Small Ristras

These small chili pepper ristras where hanging across a shop window.

Ohio Research :: Joslin in Delaware County

In September .. I spent several days in Ohio. I didn't do hardly any new research, rather went mostly to cemeteries to obtain better photographs of my ancestor's gravesites, most which I had visited way back in 1986.

The first research stop in Ohio was on September 16th in Delaware (in Delaware County), to see what could be found on the Joslin family that I didn't already have. I really didn't think there would be anything new since my last visit in the late 1980s. At that time I had scoured the library and the courthouse. Cemetery records (yes). Land Records (yes). Estate Records (none). Way too early for death records. No church records.

I made it to the library shortly after they opened at 9 am. It didn't take long to look through their small collection of books. Nothing new, at least not related to the Joslins. But they did have microfilms of the newspapers, even those from the early 1800's. There were two items that had been abstracted and published previously (by Carol Willsey Bell in 1980 and Mary V. Reed in 1992) but I had never written to get the actual copies from the newspapers.

Printouts from the microfilms were terrible. Then I remembered a tip from Jasia about using your camera to photograph the microfilm reader screen. The results aren't great, but they are much better than the printed copies.

The first article was a notice by James Joslin in the Delaware Patron of Thursday July 13, 1826. The abstracts by Bell and Reed were slightly different but basically stated “Wife Abigail left my bed and board at Liberty township, will pay no debts.”

The actual article is a bit more verbose but does not really provide any additional information. From the Delaware Patron [Delaware County, Ohio] July 13, 1826:

Caution. Whereas my wife Abigail Joslin, has left my bed and board without just cause, therefore all persons are hereby, forewarned not to harbor or trust the said Abigail on my account as I am determined to pay no debts of her contracting after this date.
James Joslin.
Liberty, June 30th, 1826
320-3w

Abigail would have been pregnant with her second child at the time. Their first child, Lysander (my 3rd great-grandfather), would have been 14 months old. I still haven't found a marriage record for James and Abigail (Goodrich) Joslin but apparently their separation wasn't too long. They would have four more children, but then James disappears after the 1850 census, so perhaps, all was not well between them.

The other article that was published in abstracts refers to the death of Ruth Dyer Joslin. Both abstracts stated that Mrs. Ruth Joslin died on 27th ult, age 59 years. But the abstract by Bell (correctly) stated that she was the wife of Jonas while the abstract by Reed said she was the wife of Johns Joslin.

The article, from the Ohio State Gazette and Delaware County Journal:
Obituary. Died - - In Liberty township on the 27th ult, Mrs. Ruth Joslin, aged 59 years, wife of Mr. Jonas Joslin.

The Delaware County Historical Society and the Genealogical Society have a combined Research Room that was open from 2-4 pm on the day I was there so I spent a pleasant two hours with them.

The Joslin Family cemetery had been destroyed when developers began constructing homes on the old farm. A few years ago, Jean Oldham Heuman had found the gravemarker for Ruth (Dyer) Joslin and donated it to the Historical Society. However, it is virtually impossible to get a good picture of the stone. It stands in the entryway of the museum along with several other stones. The light is poor and the space is dark. I tried with available light and with flash. Neither way really captured the inscription to my satisfaction.

On the right is the gravemarker for Ruth (Dyer) Joslin.

This is the best image I could capture of Ruth's gravemarker. It has been enhanced a bit with a little manipulation of the contrast and brightness. The inscription reads:
Ruth wife of Jonas
Joslin died Aug.
27, 1830 aged 59
Years

Most of the records held by the society were much too late for my family. Jonas is presumed to have passed away between 1850 and 1860 (he is in the 1850 census but not in 1860) and my James and Abigail had moved to Whitley County, Indiana by 1838.

The society did have the papers submitted by Mrs. Oldham and another lady for Jonas Sr. and Jonas Jr. for First Families of Delaware County. I looked through them but found nothing that I didn't already have that pertained to Jonas Sr. They did have a copy of the booklet that Mrs. Oldham had published on the two Jonas' and they allowed me to scan it to pdf rather than make a copy of it (Jean had told me she didn't think she had any more copies). At 25 cents a page, I was grateful that they allowed me to scan it.

Even though I found nothing new in Delaware County, it was still a worthwhile stop on my journey as I was able to obtain copies of previously abstracted records and get a complete copy of Mrs. Oldham's manuscript.

The Ultimate question isn't it?

Good interview here as well:



http://www.tetongravity.com/blogs/Interview-Tempting-Fear-With-Andreas-Fransson-And-Mike-Douglas-6378877.htm



and more here on another huge line....



http://www.planetmountain.com/english/News/shownews1.lasso?l=2&keyid=40154#

United States Astronaut Hall of Fame

Day two we visited the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame. This place was very touching to me. It is a strange thing to visit a place that has such significance in our history and know that I was alive during part of it, yet too young to really remember it. It was a really neat place that we enjoyed a lot.



From Wikipedia: The United States Astronaut Hall of Fame, located just south of Titusville, Florida, honors American astronauts
and features the world's largest collection of their personal
memorabilia, focusing on those astronauts who have been inducted into
the Hall; as well as Sigma 7, the fifth manned Mercury spacecraft. It is operated as part of the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, 6 miles (9.7km) to the east on Merritt Island.









After spending time here, we headed out for dinner and ate at the same place that Rich and Donna introduced us to. Nathan had the giant calzone again.



We headed back to our hotel, and tried to get a good night's sleep so we'd be fresh for our cruise.

Monday Mailbox: Cycling with Men vs Cycling with Women

Monday Mailbox is a weekly post dedicated to questions received over email. Here is one that taps into a popular topic:

Until now I've been cycling on my own, but I am considering club rides. I see that most cycling clubs in my area offer women's rides in addition to their regular [mixed gender] rides, with the idea that this helps women feel more comfortable. [Also,] talking to women [cyclists] I get the sense that riding with men is not such a nice experience. What are your impressions of cycling with men vs other women? Is there an advantage to women only rides?

From personal experience (as opposed to stories others tell me), I have not formed any generalised impressions of gender as tied to specific cycling behaviours.




For background: I occasionally take part in women-only club rides, as well as in mixed gender club rides. I also do lots of informal riding with 1-3 cycling buddies at a time, and the gender split there is roughly 50/50 (meaning, roughly half of my cycling buddies are men and half are women).




Among the people I ride with, I cannot say I notice a difference in riding style based on gender. Possibly this is because other differences are more prominent. For instance, there are experienced riders versus inexperienced ones. There are competitive riders versus non-competitive ones. Some riders are aggressive and take risks, while others are mellow and risk-averse. There is a category of riders who only talk about cycling while they're cycling (technique, nutrition, bikes), versus those who talk about anything but (philosophy, politics, gossip). I can think of other classification systems before gender starts to seem relevant.




As far as advantages to women-only rides... As I understand it, the assumptions there are that: (1) women enjoy the opportunity to socialise with other women, and (2) women feel less self-conscious without men around. If this applies to you, then that would certainly be the advantage. However, it does not apply to all women, including myself. Men don't inherently make me nervous, and women don't inherently put me at ease, it's really more about the individual. I'll join a women's ride if I want to ride that day, but not because it's a women's-only ride.




Judging by how often this topic comes up, I recognise it as a serious issue and don't mean to be dismissive. For women who, for whatever reason, feel uncomfortable riding with men, women-only club rides are a valuable resource. In that sense, I am glad that more of them are appearing all over.




But me, I'll ride with anyone. As long as they ride predictably and I can keep up. Conversation optional.

The Restaurant

My cousin, John called this morning. He is buying a restaurant. This is just another part of the endless loop running through my family. When my father first got married, his father black balled him in the Greek community because my dad dared to marry a non Greek. Papou hoped he'd give up, but stubbornness also runs in our family. My dad got work at the Macomb Deli (where the Zebra Room is now) right across the street from where his parents lived. Every day, his mother would go over there trying to convince him to reconsider his marriage. She offered him trips to Greece and money. She proposed sending him back to G.W.U. Then, when all else failed, she cried. Nothing worked. My father didn't particularly like the restaurant biz, but that was what he knew. He was nineteen years old with a baby on the way. The jobs he had before were picking up balls at a driving range, selling The Saturday Evening Post, and being a busboy for his father's restaurant, Macomb Cafeteria.

Later, the golf ball experience may have helped my dad get work picking up hangers off the floor for the Hecht Company, but the $15 a week was not cutting it for him. Finally one of the black balling Greeks, Steve Demas, broke down and he became a helper on a laundry truck. Eventually he was promoted to Service Manager, and got to drive a Ford coupe with the words QUICK SERVICE LAUNDRY lettered in gold on the door. By then he was 21, and he had two kids. My Papou broke down and rented him a road house called the Hollywood Inn out in Camp Springs, Md. They could live there cheaply enough, but the catch was he had to run the restaurant. By day, he worked for Quick Service and put flyers on people's cars advertising chicken dinners at the Hollywood Inn. On the weekends, he fried the chickens.

During World War Two, Papou talked my dad into running Churchhill's Bar and Grill with my Aunt Catherine and Uncle Mimi who had just arrived from Greece. Churchill's was where Cactus Cantina is now. If you go there you can see the old glass door where my mother used to sit at the cash register It was open from 6 a.m. til 2 a.m., and they all lived upstairs. My dad had to work the night shift until Uncle Mimi learned how to mix a cocktail. At the end of the war, they were able to sell Churchill's and buy their own linen service- Modern Linen. Soon my brother and all three of my cousins were drafted to go work there. They hated it. Everybody hated it, except for my uncle and my father who thought it was a piece of cake compared to running Churchill's.

Many years later, after my uncle died and my father retired, Modern Linen was sold and my cousins and brother all chose different trades. One became a teacher. One went into pest control, and one has passed on. But now years and years later, my cousin has decided to buy a restaurant. I can't wait to go.

Scottish Mixed and Black Diamond gear?

Dave McLeod and Andy Turner repeated the Smith- Marshall routes from that famous week in 1960 this year. More of Andy on the first ascent of "The Secret". Same climb Ueli flashes in the Petzl video and one of the most difficult modern Scottish test pieces. A little love for the Black Diamond fans in there as well :) There are 4 of the Smith-Marshall routes on videos by Hot Aches Productions @ you-tube with a full length feature coming in the fall. Observatory Buttress, The Great Chimney, Minus 3 and Pigott's are all on you-tube. Worth a look if you want to see what the "state of the art" on mixed, a full fifty years ago, in 1960.

The Great Chimney (IV,5) 6th February 1960
Minus Three Gully (IV,5) 7th February 1960
Smith's Route (V,5) 8th February 1960
Observatory Buttress (V,4) 9th February 1960
Point Five Gully (V,5) 10th February 1960
Piggot's Route (V,6) 12th February 1960
Orion Direct (V,5) 13th February 1960

"In one legendary week on Ben Nevis in 1960 Jimmy Marshall and Robin Smith advanced Scottish winter climbing a full ten years. On consecutive days they climbed six first winter ascents, including the mini Alpine-route Orion Face Direct (V, 5), while also making the second ascent of Point Five Gully (V, 5) for good measure. The fact they achieved all this by cutting steps up the snow and ice appears, from the remove of the 21st century, to be almost unbelievable. Marshall’s skill was such that he could lead routes almost faster than some of his talented seconds could follow."


Jimmy Marshall the winter of


http://hotaches.blogspot.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuobO54od7Y&feature=player_Rew

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOX0MfGO4ws&feature=player-Rew


Andy Turner on "The Secret"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LjRLqXfNuo&feature=player-Rew

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=me2AYufFqKs&feature=player-Rew

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5BwTHyMJGs&feature=player-Rew