Our Link to Buffalo Bill

Buffalo Bill

From Buffalo Bill Center of the West (public domain)

I always thought it would be fun to have famous or royal roots. Don't we all! I haven't found any well-known direct ancestors (yet), but I have come across some other interesting  connections. For example, a few weeks ago I discovered some documents written for or about my illiterate ancestors (Elmore and Estep lines) by Abraham Lincoln. Yes. That one. That's pretty amazing! I need to pull together some more pieces, which requires some Black Hawk War research at the National Archives in Washington. Luckily, I'll be going there for work in a week or so. I'm taking a super early flight the day before the conference so I'll have some research time there. Wish me luck!

Since I'm currently at a brick wall on that line, I decided to explore another rumored connection - to William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody.

It's true!

(It's not a close connection, but I really enjoyed adding him to my tree.)

My Flint family, originally from Manchester, England, didn't have it easy. It was one of those families that seemed to have tragedy after tragedy after tragedy. My second great grandmother, Emma Flint (married John Dunsford), died at age 35.

Emma's brother, Agrippa Flint (who died before age 30), married a woman named Elizabeth Frederici. His brother-in-law was none other than Buffalo Bill, who was married to Elizabeth's sister Margaret "Louisa" Frederici.

Of course, when Agrippa knew him, he was still just William F. Cody, American Civil War veteran (Union). Researching this connection, though, may give more insight into my Flint family. I had previously wondered how Elizabeth and her four very young children survived after the premature death of her husband. I would imagine that Louisa wrote letters to Elizabeth. I don't know if they exist, but I sure hope I can find something about Elizabeth's  life after Agrippa died. Now I have another place to look. Could she have received financial support from Buffalo Bill? Maybe so!

Researching those more distant family branches, friends, and neighbors can be helpful. You often find new paths to explore, and sometimes those paths lead to famous or influential people who make you feel more American than ever.

Especially when it's Buffalo Bill!

Genealogy Mindfulness

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a pretty important concept in the world of mental health. It's all about being fully aware of things that are going on in the present - how your food tastes, your breathing, the way the sun feels on your skin. Mindfulness exercises can be pretty relaxing, and they do help you to realize that you may be missing some important or memorable details of your life when you rush through your day-to-day routine.

I make a lot of mistakes when it comes to mindfulness. For example, a couple of years ago I spent two weeks in Scotland. We rushed through our days, trying to cram in as much as we could. After the trip, I realized that although I had seen a lot, I never really took the time to experience Scotland - the people, the culture, the feel of the wind and mist on my face.

This realization changed the way I plan to travel in the future. I want to leave plenty of time to get a feel for a place. I hope I can resist the urge to be a super-touri

I was reminded of genealogical mindfulness today when this little cutie referred to a suction-cup arrow as a "toilet horn." I can only assume she meant a plunger, and I hope she doesn't ever try to touch one to see if it honks!

I couldn't stop laughing, and I realized that I should be writing these things down. She won't be three forever, and Grannys have much more time to record cute little stories than Moms.

I have some pretty vague memories of much of my childhood. It would have been such a treasure for me if someone had written down a few things. Just a few short stories about what I said and did. Maybe I should have asked my parents more about my own childhood too when I asked them about theirs, but I was thinking about the past.

Sadly, it's too late for stories about me, but I can record fun little tidbits about my descendants. Those cute stories I still share with friends from time to time would be perfect! Like when a group of my friends were at my house scrapbooking, and my youngest daughter, who was about 4, went around the table telling everyone they were doing a good job. Or when my second daughter was 3 and made us all call her Jasmine (from Aladdin) for weeks on end. And when my oldest was 3 and told me my stretch marks were beautiful because they were pink and purple.  I love these stories, but I've never written them down for them.

So, going forward, I will be adding this to my Genealogy Do-Over. I will, in addition to searching in records from the past, include some "personal knowledge" stories for my family to enjoy in the future, properly cited, of course.  I will try to remember the recent past, be mindful of the present, and get those stories documented!

Connections

“We are like islands in the sea, separate on the surface but connected in the deep.”
― William James 

A lot of people who know me do not understand why I research my family history. It's kind of a nerdy hobby, but I love it. Time and time again, I realize that I am connected to so many people and so many places. It changes the way I see my family, and also the way I view the world.

In 2016, I took a trip to the U.K. with my daughter Jennifer. We carefully planned every stop, and one place on both of our lists was Lindisfarne. I mean, who doesn't want to walk where Vikings walked? Holy Isle is a tidal island. You can only drive to the island when the tide is low. We had to plan for this, which even affected the day we left for our trip. But we made it.

It was a beautiful place and we had a great time exploring. We even climbed down to the sea floor to get this shot. It was one of our favorite stops.

A few months after we returned, I learned that our Scottish Cowan ancestors may have originally come from Lindisfarne/Holy Island. I have not verified this and may never be able to, but I do have to wonder why we liked it there so much. Do memories of places stay with us in our DNA? Are we naturally drawn to places? 

Today I was again reminded of these connections. While browsing through baptism records from the Old Cathedral in St. Louis, Missouri, I came across this entry:

I don't read French, but I know enough to see that Louis Blanchet, son of Louis Blanchet and an Osage woman, was baptized in October. His Godmother was Catherine Maréchal, my 5th Great Grandmother. Louis Blanchet (the father) was the founder of St. Charles, Missouri. I will admit that it's pretty awesome to know that my ancestor was friends with someone whose name is still known. What's even more awesome is to know that I myself have a connection

to Louis Blanchet.

On a cold weekend in November, 2010, Jennifer and I participated in our third archaeological excavation at the home of Louis Blanchet. His home is pictured in the background, and my daughter is hard at work digging around some big tree roots that made for a difficult dig. Little did I know at the time that our family had a connection to Louis Blanchet. Funny how things happen. We could have done something else with those weekends, but we didn't. 

I am fortunate to be living in the same general location as my French-Canadian ancestors did

almost 300 years ago. We can visit the old stomping grounds anytime we want. 

My granddaughter Rose has seen the reconstructed French colonial church on Main Street in

St. Charles. We've also taken her to Fort de Chartres, in Randolph County, Illinois a few times. Quite a few of my ancestors have lived here, visited here, or at least knew people here when it was a French military outpost in the middle of nowhere.

Rose singing in between the doors in the main gate of Fort de Chartres

Rose climbing in the foundations of the barracks

My daughter Kristin and Rose enjoying some frozen lemonade, just like our

French ancestors did at Fort de Chartres

(not really, but they would have enjoyed it)

Someday I hope to show my descendants how they are connected to people and places by those who came before us. I want them to know they have deep roots in America, and even deeper ones in other countries. I want them to know that they should treat everyone with kindness because they could be connected somehow, "in the deep."  I want them to grow up to realize that they are not only Americans, but citizens of the world.