BALMER

English and Scottish: occupational name for a seller of spices and perfumes,  from an agent derivative of Middle English, Old French basme, balme, ba(u) me ?balm?, ?ointment? (Latin balsamum ?aromatic resin?). 
 South German and Swiss German: habitational name from any of the places in  Switzerland and Baden called Balm, which almost certainly get their names from  a Celtic word meaning ?cave?. 
 German: from the Germanic personal name Baldemar, composed of the  elements 'bald','bold' and mar 'famous'.

The name Balmer was first found in Yorkshire where they were seated from  early times and their first records appeared on the early census rolls taken  by the early Kings of Britian to determine the rate of taxation of their  subjects.
    The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of  Richard le Banmere, which was dated 1305.

Before 1752 (in Britain) the year began on March 25th (Lady Day). Dates between January 1st and  March 24th were therefore at the end of the year rather than the beginning.

My direct line is marked with an *asterick.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 Dear Ancestor

Your tombstone stands among the rest;
 Neglected and alone.
 The name and date are chiseled out
 On polished marbled stone.
 It reaches out to all who care
 It is too late to mourn.
 You did not know that I exist
 You died and I was born.
 Yet each of us are cells of you
 In flesh, in blood, in bone.
 Our blood contracts and beats a pulse
 Entirely not our own.
 Dear Ancestor, the place you filled
 One hundred years ago
 Spreads out among the ones you left
 Who would have loved you so.
 I wonder if you lived and loved,
 I wonder if you knew
 That someday I would find the spot, 
 And come to visit you.
 {Author unknown}

THE ELUSIVE ANCESTOR

I went searching for an ancestor. I cannot find him still.
 He moved around from place to place and did not leave a will. He married where a courthouse burned. He mended all his fences. He avoided any man who came to take the Census.

He always kept his luggage packed, this man who had no fame. And every 20 years or so, this rascal changed his name.
 His parents came from Europe. They should be upon some list
 of passengers to North America, but somehow they got missed.

And no one else in this world is searching for this man.
 So, I play geneasolitaire to find him if I can.
 I'm told he's buried in a plot, with tombstone he was blessed; but the weather took engraving, and some vandals took the rest.

He died before the county clerks decided to keep records.
 No Family Bible has emerged, in spite of all my efforts.
 To top it off this ancestor, who caused me many groans,
 Just to give me one more pain, betrothed a girl named JONES.

by Merrell Kenworthy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 THE ELDERS ARE PASSING

Our elders are passing, one by one 
 Surely gone forever, until there are none. 
 Their bountiful memories, their knowledge of the past, 
 Soon will be lost, and beyond our grasp.

The past is prologue, so delicate to retain, 
 Slipping slowly from our grasp, til nothing remains. 
 For our elders are passing, so sad but true, 
 And with them their memories, and all that they knew.

It's urgent for sure, to record each thought, 
 Of every family elder, so its not for naught. 
 So generations remember the beauteous past, 
 We'll retain that knowledge, and ensure it will last.

There'll be no better time, than that right now, 
 To begin your quest, or to renew your vow. 
 So locate your elders, and schedule that meeting, 
 In light of the fact, that time is so fleeting.

                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Thoughts which have kept me awake nights

No book is entirely perfect
 For errors will creep in;
 Sometimes wrong information is sent
 By someone's nearest kin.

And even printers make mistakes
 For which they tear their hair;
 Sometimes two people disagree
 On who or what or where.

It might have been the person
 Who wrote the history
 It might have been the typist,
 Or blame the author, me.

So if you're dead before you're born,
 Or married when you're three,
 Or I've omitted anyone
 Who sent themselves to me.

Or your last name is not your own,
 Your picture not too good,
 I ask you please forgive me
 I did the best I could!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-If you guys can just stop using the same name for son-father-grandfather-etc, that would great. -On a similar note, there’s more girls’ names to choose from than just Mary, Ann, Elizabeth or Sarah. No, Mary ann and Sarah  Ann don’t count.
 -Cousin on cousin?!! Guys, you’re making me feel icky AND you’re messing up my pedigree chart! -What’s with the death stare? You don’t have to smile on photos but try not to look like you’re about to be shot. -Cursive. It’s stylish and all I admit, but maybe you can spare a passing thought for those poor souls who have to read it? ----- -Seriously, my doctor’s prescriptions are more legible than your marriage banns. -Finally, thanks for giving me a hobby that simultaneously makes me the family geek and the family archives. I especially  enjoy being told I must be wrong about Uncle Whatever being an illegitimate convict adulterer, despite 5 scan-supported  citations. Keep it classy guys.

                  ********************************************************


Genealogy Commandments

1 Thou shalt name your male children: James, John, Joseph, Josiah, Abel, Richard, Thomas, Stephen or William.

2 Thou shalt name your female children: Elizabeth, Mary, Martha, Sarah or Phoebe.

3 Thou shalt leave no trace of your female children.

4 Thou shalt, after naming your children from the above lists, call them by strange nicknames such as: Ike, Eli, Polly, Dolly, Sukey or Lizzie, thereby making them difficult to trace.

5 Thou shalt not use any middle names on any legal documents or census reports and only where necessary, may you use [ONLY] initials on legal documents.

6 Thou shalt learn to sign all legal documents illegibly so that your surname can be spelled. or misspelled, in various ways: Keech, Keach, Keechee, Ketch, etc.

7 Thou shalt, after no more than three generations, make sure that all family records are lost, misplaced, burned in a court house fire, or buried so that NO future trace of them can be found.

8 Thou shalt propagate misleading legends, rumours, vague innuendo regarding your place of origination: England, Scotland, Wales or Netherlands. Descended from one of the three brothers that came from...

9 Thou shalt leave no cemetery records or headstones with legible names.

10 Thou shalt leave no family bible with records of births, marriages or deaths.

11 Thou shalt ALWAYS flip thy name around. If born "James Albert" thou must make all the rest of your records in the names of Albert, AJ, JA, AL, Bert, Bart, or Alfred.

12 Thou shalt also flip thy parents names when making reference to them, although "UNKNOWN" or a blank is an acceptable alternative.

13 Thou shalt name at least five generations of males, and dozens of their cousins, with identical names in order to totally confuse researchers!!





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