Dear Julianne,
This would be a private communication, but you didn't put contact information in, and it is just creepy to call someone out of the blue and say - "Are you Julianne? Did you just reserve all the names I've been working on for the last two years for the Temple? Why didn't you contact me before you did it? You're a jerk, and your behavior reminds me of a seagull. I do all the work and swoop in and take it."
I understand the social pressure to take family names to the temple. There is this assumption that because some estimate there are billions of people we can identify in the various records people have kept, we can all find thousands of family names. It doesn't work that way when your family is large and has been looking for family names for five generations. The official line doesn't take that into account. When someone like us find a name there is a line of 30 people who would all like to do the work, and it can get pretty acrimonious. This is why people reserve names for years - SO NO ONE ELSE STEALS THEM!
And you're in Happy Valley, so the pressure is much worse. I imagine you're a good BYU student. You can't possibly understand how deeply, I hate your school for what it represents to me. My experiences with BYU students and graduates have not been favorable.
I don't really care if you do the temple work. I was hoping names would fly under the radar long enough for my seven year old to turn twelve. Highly unrealistic, I know. If I didn't want someone to do the work, I could have hoarded the information for five years. But you see, I want to collaborate - I can't go everywhere and do everything.
I'm just a little hurt that I wasn't told - I have flags for changes, apparently this isn't a change that matters. But, it's obvious I've been working on them, and my contact information is public. I do that because I want to be contacted. And because I don't think just knowing a name is sufficient. You need to know stories if you are going to develop compassion for these people.
Letitia A. Thorndike is the best kept historical secret of Louis Edwin Granger's life. In 1870, the marriage and the incidences around it were front page news, but his family ignore it for more than 200 years. Letitia was from a good storied, New England family. I think she was an intersex individual - the evidence is scant, but her family has a little boy in the 1850 and 1855 census that is the same age as Letitia, and then a girl in 1860 and 1865 who is probably Letitia. I think the Thorndike's little boy hit puberty and obviously wasn't a little boy. I think the A. is for Augustin/Augustine the name on the early census records and preserves the name she was given at birth. If my wild speculation is correct, Letitia probably couldn't have children, which raises speculation that the marriage could have been a match of social convenience - Letitia gets legitimacy as a woman and the widow of a war hero. Granger gets cover for his financial shenanigans in Louisiana. Some newspaper accounts imply, Granger intended to have marital relations with Letitia, supporting this guess. We will never know for certain. I don't have birth record for Letitia and birth records are very good in Massachusetts at the time. Granger didn't include Letitia in his autobiography, and Letitia claimed she was a widow at least as early as the 1880 census. I'm still looking for an annulment or divorce.
Elizabeth Harriet Rickerby is another mystery wife not included in Granger's autobiography. I have much less information on her. She was born in Brooklyn. Her parents were immigrants - I just tracked down their marriage. She was a teenaged button maker in 1880. Louis is twice her age when they marry. I don't know what happened to her - she just disappears after the marriage. I know much more about her younger sister, Lottie - she married three times, Louis is a witness to the first marriage, had a son by her first husband and died in the midwest. I don't think she has any descendants - as far as I can tell her son never married.
So Julianne here's the deal. You can do the temple work, but I need some information from Utah. I can't get there anytime soon. I need collaborators. I have people who might do it for me, but they aren't related to the individuals I'm researching. You are. You have a vested interest. You can stop being a seagull. You can get a lot more out of this than just names and dates. Contact me. I will inundate you with information. You can make some field trips for me. May be I can make some field trips for you. (Nation Archives, Library of Congress) We can work something out.
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Sunday, July 6, 2014
Apple Fries at Legoland Florida
I just returned from a family vacation to Florida. We spent a week in Disney World and then spent a few days with friends visiting the Gulf Coast. The last day, we stopped at Legoland Florida. Legoland Florida was a good match for my children. We like Lego - my wife is an AFOL.1 Each child has an ample collection of the bricks. In the past, we have taken our children to two Lego Kidfests and Legoland Florida was on their list of things to do while visiting Florida.
We were not disappointed. The park geared toward younger and more timid children, which suited my children well. After Disney, the pace of the smaller park was welcome. We were able to take in most of the park in a day without being hurried. There were no long waits for rides and we were able to ride everything our children had requested. Rides tend to be smaller and slower than at bigger theme parks - there are no big fast roller coasters, but rides have just enough thrills for younger children.
My children particularly liked the driving school where they could earn a "driver's license" after operating electric cars on a closed track. They also enjoyed the hanging coaster "Flight Trainer".
The adults enjoyed looking at the Lego models throughout the park and talking with a "Master Builder" about how the models are maintained. We also enjoyed a quiet walk through Cypress Gardens which included looking for lizards native to central Florida.
We did not visit the water park which has a separate admission, but were told by friends in the area it is very popular with Florida residents who can purchase an annual pass. We also didn't have time to visit the World of Chima or watch any of the shows.
If you decide to go to Legoland Florida, make sure you try some apple fries. Apple fries are made from granny smith apples peeled, cored, cut into sticks, and deep fried. Fries are then coated in cinnamon sugar and served with whipped cream or caramel sauce. We bought an order when we arrived and picked up another two to go as the park was closing.
One downside to Legoland is an upper age limit of twelve on some rides. My oldest who turns 13 next week would not have been able to ride some of the rides had we gone two weeks later. I think he would have been very disappointed. Also, unless you are looking for a park specific item, you are better off shopping at home than purchasing Lego at the park.
With Legoland Florida building an onsite hotel, scheduled to be open sometime next year, it would make a good destination for a family trip if you have young children or Lego fans.
1 Adult Fan of Lego
We were not disappointed. The park geared toward younger and more timid children, which suited my children well. After Disney, the pace of the smaller park was welcome. We were able to take in most of the park in a day without being hurried. There were no long waits for rides and we were able to ride everything our children had requested. Rides tend to be smaller and slower than at bigger theme parks - there are no big fast roller coasters, but rides have just enough thrills for younger children.
My children particularly liked the driving school where they could earn a "driver's license" after operating electric cars on a closed track. They also enjoyed the hanging coaster "Flight Trainer".
The adults enjoyed looking at the Lego models throughout the park and talking with a "Master Builder" about how the models are maintained. We also enjoyed a quiet walk through Cypress Gardens which included looking for lizards native to central Florida.
We did not visit the water park which has a separate admission, but were told by friends in the area it is very popular with Florida residents who can purchase an annual pass. We also didn't have time to visit the World of Chima or watch any of the shows.
If you decide to go to Legoland Florida, make sure you try some apple fries. Apple fries are made from granny smith apples peeled, cored, cut into sticks, and deep fried. Fries are then coated in cinnamon sugar and served with whipped cream or caramel sauce. We bought an order when we arrived and picked up another two to go as the park was closing.
One downside to Legoland is an upper age limit of twelve on some rides. My oldest who turns 13 next week would not have been able to ride some of the rides had we gone two weeks later. I think he would have been very disappointed. Also, unless you are looking for a park specific item, you are better off shopping at home than purchasing Lego at the park.
With Legoland Florida building an onsite hotel, scheduled to be open sometime next year, it would make a good destination for a family trip if you have young children or Lego fans.
1 Adult Fan of Lego
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