An Extended Holiday

There are two theories how the Christmas Mountains in Texas got their name. One says that the peaks resembled a line of Christmas trees. The other rests upon a local legend that really should involve cannibalism.

Local folklore has it that an area ranch family decided to spend the Thanksgiving holidays camping in the mountains and got smacked by a freak blizzard that prevented the family from escaping until Christmas.

The property officially shows up as "Christmas Mountains" in the 1918 Corps of Engineers U.S. Army topographic map and also on the 1904 University of Texas Mineral Survey Map completed by Hill and Udden, according to General Land Office officials.

The land commissioner believes "the family story sounds more plausible than the Christmas trees from a distance story." Christmas trees weren't even introduced to Texas until the middle 1800s, and they didn't become common until the 1920s, he said. [Link]

The Gift of Grace

Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good turkey!

SAN BERNARDINO, Cal., Dec. 25.—A large camp of brake-beam tourists just beyond the city limits is without a sumptuous turkey and chicken feast to-day only because the prompt action of Mr. and Mrs. George Delaney saved from the pot the entire stock of their poultry farm which had been given the tramps by their eight-year-old daughter Grace as a Christmas gift.

Grace had just returned from a church service when a tramp wandered up to the door. The sermon had been preached from the text that it is better to give than receive. The child put it to the test by presenting the wanderer with her own pet rooster. He promptly sent all the other denizens of the "Tincan" camp for Christmas gifts, and the little girl continued applying her pastor's text through the medium of her parents' poultry.

Just as the last pullet passed into the hands of a smiling tramp, Mrs. Delaney discovered the little Lady Bountiful. A hurried visit to the camp saved several hundred dollars' worth of turkey and chicken from being spitted over the sage-brush and yucca fires of the hungry tramps. [The New York Times, Dec. 26, 1909 (Link)]

Genealogue Challenge #110

From the New York Times of Dec. 26, 1906, comes this cheery Christmas story:

Dissatisfied because he had not had a happy Christmas, the police say Adam Heckenmuller of 516 Eleventh Avenue last night attacked his wife Margaret and a boarder, Lawrence Stanchorn, with a bread knife, and stabbed them both. Neither was seriously hurt.

Heckenmuller was sitting in his home, the police say, and heard his wife and the boarder talking about the happy Christmas they had had. Heckenmuller had not been happy, and, according to the police, he picked up a large bread knife and attacked them.

Who would become Adam's sort-of-famous son-in-law?

Christmas Meme-ories

I'm flattered that the footnoteMaven has included me (or least my avatar) in her Choir of GeneaAngels—though genetic testing has established that I'm more Angle than angel.

fM also started a Blog Caroling meme, which has been making the rounds. Here's a Christmas classic sung in the impenetrably beautiful language of my ancestors by the impenetrably beautiful Johanna Kurkela. I've provided the lyrics below so you can sing along.

Jouluyö, juhlayö!
Päättynyt kaik on työ.
Kaks vain valveil on puolisoa
lapsen herttaisen nukkuessa
seimikätkyessään,
seimikätkyessään.

Jouluyö, juhlayö!
Paimenil yksin työ.
Enkel taivaasta ilmoitti heill':
Suuri koittanut riemu on teill'!
Kristus syntynyt on,
Kristus syntynyt on!

Jouluyö, juhlayö!
Täytetty nyt on työ.
Olkoon kunnia Jumalalle!
Maassa rauha, myös ihmisille
olkoon suosio suur,
olkoon suosio suur!

Scary Santa Moments

Craig's Christmas photo brings to mind terrifying Santa memories of my own. Isn't there one of these photos in every family album?

Why the Hellsterns Hated Christmas

A delightful holiday story from The New York Times of Dec. 27, 1914:

XMAS FATAL TO HELLSTERNS

Widow Fourth of Her Family to Die Suddenly on That Day.

Mrs. Caroline Hellstern, 63 years old, of 28-a First Street, Wechawken, widow of a restaurant proprietor of Union Hill, was stricken with paralysis while attending a family reunion at the home of her son, Dr. Ephraim C. Hellstern, at Palisades Plaza, Hudson Heights, on Christmas Day, and died early yesterday morning in the Hudson Heights Hospital. She was the fourth member of the Hellstern family to die suddenly at Christmas time. Her son, Gustave, died suddenly from heart trouble a year ago, in his drug store at Ridgefield, N. J.; another son, Frederick, died suddenly three years ago, and Mrs. Hellstern, wife of Dr. Hellstern, died four years ago. [Link]

A Taste I Don't Wish to Acquire

Before she could open presents on Christmas Eve, Ken Nelson's mother had to eat some lutefisk—a tradition my own Nordic ancestors had the good sense not to pick up and pass down.

The origins of lutefisk are a subject of debate. Some accounts mention a fish accidentally dropped in a washing bowl containing lye, and because of family poverty, the fish had to be eaten.

Personally, I like the story about when the Vikings were pillaging Ireland, and St. Patrick sent men to pour lye on the stores of dried fish on the longships, with the hope of poisoning the Vikings. However, rather than dying of poisoning, the Vikings declared the lye-soaked fish a delicacy and named it lutefisk. [Link]

Thus the saying, "That which does not kill us makes us hunger."

You Better Watch Out for This Santa

William Powell, 73, of McAllen, Texas, was arrested Wednesday and charged with extortion.

Powell, who has a white beard and long white hair, often signs his faxes "Santa Claus" or "St. Nicholas." "He believes he might be a descendant of Santa Claus," [Lt. Pat] Davis said. [Link]

Merry Christmas From The Genealogue!

[Photo credit: Tough day for Santa by KGSims]

Santa Lives!

Father Christmas (first name "William") has been found living on Malvern Drive, Ilford, England.

"I have a standing £10 bet with anyone who can tell me a joke I haven't heard before," he said. "I often throw the naughty one back at them about Christmas only coming once a year."

"I enjoy having the name, especially at this time of year with the kids. I joke with them about being on their best behaviour or I won't be delivering their presents this year. I tell them I wait to grow my beard until a week before Christmas." [Link]

This contradicts the news last year that Father Christmas died at Dedham in 1564.

Top Ten Signs Santa Is a Genealogist

10. Permitted the Mormons to microfilm his old Naughty/Nice lists.

9. Sole member of the Claus Family Association, North Pole Chapter.

8. Skipped Christmas 2003 because of a GEDCOM crash.

7. White beard hides tattoo of family crest.

6. Has one elf whose only job is checking obituaries.

5. Met the current Mrs. Claus in an AfriGeneas forum.

4. Was caught sneaking down the chimney at the National Archives.

3. Took a DNA sample instead of the cookies you left him.

2. Wouldn't believe he existed until his mother produced a birth certificate.

1. Sold Blitzen to pay his Ancestry.com bill.

[Photo credit: Santa Claus by David Wilmot]

Genealogist's Christmas Gifts Misunderstood

A Genealogue Exclusive [What's That?]

Maxine Ford of Brentwood, N. Y., worked for months on her Christmas gifts this year. Each present required hours of research and labor to create. But on Christmas morning, she received nothing in return but polite "Thank yous."

Ford is a genealogy fanatic, and for each member of her family this year she created a fake obituary — a brief life history, with all of the recipient's accomplishments listed. The obituaries were matted and presented in fine oak frames, but her relatives didn't seem to notice these details.

"At first I thought they were just speechless with happiness," Ford says. "But then they looked at me with these confused expressions. I've never felt more embarrassed."

Ford's brother, Harold Knox, says the gifts caught the family by surprise.

"We know her heart's in the right place, but . . . obituaries? On Christmas?"

Most disturbing was the obituary given to matriarch Florence Knox, who turned 97 in October. It included her date of death: December 30, 2005.

"Now she's convinced she's gonna die next Friday," says Harold Knox. "She asked me this morning to cancel her TV Guide subscription."

Maxine Ford is heartbroken that her hard work was so misunderstood.

"I should have followed my first instinct and just gotten them cemetery plots."

tags: genealogy, family history, family tree

Santa's Gravesite Found?

From Mirror.co.uk, posted Dec. 24, 2005:

GRAVE NEWS OVER SANTA

By Aidan Mcgurran

FATHER Christmas died more than 400 years ago - but there's no need to worry.

He was another Father Christmas, who lived in the Essex village of Dedham and was buried there on May 30, 1564, according to ancient parish records.

A spokeswoman for Essex records office in Colchester said: "We don't think the real Father Christmas is buried there. It will just be a person in the village who happened to be called Father Christmas."

[snip]

[Read the whole story]

tags: genealogy, family history, family tree

Santa Skips Family Reunion

A Genealogue Exclusive [What's That?]

The annual Claus reunion was held Sunday in North Pole, Alaska, and yet again the most famous member of the family failed to appear.

Reunion organizer Lionel Claus of Duluth, Minnesota, says this is the tenth straight year his cousin Santa has missed the family get-together.

"He always RSVPs that he's coming, and then he doesn't show. My wife Polly makes his favorite casserole — something with tuna and potato-chip crumbs — but it always goes to waste."

The excuse is usually a heavy work schedule or a recurrent back problem. This year, Lionel received a last-minute email from the famous toymaker claiming that he had forgotten "a prior commitment in Sheboygan, Wisconsin."

"Sheboygan!" snorts Lionel. "He'd rather spend the afternoon at a parade than with his own family."

Not all of the Clauses were miffed by Santa's absence. Myrtle Claus, the family genealogist, gives him the benefit of the doubt, citing his contributions to her work.

"He's not much for giving sources," says Myrtle, "but I can always count on him when I need an accurate list of the children in a household. He won't hand it over until he's checked it twice."

Lionel Claus says Santa's snub will sting for a few days, but that he won't dwell on it.

"I won't let him ruin my Christmas."

tags: genealogy, family history, family tree, Santa Claus