The Oxford Historical Society of Connecticut will be having an open house on May 5 and 6, which is next weekend. There are a lot of activities which are planned for.
A special event on Saturday at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. will be the appearance of David Loda, portraying Colonel David Humphreys, aide de camp to General Washington during the Revolution. While serving as ambassador in Europe he arranged to import Merino sheep. This breed is known for its excellent fiber and good size. With the introduction of the improved breeding from these sheep, local farmers were able to produce more wool and meat. Humphreys established America’s first woolen mill in Humphreysville, the area that later became Seymour.
On both Saturday and Sunday the Opening will feature sheep shearing demonstrations at 1 p.m. There will also be demonstrations on spinning. In addition felting will also be demonstrated.
You can find out more details by visiting the societies Web site: Oxford Historical Society
If you are in the area stop by and learn what the society has to offer in turns of genealogy materials for your local Oxford Connecticut ancestors.
This photo comes from a 19th century Sanders & Fryher Photo album. If you can identify the date, age of the individual or who the person is, please post a remark about it.
If you have Virginia ancestors, I stumbled across a website you might want to check out. The website is called Virginia Memory . It is from the Library of Virginia. This website has a vast collection of digitial materials.
Some of these materials include;
- Virginia History and Culture – War of 1812 Bicentennial Collection
- Biographical and Genealogical – S. Bassett French Biographical Sketches
- Maps and Architecture – Alan M. Voorhees Map Collection
- County and City Research – Chancery Records Index
- African American Resources – Cohabitation Registers
- Military Service – Revolutiionary War Virginia State Pensions
- Military Service – Robert E. Lee Camp Confederate Soldiers’ Home Applications for Admission
- Newspapers – R. M. S. Titanic: Ninety-Nine Years Later
- Historic Virgina Government – Early Virginia Religious Petitions, 1774-1802
- Web Archiving – Jamestown 2007 Commemoration Collection
- Photograph Collections – 1939 World’s Fair Photograph Collection
- Land Office Patents & Grants – Virginia Land Office Patents and Grants/Northern Neck Grants and Surveys
Many of these digital collections would be hard to find or utilize without the Library of Virginia making them available on-line. Some collections such as the Cohabitation Registers might provide the only documentation of a marriage of colored persons after the Civil War. Here’s the website description of this collection; “A cohabitation register, or as it is properly titled, Register of Colored Persons…cohabiting together as Husband and Wife on 27th February 1866, was the legal vehicle by which former slaves legitimized both their marriages and their children. …”.
If you have Virginia ancestors, it would be well worth your time to explore Virginia Memory .
This photo comes from a 19th century Sanders & Fryher Photo album. If you can identify the date, age of the individual or who the person is, please post a remark about it.
