Jonathan Stayer spoke Sunday to the South Central Pennsylvania Genealogical Society about the wide range of materials available at the Pennsylvania State Archives, where he is reference archivist. I'd love to take a peek at these records:
There are dog records. York County was the only county, Stayer said, where dog owners actually sketched out a picture of the beloved canines on their applications. [Link]
A funeral home in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, has created a 10-acre cemetery where people can be buried with their pets.
A buffer of trees and shrubs will screen and separate the pets and people section of the cemetery from the traditional section where people have been buried for decades, said John Flynn, who owns and operates John Flynn Funeral Home and Crematory.
"Many people have asked if they could be buried with their pets. Others have said they wouldn't want to be buried in a cemetery where animals are buried," Mr. Flynn said, which is why the burial areas will be kept separate.This sounds like a good policy. After all, if you let a dog share your casket, you'll never earn his respect.
Typically the pets die first and are buried, in their own casket. When the pet owners die, they would be buried in their caskets in the same plot. [Link]
Scotsman.com has an article today on Scottish clan mottoes, the best of which is given in a caption:
The motto of the Clan MacPherson with its modern-day translation urging its clanspeople to "Touch not the cat without a glove". [Link]
The MacBeans are even warier of felines, urging us to "Touch not the cat without a shield."
The National Registration Department in Kuala Lumpur has compiled "a list of unusual names to prevent embarrassing situations." It's too late for some, like Datuk See Ah Kow, whose name can mean "dog" in Cantonese.
Then, there is Selangor executive councillor Datuk Tang See Hang, whose name may sound like "waiting to use the toilet" in Cantonese.
The affable 54-year-old is quick to brush the unpleasant translation aside, saying "see" or "sze" in Mandarin meant a poet.
He said "hang" meant hero.
"So you see, my name is actually very meaningful and I have not encountered difficulties with it," he said. [Link]
Shona Hill is a librarian in Denny, Scotland, and tells of assisting an American genealogist in her research.
The American had contacted Denny Library asking for any information about her 'famous' ancestor – someone she insisted was instrumental in setting up dog clubs in Scotland.
But Shona's research found out that was only partially true – the ancestor was in fact a dog-clubber, someone who used to rid Falkirk's streets of stray dogs. [Link]
Randy Seaver spotted this post to the Chihuahua, Mexico, message board at RootsWeb.com:
Before offering advice, Randy wisely asked for the dog's "pedigree."I finally brought my baby (Female Chihuahua) home Thursday and she turned 8 weeks old yesterday (06/16/06). I read in a few books and article that Chihuahua puppies were one of the top ten hardest to house train. Mine hasn't used the potty inside once in the last 3 days, she goes outside sniffs a few seconds squats and pees/poops and all she seems to do is sleep. And I mean sleep. Which is my question. I wrap her up in her blanket and she probably sleeps 22 hours of the day. I have to wake her up to eat and of a night at 3pm to go outside. Might she be sick? [Link]
From The (London, U. K.) Times of Aug. 24, 2005:
Dog days over as villagers recover their lost respect
From Jane Macartney in Beijing
AFTER a thousand years, the ridicule and barking provoked by the mention of their surname finally proved too much for families from a village in central China. They won permission this month to change their name legally from Gou, a word that means "humble" but is pronounced the same as "dog".
[snip]
Police chief Guo [Junchao] defended his decision against scholars who disapproved of the name change — an unusual move in a society where tradition is to revere ancestors and to ensure the transmission of the family name. He said: "I think these people don't understand the feelings of the villagers. They would know better if their name was Gou."
[Read the whole story]
It may seem odd, but genealogists can sometimes learn important information because of the animals their ancestors owned. In my own hometown in Maine, several pages of town records around 1890 were devoted to recording the names and owners of licensed dogs in the town. Along with the joy experienced upon learning that one's great-great-grandfather named his dog "Rufus" comes the more valuable insight that he did indeed live in the town in the year noted.
Sometimes establishing residence is of vital importance. In Plymouth, cows and goats were distributed among the settlers in 1627. Records of the division of cattle offer a sort of census of the colony, giving the names of every man, woman, and child. As records for some families are sketchy in the early years of the colony, genealogists can point to this record as proof that their ancestors arrived prior to 1627—or, as with my own Dunham forebears, as evidence that they had not yet arrived.
Also useful to genealogists are records of crop marks, or ear marks. These were the slits and notches cut into animals' ears to show ownership.1 The first pages of Plymouth town records list ear marks, in compliance with a law of the Colony Court, passed Nov. 15, 1636, that "every mans marke of his Cattle be brought to the towne book where he lives and that no man give the same but shall alter any other brought by him and put his owne upon them."2
Some examples:
John Wood a hollow cut out on the top of right yeare.A son would often inherit or adapt his father's mark—a sensible policy if inheriting his father's livestock. In towns where crop marks were diligently recorded, a genealogist may find in them proof of parentage, in addition to proof of residence in the town. Two men sharing the same name may be distinguished by their different crop marks. And record of a young man's first crop marks might be taken as evidence that he had that year "come of age."
Giles Rickett the top of the left yeare cutt of and a slit upon the same yeare.
Lieftennant Southworth the marke of his Cattle is a cropp on the left eare.
John Dunhame senior the marke of his Cattle is a croch on the left eare.3
From the Kansas City (Mo.) Star:
FAMILY UNEARTHS JACKSON COUNTY HISTORY
Dog finds markers for pioneers’ graves
Tim and Janet Morgan’s upgraded Raytown home has several amenities:
A poured concrete patio.
A kitchen-dining room addition.
A 19th century pioneer graveyard.
That’s right. Last November, after Maddie, the Morgans’ golden retriever/Labrador mix, chased a chipmunk down a hole and wouldn’t quit digging, they discovered their suburban back yard included the graves of Archibald and Sally Rice, two of Jackson County’s earliest pioneers, and four daughters.
“I was trying to play with Maddie, and I noticed this white piece of stone,” Tim said. “Then some letters started to appear. That was interesting.”
[snip]
[Read the whole story]
