Along Those Lines. . .
Musical Genealogy
by George G. Morgan

Music, like photographs and art, reflect the times and culture in a given place. They add context and content to the understanding of our ancestors. George Gershwin once said, "True music must repeat the thought and inspirations of the people and the time. My people are Americans and my time is today."

Music has always been an important part of my life. My musical tastes include classical music and opera, through early 20th century popular music, male and female vocalists of the 1920s to the 1960s, big band music, some country and blues music, a healthy dollop of jazz, as well as rock and easy listening music from the 1960s to the present. You know what they say: variety is the spice of life!

I began thinking this past week about what an integral part of life music and song have been for people across the many generations. It reflects the history and culture of an area and of each era. It also is an important component of so many of our life events. Since so many people are interested in heritage albums, scrapbooking, and preparing multimedia family history presentations, it would be interesting to select appropriate music to include that fits the time, the event, and even the people and places you might include.

With that idea in mind, I thought that in "Along Those Lines . . ." this week I'd share a list of songs that might well have related to the lives and times of our ancestors, and even to specific genealogical record types. You may have other and better examples you can name, but enjoy the irony that genealogical events (and/or record types) and popular music can be combined in this way.

Name That Tune!

Birth
Birth-related songs are numerous. Among the ones that immediately come to my mind are torch-singer Helen Morgan's fine 1930 recording of "Why Was I Born?" from the Broadway Show, "Sweet Adeline," in which she starred. "Born to Be Wild" (1968) by the group Steppenwolf and Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A." (1985) both echo reasons to be born. The ubiquitous "Happy Birthday to You" is, of course, the song most frequently associated with birthdays. And yet I can hear the song, "I Found a Million-Dollar Baby in a Five-and-Ten-Cent Store" from Billy Rose's 1931 Broadway show, "Crazy Quilt." It's not really about births, but it's a fun song.

Marriage
There are two pieces of music invariably linked to weddings. One is the "Bridal Chorus" ("Here Comes the Bride") from Richard Wagner's 1841 opera, "Lohengrin." The other is the "Wedding March" that we all know so well. It has become the traditional musical recessional piece used at the conclusion of the wedding. It was written by German composer Felix Mendelssohn for his 1858 work, "A Midsummer's Night Dream." Even the venerable vocal wedding solo, "Oh, Promise Me," comes from a little-known comic operetta, "Robin Hood," by Reginald DeKoven (1891). Prior to the introduction and use of these pieces, weddings used classical music, perhaps by Johann Sebastian Bach and other composers, and traditional hymns.

Moving forward in time, Jo Stafford's 1947 hit, "The Serenade of the Bells," tells the story of a miraculous occurrence in which church bells that were thought inoperable began to ring and a young couple were allowed to marry. "Going to the Chapel" (1964) by the Dixie Cups says, "Going to the chapel and we're gonna get married." In 1971, Paul Stookey of the folk group, Peter, Paul, and Mary, recorded "The Wedding Song" and it has been used at countless weddings ever since.

Divorce
The dissolution of a once loving relationship can be very painful and songs reflecting the emotional pathos (or relief?) are legion. "After You've Gone" (1918) has been recorded many times over the years. Connie Francis' 1958 recording of "Who's Sorry Now" was a remake of a hit song from 1923. My favorite choice for a divorce song would have to be Tammy Wynette's classic "D-I-V-O-R-C-E." However, none of these pieces would necessarily be appropriate for photos or film of Uncle Ed and Aunt Jeanette's wedding, which ended in a nasty divorce.

Death
If you've ever seen the movie, "The Wizard of Oz," you can never forget the scene in Munchkinland in which the coroner proclaims that the Witch of the East is dead and the Munchkins spontaneously burst into the song, "Ding Dong, the Witch is Dead." For genealogists, we get both an 'official' proclamation made from a document and a catchy song! There are scores of songs about death and dying. The Shangri-Las recorded a hit song in 1964 titled "The Leader of the Pack" and Mark Dinning, brother of the Dinning Sisters vocal trio, recorded "Teen Angel" in 1960.

Here, too, I'd be very careful about what to use for a family history presentation, even if a particular aunt or in-law did act like the Wicked Witch of the West. Perhaps Frederic Chopin's "Funeral March" (1837) or the "Adagio in G Minor" by Tomaso Albinoni would be a more tasteful choice.

Wills and Probate
You probably didn't think I could find an example of music associated with a will, but you were wrong. Giacomo Puccini's comic opera, "Gianni Schicchi," is based on the premise that greedy relatives change the deceased Schicchi's will and go through many gyrations not to get caught.

Cemeteries
Dinah Washington's recording of "The Richest Guy in the Graveyard" was released in February of 1950 to excellent reviews. Bob Dylan's recording of "Tombstone Blues" (1965) from his famous "Highway 61 Revisited" album has become a cult favorite, and contemporary singer Sheryl Crow recorded the song in 1999 and performs it in concerts. Few of us have missed out on hearing the 1962 comedy song, "Monster Mash," by Bobby "Boris" Pickett. For the opera lover, Gaetano Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor" includes a tenor aria near the end of the final act, "Tombe degli avi miei," which translates from Italian to "Tomb of my ancestors."

Immigration
The lyrics of Neil Diamond's 1981 song, "America," vividly evokes the immigration experience. "On the boats and on the planes, They're coming to America, Never looking back again, They're coming to America . . ." However, perhaps the most brilliant song about the immigration experience is "America, I Love You," a patriotic song introduced by singer Sam Ash in 1916.

Military
You would be hard pressed not to be able to find songs about military service. Patriotic fervor and a love to express oneself in song has created thousands of evocative songs. "The Caissons Go Rolling Along," "Anchors Aweigh," "Off We Go into the Wild Blue Yonder," and the "Marine's Hymn," are well-known songs representing the American military branches of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines, respectively.

Other songs are representative of patriotism and/or the battle experience. "Yankee Doodle" dates from the American Revolutionary War era. Songs such as "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," "Tenting on the Old Campground," and "When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again" are just two of the enduring standards associated with the American Civil War.

George M. Cohan's World War I classic "Over There," (1917) was recorded multiple times in the space of less than a year by such stars as Enrico Caruso, Nora Bayes, and Billy Murray. And in 1966, SSgt. Barry Sadler of the U.S. Army Special Forces scored a huge hit recording on the Billboard charts for eleven weeks with "The Ballad of the Green Berets."

Traveling Music
Where would we be without "a little traveling music," as entertainer Jackie Gleason used to say? A British composer, Harry Dacre, composed a little song Called "Daisy Bell" in 1892. The song became the rage under its new title, "A Bicycle Built for Two," and certainly evokes a vivid image of a late Victorian couple on a happy ride through the park.

The introduction of the automobile spurred other songs such as "In My Merry Oldsmobile" (1905), "See the USA in your Chevrolet" (1956), "Little Deuce Coupe" by the Beach Boys in 1963, and any number of other car- and truck-related songs.

"I've Been Working on the Railroad" (1936) and a Johnny Mercer song, "On the Atchinson, Topeka, and the Santa Fe," introduced by Judy Garland in the MGM film, "The Harvey Girls," are just three of the great railroading songs.

The Last Refrain

Many of the songs and musical works I've mentioned are still being performed by professionals and sung, hummed, and whistled by the rest of us, just as they were at the time they were first introduced. Others have been forgotten or have fallen from popularity, ultimately destined for obscurity.

Placing our ancestors' lives into context involves more than just determining a geographical location and time period. We must strive to understand the influences of other people and events on them, their participation in those events, and the minute details of their everyday lives. Music is a treasured form of personal and artistic expression that has existed since very ancient times. It was all around our ancestors just as it is around us. Regardless of the type of music and the venue, it certainly is an integral part of our ancestors' experience and ours.

As you contemplate your ancestors' lives, consider the music of their times and their possible musical tastes. Incorporating period music into your family history, multi-media production will add a great deal to the vintage flavor of the presentation and will help bring their experiences back to life.

Happy Listening!
George

Visit George's website at http://ahaseminars.com/atl for information about speaking engagements. His upcoming appearances include:

• 10 November 2005 - Halifax Genealogical Society (Ormond Beach, Florida)
• 11-12 November 2005 - Vero Beach Book Festival (Vero Beach, Florida) www.verobeachbookfest.com
• 17 November 2005 - Lee County Genealogical Society (Fort Myers, Florida) www.rootsweb.com/~fllcgs
  

George is president of the International Society of Family History Writers and Editors (ISFHWE), a director of the Genealogical Speakers Guild (GSG), a director of the Florida Genealogical Society, Inc. (Tampa), the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG), the National Genealogical Society (NGS), the Society of Genealogists (U.K.), and more than 20 other societies. What about you?

Copyright 2005, MyFamily.com. All rights reserved.

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Ancestry Quick Tip
"Getting Out" Pays Off
Lynda de Nijs

This week's article on "Getting Out" reminded me of one of the most exciting finds I made for my elusive Stewart family in Virginia.

After my mother's death, I was visiting her sister in Virginia. We went to Hanover County just to drive around and get a feel for the place. Neither my mother nor my aunt ever lived there; they were born and grew up in Richmond about twenty-thirty miles away. Nevertheless, we both knew that her father (my grandfather) had been born in Hanover, as had his father.

The county figured prominently in the War Between the States where two different campaigns went through Hanover County. Because of this, I decided to check with the Park Service Office for a map, mostly as away of orienting myself within the county confines.

There were two--one cheap in black & white, another four times more expensive in color. I opted for the cheap one. Imagine my delight that evening at my Aunt's house when I opened this large map to find three Stewart farms with earthworks running through two of them!

That answered another question that was lingering in the back of my mind. Why was my great-great grandfather worth over $3000 in the 1860 census (a considerable sum at the time) and living with his son and worth only $150 in the 1870 census? Having your land fought over and the house possibly shelled (if not fired and destroyed) will leave you much worse off than "before the Yankees came."

I still haven't found my great-great-great-grandfather's father, but I am convinced that I will by reading all I can from whatever sources I can find, and by visiting all the places that I can within these (now) United States.

Thanks to Lynda for today's Quick Tip! If you have a tip you would like to share with researchers, you can send it to: ADNeditor@ancestry.com

Quick Tips may be reprinted, with credit to the submitter, in other Ancestry publications, so if you do not want your tip included in a publication other than the Ancestry Daily News and Ancestry Weekly Digest, please state so clearly in your message.

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Clipping of the Day
Longevity, Indian Rubber
Adams Sentinel (Gettysburg, Pa.), 04 November 1833, page 4:

From the Richmond Enquirer, Oct. 25.
Longevity.--Died, at Braynefield, in Caroline county, on Sunday last, Miss Catharine Rankins, aged one hundred and nine years. She was a native of Port Royal. She distinctly recollected the place where the town was built to have been a wilderness. The wars with the Indians at the foot of the South Western Mountains were freshly impressed on her memory. She recollected with much force the great excitement in Virginia which was caused by Braddock's defeat; while the war of the Revolution was but an event of yesterday. She cherished towards England all the affectionate attachment of the early colonists, and mentioned it only by the endearing epithet of home. To the latest period of her life she was a loyal subject of the sovereigns of England, and viewed Virginia as still in a state of rebellion. Her health until the last month was good, her spirits cheerful, and her mind unimpaired by the pressure of her numerous years.
. . . .
India Rubber.--The tree that produces caoutchouc, or India rubber, which was first introduced into Europe about the beginning of last century, is a native of South America and the West Indies.--This substance is an elastic resin, obtained by making incisions in the stem. The juice is collected as it trickles from the wound, and moulds of clay in the form of bottles are dipped into it. A layer of this juice dries on the clay, and several layers are added till the bottle is of sufficient thickness. It is then beaten to break down the clay, which is easily shaken out. The Indians make boots of Caoutchouc, which are water-proof, and when smoked look like leather. The inhabitants of Quito prepare from it a kind of cloth, which they use as we do oil & sailcloth, and in the West Indies flambeaux are made of it, that burn without a wick; and are used by fishermen when they go out to fish at night.

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Fast Fact
Upcoming Online Genealogy Classes at MyFamily.com

For $29.95 (unless otherwise marked), each class includes:

• Four weeks of lessons and interaction with a genealogy expert.
• 30-day free access to applicable Ancestry.com collections. (For details on which collections will be available, see the individual class descriptions.)
• Tips and advice on how to find ancestors online.
• Lessons through site interaction and worksheets.
• Ability to create your family tree using Online Family Tree software and downloadable genealogy forms.
• Collaboration with other site members to grow your family tree over the course of a year.

To learn more about these classes, see George G. Morgan's article from the 11 July 2003 Ancestry Daily News.

Upcoming Classes

• Scottish Research Class
  10 November 2005 with David W. Webster
• Irish Research Class
  10 November 2005 with Sherry Irvine, CGRS, FSA (Scot)
• Adoption Investigative Course ($199.95)
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• Writing My Family History/Newsletter Class
  17 November 2005 with Cindy Rowzee

More Classes:

• Genealogical Research on the Internet Class, 24 November 2005
• Basic Slovak Genealogy Research Class, 05 January 2006
• United States Great Lakes Region Class, 05 January 2006
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• Basic Family Tree Maker 2006 Class, 05 January 2006

For the complete list of genealogy classes with links, see: www.myfamily.com/gentraining

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Thought for Today
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Music is the universal language of mankind.