| Are you related to a President?
It seems that most families that have old
roots in America have a Presidential relationship legend. When records
were harder to find, these legends were accepted and passed down from
generation to generation. Now many of us are doing detailed research and
finding them to be closer to legend than to fact.
An old joke says that the best way to get
your genealogy done is to run for office. The web is full of sites that
list the ancestry of our presidents. Some are:
Thanks to The Live Oak, East Bay
Genealogical Society, PO Box 20417, Oakland, CA 94620-0417.
Purple Ribbons
A movement has been started like that from
Desert Storm, During Desert Storm we tied yellow ribbons anywhere we
could. Well, now the movement is to tie purple ribbons the same way. This
is for two reasons:
- In remembrance of not only the
firefighters, police officers, paramedics who have died, but also for
ALL who have died in this terrible tragedy.
- Just as in the military, when a
serviceman gets injured, he is given the Purple Heart. Well, our
country has been injured to its core.
Please tell everyone you know, and let’s
see purple ribbons everywhere!…Along with the flag of the United States of
America.
Thanks to IPGS Newsletter, Imperial
Polk Genealogical Society, PO Box 10, Kathleen, FL 33849.
Twelve Days of Christmas
The songs and poetry of the 16th
and 17 centuries were usually a satire or parody of the politics or
religions of the times. Each word or phrase usually had a hidden meaning.
Here is an explanation of the Twelve Days of Christmas taken from the
Internet.
What in the world do "leaping lords, French
Hens, swimming swans and, especially, the partridge who won’t come out of
the pear tree" have to do with Christmas?
From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in
England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone during
that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics. It has
two levels of meaning—the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only
to members of their church.
Each element in the carol has a code word
for a religious reality, which the children could remember.
- The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus
Christ.
- Two turtledoves were the Old and New
Testaments.
- Three French hens stood for faith, hope
and love.
- Four Colly birds (today "calling") were
the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
- Five gold rings recalled the Torah or
Law, the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament.
- Six geese a-laying stood for the six
days of creation. (He rested on the seventh.)
- Seven swans a-swimming represented the
sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit—Prophecy, Serving, Teaching,
Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership and Mercy.
- Eight maids a-milking were the eight
Beatitudes.
- Nine Ladies dancing were the nine fruits
of the Holy Spirit—Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness,
Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-control.
- Ten Lords a-leaping were the Ten
Commandments.
- Eleven pipers piping stood for the
eleven faithful disciples (remember-Judas betrayed Him).
- Twelve drummers drumming symbolized the
twelve points of belief in the Apostles" Creed.
Well, a history lesson (whether it has
basis in fact, or not) and a wonderful carol to boot!
(Editor’s Note: A Catholic lady saw this
list and said she had never heard this explanation. Has anyone else heard
a different version?) |
