My first attempt at writing in register format was for a Massachusetts Society of Genealogists, Inc (MSOG) writing contest. Since I was beginning a trilogy on three ancestors, I figured that writing about them in register format would be a good first step and rather easy to do. Boy was I ever wrong. But thanks to the efforts of Helen S. Ullmann, I finally produced something worthy of publication. I have an enormous respect for those researcher who document meticulously their research and I continually strive to be like them, whether when writing in register format or simply documenting an ancestor for my personal data base.
My second effort, again for MSOG was about my great grandfather, John Woollacott. He met the criteria for the contest, an immigrant around the turn of the last century, who worked in a mill. The contest in concert with the 100th anniversary of the 1912 "bread and roses" strike at the mills along the Merrimack River in Lawrence, Massachusetts. That strike was instrumental in changing child labor laws that were virtually non-existent before 1912. I always enjoy looking at old photographs as they evoke so many images. Study any photograph of a young child working the mills at the turn of the last century and you will appreciate better that hackneyed expression, "A picture is worth a thousand words."
In 2007 my brother and I visited our "old sod", High Bickington, Devon, England, where there are more Woollacotts than Smiths. At the conclusion of our trip, I decided that a slew of photographs and accompanying negatives in paper wallets would soon be lost to the ages. So I made a "genealogical lite" photo journal of our trip. It has a greater likelihood of being found, dusted off and perused than dog-eared paper wallets of old photographs.
My Woollacott leg is very complete from my four-greats grandparents John and Mary (Down) Woollacott forward. It gets sketchier as I journey further back, even though High Bickington's Yelland Farm and Woollacott have a connection from 1602 to the present day. Thanks to the Wolcott family website, there is considerable information on the Woollacotts and variations thereon. Someday I hope to weave those early threads tighter with more objective evidence to extend past my four-greats grandfather.
My second effort, again for MSOG was about my great grandfather, John Woollacott. He met the criteria for the contest, an immigrant around the turn of the last century, who worked in a mill. The contest in concert with the 100th anniversary of the 1912 "bread and roses" strike at the mills along the Merrimack River in Lawrence, Massachusetts. That strike was instrumental in changing child labor laws that were virtually non-existent before 1912. I always enjoy looking at old photographs as they evoke so many images. Study any photograph of a young child working the mills at the turn of the last century and you will appreciate better that hackneyed expression, "A picture is worth a thousand words."
In 2007 my brother and I visited our "old sod", High Bickington, Devon, England, where there are more Woollacotts than Smiths. At the conclusion of our trip, I decided that a slew of photographs and accompanying negatives in paper wallets would soon be lost to the ages. So I made a "genealogical lite" photo journal of our trip. It has a greater likelihood of being found, dusted off and perused than dog-eared paper wallets of old photographs.
My Woollacott leg is very complete from my four-greats grandparents John and Mary (Down) Woollacott forward. It gets sketchier as I journey further back, even though High Bickington's Yelland Farm and Woollacott have a connection from 1602 to the present day. Thanks to the Wolcott family website, there is considerable information on the Woollacotts and variations thereon. Someday I hope to weave those early threads tighter with more objective evidence to extend past my four-greats grandfather.
