Getting Past Cabin Fever

© Jen Baldwin, 2012-2013.

For some of us around the globe, winter can last a very long time. You start to dream of the simple things: grass, going outside without multiple layers of clothing, a day free of snow shovels. 

As a genealogist, I start thinking about which cemeteries I want to visit, and when. Which ghost town’s I want to see during the limited summer months.

Not complaining, here. We love where we live. It’s just… well, yea, the cold gets to you once in a while.

So, here are my top ten ways to get past that winter cabin fever.

1. Take a walk.  Even if it is only 15 F outside, bundle yourself up and get some fresh air. You may just have a light bulb moment, causing you to rush back to your research plan, blog, or anything else you might have going. If you cannot, for whatever reason, actually go outside; open your window for a few minutes. Let that fresh air in!
   
   
2. Go back in your files.  Give yourself some time to rediscover a piece you may have forgotten about in your files. You never know what you may learn, and it may just kick start your energy level.
   
   
3. Reach out. Collaborate! Social media is available for all of us, and the online genealogy community gets bigger each day. There is so much to learn just by talking to each other! Best tip, though; if you live in a cold climate, when you are feeling really down about the weather, talk to other’s who live in cold climates, too. Don’t chat it up with your best genea friend in southern Florida, it will only make you feel worse. Find someone in a similar situation and share sob stories for a minute or two.
   
   
4. Don’t Dwell. Share that sob story! But keep it to a limit. If you wallow in the bad weather, as we all well know, it will only make it worse. Put on some upbeat music, and let yourself find a happy place.
   
   
5. Find a Small Museum. Find one, the smallest you can, and plan to spend at least two hours there. Trust me, the person tending the site will be happy to have someone to chat with, and undoubtedly, you will learn something.
   
   

6. 

   Idaho Springs, Colorado Cemetery
   © Ancestral Journeys, 2012-2013

   Research a Stranger. This is one of my favorite things to break up the repetition, and I plan for it during the summer months. I’ll stop at a random cemetery or historical society and take pictures of something that has no relevance to my current research whatsoever. Then during the winter, I pull those out and just start digging. Don’t have those unknown photos laying about? Grab a local history book from the library, and research someone from your community.
   
   
7. Go Elsewhere. Get out of the house. Again. Find a local coffee shop that has comfy chairs and sit there for a bit. Let the local traffic distract you. A new set of walls can do a world of good, and you never know, you may meet someone with similar interests.
   
   
8. Move Seats. If you cannot get out of the house (which is often my situation, as I’m a Mommy, too), then give yourself a different view from within your home. Go from office, to table, to bedroom and back again. This does not necessarily mean that your computer needs to travel with you; sometimes your best friend can be a notepad and pen.
   
   
9. Break Up Your Routine. I write most often with a cup of tea at hand. In the afternoon’s. With music on. Nearly every day, that is where you will find me. Every once in a while, though, I need to stimulate my routine with a change, even a small one. A cold beverage instead of hot; write in the morning, or stay up late. Change the music; listen to a podcast or webinar instead. It can be something very small, but it may make a difference. We are creatures of habit, and we can just as easily get into the habit of winter blues as we can anything else.
   
   
10. Challenge Yourself. Do something bold, something new. Venture into new territory. This may mean that you join us for #genchat on Twitter, or it might be going to a new repository or archives in another city. Out of your comfort zone. Be creative, spontaneous, adventurous!
    
    Keep in mind - and this is very important - winter can only last so long. Before you know it, you'll be back in those cemeteries, back to getting your hands dirty (literally) on the research goods. Don't despair, it's already almost March!
    
    
    

    

    Grand Tetons National Park flower.
    © Ancestral Journeys, 2012-2013

    
    

Researching Our Mutual Ancestor: Mother Nature

October 2012 weather over Breckenridge, Colorado.
Copyright 2012 Ancestral Journeys.

Forest fires? Tornadoes and hurricanes? Avalanche?

Winter storm? Summer drought?

Mother Nature can be nasty, and the people in our past certainly suffered at her hands. How can you use meteorological information to connect to your familial past?

Developing the story of their daily lives can take many angles, and weather is one that should not be missed. How did they deal with extreme low temperatures in the winter? We have insulation, heat supplies in various forms, electric blankets, plastic sheeting to cover windows. They had wood or coal fires, straw and other natural materials, wool blankets.

Finding this data is fairly easy, however, most of the sites I have come across give you one of two things: monthly averages for current history (1990 – forward) or daily measurements for a specific date, which can vary based on what you are looking for. Here are a few options to consider.

• Weather.org “Weather History”… Local weather archives for a day in history (1945 forward). More detailed information than the Farmers’ Almanac.
• National Weather Serivce… Current and historical information on U.S. weather.
• National Weather Service Forecast Office Weather History… Allows you to pick a day and see the significant weather through the years (example link is to the Denver/Boulder office).
• Farmers’ Almanac… Enter a zip code and date (1945 forward) for high/low temperatures, wind readings, etc. Simple and easy to navigate from day to day if you are reasearching a specific time period.
• Chronology of Extreme Weather… Lists world wide historic weather events. Great site if you know of a specific event or time in history that you are looking for.
• GenDisasters… A searchable site with numerous types of disasters from history. Includes weather events and much more (a great site no matter what area you are researching).

I used the Farmers’ Almanac to compile some data from January 1945. Although I was hoping to examine information from Summit County, Colorado, the closest location available to me was the Denver Stapleton Airport (which operated from 1929 to 1995, and has now been replaced with Denver International Airport, or DIA).  Although there is a significant difference in elevation between the two locations, it still gave me a good idea of what the temperatures were like for the time period in question. Living in this climate, I can pretty much tell you what to expect on a daily basis, however, if I were researching a family in Mississippi for example, I would have no idea. This is a good process to go through if you truly want to examine how the weather would have affected their daily lives.

I chose to input the data into an Excel spreadsheet. I was able to determine the average daily temperature, and the monthly average temperature. Here’s a quick look: 





I could have probably found this data already displayed for me in a similar format, but I find that I “consume” the information much better when I actually work with the numbers, so for me, this process is a valuable use of my time. I will also add that as the month carried on, the temperatures got much lower, with 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit on the 28th of January, 1945 as the coldest recorded for the month.

What did they endure? How did they manage it? I've heard stories of people sleeping with their livestock to stay warm at night, but have not been able to find this in my own research (yet!).  Nearly every state has information available for their area, so its worth the time to put in a little effort on your favorite search engine to pull it out of the crowd.

Keep in mind that the National Weather Service is an evolving entity, so the data you are looking for may simply not be available, it may have not been recorded. You can see the history of the NWS on their website.

1884 Snow Plow

Living in Summit County means you have to deal with snow. Sometimes, a lot of snow.

One of the heaviest winter's recorded was that of 1898-1899. The piles were massive, trains and supplies were stopped, and many of the mountain's small communities were cut off for weeks at a time. From the Breckenridge Heritage Alliance's website:

A record snowfall hits Breckenridge and residents are forced to dig snow tunnels to get around town. Rail service resumes on April 24th, after a 78 day blockade.

Miner's cabin in snow. Colorado, taken between 1882-1900.
Photographer: W.H. Jackson
Source: Denver Public Library Digital Collections

 So, it was a tough way of life. Miner's were known to build doors and/or window's into the roofs or upper eaves of their cabins, and then use that as their primary entrance during the winter. There was no real reason for them to continually shovel around the ground level entrance; that was certainly a lot of work, and removed helpful insulation from around the home.

There were some folks who were determined to do something about the labor intensive task of keeping town streets clean of snow. If you look at any of the photos from that era of our high country communities, you will see snow piles lining the streets, at times as high as two story buildings! That is a lot of shoveling. Not only where the streets and residential areas a concern, but the railroad tracks became extremely important in this matter. If the train could not get through the snow, and avalanches over tracks and trains were common occurrences  burying both, then supplies, mail, passengers and other necessities were unavailable.

I recently came across a patent record issued in 1884 by a resident of Red Cliff, Colorado. One Mr. John Q. Day issued Patent No. 299750 for a "Snow-Plow".  His design requires the machine to move along the tracks, and;

"...The snow is gathered on the curved mold-board n ... and is shoveled or scraped therefrom into the wheel groves by the shovels..." 

Partial Image from Patent No. 299750
United States Patent Office

If you have not included a patent search in your own genealogy process, I highly recommend it. You can do this easily through Google (what else?), by using the Google Patents Search. Filters include filing date and type of patent. In the past, I have found a few connected with my family tree, including one for a design of a head lice remover.

Even if you don't find one submitted by an actual family member, you can certainly find other ideas from their neighbors, giving you a great look at the problems they experienced in every day life, and the solutions they were trying to come up with.

I do not know if this snow-plow was ever used by any railroad companies, but I do not think it would be difficult to find out. It does, however, make for a very interesting topic around the dinner table!

Have you had any success searching patents? Do you have any interesting stories? I would love to hear them.

Wordless Wednesday: Snow in the Mountains

Since we woke up to fresh snow this morning, about two inches worth, I felt this was appropriate. Make sure to stop and think about the monthly measurements listed towards the end of the article. Fairly impressive! 

Where Were They: The Children's Blizzard, 12 Jan 1888

I am currently reading The Children's Blizzard, by David Laskin. If you have not read this, and are interested in American history or events in the plains states, you should really pick it up. Honestly, I'm only about half way through, but it made me stop to think: where were my family members on this day?

I had two major lines living in Nebraska at this time. Oscar F. Brown and family represent my paternal side, residing in Colfax County. Farther north were the family of Eilert Heerten, farming in Keya Paha County.  Eilert was the first of my mother's Heerten line to immigrate from Germany. Both of these groups would have seen this historic storm, and both would have certainly told stories of it later in life.


This is the comment published on the inside cover of the book, and when I first picked it up, this is what nearly forced me to purchase it and immediately sit down with a cup of coffee to devour this text:

"In three minutes, the front subtracted eighteen degrees from the air's temperature. Then evening gathered in, and temperatures kept dropping the northwest gale. By morning on Friday, January 13, 1888, more than a hundred children lay dead on the Dakota-Nebraska prairie..."

Wow.

The problem with this storm, from what I've been able to decipher so far, was the timing. The morning of January 12 was unusually warm and sunny, so many of the children went off to school, most walking, in lighter clothing, not worried too much about good coats, boots and other typical winter gear. When the storm started to approach, teachers frantically sent their students home, and many were lost in this fast moving weather. When I say they were "lost", I mean that literally. They got lost in the blinding snow and wind, could not find their way to shelter of any kind, and died from exposure. It's a sad tale, tragic. And it begs the question: where were they?

Always curious to know more about the daily lives of my ancestors, and facing the reality that this could possibly explain young deaths in my tree, I begin my journey.

Eilert Heerten immigrated to the United States on the vessel "New York". Family legend and his obituary tell us that he was a stowaway. Three brothers came over together, but they only had enough funds for two, so the other brothers sneakily got Eilert on the ship and managed to keep him hidden for the duration of this voyage. I have no idea if this is really true or not, or even if it was feasible, but it makes for an interesting story.

When Eilert arrived, he originally settled in Mason County, Illinois, and this is where he met and married Amke Dirks Rademacher, also immigrated from Germany. Between 1875 and 1887, though possibly earlier, he had moved the family onto a farm in Keya Paha county, along the northern edge of the Nebraska border with South Dakota.

The young couple had seven children:

John, born 1875, Illinois
Dick, born 1878, Illinois
Annie, 1880, location unknown
Herman, 1884, location unknown
Frank, 1887, Nebraska
Edward, 1890, Nebraska
Bessie, 1896, Nebraska

The storm hit 12 Jan 1888, so all but Edward and Bessie would have been alive for this event. Thankfully, none of the family members have corresponding death dates. No matter what they were doing that day, they all survived. *whew*

Headstone of Eilert & Anna Heerten.
Springview, Nebraska

Enter the Brown family. I know them best, so I'm fairly confident I'm not going to find anything here, either.

Oscar F. Brown, veteran of the Civil War, homesteaded in Colfax County, Nebraska. There he married Frances Elizabeth Lawrence, originally from Ohio. Together, they lived in Nebraska until his death in 1906. After he passed, Frances followed her oldest son to Orting, Washington, where she resided for many years, finally living with daughter Carrie in nearby Tolt.

All of their children were born in Nebraska:

William, born 1876
Elizabeth (Bessie), born 1878
Sarah Alice, born 1880. Died February 1881.
Mortimer, born 1882
Carrie, born 1886
Warren, born 1892

William & Bessie Brown.
Richland, Nebraska.
Image: Private holdings of author.

The only child to die young was Sarah Alice, and she was not quite a year old at that time. Again, no one in the family appears to have suffered too greatly during this event. All but Warren would have lived through it.

Another of my Nebraska lines is the family of Charlotte "Lottie" Lee, whose memoirs I have transcribed and posted on this site. She certainly would have been affected, also, and because I have spent so much time on her recently, here is her family situation.

Cyrus Homer Lee and Mary Josephine Lawrence (sister to Frances, wife of Oscar, above) married 13 Aug 1872 in Columbus, Nebraska. Both transplants from Ohio, they ended up in Nebraska for very different reasons, and based on Lottie's memories of her parents, they lived a happy and fulfilling life; devoted to their religion. During the winter of 1888, they were on their land near Silver Creek in Merrick County, not too far from the Brown family in Colfax County. Cyrus ran the local store and served as post master for a time.

Their children include:

Charlotte, born 1873
Lawrence, born 1874
Bertha, born 1877
Florence, born 1879
Mortimer, born 1881
Lucy, born 1882
Elmer, born 1884
Roy, born 1886

Out of the group, Roy was the only child not born in Nebraska, he is a native son of Colorado. He grew only to be 15 years of age, but died in a drowning accident. Mortimer also died young, passing in July of 1881 at only 4 months. It would appear that the Lee's did well during the storm, also, and did not lose any immediate family.

Lottie does indicate that she and her siblings attended school regularly, as that was important to her parents. So I wonder how they managed to avoid getting trapped in the weather that day? Did Mary have a "sixth sense" as some stories describe in the book; feeling that the morning's warmth was too good to be true, and kept her children home?  Did their teacher shelter the children in the school, rather than send them home when the weather turned?

I suppose we'll never know, but it is certainly interesting to profile my ancestors with a historic event. I think I feel a series coming on...

I would love to hear where your folks were on 12 Jan 1888. Please feel free to comment, or share on your own blog. Just be sure to leave me a link!