Early Delaware County Maps

Hmm, my links aren't showing up. Here are some early Delaware County Maps. Delaware County was the destination of the John Downie family after landing in Castle Garden, New York City. These maps date from the time they arrived (1829, 1856). But more on that later...

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

http://old-maps.com/

Early New York State Maps

Until I can get the family stuff goin on, here are some interesting old New York State maps to check out. Click on them for larger, more readable versions. They are in descending order: 1846, 1822, 1814, 1812 and 1796.

I'm currently reading the Life and Adventures of Frank Grouard who was abducted by the Crow tribe, then adopted by Sitting Bull and lived with the Sioux for many years before transitioning back into civilization and becoming a scout for the army. He is credited with being the first scout to observe the field of Custer's Last Stand after investigating smoke signals from the area and stumbling over the bodies of scalped soldiers in the dark. It's been an eye opening account of the violence and intrigue between the Native Americans and the US Army on the frontier in the late 1800's.

Why Genealogy?

As I've waded into the genealogical realm, I've observed that family pride and historical interest often are the reasons people keep track of family history. For me, the main motivator is the more personal question each of us must grapple with - who am I, why am I here, and where am I headed? OK, that's three questions. In our culture that moves at warp speed, finding time to pass on values and helping the next generation understand who they are is more difficult than it used to be (hey, I'm too busy figuring out who I am!). I often find myself thinking distraction is one of Satan's favorite weapons.

It's 2010 - 10 years ago, we did not have MP3 players, because there weren't any MP3's. PlayStation 1 and Game Cube were cutting edge game systems (is the Wii great, or what?). 5 Gig hard drives were the bomb. We still watched videos, not DVDs, and the Blue Ray wasn't even yet a blueprint. The Internet was staggeringly slow, and don't forget the "ba-bing, ba-bing, ca-ching, staaaaaatic" sound we had to endure each time to log on. Now look at any Sunday sales flyer and bask in the LED glow of all the distractions that call to us. It's not that we don't have time to understand who we are, it's that we fill our schedules with other, temporal things.

Genealogy has taught me about where I come from, who I am, and where I am going. It has inspired me through the stories of my ancestors who literally risked, and at times lost, the lives of their families to escape the desperate conditions in Europe in the 19th century. It has made me realize I am part of something bigger - a legacy - a struggle that started long before I was born, and now that God has given us children, will continue on after I've become an entry in the "Died" column. I now realize that my hands are not my own - they are also the hands that fought for liberty, rebelled against British oppression, crushed a German war machine, worked the soil, milked the cows, and built a free nation. Many of the ills of our country right now can be attributed to forgetting what it cost to get us here. Genealogy is remembering, and in doing so, honoring our ancestors sacrifices, while at the same time giving us inspiration to keep striving to live lives worthy of their dreams, and their hopes for their children.

Let's Get it Started!

For years I've planned to organize and save all my genealogy information to CD's to distribute to family members, but then it occurred to me that a blog might be a more appropriate medium than the static CD for information that is constantly being updated, revised and corrected. And it allows family members to view it as they wish - instead of at gunpoint. So I've reserved the space, I've got a 55 gallon storage bin of information to transcribe, and now all I need to do is find the time and motivation for this. We'll see how it goes....