The Boal Family & Ireland

For years I had been searching for material on my great-great-great-great grandfather, John S. Boal. He was a veteran of the American Civil War and died a young man at the age of 40 or 42. (There’s some confusion as to when he was born, 1836 or 1838.)

I don’t know in what unit he served during the war, but it was one from Pennsylvania. Thankfully some cousins in Australia tracked me down and sent me some info.

They knew his middle name, Shannon. Among the Irish (and a few other cultures) there’s a tradition, unknown to me at the time, of using the maiden surname of the mother for a son’s middle name.

His father was William Boal, son of James Boal. William married Ann Marie Shannon. They were Presbyterians, possibly Ulster Scots, and lived for a time in Derry, Northern Ireland.

James, a linen and carpet weaver, was born March 17, 1764 in Ireland. In 1787, he married Elizabeth Welch. They emigrated to the United States in the spring of 1790, with a loom by his side, settling near Boalsburg, Centre County, Pennsylvania. James died on June 22, 1836  in Centre County.

During the insurrection of 1798 some of the Boal men returned to Ireland to fight the British.

ajh

A Story on Lincoln With a Modern Twist

Abraham Lincoln, as a state representative, fled the capitol in Springfield, Illinois, via a window, to avoid an adjournment of the legislature. He was trying to save the State Bank of Illinois and delaying for time. (This was either in 1839 or 1840. There are conflicting dates.)

Some, including Think Progess and the AFL-CIO, are equating the story with the demonstrations in Wisconsin. By the way, Lincoln failed in his quest to save the bank. It looks as if the idea originated with the NCSL, the National Conference of State Legislatures.

ajh

Happy Birthday, Ansel Adams

The Tetons and the Snake River (1942)

Ansel Adams was born on February 20, 1902. I love his work. Beautiful stuff.

ajh

Kramer Adopts a Highway

On Seinfeld in 1997,  Kramer adopts part of the Arthur Burghardt Expressway, a fictional road which helps promote the Adopt-a-Highway program.

The roots of the Adopt-a-Highway program date back to 1984, when James Evans, an engineer for the Texas Department of Transportation, noticed litter blowing out of the back of a pickup truck he was driving behind in Tyler, Texas. Concerned about the growing cost to the government of keeping roadways clean, Evans soon began asking community groups to volunteer to pick up trash along sections of local highways they could “adopt.”

Over the years . . . some controversial groups, including the Ku Klux Klan, have . . . become involved—and thereby receive signs along highways acknowledging their effort. . . . In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Missouri couldn’t prevent the KKK from participating in the Adopt-a-Highway program as long as the group’s members picked up litter.

ajh

Florence Green, WWI Vet

Florence Green, 110, lives in King’s Lynn, Norfolk, England. She “was 17 years old when she joined the Women’s Royal Air Force, in the late summer of 1918.” She lives with her daughter, who is 89. The Independent has the story.

AJH

Word of the Day

I am a lucubrator. I am often lucubrating, such as now.

ajh

Ohio!

Today in 1803, Congress voted to accept Ohio‘s borders and constitution, although it did not become a state until March 1. I have lots of family connections to Ohio. It seems most branches were there at some point.

AJH

Happy Birthday Nikolaus Kopernikus

In 1473, astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus was born in Toruń, Royal Prussia, Kingdom of Poland. (The German spelling of the town is Thorn.)

AJH

‘Beam me, up!’

I am reading news reports about Congressman David Wu. I first read about the situation on FoxNews.com, based on reporting in The Oregonian and Willamette Week. As I read through the details, I may add some here and a few comments.

Wu’s Klingon stunt a few years ago, recorded by C-SPAN, reminded me a lot of Jim Traficant, a larger-than-life Congressman who often said “Beam me, up!” on the House floor when flabbergasted by something. At the time The Oregonian printed a funny photo of someone in Klingon grab and makeup with its story on the front page, which I’ll always remember.

Wu may have been referencing the book Rise of the Vulcans, which refers to a group within the Bush White House, but this was lost on most, perhaps even Wu himself. There was, and apparently still is, a serious disconnect.

There’s a lot of funny video out there on Traficant, so take a look. My favorites are from his ethics committee hearing, manure studies at the Ag Department, and about the Dems and growth and power of the government.

AJH

Pic o’ the Day: Lightning from Space

ajh