Ives Family History Blog

Summary of Ives Family History Blog

I started this blog on February 15, 2007 with this post Ives Family Blog Overview. I first did this summary on October 4, 2007 and this is just an update. I have put up a total of 231 posts so far. As I said then, I am writing about the descendents of William Ives, one of the founders of New Haven CT. It is not like a regular blog that posts on current events and does not go back and makes changes to prior posts. Rather it is an online draft history that I hope to continue to improve. I intend to continue to modify this document on an ongoing basis and welcome all comments, additions, and corrections. This includes going back and correcting material already posted when new evidence arrives.

I have now provided all the research that I have completed to date. There have been over 20,000 page views since I started with an average of 65 a day, 90 a day more recenlty. I have met a number of new relatives and learned new information about the Ives family. I will continue to make periodic updates through new posts and corrections to existing material. You suggestions are welcome.

The Mormons are Working on Genealogy Web 2.0

This is a cross post from my other genealogy blog, the Sharp Family in NC. I heard from my Fast Forward blog colleague, Paula Thornton, that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has been working on a project to provide is one and only one instance of every individual -- to be shared in a global representation of genealogy. This allows all work done by individuals to be shared in an open collective.

At first I was a little skeptical. Some of what the Mormons do is extremely helpful. For example, I when I did some family history research a few years ago, I was able to get microfilm of actual church records in England in the early 1600s. However, what they put on their web sites was simply user contributions with no fact checking. I saw the same mistakes repeated over and over again. If you treated the material as clues to validate with actual records then that was sometimes useful. But many people treated the material as facts and so much misinformation was being spread.

Now the Mormons were not unique in this spreading of misinformation, all the other genealogy sites also do no fact checking as far as I can see. I could see the same errors repeated across sites. So I would be very suspect of the data that is conveyed.

However, Paula made a very good point, and this is the potential of web 2.0. She said that the whole purpose of the 'shared' space is for such 'errors' to be shared and fixed collectively. Then we can also see what facts might need more research and run off and do it (or take related trips). This is the point of the genealogy forums but they seem awkward to use which is one reason I started my genealogy blogs. I am sure there will be controversies and perhaps edit wars (like in the wikipedia). However, progress should be made.

Here are some of the things that the Mormons are doing which can be found at the their family history research site.

Record Search - helps you identify your ancestors by letting you search millions of indexed records and by letting you browse images of records that have not yet been indexed.

The FamilySearch Family Tree is their effort to combine their Pedigree Viewer and the Life Browser and combine them into a more full-featured application. The current version updates the person page and adds an event map.

Standard Finder allows for a search for a standardized name, date or place based on your input. The Standard Finder will present the standards that will be used in future releases of new FamilySearch.

The FamilySearch Research Wiki forms a community of research experts and interested genealogists that share up to date information on how to research sources for information about your ancestors

Our Puritan Ancestors Banned Christmas in Boston

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it. Thanks to our Puritan ancestors you could not celebrate Christmas if you lived in Boston, as I do now. Now the William Ives family had gone to New Haven so you cannot blame them but there were many cousins and future cousins still around at the time. I knew something about this but was reminded in a post from Neatorma, Banned in Boston. It said:

“In 1659, just a few decades after they had arrived in the New World, the Puritans banned the celebration of Christmas (as well as gambling and congregation for non-religious purposes). The holiday reminded them of Old World customs from England (the nation from which they’d fled to escape religious persecution). In fact, they refused to consider December 25th a holy day at all - the Catholic Church had selected the date as the day to celebrate Christ’s birthday because it coincided with an ancient, popular pagan festival. Anybody in Boston caught singing, drinking, playing games, or having a feast on Christmas was fined five shillings. The bans were later revoked, but it wouldn’t be the last time a moral outcry deprived Bostonians of diversions that seem relatively harmless today.”

There is a lot more on other things banned in Boston so check out the complete post and seasons greetings.

Cornell University’s Making of America Collection

Cornell University has a portion of their website dedicated to the "Making of America". Eliz Peters says that she has gleamed tons of great information and even illustrations from the online scanned pages. I is not likely that any of MOA's offerings come up in the Google Books search at this point.

Her is an example that shows one of our ancestors. Nathaniel Turner. The link goes to a scanned page of Harper's new monthly magazine, Volume 17, Issue 97, Pub.: Harper & Bros., Pub. Date: June 1858, New York, Pages: 874. Nathaniel Turner is mentioned and it even has an illustration of his sword which is on pg. 3 of the magazine. Thanks to Eliz for this.

New Information on Nathaniel Turner

Eliz. J. "BJ" Peters provided some useful information on Nathaniel Turner's activities regarding trade on the Delaware. I wrote in Nathaniel Turner Part Two, "In the same year he purchased the large tract of land in New Jersey on Delaware Bay along with the current site of Philadelphia in what turned out to be an ill fated venture for the merchants of New Haven due to resistance by the Dutch and Swedish neighbors." Eliz provided a link to a scan of the book, "The Swedish Settlements on the Delaware: Their History and Relation to the Indians, Dutch and English 1638-1664", Vol.1, by Amandus Johnson, PhD, Pub. 1911 by D. Appleton, Agents.

Thanks to Eliz for sharing this. She writes Saurbaten, Tea Time, and Scones. Eliz is related to many of the New Haven families, being descended from two of Christopher Todd's sons through both of her 2nd great grandparents, they being Todd cousins. Her New Haven ancestors include Theophilus Eaton, Nathaniel Turner, Christopher Todd, Thomas Yale, William Ives, David Atwater, John Bishop, and others so we are very related.

The Genealogists, a FeedBurner Network

FeedBurner has launched a new service to give its publishers the ability to organize themselves into networks, groups of folks who publish similar content and want band together to leverage the power of many to cross-promote their content and attract more readers.

The Genealogists is a network comprised of feeds from genealogy blogs. I am pleased to recently join this group through my Ives Family History Blog. The Genealogists, a FeedBurner Network coordinated by Blaine T. Bettinger who writes the Genetic Genealogist. This blog examines the intersection between traditional genealogical techniques and modern genetic research. Thanks to Miriam Midkiff who writes the blog, AnceStories: The Stories of My Ancestors, for recommending me to this group.

I am also a member of the Enterprise Content Management Feedburner Network through my Portals and KM blog.

Update on Boston and Cambridge Restaurants – September 07

I have written about restaurants in Boston and Cambridge on this blog. Here is an update on where to eat in this home to a number of Ives family members, starting in 1635.  The Improper Bostonian has come out with theirs for 2007 so I will note where we agree. I will only include places where I have eaten with one exception that is noted.  Before I start, here some of my past descriptions of the area’s restaurants: Boston Massachusetts Restaurants: A Local’s Favorites for 2007 and Cambridge, Massachusetts Restaurants: A Local’s Favorites.

New to this blog (many of these are not new to me but they are bakeries and shops that I did not cover before):

Toro – this was their best tapas choice – you sit in an open front and have traditional and creative tapas. I went when they first opened and look forward to a return. 1704 Washington Street, Boston, 617-536-4300

Flour – their best bakery for sticky buns – my wife often gets stuff for her staff meetings and brings home extras for which I am grateful. 1595 Washington Street, Boston 617-267-4300.

Iggy’s – their best bakery for bread – I have been a fan for years, starting when I lived near their place in Marblehead. Now you can get their bread in many groceries in Boston and Cambridge. They also have a place in Harvard Square near where I take art classes so I am constantly smelling their stuff and getting their coffee at breaks from painting. 10 Fawcett St. Cambridge, 617-491-7600

Finale – their best desert place – This is the place to get birthday cakes and deserts. 1 Columbus Ave. Boston 617-423-3184 – I go to the one in the Holyoke Center in Cambridge.

Henrietta’s Table – their best local ingredients and organic place – I often meet here for business lunches as I used to live around the corner. It is well done comfort food. The breakfasts are especially good if you want a big morning out. Charles Hotel Cambridge 617-661-5005

Pigalle – this was their best pre-theater choice - I was there for a friend’s 50th birthday party recently so it was a selected menu but the food and environment were great. I had the duck, a dish I rarely miss and this did not disappoint.  75 Charles St. Boston 617-423-4944

The Wine and Cheese Cask – their best wine and cheese shop - This place opened in the 70s and I knew some people who worked there then. They lived in an apartment over the place. After my apartment burned down I moved in for a few weeks. Almost every night the staff brought wine and cheese from the place and partied much of the night. It was fun but exhausting and I moved out after a few weeks when I got a new place. A few years ago I was back and talked with one of the staff about my experience. He said the tradition continues. He held out for year but had to leave to recover.  What I like about the place is their advice. You name your price range and region or type of wine and they give you some good selections that they have usually tried or heard about first hand. They also publish an informative weekly newsletter. 407 Washington St. Somerville 617-623-8656

A few of the their places I have written about before include Dali, Oleana, Olive’s, Clio, Bristol Lounge, and Mistral

Places they missed (see other 2007 post for more details))

Zygomates – excellent traditional French bistro food with good live jazz. Ask to be in the room with music.

Davios – this high end Italian restaurant is the place for special occasions as they make you feel special. The antipasto is wonderful and the food is worth the prices.  There is an excellent wine list with good advice from the wine steward.

Places already on my list to try:

Bob the Chef - their best comfort food - I have been wanting for some time to go this southern food place for their fried chicken and jazz. It also has many dishes form my hometown – New Orleans. 604 Columbus Ave. Boston 617-536-6204

Higlights of Onset Blues Festival 2007

There is nothing like summer in New England. I wrote about the Onset Blues festival in advance of this years performance. It is locater near the early homes of the Rich and Dunbar families. I managed to get there and are here are some pictures from the event. I thought Chris Stovall Brown's performance was the highlight. His band featured Melissa Barbossa, Madeline Hall,and Sax Gordan Beadle. You can see them below along with a view of Onset harbor. Melissa has the hat. The Chris Stovall Brown band had great energy and wonderful vocals. I have seen Chris at Ryles in Cambridge before and he puts on a great show.

 

America Norambega Nova Anglia - Southern New England 1646

Here is a map of southern New England produced in 1646, the year that William Ives passed away in New Haven. It was produced by Sir Robert Dudley (1573-1649). It was part of the first comprehensive marine atlas of the world and is on exhibit at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Ma. It was considreed the best map of the world for almost 50 years.

Hamden Historical Society

The Hamden Historical Society is a very useful resource for the area and the study of the Ives family and those related to it. As their site says, "The Hamden Historical Society sponsors our room known as the Hamden History Room. The collection in the room is known as the Hamden Historical Society Library. Its purpose is to collect, preserve, and make available historical materials relating directly and significantly to Hamden. This Historical Society Library, inaugurated in 1984, provides a safe, central place to research Hamden’s past. It is the only facility in Hamden dedicated for these purposes. The Library’s holdings are listed on reQuest, a statewide database catalogue of materials in over 130 Connecticut Libraries, and in the National Union Catalogue of Manuscript Collections. The Library is staffed by one part-time professional archivist and assisted by trained volunteer catalogue specialists."

They will do some specific searches for you, as well as let you use their archives.