MOTHERS DAY : A DAY TO SAY THANK YOU TO THOSE MOTHERLY PERSONS WHO NURTURED YOU

 

It's time to remember the motherly people in your life who raised you.

Ask her some questions about her own mother, your grandmother.

What stories have you never heard before?

MARTHA AND MARIA JEFFERSON ATTEND AN ELITE CATHOLIC GIRLS SCHOOL IN PARIS - THE PANTHEMONT - CISTERCIAN SISTERS

Of great interest to me also was that Jefferson's daughter Martha (the oldest), who went to Paris with him when he represented the United States there, was of Protestant heritage, but went to the most elite Catholic private school for girls, run by nuns. To me this means that Jefferson was not only doing in Paris what a wealthy Parisian might, being in that culture, but that he cared that his daughter have a good education. At one point she was tempted to join the nunnery.  There were other Protestant girls who attended there, including some from England,  The school was called Panthemont.  the Convent School was run by The Abbess, Catherine de Bethisy de Mezieres from 1743-1790. These schools often only taught what was considered necessary to turn out a fine young woman, and the students did not often stay for long, so you might think of them as "finishing" schools.  

Page 44 : "Although some had begun to argue that women also possessed intellectual ability and the capacity for rational thought, pragmatic parents had to groom their daughters for the marriage market that still abhorred the femme savante, a disparaging term for the woman who made herself ridiculous by proudly displaying her learning. 

The dismal state of female education in Paris could also be explained by the short amount of time girls actually spent in formal learning: one study of seven Paris convent schools found that 60 percent of the students attended for less than two years. By 1800, only 27% if French brides could sign their names in the marriage registers, as opposed to 40 % of the English ones

(This book has quite a list of the various books Martha Jefferson was required to read in French literature, books that taught the value of work, the dangers of flattery, and the rarity of true friendship. She was also taught to write letters as a n art. Besides embroidery and needlework, drawing and painting flowers, and so on, the girls learned history, some arithmetic, and geography.  While critics said that female students were just given a bit of understanding of these subjects often reserved just for men, the nuns and the students took their education seriously.  I would also like to mention that there seems to have been an influx of girls being readied for the marriage market and that there might not have been an emphasis of a graduation or completion of studies.)

Page 22: (In particular to Martha's daughter Ellen Randolph...) Ellen considered herself a "bluestocking" that is an elite female thinker. But such women were not sought out as wives. Ellen wrote that her experience, north or south, a woman who 'is believed to have received a useful education is really more welcome than a blue stocking Unitarian democrat.' 

Notes: as Martha's husband Tom Randolph went into more debt, unable to sell property, and taking more bank loans, it became clear that the daughters would not have dowries and there was a concern that they would have to marry well. His financial problems made it impossible for him to provide them with dowries large enough to attract the husbands they would need for their own financial stability.

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THE 800 WOMEN WHO FRENCH CANADIANS ARE DESCENDED FROM

CBC : MOST FRENCH CANADIANS DESCENT FROM 800 WOMEN   Excellent article!

Fur traders and missionaries needed wives and so here came the orphans and the adventurers, ready to take their chances. France decided to appeal to the women through clever marketing, calling them an honorific "Daughters of the King."  One in ten didn't survive the journey across the ocean.  Unlike most women, however, a possible positive was that they got to choose their husbands.  There were about 3000 to choose from.

Excerpt:  For the 800 women who make it, France pays for the women's passage and provides a dowry from the royal treasury.  The women are also given a hope chest containing, among other things, a pair of hose, a pair of shoes, a bonnet, gloves, a comb, a belt and various sewing supplies.

(The dowry was essential for marriage in France.  It came to about $1000. today.)

Excerpt: Two-thirds of toay's French-Canadians can trace their ancestry back to one of these 800 women.  Their influence was felt outside Quebec, as well. Some famous Americans also claim a Fille du Roi as an ancestor, including Hilary Clinton, Madonna, and Angela Jolie.

JUDAISM as MATRIARCHAL CULTURE : JEWISH GENEALOGY

Walking the dog, I got into a conversation with a new neighbor who happens to be an obstetrician and Jewish.  Still delivering babies though well past the usual retirement age, the joke goes that he's seen half the town naked - because he delivered them. Must say, he is up on genetic testing as well as invitro. He mentioned that he delivered a woman's grandchild, she being the surrogate for her daughter. He also told me - and I had not heard this before - WHY Jewish culture is matriarchal.  Simply, "The men were taken away as slaves and the women had to carry on."

Jewish genealogy is extremely popular and there are many cooperative projects.  Some of this, I feel, is part of the urge towards Americans finding their roots after forgetting about them for a couple generations, some of it is surely because of the devastating effect of the Holocaust on the Jewish people. DNA is adding an interesting aspect to genealogical research because some people are using it to try to confirm Jewish ancestry just as some are using it to try and confirm Native American ancestry.

My experience is that while some European Jewish records are superior to Christian records, because they give interesting information not found in most Baptismal records, overall there are special challenges.  For instance the name of the midwife and/or the name of the Rabbi who did a circumcision, which may indicate the congregation or temple a family belonged to, is listed.  This seems to be about a concern that the baby be handled in a kosher way and a certainty of Jewishness.

I once had a student who started the class with a negative attitude, that because her family had all "perished" she could not do genealogy. This is simply not true.  Genealogy like history is so niche specific. At the time I was teaching that class there were websites for people to register themselves as survivors similar to the ones that match birth parents with children they gave up for adoption. I showed this woman where she could let the world know she survived and possibly someone would find her. 

Today I find the Yad Vashem website to be increasingly comprehensive and a wealth of information.

Truly it seems as if there is more information on Jewish people of the holocaust era than ever.

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ARE YOU SPINNING YOUR WHEELS LOOKING FOR NATURALIZATION PAPERS THAT DON'T EXIST?

If you've been spinning your wheels looking for naturalization papers for an ancestor who came before 1906 I may be able to help you. 

Here is the NARA LINK TO EXPLAIN IT http://www.archives.gov/research/naturalization/naturalization.html 


HERE IS THE IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT NATURALIZATION THAT MAY HELP YOU EITHER STOP YOUR SEARCH or LOOK IN FEDERAL or CIRCUIT COURT PAPERS!

EXCERPT:

Exceptions to the General Rule (*of having to live in the U.S. for two years, make a Declaration of Intent, then live for another 5 years proving yourself worthy and begin the process!)


Having stated this "two-step, 5-year" general rule, it is necessary to note several exceptions.
The first major exception was that "derivative" citizenship was granted to wives and minor children of naturalized men. From 1790 to 1922, wives of naturalized men automatically became citizens. This also meant that an alien woman who married a U.S. citizen automatically became a citizen. (Conversely, an American woman who married an alien lost her U.S. citizenship, even if she never left the United States.) From 1790 to 1940, children under the age of 21 automatically became naturalized citizens upon the naturalization of their father. Unfortunately, however, names and biographical information about wives and children are rarely included in declarations or petitions filed before September 1906. ...

(*So look at those birth dates everyone!)

The second major exception to the general rule was that, from 1824 to 1906, minor aliens who had lived in the United States 5 years before their 23rd birthday could file both their declarations and petitions at the same time. ...  (*that means they could arrive at the age of 18 or less and just do it!)
 
The third major exception to the general rule was the special consideration given to veterans. An 1862 law allowed honorably discharged Army veterans of any war to petition for naturalization--without previously having filed a declaration of intent--after only 1 year of residence in the United States. An 1894 law extended the same no-previous-declaration privilege to honorably discharged 5-year veterans of the Navy or Marine Corps. Over 192,000 aliens were naturalized between May 9, 1918, and June 30, 1919, under an act of May 9, 1918, that allowed aliens serving in the U.S. armed forces during "the present war" to file a petition for naturalization without making a declaration of intent or proving 5 years' residence. Laws enacted in 1919, 1926, 1940, and 1952 continued various preferential treatment provisions for veterans.

* my notes and THANKS TO BETTY at NARA New York City

U.S WAR BRIDES : MICHELE THOMAS SITE : FOR THE WOMEN WHO CAME TO THE US AS BRIDES AFTER WORLD WAR II

US WAR BRIDES link - site by Michele Thomas

There are testimonials here: "This is the largest immigration of women to ever come to the U.S. They left their families and everything they knew behind for the love of a soldier. Many of these brides knew that they would never see family and friends again. These brides hoped for a better life, some had a wonderful life while many did not. Fear of never being able to see their children if they left plus the lack of money keep them here."

NATIONAL ARCHIVES ON WOMEN BECOMING INSTANT CITIZENS OR NOT!

"In general, immigrant women have always had the right to become U.S. citizens, but not every court honored that right. Since the mid-nineteenth century a succession of laws worked to keep certain women out of naturalization records, either by granting them derivative citizenship or barring their naturalization altogether."


THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES IS THE ULTIMATE AUTHORITY when it comes to using their records, and naturalization papers may be nonexistent for your female immigrant ancestor.

Link to a good read about this issue now!