas Eve and we were at Pitchess Detention Center, a California prison in north Los Angeles County. The families would park their car and take a bus back to the prison to visit. When they come back and get off the bus, we had Santa (and his elf!) waiting for them with presents. Few of those there that day knew what awaited them. Santa, on Christmas Eve was a treat. Asking him for a present and having him hand it to you? Priceless.

SNGF: Letter to Genea-Santa - I want a letter

Randy Seaver at Genea-Musing has posted this week's Saturday Night Genealogy Fun:

1) Write a letter to Genea-Santa and ask for only ONE thing. It could be hardware, software, a missing family Bible, a record that you desperately want, etc.
2) Tell Genea-Santa what a good genea-girl or genea-boy you've been this past year and give examples.
3) Exhibit your letter on your own blog, in a Facebook post commenting on this note, or in a Comment to this blog post.
Dear Genea-Santa,
I would like to find a letter. It was up for auction on e-bay several years ago and I have found part of the listing. The e-bay people don't keep records for that long ago so I have no idea what happened to it. From the listing (via the Way Back Machine, via a cousin):
This stampless letter has a circular date stamp for CUBA N.Y., a handwritten 25 cent rate, and is addressed to Mr. Jotham Meriam, Clapp hill, Worcester county, Mass, and is a lengthy three+ page 'Dear Mother' letter written by 'your affectionate daughter' Mary Rutter. that line is inside, on the margin of the inner fold. The back page, on the folds adjacent to the front cover, is all written by Emerson Rutter to 'Dear Father' [in-law]. The headline is Cuba Jan 14 [?], 1839. I think that's the year date, it almost looks like 1831. Spelling is a bit phonetic in places. Some abstracts:"I feel dear mother that we are a great distance from you and all our relations but we are contented and happy, we are surrounded with christian friends ...""... we have joined this presbyterian church to day with many others, I know not the exact number but the was 21 baptized ...""... when I lived in Uxbridge and visited you I stod up for the unitarians and I new when I did it that I was injuring your feelings ...""I was separate from my husband 5 months which was a lonesom season, I left Carolines the 2 week in Oct ..."Mr. Rutter came out here last spring and got rite into business and has not ben out a day cense and the prospect is the will be enough for the future.""We live in the vile[???] which is in a florishing state ... ther was but one or 2 decent houses here they hav built 2 meeting houses this season, presbeterian and baptist. Mr. Rutter has ben the head workman on both there is 2 taverns and 4 stores besides grocery shops and it is but 15 years cense the wild beast romed here ...""... dear still lingers in the forrest where once was herd the howl of the woolf the sound of the chirch bel echos from hill to hill, and gathers the people far and near to the worship spot."[Emerson] "Soil is much better here than in Madison but the country is new and the farmers have not got fairley into the business of farming as yet as most of them ware poor people when they came in here but they begin to pick up their crumbs and they have everything to encourage them for the present.""The Genesee vally canall goes directly through this village from Rochester to the naviagable watters of the Allagany river, and it makes business ...""There is a railroad located through this village from New York city to Dunkirk through the southern toes of county ..." Condition of the letter rates average, there were some separations along some folds, which were mended lightly with archival tape, in order to hold it together well for reading. All the words are there, and readable. As usual with stampless letters, after writing on one or more sides of a sheet of paper, the letter was folded several times and mailed. An interesting letter good for genealogy and history research. See my other auctions for similar items. Terms and conditions: Shipping for a single cover or letter is $1.00 via USPS to USA addresses. Shipping to Canada and United Kingdom is $2.00. Other countries please write and ask first. Save on postage on multiple purchases.Unconditionally guaranteed authentic. Member of American Philatelic Society.Money order or cashier's check ships within 24 hours. Personal checks require 7 days to clear unless you've purchased from me before. Paypal is fine, use their main web site and my email address for payment via Paypal.Thank you for sending payment within 10 days. Powered by eBay Turbo Lister.
I have been a good girl this year, making sure all of my information is sourced and cited. I started a blog to share my experiences with others and have begun to get involved with SCGS as a lecturer and possibly a librarian.
Jen

Advent Calendar – Christmas Tree Ornaments

Did your family have heirloom or cherished ornaments? Did you ever string popcorn and cranberries? Did your family or ancestors make Christmas ornaments?

Ornaments are big in my family. We have very few of the generic round color ones, and most of those are old (or at least older than me). Each member of the family has "their" ornaments that they hang every year. These are things that person has made, a "first birthday/Christmas," or a wacky something. Usually we get one ornament a year per person that represents something that happened during that year. We have a lot of homemade ornaments, but they don't look like it; my mom used to have a craft company and made a lot of things. We have my maternal grandmother's glass bells and lanterns. One tradition that she started and that my mom carried on was the bells. Different bells are hung around the tree on the lowest branches. This alerts my parents to when my sister or I were getting into the presents. Or when the dog decided to sleep under the tree.

Decorating the tree this year.

Advent Calendar - The Christmas Tree

Did you have a real tree or was it artificial? How big was the tree? Who decorated the tree? What types of Christmas trees did your ancestors have?

Growing up we always had a real tree. I remember one Christmas we were living in a house with a vaulted ceiling two stories high. My mom made sure we got a tall tree, and at 19 ft. it was. We stood on a ladder to decorate the top. Everyone always participated in decorating the tree; we each had our own special ornaments to hang.
When I was in high school we got an artificial tree. Most of my family has allergies and we has started getting the tree closer and closer to Christmas to avoid the brunt of them. We were after Christmas shopping at Michael's (a craft store) and my mom liked one of the trees they had on display. It turned out to be the only tree they had and it didn't have a box. I think we paid $10 for it; took it apart and stuffed it in the car. I do love our tree. It is 6 ft. tall and very full, with no bad side.