RELEASE DATE: JUNE 28, 2015
KINSEARCHING
by
Marleta Childs
P. O. Box 6825
LUBBOCK, TX 79493-6825
[email protected]
Although family reunions and genealogical seminars are held throughout the year, perhaps the busiest season for those activities is summer. Here is some information concerning a few upcoming events.
The twelfth annual national STIDHAM family reunion will take place on 7-9 August 2015 at the Wyndham San Diego Bayside hotel in San Diego, California. Hosted by the Timen Stiddem Society, the reunion welcomes descendants of the Swedish immigrant, Timen Stiddem, who settled in New Sweden (now Wilmington), Delaware, in the seventeenth century. Alternate spellings of the STIDHAM surname include STEADHAM, STEDHAM, STIDAM, STIDDEM, and STEDDOM. For additional details pertaining to activities, reservations, and costs, go to the society’s website at www.timenstiddemsociety.org.
On 8 August 2015, the Ark-La-Tex Genealogical Association will host an all-day seminar and book fair at Pearce Hall in the Broadmoor United Methodist Church, 3715 Youree Drive, in Shreveport, Louisiana. Featured speaker will be Charles Gardes, who will discuss such topics as tracing your civilian ancestor in the Civil War, beginning German genealogical research, using various fraternal organization records, and studying a probate case of heirship verification. Venders, including Barnes & Noble, will offer a selection of genealogy and history books for sale.
Cost, which includes lunch, is $40 per person. Advance registration is recommended, due to limited seating. For a registration form and additional information, go to the website at sites.rootsweb.com/~laaltga/.
One never knows when and where genealogical data will be found. Recently, this editor went to see a national embroidery touring exhibit at the Museum of Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. In conjunction with the national display was a smaller exhibit, “Creations from West Texas Needles,” which included items donated to the Museum’s collections. One of the items was an eighteenth-century sampler, a piece of embroidery usually done by a young school girl to demonstrate her needlework skill as part of her education. On the Museum’s sign by the piece was written:
“Regis Family Record Unfinished Sampler
Betsy Lathrop
Cross-Stitch
Linen, Silk
1792-1805”
Betsy probably meant to go back and fill in the last two numbers of her parents’ birth years, since they were left blank. On her father’s birth month, she apparently made a mistake and tried to fix it the best way she could. The first letter looks exactly like the first half of her “M” and not like her “A.” The other letters are definitely “p a y,” making it look as though she was going to change it to “April,” but decided to go ahead with “May.” Betsy’s letters are easy to read:
Family Regis
Seth Lathrop born _pay 11 17 (rest blank)
Anne Abbot born Sept 29 17 (rest blank)
They were married August 29 1787
and have had the following
children namely
Betsey Lathrop born July 28 1788
Solomon Lathrop born May 11 1790
Edward Lathrop born April 18 1792
(End)
Researchers can find quite a bit of information about the Lathrop family on the internet by using their favorite search engine. For example, data can be found on the individuals on Findagrave.com. Although some of the dates on the website are a little different from those on the sampler, these are obviously the same people. Utilization of the search engine shows that Betsey Lathrop married Rev. Elisha Deming Andrews and died in 1859.