Anticipating Another Snow Day

We used our first snow day last Friday and it looks like we may being using our second tomorrow. If the forecast for more freezing rain holds I'll be spending the day tomorrow catching up on some reading.

The 41st edition of the Carnival of Genealogy was posted today by Jasia at Creative Gene and it is huge! This edition was fun, picking four ancestors to have dinner with. I've read many of the submissions already and I can tell you they are not to be missed. I must have been having another of my senior moments because I forgot to submit mine :( You can find it here. The next edition will be a retrospective. Will I remember to submit this time? Maybe Thomas will start a pool.

And now it's time for a Call For Submissions! The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogy will be: The Best of The Best! It's Academy awards time... time for the Academy of Genealogy and Family History aka AGFH (an esteemed organization that all genea-historian bloggers who participate in this next edition of the COG will become founding members of) to honor their best blog posts of 2007* in the following 5 categories:

Best Picture - Best old family photo that appeared on your blog in 2007. Tell us which you liked best and why.
Best Screen Play - Which family story that you shared in 2007 would make the best movie? Who would you cast as your family members?
Best Documentary - Which was the best informational article you wrote about a place, thing, or event involving your family's history in 2007?
Best Biography - Which was the best biographical article you wrote in 2007?
Best Comedy - Which was the best funny story, poem, joke, photo, or video that you shared on your blog in 2007?

Lisa posted the 3rd edition of the Carnival of Irish Culture and History last week at Small-Leaved Shamrock. I didn't have anything to contribute to this edition, dealing with Irish Places so I'll be reading up to learn more! The 4th edition sounds like fun:

Here's the scoop:

March is Irish heritage month in many places, thanks to the feast day of St. Patrick, beloved saint of Ireland. Our topic for this month will be anything and everything about Irish heritage, genealogy and culture. Posts about St. Patrick will be appreciated, but posts related to any meaningful aspect of Ireland's heritage are welcomed. To borrow an idea from Bill West's genealogy parade, we'll have our very own virtual St. Patrick's Day parade!

The deadline is March 14, 2008. Submit your parade entry here. Then come join us for the parade on St. Patrick's Day, March 17, 2008. On the feast of St. Patrick, everyone likes to be Irish, at least for one day. Hope to see you at the parade wearing your green!

The 3rd edition of the Carnival of Central and Eastern Genealogy was posted last week by Jessica at Jessica's Genejournal. I haven't done any research in this area so I haven't had anything to contribute. Hopefully this Carnival will pick up and I'll have a new learning opportunity. While you are visiting for the Carnival be sure to check out all of the changes Jessica has made to her blog. The next edition will be a carousel edition:

The topic for the next carnival is a carousel. Article topics for this carnival can deal with stories, traditions, food, history, etc. of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The deadline for the next edition of the carnival will be February 18th. You can submit your article here.

Donna has done a roundup of the posts for Where Our Ancestors were in 1808 at What's Past is Prologue. I never got to this one but the answers were varied and interesting.

I don't know where I'll find the time after all that reading but I really need to do some writing! I'm planning my first ever research trip, I'm way behind on Miriam's prompts, I've made some (slight) progress on my Graham line and I really need to get back to the series on the Wisner's that I started last month!

A New Mystery

I seem to have a new mystery to ponder. My Carlisle family is mentioned on pages 158-159 of:
Massie, Larry B. Potawatomi Tears and Petticoat Pioneers: More of the Romance of Michigan's Past 1992.

I knew that my great-grandfather, (Issac) Ashley Carlisle and his older brother Orville D. Carlisle both served in the 2nd Michigan Cavalry, Co. L. Their aunt/step-mother, Hannah Glover Carlisle, followed the company and later served as a nurse and I wrote about that here. What I hadn't previously heard was that Daniel & Hannah Carlisle objected to Ashley's enlistment and went to Niles and brought him home. He ran away and rejoined the regiment. Hannah decided if she couldn't stop him, she would join him and followed the regiment, cooking, washing and nursing. When Col. Philip Sheridan took command of the regiment Hannah and the other civilians were sent home. It was after this that Hannah went to work for the Sanitary Commision and later the Freedmen's Bureau.

The book says that William Carlisle, age 20, of Edwardsburg joined Company L first. "His cousin, Orville Carlisle, from Buchanan, followed him into the same company." This creates a new mystery for me, as I have nothing about a cousin William.

Daniel Carlisle was born 22 Sept 1797 in Westmoreland County, New Hampshire and died 31 March 1782 in Buchanan, Berrien County Michigan. He was the son of Daniel Carlisle (1767-1822) and Zipporah Wheeler (1772-1831). To the best of my knowledge he was the only son of Daniel & Zipporah. Was there another son that I am unaware of or would William be a more distant cousin?

On the 1860 census I found William Carlyle, age 19, born in Delaware, in Milton, Cass County, MI. He was a farm laborer listed with the family of Jacob Butts or Betts. Also in Milton was the family of James Carlyle, age 36 with wife Rachel, age 35; children, Mary age 16, Robert age 10, Rachel age 8 and Adda 6/12. All were born in Delaware. There is no other Carlyle/Carlile/Carlisle family listed for Cass County. If James and Rachel are the parents of William they were only about 17 & 16 years old when he was born. James could be a brother or cousin of William. I have not located this family on the 1850 census yet but they do not come in a search for Berrien, Cass or St Joseph counties. James and Rachel are still in Cass County in 1870 and I found cemetery records there for them also. I have found no further record for William.

I haven't found any reference to any of my Carlisle line ever living in Delaware. But they did live in Cass County, Michigan for a time.

Daniel and Zipporah Carlisle were married 17 Dec 1795 in Westmoreland, NH. About 1810 they moved to Genesee or Ontario County NY and it is believed that they died in New York. Their son Daniel moved to White Pigeon Prairie, St Joseph County, Michigan in 1839. From 1840 to about 1845 he lived in Edwardsburg, Cass County, Michigan. From 1845 to about 1855 he lived in LaGrange, Cass County, Michigan. From about 1855 until his death in 1872 he lived in Buchanan, Berrien County, Michigan.

Was William really a cousin? Is it possible that based on the names an assumption was made and found it's way into print? I'll be spending some time working on this puzzle I think.

Michigan Biographical Index

A week ago Miriam passed along a link to the Michigan Biographical Index. Thank you Miriam! From the index I learned that several members of my Carlisle family were listed in the index to: Massie, Larry B. Potawatomi Tears and Petticoat Pioneers: More of the Romance of Michigan's Past 1992.

I quickly found the book listed on half.com for a very reasonable price and ordered it. It came today and although they were only mentioned briefly, on two pages, it was a very interesting read. I need to check some of the facts as they differ slightly from what I've read before and I'll be writing more about that in a day or two.

Now that I've skipped to the part about my family and satisfied my curiosity there, I'm looking forward to reading more about the history of Michigan.