3. November 2009 by Tim.

I found a web site that specializes in family trees in Great Britain and uploaded my Tree there.  I was hoping for some help in the Crowley part of the Tree.  So far nothing there.  However, I have received several contacts from people who have one or more Lamont’s in their Tree.  No one has matched there yet either.

And then yesterday I got an email from someone who has Barbara Loose in their Tree and found her in mine also.  Well, I wrote back to them (after I looked up Barbara in my own Tree - the name was completely unknown to me).  It turns out my Dad’s Uncle Joe had married a Barbara Loose while he was stationed in England during World War 2.  The person who emailed was her nephew!  He actually had been to visit the two of them while they were living in California in the early 1990s.  Amazing!

He’s got lots of family info on Barbara and I am going to grab and add it to my Tree.

Now I have something to tell Auntie Mary when I go visit her! LOL

These pictures were taken while Uncle Joe was stationed in England.  Aunt Barbara worked for the Red Cross during the war.  Uncle Joe was my Dad’s favorite on that side of the family.  I remember meeting him when I was 10 or 11.  He and Aunt Barbara came to RI from CA to visit the family.  He was a big guy, tall and it was easy to see that he had been powerfully built in his prime.  Deep voice and the absolute nicest guy. 

 Aunt Barbara passed away in October of 1999.  Uncle Joe followed in March of 2000.  Funny how that happens.

Posted in Orcutt, Lamont Side | 1 Comment »

7. February 2009 by Tim.

“A rose by any other name would still smell as sweet”

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me”

William Shakespeare wrote the former; we dont know who wrote the latter, but of all the old sayings that have to do with names, I think Ben Franklin’s best applies to my situation.  Ben said, “What signifies knowing the names if you know not the nature of things?”  Well said, Ben.  What does it matter if you know what things are called, if that’s all you know about them?  Very true, unless you happen to be talking about genealogy.

There are a lot of examples in my search where I have been stymied, for longer or shorter times, by differences in names.  Whether they’ve been spelling differences (Lamont vs Lamonte), transcription errors in the records (Crowley vs Crowsley), or resulting from language barriers (Isaac vs Elzear) they’ve been issues to overcome.

The one that is most recent is whether Frank Hartwell Orcutt is really Francis Hartwell Orcutt.

I found a copy of the Birth Records for Abington, MA in 1884 in which his birth is recorded as “Frank.”  But, given that his father was Francis Colby Orcutt, could it be that the parents were calling him “Frank” instead of Francis to avoid confusion?  My new-found cousin, Sharon, is calling in some favors and trying to get a copy of the official birth certificate from the Town of Abington (being a published author and professional genealogist has its advantages!), so soon this mystery may be solved.

There are 4 or 5 others I already know about and just as many likely waiting to step up and cause problems!

Posted in Orcutt, Saucier, Progress | No Comments »

31. January 2009 by Tim.

Another update…

As you know, I have been keeping a visual record of my Tree on Ancestry.com.  In addition to research capabilities, that web site also has a large message board area.  I have posted on several of them mentioning specific relatives and asking for information.   I received replies to several of them from people who are related - in a very distant way - and from people who are just willing to help me in my research.  One response was of particular note, and is the subject of this post.

The message I posted mentioned my great grandfather, Frank Hartwell Orcutt.  The response I received was simply this, “Hello, I know this genealogy very well & can give you great insights. My Great Grandfather and your Frank H Orcutt were brothers.”

Needless to say, I replied.  This message was hugely different from anything I had received before.  In the past, even when the person wasrelated to me, it was usually the case that our 7th or 8th or even 10th great grand parents were the same.  Never before had I heard from someone who was this close a relative!  Add to this, the fact that she was related to a brother of Frank H Orcutt meant that there was a potential that I could learn more about him and that branch of the family.  Little did I know what lay in store!

I emailed the poster and it wasnt long before we were emailing several times a day.  It turns out that the poster is named Sharon Orcutt Peters, and she is, among a number of other things, a genealogist!  She is an author as well, and along with innumerable articles in various magazines, she has a book published on the history of Abington, MA.  Well, as you can imagine, Sharon has been a tremendous source of knowledge, information, and inspiration.

Sharon will be the subject of a number of future posts, but for now I need to continue keeping my promise to update a number of other topics.   After that, I’ll post more on current happenings.

Posted in Orcutt, Progress, Lamont Side | No Comments »