Our Favorite Christmas Tradition

The topic of the current Carnival of Genealogy is Traditions. What traditions were passed on to you from an earlier generation? Do you keep those traditions? What tradition(s) will you or have you passed on to a younger generation?

When I was a child, my favorite Christmas tradition was baking Christmas cookies. My mom and I made spritz cookies. I got to get my hands green from the food coloring and use a cookie press. That was great fun!

I've continued making Christmas cookies every year, and giving plates of cookies to friends and relatives. My chocolate chip cookies are the most popular, but I still like the spritzes too.

Now my daughters enjoy baking as much as I do. We make spritz, chocolate chip and a few other kinds of cookies. They love getting their hands green from the food coloring and decorating the cookies with lots of sprinkles.

To see links to this carnival and others, go to the Carnival of Genealogy.

8 Things About Me That I Bet You Didn't Know - The Meme

I was tagged to participate in this meme by Sheri at The Educated Genealogist. So, here are 8 Things About Me That I Bet You Didn't Know:

1. My favorite photographer is Ansel Adams.

2. I love strawberries. Not as much as chocolate, but close.

3. I read alot of mysteries.

4. I love Christmas music. I usually start listening to it before Thanksgiving.

5. I once lived in San Diego. I liked to walk at Torrey Pines State Park and I really loved Sea World.

6. I enjoy scrapbooking. I've only finished one scrapbook so far, but I have several others started.

7. I like to cross country ski. Every winter I wish we had more snow to ski on, but that it only fell when nobody had to be out driving in it.

8. My favorite singer is Paul McCartney.

The rules for this meme are:
1. Each player starts with eight random fact/habits about themselves.
2. People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
3. A the end of your blog post, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their name.
4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged and to read your blog.

So, here are the 8 bloggers that I'm tagging:
1. Julie at GenBlog
2. Paula at Paula's Genealogical Eclectica
3. Dear Myrtle at DearMYRTLE's Genealogy Blog
4. Robert Baca at The Baca/Douglas Genealogy and Family History Blog
5. Carolyn at Life in Possum Holler
6. Carol at iPentimento
7. TK at Before My Time
8. Donna at Donna's Genealogy Blog

Mary Bestick Brady and Friends

This is a photo of my great-grandmother Mary Bestick Brady (on the right) and 4 unidentified persons. This photo has been retouched--the original was a tintype that had creases across some of it.

Mary was born in Newark, NJ in 1838, and her husband Garret Brady died there in 1886. In this photo, I believe Mary is in mourning attire and she appears at least 50 years old to me. So I believe this photo was taken between 1886 and her death in 1908. Also, if Garret was alive, I expect he would have been included in the photo.

The other people in the photo appear to be related, to each other and possibly to Mary, based on facial resemblance. The eyes and mouths on the 3 closest to Mary make me think that they are siblings or otherwise closely related to each other. The face of the lady in white is a bit fuzzy, so it is hard to say if she strongly resembles the others or not.

If the photo was taken around 1886, then the 2 boys could be Mary's youngest sons, William (born 1872) and Garrett Leo (born 1874.) But then who are the 2 women? Several sources confirm that Mary's only daughter, Mary Ellen, died at the age of 2. The women appear to be too young to be Mary's long lost older sister Catherine. The 2 boys do not appear old enough to be married yet in this picture. So it seems unlikely that the 2 young women are daughters-in-law of Mary.

Besides her immediate family, Mary had other Bestick relatives that she could have been photographed with for some occasion. Mary had Bestick relatives in Bridgeport, CT, and she may be related to the Bestick families in New York City and Braintree, MA. I don't have any photos of those families for comparison.

Another possibility is that Mary was photographed with relatives of her mother, Ellen McSorley Bestick. There were McSorleys closely associated with the family in Newark, including Patrick and Rosanna McSorley Cox. Unfortunately, I don't have photos of the McSorleys for comparison either.

So for now, Mary's associates in this picture remain a mystery. I welcome any comments or suggestions (or photos of Besticks and McSorleys.)

Thanksgiving Meme and a Game of Tag

In honor of Thanksgiving, Julie at Genblog invited bloggers to post 2 things they are thankful for. Here is her invitation.

It is a bit of a challenge to limit it to just 2 things, even if I limit my answer to genealogy. But, here goes:

1.Family. My husband and daughters are great, and they put up with my genealogy binges. I'm grateful for my parents, aunts and uncles, and all the things I learned from them, especially stories about the ancestors I never knew. My in-laws are great, and I've learned about their family stories too. I'm grateful for my cousins--the ones I've known all my life and my new internet cousins. I am very thankful for my rediscovered cousins. On both sides of my family, our genealogy research has reunited family groups that had lost touch over a generation or two. It was great to meet cousins I didn't know I had, and hear stories from them that I had also heard in my family.

2. Photographs. I love photographs--looking at them, taking them, and scrapbooking them. I've received alot of pictures from my mom, my aunt(dad's sister,) and my husband's grandma. And I've taken alot of pictures myself. Now I am scanning them and posting them online. I hope that someday I'll find photographs online of some of the ancestors I don't have pictures of. And I hope that some of the mystery photos I post will be seen by people who have been hoping to find those photos too.

And now, I'm tagging Paula.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The Bestick Family of Newark, NJ

This is a picture of my great-grandmother Mary Ann Bestick Brady. She was born in Newark, New Jersey on 12 February 1838. Mary was the middle of 3 children born to Timothy Bestick and Ellen McSorley.

During the Civil War, Mary married Captain Garret Brady of the 2nd New Jersey Volunteers. They had 5 sons and a daughter. For many years in the 1860s and 1870s they lived at 143 Academy Street in Newark.

After her husband Garret died in 1886, Mary received a widow's pension based on his Civil War service. By 1900, Mary had left Newark and moved to Chicago with 2 of her sons--James and Garrett. Here is an inscription she wrote in a prayer book she gave her son Garrett in 1899.

In 1908, Mary returned to Newark. She died in East Newark on 22 October 1908. Mary is buried in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in East Orange, along with her husband Garret and other family members.

According to her obituary, Mary's funeral was from the home of her niece, Mrs. William Condon. Nothing further is known about the identity of the niece. Mary's younger brother James had no children. The fate of Mary's older sister, Catherine, is not known. Mary's wedding announcement indicated she was an only daughter, so her sister may have died before Mary's wedding in 1862. Mrs. Condon may be a daughter of an unknown sibling of Mary's husband Garret. Mary's obituary stated "Bridgeport papers please copy" because relatives of her father Timothy Bestick lived in Bridgeport, CT.

For the Love of Ireland

I was invited by Small-leaved Shamrock to participate in the 10th edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage & Culture. The theme is "For the love of Ireland." She asked people to share what they most love about Ireland and the Irish people. For me, that is an easy question. What I love most about Ireland is the music—-all kinds of Irish music.

I didn’t really discover Irish music until I was in my 30s. Before then, the only Irish music I knew was "Danny Boy." Now, my favorite type of music is Irish folk music by Schooner Fare, Tommy Makem, the Dave Rowe Trio, Leahy's Luck, and others. I also love Irish rock music (especially Gaelic Storm)and traditional instrumental music, including anything by The Chieftans, and Joemy Wilson playing O'Carolan music on hammered dulcimer.

The best way to enjoy Irish music is at a live performance. And the best place I know of to do that is at Milwaukee’s Irish Fest. If you love Irish music, then Irish Fest is a chance to visit heaven every August. There are more than 10 stages featuring performances of all types of Irish music, Irish dance, and theatre. There are also areas devoted to Irish sports, language, history and culture. I like to visit the genealogy tent every year. This summer it included representatives of the Irish Genealogical Society of Wisconsin, the Irish Family History Foundation and Ancestry.com. Irish music plus genealogy, all at one location! Definitely heaven for me.

If you love Irish music, I hope you get the chance to attend Milwaukee's Irish Fest next August. I know I'll be there.

A Lithuanian Sense of Humor

That's my mom, Ann Skrobul Brady, in the front row to the left. (The one with the largest mustache.) I believe this was probably a party for employees of the Veterans Administration office in Chicago, but I'm not certain of that.

This photo reminds me of one of my mom's best traits--her sense of humor. I know it may not be a characteristic of all Lithuanians, but it is of the Lithuanian half of my family. They are great fun! I have alot of silly photos of my mom and her siblings.

Some ethnic groups have stereotypes of having a temper, being serious, organized, thrifty, etc. For me, when I think of Lithuanians I think of their sense of humor.