Hague Happy Dance

Since I missed the deadline for the Winter Photo Essay, I'll jump right into the Feb 1st Carnival of Genealogy topic of "The Happy Dance." For those non-genealogists it means to write about "The Joy of Genealogy. Almost everyone has experienced it. Tell us about the first time, or the last time, or the best time. What event, what document, what special find has caused you to stand up and cheer, to go crazy with joy?"

The big Happy Dance I did a couple years ago was to find the first US Census that my Hague ancestor was in after his immigration from England to Rhode Island. James Hague and wife Eliza Barker came from the area of Ashton-Under-Lyne around Manchester, England, but I'm not sure exactly when. I have not found the family on immigration records, but I imagine he landed in Rhode Island. He later moved to Polk Co., Iowa in time for the 1870 US Census. My great-grandfather, William Hague, was born in RI in June 1850, so I knew they'd landed by then. I've yet to find the family in any English census. See photo of the first Hague born in USA, William Hague and wife Mary Ann Williams and their children near Des Moines, Iowa about 1908.

The pre-happy dance came about when I found my great-great grandfather, James "HAUGE", and family in Bristol, Bristol Co., RI in the 1860 census. The misspelling was not that unusual, and the six children's names matched. They were working in the factories - probably cotton mills. That find led me on to more attempts to locate them in 1850. I heard a podcast explaining the problem with the Ancestry Search engine is that you have to have the first three letters entered before you can add wild-cards * for covering possibly mi spelled letters.

Since I'd tried every misspelling, soundex tricks, and wild-cards, I figure I'd just work systematically to change the first letter of the search...ie. A-ague, B-ague, C-ague or Aag*, Bag*, Cag* etc. On 6 Feb 2007 using an exact choice for soundex, I typed in " aague," ...... there appeared James Ache in the census choices.... And it was my James Hague family!!!!.... obviously pronounced to the census taker without the "H" as they probably sounded like with the Lancashire accent (or so I hear). Oh Happy Day!! Oh Happy Dance!

1850-US Census WarwickTwp, Kent Co., Rhode Island [The ages were a little off but it's my family!]
James Ache 40 M b. England Laborer
Eliza " 40 F b. England
Ann " 18 F b. England
Edward " 13 M b. England
John " 15 M b. England
Joseph " 13 M b. England
Alice " 11 F b. England
Mary A. " 5 F b. England
Anna " 4 F b. England
William " 2 M b. Rhode Island

Another Hague Happpy Dance was just two years ago while visiting cousins in Des Moines. I asked sisters Mary and Oral May Wilson to draw what they remembered of the Hague homestead house from the original 1870 site in Delaware Township, Polk County, Iowa. Mary gave up with her sketch, and next thing I knew she went downstairs at her house, and returned with a drawing in a picture frame. My grandfather, Alfred George Hague had drawn the Hague homestead for her one day, many years ago as he remembered it in 1905. And there it was!!! I was able to get a copy of it and now can really imagine the way it was when my dad, and his dad stayed with Grandpa William and Grandma Mary Ann (Williams) Hague on the farm. See the house sketch and the home, outbuildings and barn as it looked in 1905.

Beginning of a Blog

Greetings to all who might read this blog - the product of a world adventurer who has had an underlying (and not so underlying) addiction to genealogy and family history. I'm living in beautiful Hawaii - a continuation of the westward migration my family has made through the generations from Wales, England and Scotland, and then From Plymouth Rock to Diamond Head

With renewed vigor in stepping into the world of the mysterious internet, and while listening to the Genealogy Guys podcast from October 23, 2006, today I am inspired to try out creating this blog. I gave a presentation March 3rd, at our Genealogy Society, titled "Podcasts, Blogs and RootsTelevision" - in which I mentioned how easy it would be to set up a blog - so here it is! My "web log" or blog will probably take the shape of a journal.

17 March 2007 - Saturday - Happy St. Patrick's Day - Honolulu, Hawaii

Last night I got together with friends from the Honolulu County Genealogy Society for a workshop about Ancestry.com and Family Tree Maker. There were five of us, but it kept us busy all evening. Harriet and I acted as guides for the others and got them up to speed about the benefits of getting the latest editions and subscriptions. In one evening there were oooohs and ahhhhs to be heard as new discoveries were made.

Plans for the year:

I'm busy with the technicalities of planning my summer and fall activities - which include plane reservations to Arizona to visit my daughter and her family. I'll be taking the grandchildren for an intergenerational Elderhostel week in S.W. Utah, and also a week at a time-share exchange at Pinetop, in Eastern Arizona, for a week in the mountains. Both my daughter's and my birthday will be celebrated before I leave. August 11th, I'll get a flight to Ft Wayne, Indiana to attend the Federation of Genealogical Societies Annual Conference and do some research at the famous Allen County Library - Genealogy Section. I've got reservations at a B & B near the library and convention center so it should be very convenient and productive.

Plans are that my Hague cousins, Dorothy and Don, on returning from their Civil War Battlesites travels, will stop in Ft Wayne and pick me up to go back to Des Moines, Iowa with them. I expect I'll stay there a while and we can do more Hague family research in Polk County. I also want to squeeze in Pearce research in Boone County, Iowa; Wallace and Williams research in Warren County, Iowa, and other assorted branches.

I'll be making some decisions about a month-long trip to China in September. After a wonderful experience last August in Mongolia and a trip on the Trans-Siberia Railway across Russia, I think I've got to return and see more of that part of the world.

But first, the dreaded income tax deadline is fast approaching, so my time today will be filled with that preparation (I hope).