Saturday, October 18, 2008

Carnival of Genealogy, 58th Edition


Welcome to the October 18, 2008 edition of the Carnival of Genealogy. In this edition, and in keeping with the spirit of Halloween, we are sharing spooky, eerie, and haunting stories involving our ancestors. It's up to you to guess if each of these stories is fact or fiction! I must say, we have a very talented group of authors... they'll keep you guessing for sure! How good are you at separating fact from fiction? Check out these stories and make your guess as a comment on the author's blog. We'll see how good a guesser you are!!! Pour yourself some Witch's Brew (or anything from your favorite brewery ;-), grab a handful of candy corn, and get to it! Happy Haunting Reading!

Bill West presents DANCING MAGGIE posted at West in New England, saying, "My Irish great grandmother Annie McFarland loved to dance the Highland Fling. But where did she learn how to do it?"

Craig Manson presents The Phantom Funeral of Southern Illinois posted at GeneaBlogie, saying, "Southern Illinois, once part of French Louisiana, harbors a creepy secret!"

Randy Seaver presents The Haunted Whaley House in San Diego posted at Genea-Musings, saying, "Randy and his buddy double dare each other and go exploring in the most famous haunted house in San Diego."

Msteri presents Halloween Hauntings - Fact or Fiction? posted at Heritage Happens, saying, "A short, scary story....did the scissors do it?"

William Morgan presents Ansearchin' by flashlight posted at The sock in the dryer, saying, "This story was related to me by my late father. I'll let ye readers guess how much of it based in fact . . ."

Elyse presents Appalacian Ghost Stories posted at Elyse's Genealogy Blog, saying, "A creepy story about visiting a small family cemetery in the Tennessee Appalachian Mountains. Hearing the sound of barking dogs and mysterious blood found on my knee...with no cut or scrape. You decide"

Jessica Oswalt presents Close Encounter With the Supernatural? ... posted at Jessica's Genejournal, saying, "I've included two stories of possible close encounters with the supernatural, and I'll leave it up to the reader to decide whether or not they are true or false."

Wendy Littrell presents Haunted Graveyard? « All My Branches Genealogy posted at All My Branches Genealogy, saying, "A story about how a cemetery turned cool and shadowy during the middle of a very warm day!"

Terry Thornton presents Fact or Fiction? THE GRAVEYARD RABBIT: COG 58 posted at Hill Country of Monroe County, Mississippi, saying, ""Among the graves . . . in the gloom and gleam, content to dwell where the dead men dream . . .' is The Graveyard Rabbit. But is it a rabbit? Or is it a geneaBlog? Or is it an association of geneaBloggers? Is it fact or fiction? . . . are you ready to join The Graveyard Rabbit? . . . "among the graves . . . in the gloom and gleam, content to dwell where the dead men dream?""

Sheri Fenley presents Believe It Or Not posted at The Educated Genealogist, saying, "The bones of Edward Boone - Did my 5th great grandfather find them ....or not?"

Linda Stienstra presents Joseph Must have been Related to Casper! He was a friendly Ghost! posted at From Axer to Ziegler, saying, "Joseph, our friendly ghost, lived with us for a number of years. Our dog loved him, and we tolerated him. Perhaps he knew that, because he moved on. Is he visiting you?"

Sheri Bush presents The Eyes of Old Tom. posted at TwigTalk, saying, "Can we understand what lays just outside our world? Are there people born with power that cannot be explained by the great minds of science? Come on in and set a spell with Old Tom. Let's hope he likes you..."

Tipper presents Afraid In The Moonlight posted at Blind Pig & The Acorn.

Bob Kramp presents The hand seemed to reach out of the coffin ... posted at Life's Journey, saying, "Grossmom had disdained her stepson after he married a non-Catholic, but at the funeral of his untimely death, Grossmom kneeled at the side of the casket and then alarmingly felt a hand pull ... (you have a chance to back out)"

Apple presents Apple's Tree: Restless Spirit posted at Apple's Tree, saying, "Did my cousin really haunt his family for several weeks after his death? Or have I just spun a good yarn? Read this short tale and tell me what you think."

Jasia presents When The Cat Came Calling posted at Creative Gene, saying, "My mom never liked cats. I always wondered why. After she told me I wished I'd never asked. Read her story and tell me, fact or fiction?"

T.K. presents The Girl in the Graveyard posted at Before My Time, saying, "There's no telling who you might meet in the graveyard after the sun goes down."

footnoteMaven presents Maria Bash and The Spirit Hoax posted at footnoteMaven, saying, "My husband's family perpetrated a photography hoax. A spirit photograph created to comfort a much loved grieving Grandmother. Or was it?"

Steve Danko presents What Happened after Jane's Death posted at Steve's Genealogy Blog, saying, "What if the family of the deceased fails to fulfill the terms of the deceased's Last Will and Testament? Find out by reading about what happened after Jane's death."

Colleen presents The Underground Cemetery? posted at Orations of OMcHodoy.

Louisiana Genealogy Blog presents The 1200 year old sister posted at Louisiana Genealogy Blog, saying, "The 1200 year old sister."

That concludes this edition of the Carnival of Genealogy. So what do ya think? Pretty good writing, eh? COG authors are fantastic story tellers!!! This has been a fun and entertaining departure from business as usual. But now it's time to get back to the more serious task of exploring and recording aspects of our genealogy research. With that in mind, it's time for a Call For Submissions!

The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy is: Politics and Our Ancestors. The next edition of the COG will be published on Election Day in the U.S. (November 4). So it's the perfect time to research and reflect on what we know (or can find out) about our family members' involvement with the election process. Did one of your ancestors run for office? Who was President when your immigrant ancestors first set foot on American (Canadian, Australian, etc.) shores? What do you know about your grandparents' voting record? Which of your ancestors was first eligible to vote? Do you have any suffragettes on your family tree? What did the electoral process mean to your ancestors? Do you have a personal Election Day memory you'd like to share? Think about it, write about it, and submit it for the next COG! The deadline for submissions is November 1.

Submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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