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PotpourrEMAIL
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Vol. 1, No. 8, 1 February 2000. Circulation: 80 and growing!
(C) 1999 Boylston Historical Society and Museum
7 Central St., PO Box 459, Boylston, MA 01505
boyhisoc@ma.ultranet.com
508-869-2720
Editors: Betty L. Thomas and Judith Haynes
Boylston Historical Society and Museum Web Page:
http://www.ultranet.com/~boyhisoc/index.shtml
To subscribe or unsubscribe to the PotpourrEmail, or
to submit information to be included in the PotpourrEmail,
e-mail info to: boyhisoc@ma.ultranet.com
CONTENTS. Welcome; What's in a name?; From Our Readers;
Story Time with Norm; Oral History; Book of the Month;
BHS NEWS; On The Web; Humor
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Welcome to our email newsletter! For those of you who are not
members of BHS and don't receive the snailmail newsletter, it is called
The Potpourri. Sooooo, we thought the appropriate name for this version
would be PotpourrEMAIL. This email version is not meant to repeat or
copy the snailmail version, but to complement it, with the addition of
topics of interest to those with computer and web capabilities. If you
have a story to tell, information to impart, a good genealogy joke, computer
or web genealogy info, a Boylston genealogy Query, or anything that would
be of interest to our readers--please email us at:
boyhisoc@ma.ultranet.com
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What's in a name ?
From "Names of Places" by G.L. Wright -
Boylston Historical Series Vol. I
Madegascar Swamp
The swamp back of Boylston Center, and between it and the Bartlett farm has
long been known by various names, at one time being called "Pine Swamp",
and at other times, and in records and deeds as "Madegascar" or "Medegascar
Swamp". The old Proprietors'records of Shrewsbury, without any doubt our
earliest authority, however designate it as "Malagasco Swamp", showing the
source to be of Indian origin. Running out of this swamp, and crossing
the present Shrewsbury Road just below the house now owned by George H.
Taylor, Sr. ( John A. Wood place) is a brook , known in later years as
Muddy Brook, but called in the early records- "Madegascar" or "Malagasco
Brook". The upper portion of this brook was long designated as
"Nigger Ditch". Tradition says that in the early days of the Town when
slaves were held, one of them was held by the family of Cpt. Robert Andrews,
the leader of the Minute Men form the Shrewsbury North Precinct to the
Battle of Lexington. This slave died very suddenly, and was buried in the
Old Cemetery,but his body was exhumed and used for anatomical purposes by
a young physician who had just come into town. The flesh was supposed to
have been thrown into this brook,and it is said that the woolly scalp of
Cato was found hanging to the wooden ratchmag of the brook at the Shrewsbury
Road, where it had been carried by the Spring thaw. This discovery was
made by one of the Boylston voters while on his way to Town Meeting.
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>From Our Readers
We had no feedback from any of our readers this month--
Anyone out there know what "ratchmag" is???
(see above!)
Neither Judy or I could find it in our dictionaries.
If you find a definition, write us and and we'll
include it in the next newsletter.
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Story Time with Norm -
Norm is still on vacation. Drop him an email and let him know how much you
miss his articles!!
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Oral History by Judy Haynes
Oral History from Tape to Type was the name of a book published by Dr.
Cullom Davis in 1977 and the title is telling and meaningful. Once you
have taped your interviews, we always recommend typing them (in today's
parlance "word processing"). If you leave your family history in taped
form, it generally gets put on a shelf and seldom used. Put it in print,
make copies, and share it with other family members. Paper versions are
often referred to when one is doing research if it is available in your
local historical society library or family home bookshelf. Allow about 8
hours to type each tape. Some will take more if the voice is difficult to
understand. Try to put down every word verbatim. You can clean up and
edit later. In fact this is a labor intensive phase. Dr. Davis says it is
often a 40 to 1 hour ratio of work to get the final product to a
professional looking print form. You type, you audit (that is, you
relisten to every tape to be sure that you put in print every word), you
edit, you finalize. And that's not all. Once you have made the decision
to put your interview in a print form, you need to provide a first draft to
the interviewee for corrections and light editing. When it is returned to
you, you will prepare the final copy. You should prepare a Preface, a
Table of Contents, the narrative, and possibly an Index. More on the
process of final transcripts next time.
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Book of the Month -
"Boylston in the Civil War"
by Fred Brown, William O. Dupuis, and Norman H. French
John Partridge, a Boylston school teacher and farmer wrote over 100 letters
home to his parents and sisters. Now those letters have been transcribed
and published. Because of his background, he was able to write not only
about the war, but intelligently about the "black slaves" and the citizens
he observed. He noted the condition of crops and the quality of soil.
John fought in North Carolina, was captured and died in Andersonville
Prison in Georgia. The book has an extensive glossary, bios and photos
of Boylston veterans, maps, and town records.
pub. 1995 by Heritage Books - 183 pages - Illustrated $16.95 plus
shipping. For more info go here:
http://www.ultranet.com/~boyhisoc/gift.htm
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BHS NEWS -
Program - Friday, Feb. 18, 2000 at 7:30 pm
"Genealogy for the Beginner"
Boylston Historical Society Staff members Bill Dupuis and Betty Thomas
Finding your roots is a fun and interesting hobby. This program
will show you how to get started and will include both traditional
and computer approaches.
Materials packet: $4
Hope to see YOU there. Come early for a good seat!!
All Programs are open to the public and held at the Society (unless
otherwise noted). Donations at the door are gratefully accepted!
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We need a few volunteers who can come in on Tuesday and/or Thursday
morning to put the new computer to good use. WE always have transcribing
to do, genealogies to enter into the genealogy software, and tons of
archive info that needs to be entered into the database. You don't need
any computer experience, just a willingness to learn. If you have always
wanted to learn how to use a computer...now is YOUR chance!!!
If you would like to help us out, call or just drop by and we'll work out a
schedule.
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Available at the gift shop
http://www.ultranet.com/~boyhisoc/gift.htm
1.Boylston - A pictorial history
The book is crammed full of never before seen photos of Boylston people
and places from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Available NOW!!! $18.99
+ $3 shipping.
2.Yankee Magazine subscription - $20 subscription. Look for subscription
cards at various places around town-- library, town hall, center store,
Baystate Auto, and the Historical Society!
Or visit the Yankee Partners Page:
http://www.newengland.com/cgi-bin/ymcp/print_partner.pl?number=183
or the subscription page
(under Benefit: don't forget to SELECT Boylston Historical Society):
http://www.newengland.com/YMCP/subscribe.html
3. Historical Society Calendar for 2000 - Photos of Boylston Entertainment
- 19th and 20th century style! ONLY $5 (at the gift shop and the
Boylston Library) ONLY A FEW LEFT!!!!!
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On The Web--
Build your own genealogy Web site on RootsWeb. Request free
unlimited Web space on RootsWeb at
http://cgi.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/acctform.cgi
FREE BIRTH, MARRIAGE AND DEATH INDEX (ENGLAND AND WALES)
http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/Vol_instructions.html
MESSAGE BOARD/MAILING LIST ADOPTION
http://resources.rootsweb.com/USA/adoptrequest.html
http://resources.rootsweb.com/surnames/adoptrequest.html
IMMIGRANT SHIPS TRANSCRIBERS GUILD
http://istg.rootsweb.com/guild/application.html
OBITUARY DAILY TIMES
http://www.rootsweb.com/~obituary/#con
USGENWEB PROJECT
http://www.usgenweb.org/volunteers/volunteers.html
USGENWEB CENSUS PROJECT
http://www.usgenweb.org/census/
USGENWEB TOMBSTONE TRANSCRIPTION PROJECT
http://www.rootsweb.com/~cemetery/memor_2.html#you
USGENWEB ARCHIVES
http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/timetodo.htm
USGENWEB ARCHIVES CENSUS PROJECT
http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/census/volunteer.htm
USGENWEB ARCHIVES PENSIONS PROJECT
http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/pensions/#WAR
USGENWEB ARCHIVES DIGITAL MAPS PROJECT
http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/maps/contrib.htm
WORLDGENWEB
http://worldgenweb.org/faq.htm
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Humor -
During a transatlantic flight, a plane passes through a severe storm.
The turbulence is awful, and things go from bad to worse when one wing is
struck by lightning. One woman in particular loses it. Screaming, she
stands up in the front of the plane. "I'm too young to die!" she wails.
Then she yells, "Well, if I'm going to die, I want my last minutes on
Earth to be memorable! I've had plenty of sex in my life, but no one has
ever made me really feel like a woman! Well, I've had it! Is there ANYONE
on this plane who can make me feel like a WOMAN?" For a moment there is
silence. Everyone has forgotten their own peril, and they all stare,
riveted, at the desperate woman in the front of the plane. Then, an
Italian man stands up in the rear of the plane. "I can make you feel like a
woman," he says. He's gorgeous. Tall, muscular, with long, flowing black
hair and jet black eyes, he starts to walk slowly up the aisle, unbuttoning
his silk shirt one pearl button at a time. No one breathes. The woman is
breathing heavily in anticipation as the stranger approaches. He removes
his shirt. Muscles ripple across his chest as he reaches her, and extends
the arm holding his shirt to the trembling woman,and whispers:
"Iron this."
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PERMISSION TO REPRINT articles from PotpourrEMAIL is granted
unless specifically stated otherwise, PROVIDED: (1) the reprint
is used for non-commercial, educational purposes; and (2) the
following notice appears at the end of the article:
Written by
Previously published by PotpourrEMAIL,
PotpourrEmail, Vol. 1, No. 8, 1 February 2000. Please visit
Boylston Historical Society and Museum's main Web page at
http://www.ultranet.com/~boyhisoc/index.shtml .
This newsletter is distributed monthly, on the first day of the month,
to all Boylston Historical Society members (who have email!), genealogists
and friends who have a special interest in the history of the town of
Boylston.
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