Treasure Chest Thursday - Elgin Pocket Watch

For Treasure Chest Thursday I've got my great-grandfather's pocket watch:



It belonged to my maternal great-grandfather, William DOMELLE, b. 1882, d. 1943.

It came into my possession when I offered to have it cleaned for my grandfather. When I brought it back to him, he told me I could keep it. When wound, the watch keeps time quite well, but not for long. The ticking is somewhat soothing in this age of digital clocks. :-)

The manufacturer on the face of the watch is "Elgin". When I looked this up I found that there was an Elgin National Watch Company that produced mid-range pocket watches from 1874 to the early 1960s. Prior to that, they were named the National Watch Company. This watch company was based just north of Chicago. It just so happens that my great-grandfather spent a few years living in Chicago before he moved just south to the north-west corner of Indiana. I know for sure my great-grandfather was in Chicago between 1911 and 1913. By 1915 he was in Indiana. Any time in there could be when he bought this watch.

I did an image search online to see if I could find this exact watch, and I found many that had the same face, but different case, or similar case, but different winding mechanism at the top. Apparently, if I have the watch taken apart and the serial number on the movement noted down, I can then pinpoint when it was manufactured, so that will have to be on my list of things to do!



Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elgin_National_Watch_Company

http://www.pocketwatchrepair.com/histories/elgin.html

Wordless Wednesday - 28 December 2011

Let's Start Again

It's been a while now since I've been able to "properly" do some genealogy. What I mean by properly is my internal definition I guess. When I think about that definition though, I really don't have an answer - all I know is it ISN'T what I've been doing for the past year or so!!

I have had some things other than genealogy to focus on this past year, a few health things (fortunately minor) but still major time-suckers; not to mention all these other things that I've been finding more important than genealogy research this past year:


1. Celebrity Gossip
Go ahead, ask me anything. It's so pathetic. But I can visually tell the difference between Demi Lovato and Vanessa Hudgens. Can you? I didn't think so. Also I know which college the girl from iCarly is going to. And I also know what Kim Kardashian did with the wedding gifts that she didn't return and I really really hate knowing anything about that girl.


2. Little Known Movie Facts
I'm totally addicted to going to imdb.com after every movie I happen across and reading the little Trivia section. Then I annoyingly spout them of to people I'm with who are just trying to enjoy watching a movie.


3. Secret Web-Based Hypochondriacal Searches
I totally made up that variation on the word but anyway, yes, I get some sort of symptom, like for instance, an eye twitch, and then I look up everything that exists on the web about eye twitches and diagnose myself with some brain infection due to a bite from a Tanzanian parasite. Then I lose interest because my symptom goes away. Usually while I'm in the middle of searching it.


4. DVR-ing Stuff
It's really the worst thing I ever brought into my house because all it's done is give me more ways to create OCD rules in my life. Now I have these rules about how full I allow the DVR to get, and then when creating room on the DVR, which shows do I watch first first? Do I use the FIFO or LIFO method? Do I watch the HD ones first since they take up more room? Do I watch the one's I'm least excited about watching before or after the one's I'm most excited about watching? All this just reminds me that I really don't care that much about watching the shows, it's all about how I maintain DVR disc space. Clearly, this thing needs to go!!!


5. Memes
For some reason I adore wasting time looking at what other people have created for internet memes. How much more can I see on the subjects of cats, the way people dress, FAILs, cute baby animals and Graphs?? In the words of Bobby Boucher's momma, The Cheezburger Network is the Devil!


So that leads me to what to do. I've been away from my research for so long, and now I have several days home from work, I have no idea whatsoever where to start, it's been that long.

I figure the best thing to do is to start from the beginning. So I'll start with me. I'll review what information I've included on me (like addresses) and then slowly start working my way back, reviewing my information along the way.

Have any of you had to start fresh like this? And if so, how did you handle it?

Wordless Wednesday - 14 December 2011

Today's Wordless Wednesday is inspired by last weeks posting - After posting last weeks Wordless Wednesday, I found out that it was actually a 50th wedding anniversary party for my paternal great-grandparents, Roman and Wanda (Pokornoski) Pawlak.

Here is another picture that appears to be from the same day, taken on their farm in Minnesota in 1956.

Roman and Wanda are here in this picture, along with all their children, which was a special treat because my grandmother lived in Florida! Left to right, my grandmother Sophia, Delphine, Roman, Wanda, Richard and Edwin. What a nice picture!

Wordless Wednesday - 07 December 2011

Okay, not completely wordless this Wednesday!!

These are my paternal great-great-grandparents, Roman and Wanda (Pokornoski) Pawlak at their farm in Minnesota in July 1956. I wish I could have seen it!

I studied the feast laid out and I can come up with the following:

Mashed potatoes (?)
A stack of white bread (seems to have been a staple on every table in the 50s!!)
Cold cuts on a plate
Green olives
Peas
Coffee cups, creamer, sugar

I'm not sure what they are holding - some sort of bread? Any guesses?

Obviously this was a big family dinner judging by all the mis-matched chairs. I'm sure a good time was had by all!