You can win a day in London with a professional family historian (travel not included) from Your Family Tree by answering this question:
Which of the following is NOT shown on a birth certificate?
[A] The child’s name
[B] The child’s sex
[C] The child’s occupation
They've finally decided who gets the rusty 1957 Plymouth Belvedere removed from a time capsule in Tulsa last summer: 93-year-old Catherine (Humbertson) Johnson.
Ever since Tulsa officials discovered in June that Raymond [Humbertson]’s was the winning guess of Tulsa’s expected population in 2007 — at 384,743, only about 2,000 off from the actual population of 382,457 — the search for his heirs has been on. Recently, it was decided the car’s rightful owner is Catherine, Raymond’s older sister.The car will be derusted, after which it will be taken back to Tulsa for one more unveiling.
It involved Raymond’s niece, Mary Catherine (Humbertson) Kesner, searching through records in Allegany County as well as those in Arlington, Va., where Raymond and Margaret lived. She contacted several relatives, who gave written consent they were relinquishing any rights to the car, Kesner said. [Link]
The region of Ulyanovsk in Russia promotes procreation by giving couples time off from work on Sept. 12 (the "Day of Conception") to try making babies.
The hope is for a brood of babies exactly nine months later on Russia's national day. Couples who "give birth to a patriot" during the June 12 festivities win money, cars, refrigerators and other prizes.
Everyone who has a baby in an Ulyanovsk hospital on Russia Day gets some kind of prize. But the grand prize winners are couples judged to be the fittest parents by a committee that deliberates for two weeks over the selection. [Link, via Boing Boing]
The National Archive of Memorial Inscriptions and BBC History Magazine have launched a Mysterious Memorials contest to find the "most surprising, enigmatic or bizarre historical gravestone epitaph in Britain."
Contenders so far include one from Eshness in the Shetlands that reads: "Donald Robertson, born 14th January 1785. Died 14th June aged 63. He was a peaceable, quiet man, and to all appearances a sincere Christian. His death was much regretted which was caused by the stupidity of Laurence Tulloch of Clothister (Sullom) who sold him nitre instead of Epsom Salts by which he was killed in the space of five hours after taking a dose of it."
Another from All Saints Church, Darfield, Barnsley, states simply: "The mortal remains of Robert Millthorp who died September 13th 1826 aged 19 years. He lost his life by inadvertently throwing this stone upon himself whilst in the service of James Raywood or Ardsley, who erected it in his memory". [Link]
Not long after blogging about the guy who won the time-capsule car, I received an email from Debra Osborne Spindle about a second contest in 1957 involving a second Plymouth Belvedere. But this prize wasn't immersed in water for fifty years. Read more at All My Ancestors.
The winner of the rusty 1957 Plymouth Belvedere recently dug up in Tulsa is Raymond Eugene Humbertson, late of Cumberland, Maryland. He and his wife died childless, but he has two sisters living, and a number of nephews and nieces, including Sue (Humbertson) Gerhart.
Sue said her husband, Paul, broke the news to her early Saturday morning, when he said, "You're not going to believe what was in today's paper." Sue added, "I wasn't even awake yet . . . I thought he said, 'Raymond buried a car and they just dug it up.'Family members are wondering how Raymond happened to be in Tulsa, and how he managed to predict the city's 2007 population (his guess was 384,743; he was off by just 0.6%). They think he might have been returning from San Diego, where he was visiting his ill father.
"I said, 'My God, is there a body in it?'"
They speculate that Raymond stayed overnight in Tulsa, and perhaps had a bite to eat at a local diner -- where he may have filled out the form for the time capsule contest. As far as why he chose the numbers he did -- no one knows. In fact, they said Raymond was not a great math or science whiz.
"For all we know, he could have picked those numbers because (the cost of his meals were) $3.84 and $7.43, or something like that," Ace [Humbertson] added. [Link]
Bad news from Tulsa about the Plymouth Belvedere buried next to the courthouse in 1957, and due to be exhumed on Friday.
Workers lifted the vault's lid Wednesday morning to find about two feet of standing water and indications the vault may have been filled to the rim sometime during the past half-century.For what it's worth, you can watch Friday's unveiling live on the Intertubes via links at the Tulsarama! website. You can see lots of pics of the soggy mess here and here.
The car itself remained encased in several layers of purportedly water-tight material, its precise condition a mystery. The outline of the Belvedere's trademark tailfins was clearly visible under the coverings, but hopes for recovering the car in something like pristine condition faded. [Link]
The tranquilizer pills got into the act when the committee decided to make the auto typical by stocking the glove compartment with the contents of a woman's handbag.
The pills showed up along with 14 bobby pins, a compact, cigarettes and matches, two combs, an unpaid parking ticket, a tube of lipstick, a package of gum, a plastic rain hat, pocket facial tissues and $2.73 in bills and coins. [Link]
To celebrate the launch of its RootsTube channel, Roots Television has announced the Wild Roots! contest with a grand prize of $500.
I think I'll submit a video about the time I woke up at the Family History Center wearing nothing but microfiche. I'd better get working on some hand puppets.While submissions of all things genealogical are welcome, viewers are invited to tell the world about the craziest thing they ever did in their quest to learn about their heritage. Did you accidentally pull an all-nighter at your computer? Did you cross a field with a bull in it to get to an old cemetery? Did you purposely get yourself locked into a library overnight? If so, we want to hear about it. You can tell your tale directly to the camera, re-enact it, animate it, use hand puppets or whatever appeals to you. Do it by yourself or with your sister, research buddies, fellow society members, or that 6th cousin of yours in New Zealand. On May 15, 2007, Roots Television will select and announce the winner of the Wild Roots! contest. [Link]
A 1957 Plymouth Belvedere buried under the lawn at the Tulsa County Courthouse nearly fifty years ago will be dug up June 15 as part of Oklahoma's centennial celebration. But will it run?
Sharon King Davis, who has chaired Tulsa's centennial efforts, is managing the efforts of a committee of Tulsans interested in the old car and their ranks grow daily. Davis, looking at photos of the 1957 planners, was surprised to see the face of her grandfather, the late Sam Avey. Avey was a Tulsa promoter, banker and civic leader.
There was a contest before it was buried. Tulsans were asked to estimate the population of Tulsa as of June 1. The estimate closest to the population posted by the U.S. Census Bureau on June 1, 2007, wins the Plymouth. If the winner is dead, the car goes to heirs. If a winner can't be located, it goes to the Tulsa Historical Society. [Link]
Juliana Smith and Ancestry.com are offering a prize to the first person who can identify the illegitimate child of The Greenbrier Ghost, Elva Zona Heaster.
In a nutshell, Elva gave birth to a son out of wedlock in 1895, married a guy named Erasmus Stribbling Trout Shue in 1896, had her neck broken by Shue in January of 1897, and haunted her mother until he was arrested. But what became of her child?
Whoever identifies Elva's offspring first gets an Ancestry.com World Deluxe subscription (or upgrade or extension). How hard could it be to chase down the child of a ghost?
