No, the U.S. Capitol isn’t on the list of excess buildings, but the folks who work inside would have to sign off on plans before the government can sell any available buildings off. (Andrew Harrer - BLOOMBERG) The federal government owns at least 12,000 structures it no longer needs, and the White House is unveiling plans today that could eventually save taxpayers about $15 billion by getting rid of them.    

If enacted by Congress, the Obama administration’s proposal would establish a panel of seven experts modeled on the military’s Base Closure and Realignment Commission to review the thousands of addresses. Officials with the Office of Management and Budget are scheduled to share more details with reporters later Wednesday.  

The federal government is the nation’s largest land owner, with an annual building operation and maintenance budget running more than $20 billion, according to the White House.  

As part of the plan, the feds are publishing a new database that allows users to search down to the street level to locate extra buildings the government is ready to sell or divest.  

According to the database (which doesn’t permit you to link to specific properties), there’s a 121,299-square foot building available in downtown Bethesda, at the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and Old Georgetown Road. There are also 176 excess properties in Beltsville--mostly storage sheds, warehouses and utility buildings on the campus of the Henry A. Wallace Agricultural Research Center.  

In some cases, administration officials familiar with the plans but unauthorized to speak on the record said late Tuesday, the government hopes to sell the properties at market value. But in many cases, the structures — like those storage sheds in Beltsville — would either be demolished or handed over to state or local government agencies for their use, because it wouldn’t be prudent to sell individual storage sheds on government property to private owners.  

Part of the administration's proposed reforms include finding a way to merge more than a dozen laws dictating how the federal government can sell its property, administration officials said. One of the laws, for example, requires agencies to consider converting excess structures into local homeless shelters.  

If enacted as-is by Congress (always a big if), the White House’s plans would require the panel of property experts to review property owned by civilian agencies. They would not consider military structures, buildings involved in national or homeland security, national parks, wildlife refuges, or historic sites, the White House said.  

The plans have the early support of Sen. Thomas R. Carper (D-Del.), who said last month that he’s considering them as part of legislation he was already writing. “Clearly this is an area where the federal government gets better results for less money by reducing the amount of property we own and by better managing the property we keep,” Carper said.  

TODAY'S TV SCHEDULE

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

4 p.m. Cleveland at L.A. Angels FOXSP2

NBA BASKETBALL

2 p.m. Chicago at New York TNT

4:30 p.m. San Antonio at L.A. Lakers TNT/FOXSP

NHL HOCKEY

2 p.m. Draft Lottery VERSUS

SOCCER

8:30 a.m. UEFA Champs. League quarters: Shakhtar Donetsk vs. Barcelona FOXSP

WEDNESDAY'S TV SCHEDULE

HORSE RACING

9 a.m. Trackside Live! FOXSP2

MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

1 p.m. Philadelphia at Washington ESPN2

2 p.m. Chicago Cubs at Houston WGN

4 p.m. L.A. Dodgers at San Francisco FOXSP2

NBA BASKETBALL

2 p.m. New Orleans at Dallas ESPN

4:30 p.m. Memphis at L.A. Clippers ESPN/FOXSP

NHL HOCKEY

1 p.m. Playoffs: Phoenix at Detroit (conference quarterfinals) VERSUS

4 p.m. Playoffs: Chicago at Vancouver (conference quarterfinals) VERSUS

MONDAY'S BIIF RESULTS

BOYS VOLLEYBALL

Varsity

St. Joseph at Kamehameha, 6 p.m.

Pahoa def. Keaau 25-17, 25-14, 16-25, 32-30

Waiakea def. Ka'u 25-16, 25-15, 25-20

TODAY'S BIIF SCHEDULE

BASEBALL

Honokaa at Kohala, 3 p.m.

SOFTBALL

Waiakea at Keaau, 3 p.m.

Ka'u at Kamehameha, 3 p.m.

Honokaa at Kealakehe, 3 p.m.

Hawaii Prep at Konawaena, 3 p.m.

SOCCER

MLS GLANCE

EASTERN CONFERENCE

W L OT Pts GF GA

Philadelphia 3 1 0 9 3 1

New England 1 1 3 6 5 6

Houston 1 1 2 5 5 4

New York 1 1 2 5 2 2

Toronto FC 1 1 2 5 6 6

Columbus 1 1 2 5 3 3

Chicago 1 1 1 4 5 5

Sporting Kansas City 1 1 1 4 8 8

D.C. 1 2 1 4 6 8

WESTERN CONFERENCE

W L T Pts GF GA

Real Salt Lake 3 0 0 9 7 1

Colorado 3 1 0 9 8 5

Los Angeles 2 1 2 8 5 6

Vancouver 1 2 2 5 9 10

San Jose 1 1 2 5 5 4

Seattle 1 2 2 5 5 6

FC Dallas 1 2 1 4 4 5

Chivas USA 0 2 2 2 3 5

Portland 0 2 1 1 2 6

NOTE: Three points for victory, one point for tie.

Saturday's results

Seattle FC 2, Chicago 1

Philadelphia 1, New York 0

D.C. United 1, Los Angeles 1, tie

Real Salt Lake 2, New England 0

San Jose 1, Toronto FC 1, tie

Chivas USA 0, Columbus 0, tie

Sunday's result

Houston 3, Vancouver 1

Wednesday's games

Los Angeles at Toronto FC, 2 p.m.

Colorado at Real Salt Lake, 3 p.m.

Thursday's game

Chicago at Portland, 5 p.m.

HOCKEY

NHL DAILY PLAYOFF GLANCE

FIRST ROUND

(Best-of-7)

x-if necessary

Wednesday's games

Phoenix at Detroit, 1 p.m.

Tampa Bay at Pittsburgh, 1 p.m.

N.Y. Rangers at Washington, 1:30 p.m.

Chicago at Vancouver, 4 p.m.

Nashville at Anaheim, 4:30 p.m.

Thursday's games

Montreal at Boston, 1 p.m.

Buffalo at Philadelphia, 1:30 p.m.

Los Angeles at San Jose, 4 p.m.

Friday's games

Tampa Bay at Pittsburgh, 1 p.m.

N.Y. Rangers at Washington, 1:30 p.m.

Chicago at Vancouver, 4 p.m.

Nashville at Anaheim, 4:30 p.m.

Saturday's games

Phoenix at Detroit, 1 p.m.

Buffalo at Philadelphia, 11 a.m.

Montreal at Boston, 1 p.m.

Los Angeles at San Jose, 4 p.m.

Sunday's games

Washington at N.Y. Rangers, 3 p.m.

Anaheim at Nashville, noon

Vancouver at Chicago, 2 p.m.

Monday, April 12

Philadelphia at Buffalo, 1 p.m.

Boston at Montreal, 1:30 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Tampa Bay, 1:30 p.m.

Detroit at Phoenix, 4:30 p.m.

Tuesday, April 19

Vancouver at Chicago, 2 p.m.

San Jose at Los Angeles, 4:30 p.m.

Wednesday, April 20

Washington at N.Y. Rangers, 1 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Tampa Bay, 1 p.m.

Philadelphia at Buffalo, 1:30 p.m.

Anaheim at Nashville, 2:30 p.m.

Detroit at Phoenix, 4:30 p.m.

Thursday, April 21

Boston at Montreal, 1 p.m.

x-Chicago at Vancouver, 4 p.m.

San Jose at Los Angeles, 4:30 p.m.

Friday, April 22

x-Phoenix at Detroit, 1 p.m.

x-Buffalo at Philadelphia, 1:30 p.m.

x-Nashville at Anaheim, 4 p.m.

Saturday, April 23

x-N.Y. Rangers at Washington, 3 p.m.

x-Montreal at Boston, 1 p.m.

x-Los Angeles at San Jose, 4:30 p.m.

x-Tampa Bay at Pittsburgh, TBD

Sunday, April 24

x-Philadelphia at Buffalo, 3 p.m.

x-Vancouver at Chicago, 1:30 p.m.

x-Anaheim at Nashville, TBD

x-Detroit at Phoenix, TBD

Monday, April 25

x-Washington at N.Y. Rangers, TBD

x-Pittsburgh at Tampa Bay, TBD

x-San Jose at Los Angeles, TBD

Tuesday, April 26

x-Buffalo at Philadelphia, TBD

x-Boston at Montreal, TBD

x-Chicago at Vancouver, TBD

x-Nashville at Anaheim, TBD

Wednesday, April 27

x-Montreal at Boston TBD

x-N.Y. Rangers at Washington, TBD

x-Tampa Bay at Pittsburgh, TBD

x-Phoenix at Detroit, TBD

x-Los Angeles at San Jose, TBD

GOLF

PGA TOUR STATISTICS

Scoring Average

1, Luke Donald, 69.28. 2, Nick Watney, 69.56. 3, Brian Gay, 69.75. 4, Matt Kuchar, 69.76. 5, Spencer Levin, 69.78. 6, Jimmy Walker, 69.92. 7, Steve Stricker, 69.93. 8, Charl Schwartzel, 69.95. 9, Phil Mickelson, 69.99. 10, 2 tied with 70.00.

Driving Distance

1, J.B. Holmes, 311.7. 2, Bubba Watson, 308.2. 3, Dustin Johnson, 307.6. 4, Robert Garrigus, 302.1. 5, Gary Woodland, 300.9. 6, Angel Cabrera, 300.7. 7, Martin Laird, 299.6. 8, Steven Bowditch, 298.9. 9, Jason Gore, 298.8. 10, Scott Stallings, 297.4.

Driving Accuracy Percentage

1, Brian Gay, 78.96%. 2, Ben Curtis, 77.70%. 3, David Toms, 74.75%. 4, Jerry Kelly, 74.43%. 5, Zach Johnson, 74.11%. 6, Heath Slocum, 73.71%. 7, Justin Hicks, 73.60%. 8, Joe Durant, 72.03%. 9, Rocco Mediate, 71.91%. 10, John Merrick, 71.17%.

Greens in Regulation Pct.

1, Justin Rose, 73.61%. 2, Bubba Watson, 73.18%. 3, Ben Crane, 73.15%. 4, Kevin Sutherland, 72.71%. 5, Steve Elkington, 72.57%. 6, Heath Slocum, 72.44%. 7 (tie), Bill Lunde and Boo Weekley, 72.22%. 9, Chad Campbell, 72.04%. 10, David Toms, 71.97%.

Total Driving

1, Boo Weekley, 39. 2, John Merrick, 40. 3, Bo Van Pelt, 72. 4, Bubba Watson, 87. 5 (tie), Tom Gillis, Chez Reavie and Peter Tomasulo, 90. 8, Keegan Bradley, 93. 9, Steve Marino, 99. 10, Adam Scott, 100.

Putting Average

1, Luke Donald, 1.703. 2, Rickie Fowler, 1.709. 3, Steve Stricker, 1.711. 4 (tie), Greg Chalmers and Brandt Snedeker, 1.718. 6 (tie), Cameron Beckman and Nick Watney, 1.719. 8, Kevin Na, 1.721. 9 (tie), Chris Couch and Lucas Glover, 1.724.

Birdie Average

1, Dustin Johnson, 4.68. 2, Nick Watney, 4.58. 3, Steve Stricker, 4.54. 4, Phil Mickelson, 4.53. 5, J.B. Holmes, 4.50. 6, Hunter Mahan, 4.44. 7, Webb Simpson, 4.38. 8, Gary Woodland, 4.36. 9 (tie), Matt Kuchar and Ben Crane, 4.33.

Eagles (Holes per)

1, Sunghoon Kang, 41.1. 2, Scott McCarron, 54.0. 3, Derek Lamely, 69.0. 4, Fred Couples, 72.0. 5, Kevin Stadler, 74.3. 6, Bobby Gates, 74.6. 7, Bo Van Pelt, 81.0. 8, Scott Stallings, 82.8. 9, Brandt Snedeker, 84.0. 10, Bill Haas, 84.9.

Sand Save Percentage

1, Brian Gay, 79.17%. 2, Rod Pampling, 73.33%. 3, Retief Goosen, 72.73%. 4, D.J. Brigman, 72.41%. 5, Graeme McDowell, 66.67%. 6, K.J. Choi, 66.04%. 7, Paul Casey, 65.22%. 8, Fred Couples, 65.00%. 9, Jerry Kelly, 64.71%. 10, Greg Chalmers, 64.15%.

All-Around Ranking

1, Nick Watney, 300. 2, Matt Kuchar, 330. 3, Justin Rose, 355. 4, Chris Couch, 367. 5, Hunter Mahan, 377. 6, Gary Woodland, 380. 7, Martin Laird, 394. 8, David Toms, 408. 9, Brandt Snedeker, 413. 10, Webb Simpson, 419.

PGA TOUR Official Money Leaders

1, Mark Wilson (10), $2,430,825. 2, Nick Watney (7), $2,304,400. 3, Phil Mickelson (9), $2,161,531. 4, Luke Donald (5), $2,138,467. 5, Gary Woodland (10), $2,034,530. 6, Martin Laird (9), $1,984,963. 7, Aaron Baddeley (10), $1,887,116. 8, Matt Kuchar (9), $1,836,173. 9, Charl Schwartzel (6), $1,766,104. 10, Bubba Watson (9), $1,752,817.

LPGA TOUR STATISTICS

Scoring

1, Yani Tseng, 69.84. 2, I.K. Kim, 70.69. 3, Karrie Webb, 70.79. 4, Jean Reynolds, 71.00. 5, Sandra Gal, 71.07. 6, Cristie Kerr, 71.29. 7, Stacy Lewis, 71.32. 8, Michelle Wie, 71.44. 9, Paula Creamer, 71.53. 10 (tie), Amelia Lewis and Jenny Suh, 71.67.

Driving Distance

1, Nicole Hage, 265.5. 2, Sara Brown, 264.8. 3, Gerina Piller, 263.2. 4, Jessica Korda, 262.0. 5, Kimberly Kim, 257.8. 6, Dewi Claire Schreefel, 256.2. 7, Alison Whitaker, 255.5. 8, Samantha Richdale, 254.0. 9, Harukyo Nomura, 253.5. 10, Diana D'Alessio, 253.2.

Greens in Regulation Pct.

1, Momoko Ueda, 76.40%. 2, Catriona Matthew, 75.00%. 3, Jiyai Shin, 74.70%. 4, Suzann Pettersen, 74.30%. 5 (tie), Shanshan Feng and Angela Stanford, 73.70%. 7, Maria Hjorth, 72.90%. 8 (tie), Michelle Wie, Paula Creamer and Yani Tseng, 72.20%.

Putting Average

1, Jean Reynolds, 1.467. 2, Jenny Suh, 1.478. 3, Nannette Hill, 1.517. 4, Jennifer Song, 1.567. 5, Jessica Shepley, 1.621. 6, Cristie Kerr, 1.673. 7, Sophie Gustafson, 1.677. 8, Juli Inkster, 1.690. 9, Jennifer Johnson, 1.692. 10, Sandra Gal, 1.694.

Sand Save Percentage

1, I.K. Kim, 1.000. 2, Yani Tseng, .800. 3, Michelle Wie, .750. 4, Mindy Kim, .667. 5 (tie), Karrie Webb, Morgan Pressel and Cristie Kerr, .600. 8 (tie), Catriona Matthew, Suzann Pettersen, Sandra Gal and Na Yeon Choi, .500.

Rounds Under Par

1 (tie), Tiffany Joh and Teresa Lu, 1.000. 3, Giulia Sergas, .800. 4, Yani Tseng, .737. 5, Karrie Webb, .684. 6 (tie), Chella Choi and Jean Reynolds, .667. 8, Cristie Kerr, .647. 9, Sun Young Yoo, .632. 10, Michelle Wie, .625.

Eagles

1, Karen Stupples, 4. 2 (tie), Juli Inkster, Brittany Lincicome, Sophie Gustafson, Angela Stanford, Na Yeon Choi and Amy Yang, 3. 8 (tie), Sandra Gal and Morgan Pressel, 2. 10, 33 tied with 1.

Birdies

1, Yani Tseng, 90. 2, Karrie Webb, 77. 3, I.K. Kim, 75. 4 (tie), Cristie Kerr and Stacy Lewis, 69. 6, Paula Creamer, 68. 7, Jiyai Shin, 66. 8, Sun Young Yoo, 64. 9 (tie), Juli Inkster, Song-Hee Kim and Morgan Pressel, 63.

Top 10 Finishes

1, I.K. Kim, 1.000. 2, Yani Tseng, .800. 3, Michelle Wie, .750. 4, Mindy Kim, .667. 5 (tie), Karrie Webb, Morgan Pressel and Cristie Kerr, .600. 8 (tie), Catriona Matthew, Suzann Pettersen, Sandra Gal and Na Yeon Choi, .500.

TRANSACTIONS

BASEBALL

American League

MLB--Suspended Philadelphia minor league LHP Ryan Sasaki (GCL) 50 games for an elevated testosterone/epitestosterone ratio. Suspended Kansas City minor league 2B Justin Trapp (Kane County-MWL) 50 games after testing positive for phentermine. Suspended minor league free agent RHP Robinson Fabian 25 games for a violation of the minor league drug prevention and treatment program.

American League

OAKLAND ATHLETICS--Agreed to terms with RHP Trevor Cahill on a five-year contract.

National League

MILWAUKEE BREWERS--Activated C Jonathan Lucroy from the 15-day DL. Designated OF Jeremy Reed for assignment.

NEW YORK METS--Optioned OF Lucas Duda to Buffalo (IL). Designated RHP Blaine Boyer for assignment. Selected the contracts of RHP Jason Isringhausen from Port St. Lucie (FSL) and RHP Ryota Igarashi from Buffalo.

SAN DIEGO PADRES--Activated RHP Mat Latos from the 15-day DL. Optioned LHP Wade LeBlanc to Tucson (PCL).

American Association

FARGO-MOORHEAD REDHAWKS--Traded LHP Matt Zoltak, cash and future considerations to Rockford (North American) for OF Jason James.

FORT WORTH CATS--Signed INF Brian Bistagne, INF Isa Garcia and RHP Matt Sartor.

GRAND PRAIRIE AIRHOGS--Signed RHP Jae Jung. Traded LHP Daniel Schmidt to Brockton (Can-Am) for a player to be named.

KANSAS CITY T-BONES--Signed RHP Andy Shipman.

LINCOLN SALTDOGS--Signed LHP Thomas Palica and RHP Alex Maestri. Released INF Juan Camacho.

SIOUX CITY EXPLORERS--Signed OF Wally Backman.

SIOUX FALLS PHEASANTS--Signed C Henry Contreras.

ST. PAUL SAINTS--Signed LHP Edwin Walker.

WINNIPEG GOLDEYES--Signed RHP John Mariotti and RHP Aaron Hartsock. Released RHP Stephen Flake.

Atlantic League

LONG ISLAND DUCKS--Signed RHP Duaner Sanchez and OF Sean Smith.

Can-Am League

BROCKTON ROX--Signed RHP Jake Hale and OF Chris Valencia.

NEWARK BEARS--Signed UTL Ramon A. Nivar.

PITTSFIELD COLONIALS--Signed OF Billy Mottram and RHP Adam Ortiz-Jusino.

ROCKLAND BOULDERS--Signed RHP John Muller.

Frontier League

EVANSVILLE OTTERS--Released C Chad Clemons.

FLORENCE FREEDOM--Signed LHP Mike Hanley.

GATEWAY GRIZZLIES--Signed OF Devin Shepherd.

NORMAL CORNBELTERS--Signed RHP Liam Ohlmann.

RIVER CITY RASCALS--Signed RHP Brandon Cunniff and LHP Zach Robertson. Traded OF Caleb Curry to Rockford for a player to be named.

TRAVERSE CITY BEACH BUMS--Signed RHP Rob Gariano.

WINDY CITY THUNDERBOLTS--Signed RHP Bryant Cotton and SS Chris Wade.

North American League

YUMA SCORPIONS--Named Jose Canseco player-manager and Ozzie Canseco player-coach.

BASKETBALL

National Basketball Association

HOUSTON ROCKETS--Signed C Marcus Cousin and assigned him to Rio Grande Valley (NBADL). Recalled C Hasheem Thabeet from Rio Grande Valley. Waived F DeMarre Carroll.

Women's National Basketball Association

CONNECTICUT SUN--Traded the draft rights to G Sydney Colson to New York for F Kalana Greene.

MINNESOTA LYNX--Traded the draft rights to F Jessica Breland to New York for the draft rights to G Angel Robinson and a 2012 second-round draft pick.

PHOENIX MERCURY--Traded the draft rights to G Tahnee Robinson to Connecticut for a 2012 third-round draft pick.

FOOTBALL

National Football League

MINNESOTA WILD--Fired coach Todd Richards.

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS--Agreed to terms with general manager Mark Dominik on a four-year contract extension.

HOCKEY

National Hockey League

CAROLINA HURRICANES--Reassigned F Drayson Bowman to Charlotte (AHL).

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS--Signed D Joe Lavin to a two-year contract. Recalled F Jeff Taffe, D Jassen Cullimore, D Garnet Exelby and G Hannu Toivonen from Rockford (AHL).

DALLAS STARS--Assigned F Tomas Vincour and D Brad Lukowich to Texas (AHL).

MINNESOTA WILD--Fired coach Todd Richards.

VANCOUVER CANUCKS--Called up F Cody Hodgson and F Victor Oreskovich from Manitoba (AHL).

WASHINGTON CAPITALS--Signed RW Mike Knuble to a one-year contract extension.

American Hockey League

MANITOBA MOOSE--Signed G Steve Christie.

ECHL

ECHL--Suspended Idaho's Geoff Irwin and Cody Lampl one game each and fined them an undisclosed amount as a result of their actions in an April 9 game against Las Vegas. Fined Kalamazoo's Darryl Lloyd an undisclosed amount as a result of his actions in an April 8 game against Florida.

COLLEGE

ARIZONA--Named Eric Hansen swimming and diving coach.

DAYTON--Named Kevin Kuwik men's assistant basketball coach.

FLORIDA--Suspended men's basketball F Erik Murphy and F Cody Larson following their arrest on felony burglary charges.

MANHATTAN--Named Steve Masiello men's basketball coach.

MISSOURI--Signed women's basketball coach Robin Pingeton to a one-year contract extension through 2016.

MOUNT UNION--Named Mike Fuline men's basketball coach.

PFEIFFER--Announced volleyball coach Ben Guiliano has accepted the same position at Keuka. Named Steve Bintz men's and women's volleyball coach.

WISCONSIN--Named Bobbie Kelsey women's basketball coach.

AUTO RACING

NASCAR SPRINT CUP POINTS LEADERS

Through April 9

1. Carl Edwards, 256.

2. Kyle Busch, 247.

3. Matt Kenseth, 243.

4. Jimmie Johnson, 243.

5. Kurt Busch, 240.

6. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 235.

7. Ryan Newman, 233.

8. Juan Pablo Montoya, 232.

9. Kevin Harvick, 228.

10. Tony Stewart, 213.

11. Paul Menard, 209.

12. Clint Bowyer, 201.

13. A J Allmendinger, 193.

14. Jeff Gordon, 192.

15. Mark Martin, 189.

16. Kasey Kahne, 186.

17. David Ragan, 185.

18. Greg Biffle, 183.

19. Marcos Ambrose, 175.

20. Denny Hamlin, 174.

21. Martin Truex Jr., 160.

22. Brad Keselowski, 159.

23. Bobby Labonte, 157.

24. Jamie McMurray, 157.

25. Jeff Burton, 156.

26. Brian Vickers, 149.

27. David Reutimann, 144.

28. Joey Logano, 144.

29. David Gilliland, 114.

30. Regan Smith, 112.

31. Robby Gordon, 104.

32. Casey Mears, 93.

33. Dave Blaney, 87.

34. Bill Elliott, 82.

35. Tony Raines, 81.

36. Andy Lally, 73.

37. Ken Schrader, 44.

38. Terry Labonte, 30.

39. J.J. Yeley, 26.

40. Michael McDowell, 25.

41. Michael Waltrip, 4.

42. Brian Keselowski, 3.

Back on February 6th I came up with the idea of the Civil War Genealogy
Blog Challenge as a way to mark the 150th anniversary of the start of the
Civil War on 12Apr 1861:

Did you have ancestors in America on 12Apr 1861? If so, where were they
and what were their circumstances? How did the Civil War affect them and
their family? Did the men enlist and did they perish in battle or die of illness?
On which side did they fight, or did you have relatives fighting on BOTH sides?
How did the women left at home cope, or did any of them find ways to help
the war effort? Were your ancestors living as slaves on Southern plantations
and if so when were they freed?  Or were they freemen of color who enlisted
to fight?


If your ancestors had not emigrated to America as yet, what was their life
like around the time of the Civil War?

The 150 year celebration of the Civil War is a great source for those of us
blogging about our family history. So, let's do a little research over the coming
weeks between now and April 12th. Find out the answers to the questions
I asked and write about them. Or if you think of another topic to do with your
family history and the Civil War, write about that. Send me the link when you
publish it on your blog, and on April 12th I'll publish all the links here.

 Well, quite a few of you rose to the challenge and I now present to you the
results! So get comfortable with your drink of choice and get ready for 
some excellent reading!


Dorene at Graveyard Rabbit of Sandusky Bay was the first to respond to the
challenge with the story of The Civil War Service of Great Grandma Irene's
Grandfathers, Patrick Larkins and James Cross.

Angela Y. Walton Walton-Raji has an excellent entire blog devoted to telling
the African American Civil War story. It's called The USCT Chronicle and
it's great reading!


James Alexander Meek and Nathaniel C Callaway were Dee Burris’ direct
ancestors and she details their Civil War stories in two posts at her Shakin’ 
the Family Tree blog. Then she talks about how the War affected her various
family lines in Civil War Sesquicentennial Challenge.

Over at Nutfield Genealogy Heather Wilkinson Rojo tells the story of a distant
relation who was an officer in the Mass. 54th Regiment, the subject of the movie
Glory. Read her Captain Luis Emilio and a Brave Black Regiment to learn more!
Heather also shares a list of other Civil War era relations, some of whom she's
already blogged about, in The Civil War's 150th Anniversary.


The role of German immigrants in the Civil War was an important one. Roger
Moffat’s wife has a German immigrant ancestor who fought at the Battle of
Chancellorville and Roger shares his story in An Ancestor Honoured over at
Roger’s Ramblings.

Some medals in a box have prompted Cheryl at the Two Sides of the Ocean
geneablog to look into the mystery as to whether her own German immigrant
ancestors was a Civil War veteran. She begins her investigation in Civil War
Ancestor? A New Mystery!

Kevin Walker’s ancestor died in a tragic train wreck six weeks after enlisting.
In The Death of Henry Martin Walker, Sr (1829-1865)Kevin provides us with
eyewitness accounts at his blog, Who We Were, Are, & Will Be Our Family.

Kevin Harris is devoting a whole blog, An Indiana Soldier, to his great great
Grandfather Lewis Kinsey Harris’ Civil War experiences. He begins with
Who Was L.K. Harris? . Check it out!

Kathy Reed has written eight posts concerned with the Civil War at her blog
Family Matters. Two concern the death of her ancestor Britton Wainwright
(Part One & Part Two). Another deals with her relative Robert William Darby
who was a crew-member of an ironclad ship, and another discusses relative
Joseph Bickerdyke Darby . I look forward to reading more!

Janeen of They Came in Ships put together a list of her relatives who fought in
the War and you can see it at her post, Civil War Week . She certainly has plenty
of blog material there!

Ancestry.com opened their Civil War records up for free this past week and Frances
Elizabeth Schwab was excited with what she found out about two ancestors there.
She talks about it in Civil War Ancestors-One Young, One Old(ish) at her Fantastic
Electrisoil blog.


Many Civil War soldiers developed medical conditions that would persist throughout
their lives. Shelley Bishop’s 3x great grandfather was such a one and she tells us
about it in Newell King, 91st Ohio Volunteer Infantry at A Sense of Family.


“Across the Pond” in England Julie Goucher is exploring the possibility that a
relative of her husband emigrated to America and made a fortune as a
gunsmith during the Civil War. She describes the start of her research into
the story in The Civil War Genealogy Blog Challenge at Anglers Rest.

Greta Koehl sets out the list of those of her ancestors who fought in the War
and as she says, “it’s a big honking article” with a lot of interesting facts. It’s at
The Civil War and My Ancestors at Greta’s Genealogy Blog.

Leah of Leah’s Family Tree shows us how the Civil War divided families in her
post The Mason Family and The Civil War.


Susan of Nolichucky Roots has decided to go with a Civil War Saturday approach
which I like a lot. She gives an overview with Civil War Saturdays- the war brought
home.

Linda McCauley’s 2xgreat grandfather John T, Bennett was a Confederate captured bythe Northern army . Linda gives a biography of him at John T.Bennett-41st Georgia
Infantry on Documenting the Details.


Jenny Lanctot’s cousin John W Crow likewise was a Confederate soldier
captured by Yankees after surviving many battles. H was not as fortunate as Linda’s
ancestor had been as you’ll read in Cpl. John W. Crow, 10th Alabama Infantry, 
Company A, 1841-1865 at Are My Roots Showing?


Jennifer Woods got the chance to visit some of the Civil War battlefields last year
and she has some great photos and documents on both her and her husband’s
ancestors who served in the War. You can real all about it at Our Ancestors in the 
Civil War on Climbing My Family Tree.

Over at Apple's Tree Apple goes through her list of cousins and relatives whose
lives were effected by the War and how she plans to explore their stories. The
post is called Civil War Stories.

Thomas L Davis was the great great grandfather of Debbie Blanton McCoy. He
enlisted in the Confederate army in 1862, and Debbie tells us of his brief military
career in Thomas L. Davis, Civil War Vet at her blog Blanton Family Roots &
Branches.

What started out as possibly two or three posts by Carol A. Bowen Stevens on
the mystery surrounding the fate of her ancestor Alfred Darden turned into a<</span>!> fascinating four parter over at
Reflections From the Fence. Start reading it with
Alfred Darden, Civil War Soldier Mystery, His Family .

Jean Wilcox Hibben's 2x great grandfather Nathan W. Wilcox was a Union
soldier who helped rebuild Tennessee after the War. Jean tells us about his
life and about how her family replaced his missing headstone in
Tombstone
Tuesday-17 August 2010-remembering a forgotten grave, Nathan W. Wilcox. at her blog,
Circlemending.
When Linda Hughes Hiser's Dad was a Civil War buff who taught a seminar
on the War at his retirement village. This prompted Linda to research his
ancestry. What she found and how she presented it to him makes a great
read over at the
Flipside blogpost, The American Civil War Genealogy 
Challenge--Where Are My Paternal Bluecoats?

When Sara Byron Jeffers emailed me with a question about this challenge,
she mentioned that the ancestor she would write about was named Charles
Barker Todd from Massachusetts. It turns out Sara and I are distant cousins
through my own Barker line! Read how Sara plans to approach researching
and writing about Charles in
The Civil War Genealogy Blog Challenge at
Musings &amp; Meanderings ,

Peggy Ingles has an interesting post about her 2x great grandfather Hamilton
Ingles and the battles he took part in at
Civil War Sesquicentennial on her blog,
Collecting dead relatives,,,and live cousins!

At
My Tapley Tree...and its Branches you'll find Liz' Military Monday:
My Civil War Ancestors with lots of information and some great photos.


As for myself, I'm exploring the pension file of my 2x great grandfather
Asa Freeman Ellingwood, beginning with
Asa Ellingwood's Pension File
Part1 here on West in New England
And finally, Karen Packard Rhodes tells us "the rest of the story" for two Civil
War ancestors who she previously blogged about in the post
Bill West's Civil
War Genealogy Challenge at K aren About Genealogy. (P.S. It's also Karen's birthday today, so Happy Birthday, Karen!!)


That concludes the Civil War Genealogy Challenge, but remember, we have
four years worth of history that can provide you with lots of information about
your ancestors that you can blog about and share with your fellow geneabloggers!

My thanks to all who have participated!

For a lesser group than you fine people, a blogger might prepare a quiz on something like, oh, major figures in world history. But you're well beyond that. And so it occurred to me recently: yes, of course; history's bit players. Those whom we barely remember, whose names have been all but lost, or are known only to people who actually and truly read history (or at least watch the History Channel), but who were part of important chains of events.

Rich category, eh wot? In my study of the French Revolution, for example, I took a bit of a shine to Camille Desmoulins – still a pretty well-known dude, I grant you, but not one of your front-line fame hogs like Robespierre and Saint-Just. Desmoulins was a journalist and, in the context of his times, on the left though not way on the left. In certain pictures, he looks like he could have been in Cream or something. My sort of fella. He fell to the blade, of course. In fact, it was right around now, I read this morning: he was arrested on March 31, 1794, and hanged on April 5 (justice was swift in those days). Danton was the most famous executed on that day.

Anyway. This was a challenge to put together in that it took a little more imagination than usual, but I think you'll enjoy it very much. We range here across a pretty vast landscape of subject areas, and there's even something in here for our noisy science caucus. So let's dig in.

1. Nearly everyone knows the most famous people in this category of endeavor, whose names are celebrated far and wide. But there were other practitioners such as George Peele and Thomas Kyd who, though famous in their time, are known to relatively few people today. What were they?
a. Explorers
b. Chancellors of the Exchequer
c. Elizabethan playwrights

2. Everyone knows the most famous of America's founding fathers. But match these founders, all of whom attended the Philadelphia constitutional convention, to the states they represented at same:
Roger Sherman
James McHenry
Thomas Mifflin
George Wythe

Pennsylvania<</span>!>Virginia<</span>!>Maryland
Connecticut

3. Bonaparte, of course, commanded the French troops at Waterloo, and the Duke of Wellington the British. Less well remembered is that there was a sizable Prussian presence at the battle, fighting alongside the British. Under whose command was it?

a. Frederick the Great

b. Gebhard von Blucher
c. Hermann Broch

4. She was not among the first-rank American feminist leaders of the 19th century, but her name lives on in part because she promoted a then-radical fashion for women.

a. Amelia Bloomer

b. Ophelia Corsette
c. Lucretia Espadrille

5. Some of his heirs have insisted on his innocence and sought to clear his name, but as far as the official record is concerned, Dr. Samuel Mudd was indeed a conspirator in:

a. The vast opium trade in China in the mid-19th century that started the Opium Wars

b. An unsuccessful attempt to kill Sir Robert Peel
c. The assassination of Abraham Lincoln

6. George Henry Lewes was a philosopher and critic but is better remembered to history as:

a. The longtime lover of George Eliot

b. The secretary of the Royal Geographic Society who accompanied Stanley on his search for Livingstone
c. The frequent co-author of Social Darwinist Herbert Spencer

7. The Serbian inventor Nicola Tesla, overshadowed for decades, has become well known in recent years, and his rivalry with Thomas Edison is much discussed and dissected. Meanwhile, the Italian inventor Antonio Meucci remains largely unknown, even though the US House of Representatives in 2002 officially declared him the true inventor of:

a. The sewing machine

b. The telephone
c. The threshing machine

8. In 1927, who were Earle Combs, Bob Meusel and Tony Lazzeri?

a. Members of Eliot Ness' "Untouchables"

b. Co-counsels, alongside the famous Clarence Darrow, for Thomas Scopes at his famous "Monkey Trial"
c. Lesser-known stars in the New York Yankees' "Murderer's Row" batting lineup

9. Churchill's war cabinet contained giants – Clement Attlee (deputy prime minister), Ernest Bevin (labour), Anthony Eden (foreign secretary from 1942), Churchill himself (prime minister and defence). Who held the crucial but less celebrated post of minister of production from 1942 to 1945?

a. Oliver Lyttleton

b. Donald Maclean
c. Desmond Llewelyn

10. Who was Miep Gies?

a. He worked with Raoul Wallender from Sweden to rescue Jews from the Holocaust

b. She hid Anne Frank and her family in an attic in Amsterdam, and later discovered Anne's diary
c. A Danish national, he cast the deciding vote at the San Francisco conference in support of creating the United Nations

11. According to Keith Richards, who is the true and proper founder of the Rolling Stones?

a. Bill Nanker-Phelge

b. Ian Stewart
c. Alexis Korner

12. To this day, the identity of this man is not known; when asked what ever happened to him, one of the rulers of the country in question said, "I think not killed."

a. The man who stood in front of the tanks in Tiananmen Square

b. The man who first pushed his way through the Berlin Wall, as throngs followed
c. The man who shot the video of Neda Agha-Soltan, the Iranian woman killed in the 2009 protests

Okay, that was really pretty good, wasn't it? A lot to chew on. Let's take a look at the answer key.

Answers:

1-c; 2: Sherman=Connecticut, McHenry=Maryland, Mifflin=Pennsylvania, Wythe=Virginia; 3-b; 4-a; 5-c; 6-a; 7-b; 8-c; 9-a; 10-b; 11-b; 12-a.

Notes:

1. Not an easy one to start with, though I tell myself I vaguely remember their names and could have gotten it.

2. Rudimentary knowledge of US history and geography was your crutch here. There's a Fort McHenry in Maryland, a Wytheville in Virginia and a Mifflin township in Pennsylvania. Sherman is, to me, considerably less obscure than those other three.
3. I didn't know this until this morning, but Frederick was dead by then, and Broch of coure was a later novelist.
4. I want confessions out of those of you who actually guessed Lucretia Espadrille!
5. Pretty well known to Yanks, I think.
6. Excellent fake answers, especially the one about the Royal Geographic Society.
7. I had no idea of this, and least of all my government's official recognition of the man. So, Expat Scotsman, what do you make of this? Alexander Graham Bell was a fraud!
8. Scopes trial was 1925. Untouchables was a tough fake answer.
9. I assume this was easy for Brits. I tried to make it easy for Americans because Maclean of course was one of the famous spies, and Llewelyn played Q in the Bond movies. I never joke about my work, 007.
10. She popped into my head a couple of weeks ago, and that is actually when I thought up this quiz. Plus she's in here for Bookfan.
11. Boogie with Stew, kids.
12. Amazing that his name is unknown, isn't it?

All right, how'd you do? And tell us about your most beloved historical bit players. We could go on for days, I'm sure.

Michael Tomasky
guardian.co.uk

The International Animated Film Society ASIFA-Hollywood has announced the nominees for the 38th Annual Annie Awards, and the DreamWorks feature How to Train Your Dragon leads the pack with more than ten nods. But there's a caveat; that and the full list of nominations after the break. This will be the first Annie Awards after Disney and Pixar withdrew from the organization [1] that organizes the awards. Toy Story 3 and Tangled did get Best Picture nominations, and Lee Unkrich was nominated Best Director. But in the feature deaprtment this is DreamWorks' show, with a few nods toward the Warner Bros. film Legend of the Guardians and a scant few other features such as The Illusionist. Disney's reason for withdrawing was rooted in the organization's very loose membership requirements (read: almost non-existent requirements, until recently) and the fact that DreamWorks seemed actively working to stack the deck in the studio's favor. Disney-Pixar president Ed Catmull said earlier this year, After more than a year of discussions with the ASIFA board, we have regretfully decided to withdraw from the organization and no longer participate in the annual Annie Awards. We believe there is an issue with the way the Annies are judged, and have been seeking a mutually agreeable solution with the board. Although some initial steps have been taken, the board informed us that no further changes would be made to address our concerns. Two years ago, Kung-Fu Panda swept the awards over Wall-E, which seemed questionable at the time. Now, with Disney really out of the picture, and the nominations seeming to only barely consider non-DreamWorks fare, is there any point to the Annies? Or was Disney just unwilling to deal with real competition, and so decided to bail rather than risk another total upset? PRODUCTION CATEGORIES Best Animated Feature * Despicable Me – Illumination Entertainment * How to Train Your Dragon – DreamWorks Animation * Tangled – Disney * The Illusionist – Django Films * Toy Story 3 – Disney/Pixar Best Animated Short Subject * Coyote Falls - Warner Bros. Animation * Day & Night – Pixar * Enrique Wrecks the World - House of Chai * The Cow Who Wanted To Be A Hamburger - Plymptoons Studio * The Renter - Jason Carpenter Best Animated Television Commercial * Children's Medical Center - DUCK Studios * Frito Lay Dips "And Then There Was Salsa" - LAIKA/house * ‘How To Train Your Dragon’ Winter Olympic Interstitial "Speed Skating" - DreamWorks Animation * McDonald's "Spaceman Stu" - DUCK Studios * Pop Secret "When Harry Met Sally" - Nathan Love Best Animated Television Production * Futurama - The Curiosity Company in association with 20th Century Fox Television * Kung Fu Panda Holiday - DreamWorks Animation * Scared Shrekless - DreamWorks Animation * Star Wars: The Clone Wars “Arc Troopers” - Lucasfilm Animation, Ltd. * The Simpsons - Gracie Films Best Animated Television Production for Children * Adventure Time - Cartoon Network Studios * Cloudbread – GIMC * Fanboy & Chum Chum - Nickelodeon, Frederator * Regular Show - Cartoon Network Studios * SpongeBob SquarePants – Nickelodeon Best Animated Video Game * Heavy Rain - Quantic Dream * Kirby's Epic Yarn - Good-Feel & HAL Laboratory * Limbo – Playdead * Shank - Klei Entertainment Inc. INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT CATEGORIES Animated Effects in an Animated Production * Andrew Young Kim "Shrek Forever After" - DreamWorks Animation * Jason Mayer "How To Train Your Dragon" - DreamWorks Animation * Brett Miller "How To Train Your Dragon" - DreamWorks Animation * Sebastian Quessy "Legend Of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole" - Warner Bros. Pictures * Kryzstof Rost "Megamind" - DreamWorks Animation Character Animation in a Television Production * Nicolas A. Chauvelot "Scared Shrekless" - DreamWorks Animation * Savelon Forrest "Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III" - ShadowMachine * Elizabeth Havetine "Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III" – ShadowMachine * David Pate "Kung Fu Panda Holiday" - DreamWorks Animation * Nideep Varghese "Scared Shrekless" - DreamWorks Animation Character Animation in a Feature Production * Mark Donald "Megamind" - DreamWorks Animation * Anthony Hodgson "Megamind" - DreamWorks Animation * Gabe Hordos "How To Train Your Dragon" - DreamWorks Animation * Jakob Hjort Jensen "How To Train Your Dragon" - DreamWorks Animation * David Torres "How To Train Your Dragon" - DreamWorks Animation Character Animation in a Live Action Production * Quentin Miles - Clash of the Titans * Ryan Page - Alice in Wonderland Character Design in a Television Production * Andy Bialk "The Ricky Gervais Show" - W!LDBRAIN Entertainment * Stephan DeStefano "Sym-Bionic Titan" - Cartoon Network * Ernie Gilbert "T.U.F.F. Puppy" – Nickelodeon * Gordon Hammond "T.U.F.F. Puppy" – Nickelodeon * Steve Lam "Fanboy & Chum Chum" - Nickelodeon, Frederator Character Design in a Feature Production * Sylvain Chomet "The Illusionist" - Django Films * Carter Goodrich "Despicable Me" - Illumination Entertainment * Timothy Lamb "Megamind" - DreamWorks Animation * Nico Marlet "How To Train Your Dragon" - DreamWorks Animation Directing in a Television Production * Bob Anderson "The Simpsons" - Gracie Films * Peter Chung "Firebreather" - Cartoon Network Studios * Duke Johnson "Frankenhole: Humanitas" – ShadowMachine * Tim Johnson "Kung Fu Panda Holiday" - DreamWorks Animation * Gary Trousdale "Scared Shrekless" - DreamWorks Animation Directing in a Feature Production * Sylvain Chomet "The Illusionist" - Django Films * Pierre Coffin “Despicable Me” – Illumination Entertainment * Mamoru Hosoda “Summer Wars” – Madhouse/Funimation * Chris Sanders, Dean DeBlois “How To Train Your Dragon” - DreamWorks Animation * Lee Unkrich “Toy Story 3” – Disney/Pixar Music in a Television Production * J. Walter Hawkes "The Wonder Pets!" - Nickelodeon Production & Little Airplane Productions * Henry Jackman, Hans Zimmer and John Powell "Kung Fu Panda Holiday" - DreamWorks Animation * Tim Long, Alf Clausen, Bret McKenzie, Jemaine Clement "The Simpsons: Elementary School Musical" - Gracie Films * Shawn Patterson "Robot Chicken's DP Christmas Special" – ShadowMachine * Jeremy Wakefield, Sage Guyton, Nick Carr, Tuck Tucker "SpongeBob SquarePants" – Nickelodeon Music in a Feature Production * Sylvain Chomet "The Illusionist" - Django Films * David Hirschfelder "Legend Of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole" - Warner Bros. Pictures * John Powell "How To Train Your Dragon" - DreamWorks Animation * Harry Gregson Williams "Shrek Forever After" - DreamWorks Animation * Pharrell Williams, Heitor Pereira "Despicable Me" - Illumination Entertainment Production Design in a Television Production * Alan Bodner "Neighbors From Hell" - 20th Century Fox Television * Barry Jackson "Firebreather" - Cartoon Network Studios * Pete Oswald "Doubtsourcing" - Badmash Animation Studios * Richie Sacilioc "Kung Fu Panda Holiday" - DreamWorks Animation * Scott Wills "Sym-Bionic Titan" - Cartoon Network Studios Production Design in a Feature Production * Yarrow Cheney "Despicable Me" - Illumination Entertainment * Eric Guillon "Despicable Me" - Illumination Entertainment * Dan Hee Ryu "Legend Of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole" - Warner Bros. Pictures * Pierre Olivier Vincent "How To Train Your Dragon" - DreamWorks Animation * Peter Zaslav "Shrek Forever After" - DreamWorks Animation Storyboarding in a Television Production * Sean Bishop "Scared Shrekless" - DreamWorks Animation * Fred Gonzales "T.U.F.F. Puppy" – Nickelodeon * Tom Owens "Kung Fu Panda Holiday" - DreamWorks Animation * Dave Thomas "Fairly OddParents" – Nickelodeon Storyboarding in a Feature Production * Alessandro Carloni "How To Train Your Dragon" - DreamWorks Animation * Paul Fisher "Shrek Forever After" - DreamWorks Animation * Tom Owens "How To Train Your Dragon" - DreamWorks Animation * Catherine Yuh Rader "Megamind" - DreamWorks Animation Voice Acting in a Television Production * Jeff Bennett as The Necronomicon "Fanboy & Chum Chum" - Nickelodeon & Frederator * Corey Burton as Baron Papanoida "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" - Cartoon Network * Nika Futterman as Asajj Ventress "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" - Cartoon Network * Mike Henry as Cleveland Brown "The Cleveland Show" - Fox Television Animation * James Hong as Mr. Ping "Kung Fu Panda Holiday" - DreamWorks Animation Voice Acting in a Feature Production * Jay Baruchel as Hiccup "How To Train Your Dragon" - DreamWorks Animation * Gerard Butler as Stoick "How To Train Your Dragon" - DreamWorks Animation * Steve Carrell as Gru "Despicable Me" - Illumination Entertainment * Cameron Diaz as Fiona "Shrek Forever After" - DreamWorks Animation * Geoffrey Rush as Ezylryb "Legend Of The Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole" - Warner Bros. Pictures Writing in a Television Production * Daniel Arkin "Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Heroes on Both Sides" - Lucasfilm Animation Ltd. * Jon Colton Barry & Piero Piluso "Phineas & Ferb: Nerds of a Feather" - Disney Channel * Geoff Johns, Matthew Beans, Zeb Wells, Hugh Sterbakov, Matthew Senreich, Breckin Meyer, Seth Green, Mike Fasolo, Douglas Goldstein, Tom Root, Dan Milano, Kevin Shinick & Hugh Davidson "Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III" – ShadowMachine * Billy Kimball & Ian Maxtone-Graham "The Simpsons: Stealing First Base" - Gracie Films * Michael Rowe "Futurama" - The Curiosity Company in association with 20th Century Fox Television Writing in a Feature Production * Michael Arndt “Toy Story 3” – Disney/Pixar * Sylvain Chomet “The Illusionist” – Django Films * William Davies, Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders “How to Train Your Dragon” – DreamWorks Animation * Dan Fogelman “Tangled” - Disney * Alan J. Schoolcraft, Brent Simons “Megamind” – DreamWorks Animation JURIED AWARDS Winsor McCay Award — Brad Bird, Eric Goldberg, Matt Groening June Foray — Ross Iwamoto Ub Iwerks Award — Autodesk Special Achievement — “Waking Sleeping Beauty” Read more: Nominations for the 38th Annual Annie Awards - ComingSoon.net http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=72159#ixzz17Lw5pFYr [1] http://www.slashfilm.com/disney-abandons-annie-awards-fearing-dreamworks-dragon-would-defeat-toy-story-3/

The Thomas Edison and Henry Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers, Florida kick off the Christmas season with their 35th annual Holiday Nights Preview Party on Wednesday, December 8 at 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. Tickets are $60 for members and sponsors and $75 for non-members. Children 12 and under are free.

The Edison and Ford Winter Estates Holiday Nights Preview Party will be highlighted by holiday decoration from local businesses, organizations and schools. The event includes food and beverages, dessert at the Edison Caretaker’s House, musical performances, and auction of wreaths, and unique gifts for sale at the Creative Cottage gift shop.

During the turn of the last century, northern industrialists found Fort Myers, Florida to be an ideal location for a winter home. Some of the most famous inventors and innovators of the last century were Florida snowbirds. The winter home of Thomas A. Edison, situated along the Caloosahatchee River, was completed in 1886 and dubbed "Seminole lodge" by the Edisons. The house served as a winter retreat and work place for the prolific inventor until his death in 1931.

Edison’s good friend and automobile mogul Henry Ford purchased the neighboring property in 1915, establishing "The Mangoes" as the winter getaway for his family. Edison and Ford spent many winters working, talking and even relaxing together in tropical southwest Florida, and the Edison and Ford Estates offer a unique glimpse at the personal lives of these very famous men.

ALBEMARLE

4/23

MacMillan Farrell LLC to Atlas VA 1 SPE LLC, 2.90 acres on State Route 689, $150,000.

MacMillan Farrell LLC to Atlas VA 1 SPE LLC, 2.92 acres on State Route 689, 535 Burchs Creek Road, $760,000.

David E. Traul to Brian P. Thiede, 1627 Stoney Creek Drive, Mill Creek, $333,000.

Deborah Ann Dempsey to Wade L. Meadows, 44.97 acres at 70 Starling Lane, Troy, $300,000.

John R. Gobble IV to Jeffrey J. Hansen, 5032 Clearfields Court, Western Ridge, $378,500.

Matthew W. Hardt to Sean C. Kumer, 955 Charter Oaks Drive, Glenmore, $851,800.

Bruce L. Grimm to Christopher K. Carlson, 4201 Rowan Court, Earlysville Forest, Earlysville, $230,300.

Dolly G. Garrison to Kenneth F. Garrison Jr., parcel in Hollymead, $235,000.

Justin B. Thompson to Meredith L. Walker, 1176 Rustic Willow Lane, Willow Bend, $240,400.

4/26

John C. Hoak to Justin B. and Brooke W. Thompson, 3061 Chimney Ridge, Chimney Springs, Forest Lakes South, $444,500.

ETS of Virginia Inc., trustee, to Bank of New York Mellon Trust Co., condominium unit at Parkside at Eagle's Landing, $94,700.

Steven Pecaut to Matthew J. Lewis, 102 Running Fox Lane, Foxcroft, $333,000.

Professional Foreclosure Corp. to Federal National Mortgage Assoc., unit in Barracks West condominiums, $108,200.

Robert E. Kane Jr., trustee, to Walter Mortgage Co. LLC, 5487 Coves School Lane, Covesville, $125,000.

Michael J. Klarman to Elizabeth Sidamon Eristoff, 109 Cavalier Drive, Colthurst Farm, $715,000.

Deutsche Bank National Trust Co. to Scott Christopher Roman, 2.0 acres at 2195 Promised Lane Lane, $135,000.

Beights Properties LLC to Craig Enterprises Inc., parcel in Old Trail Village, Crozet, $343,500.

Steven G. Valentine to John A. Johnson, 3.94 acres at 4912 Scottsville Road, Scottsville, $105,000.

4/27

Professional Foreclosure Corp. to Federal National Mortgage Assoc, two lots, $117,400.

Fannie Mae to Xiaohui Wang, nit in Hessian Hills condominiums, $95,000.

Bryan E. Thomas to Brad Heilman, parcel in Upper Ballard Field, Crozet, $227,000.

Joanne Higgins Payne to Christopher J. Rhodes, 7456 Blenheim Road, Scottsville, $13,500.

NVR Inc. to Justin Morgan, 2448 Abington Drive, Abington Place, $225,465.

NVR Inc. to Michael Anctil, 2450 Abington Drive, Abington Place, $223,825.

Jonathan F. Doner to Xiaoping Chen, 320 Westfield Road, Wynridge, $220,000.

White Gables Charlottesville LC to Mary V. Connell, condominium unit in White Gables, 415 White Gables Lane, $675,000.

Thomas F. McGrath II to Henry W. Campoll Jr., 2041 Ridgetop Drive, Mosby Mountain, $492,000.

Hauser Homes LLC to SHRR LLC, parcel in Belvedere, $112,500.

Pamela J. Neely to Laura Frechette, 2088 Whispering Woods Drive, Whispering Woods, $301,700.

James R. Mahanes to Hubert C. Goff, 3.37 acres at 898 Chapel Hill Road, Chapel Hill, $295,100.

Miriam Huntley to Shaun and Vohla Piatrutsy-Fronk, 1120 Edmund Court, townhouses at Wayland's Grant, Crozet, $205,300.

Bay Holdings Inc. to David L. Bauer, 0.5 acres at 1213 Clay Court, Jarman's Gap Road, Crozet, $390,000.

Big Deal:

4/23 

Matthew W. Hardt to Sean C. and Alix Kumer, 0.563 acres at 3266 Darby Road, Glenmore, $851,800.

#

What the history of the word OK can tell us about American concision, psychology, and language.

OK is a word so omnipresent, useful, and casual that it feels like it’s existed since the dawn of time. It’s hard to imagine how people could have spoken and written with those two little letters.

It’s also hard to imagine that two letters could encompass as much history and human experience as OK, but there’s no need for the imagination: Allan Metcalf’s book OK: The Improbable Story of America&rsquo;s Greatest Word traces its journey from “joke to business tool and then to staple of everyday conversation and an attitude toward life.” Metcalf provides many snapshots of American history, with detours into the worlds of business and celebrity and psychology, while painting a vivid portrait of the weird, wild process of word evolution. I think you’ll find the yarn Metcalf spins to be far better than OK.

The origin of OK is an odd, unlikely one: It was a joking abbreviation for “all correct,” invented by Charles Gordon Greene in 1839 in the Boston Morning Post. In anticipation of your “huh?” you have to understand that abbreviations, especially humorous abbreviations, were in vogue in Boston at the time, kind of like our current world of LOL, ROTFL, and ZOMG. This trend produced many unsuccessful terms such as OW&mdash;an OK-like term for “oll wright” (all right) that flopped.

This origin was a lot for OK to overcome. Words that are jokes have a difficult route to success, and the silliness and obtrusiveness of OK should have doomed it to a quick exit from the language. As Metcalf showed in his previous book, Predicting New Words: The Secrets of Their Success, words that are most likely to succeed blend in as if they were there all along; successful words tend to be stealthy and unassuming. OK was as stealthy as a dinosaur bone dropped in a punchbowl.

Fortunately, OK was as lucky as it was weird. Its first bit of good fortune was that Martin Van Buren’s hometown of Old Kinderhook allowed “OK” to be appropriated in 1840 as a name for the “OK Club”&mdash;which was part of the Democratic Party&mdash;and as a rallying cry for Van Buren, who ran for reelection (unsuccessfully) against William Henry Harrison. That started OK fever. With the real origin already forgotten, many false etymologies popped up, until a persuasive one took hold. Taking advantage of Andrew Jackson’s reputation as an uneducated rube, James Gordon Bennett concocted a false document that showed Jackson using and coining OK as an abbreviation of “Ole Kurrek.” This story was compelling and solidified OK’s place in English, where it soon spread as a tool for approving documents. So just as a joke accompanied OK’s birth, a hoax allowed it to live to a ripe old age.

I’m leaving out about 8,000 steps in OK’s story, but here’s one step I won’t neglect: In the early 1960’s, lexicographer Allen Walker Read uncovered the Boston origin of OK. Without him, we would probably still believe some of the bushels of OK-related bunk that exist, such as the theories that it came from a Choctaw or African word, or that it really was Andrew Jackson’s goof rather than Charles Gordon Greene’s joke. If Metcalf is the Michael Jordan of OK, Read is the Bill Russell.

Like, any successful word, OK has children. “AOK” was an invention of astronauts that was easier to hear over static than plain old OK. We’ve been saying “okey-doke” since the 1920s and “okey-dokey” since the thirties. We have Ned Flanders to thank for “okeley-dokely,” while South Park’s Mr. Mackey is the patron doofus of “m’kay” (though it was used earlier on Beavis and Butthead and Office Space). The “old okey doke” dates from the sixties, and refers to a type of hoodwinking or trickery. Since 1972, folks have been referring to the mythical OK Corral as a place for showdowns and smackdowns, as seen in the first known use: “‘California&rsquo;, said Carl Wagner, at 26 a seasoned veteran of the McGovern primary battles, ‘is the gunfight at OK Corral.’”

A major factor in OK’s success is its adaptability. Metcalf praises its “hydra-headedness,”&mdash;meaning that OK can be a noun, verb, adjective, adverb, interjection, abbreviation, or acronym (technically, an initialism). It can be spelled “o.k.,” “ok,” “O.K.,” “OK,” “okay,” and sometimes “okey” or “okeh.” That adaptability also applies to its meaning. OK is affirmative, but it doesn’t gush or overpromise. Few things in the world will ever be outstanding, wonderful, top-notch, or world-class, but many things are OK. Such flexibility made OK perfect fodder for Thomas A. Harris, when his 1967 book I’m OK, You’re OK merged transactional psychology and OK in a marriage that took both to greater heights. That book had a huge effect on OK’s legacy. As Metcalf puts it “...it could be argued that with I’m OK, You’re OK as a catalyst, in the 21st century OK became a whole two-letter American philosophy of tolerance, even admiration, for difference.”

So get this book, OK? If you love words, history, or Americana, you’ll find it fascinating. You may even agree with Metcalf that we should celebrate OK on March 23, its birthday. “OK Day” certainly has a ring to it.
 

NOMINATIONS SENT TO THE SENATE:
 
Charles Edward Andrews, of Alabama, to be United States Marshal for the Southern District of Alabama for the term of four years, vice William Smith Taylor, term expired.
 
Darrell James Bell, of Montana, to be United States Marshal for the District of Montana for the term of four years, vice Dwight MacKay, term expired.
 
William Benedict Berger, Sr., of Florida, to be United States Marshal for the Middle District of Florida for the term of four years, vice Thomas Dyson Hurlburt, Jr., term expired.
 
Cathy Bissoon, of Pennsylvania, to be United States District Judge for the Western District of Pennsylvania, vice Thomas M. Hardiman, elevated.
 
Vincent L. Briccetti, of New York, to be United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York, vice Kimba M. Wood, retired.
 
Russel Edwin Burger, of Oregon, to be United States Marshal for the District of Oregon for the term of four years, vice Dennis Cluff Merrill, term expired.
 
Roy Bale Dalton, Jr., of Florida, to be United States District Judge for the Middle District of Florida, vice Henry Lee Adams, Jr., retired.
 
Sara Lynn Darrow, of Illinois, to be United States District Judge for the Central District of Illinois, vice Joe B. McDade, retired.
 
John A. Kronstadt, of California, to be United States District Judge for the Central District of California, vice Florence-Marie Cooper, deceased.
 
S. Amanda Marshall, of Oregon, to be United States Attorney for the District of Oregon for the term of four years, vice Karin J. Immergut, term expired.
 
Joseph Campbell Moore, of Wyoming, to be United States Marshal for the District of Wyoming for the term of four years, vice James Anthony Rose, term expired.
 
Kevin Hunter Sharp, of Tennessee, to be United States District Judge for the Middle District of Tennessee, vice Robert L. Echols, retired.
 
Edwin Donovan Sloane, of Maryland, to be United States Marshal for the District of Columbia for the term of four years, vice George Breffni Walsh, term expired.
 
Esteban Soto III, of Maryland, to be United States Marshal for the Superior Court of the District of Columbia for the term of four years, vice Stephen Thomas Conboy, resigned.

The collection includes many other records and letters relating to artist James Whistler, Dupont dynasty heir and Civil War veteran Henry Dupont, and Union Army Major General George B. McClellan. The West Point Cadet Application Papers are part of In honor of America’s military heroes, the entire U.S. Military Collection on (c) 2010 Pat Richley, All Rights Reserved. Myrt@DearMYRTLE.com.

There was a time, particularly during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when museums were simply "cabinets of curiosities" which displayed artifacts from other cultures and made little attempt to educate or engage the people who looked at them. Items were displayed simply as "curiosities": exotic items from strange people. During the first part of the twentieth century a new approach to museums was developed by Arthur Caswell Parker.  
Arthur Caswell Parker was born on the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation of the Seneca Nation of Indians on April 5, 1881. His father was Seneca and his mother was non-Indian. His uncle was Ely Parker, the first Indian Commissioner of Indian Affairs and Civil War Union General.

The Seneca (The Great Hill People), whose homeland is in New York, are one of the five Iroquois nations that joined to form the League of Five Nations. One of the most important features of these five nations is their matrilineal clans: individuals inherit both their clan and their tribal status from their mother.

Since Arthur Parker's mother was non-Indian this meant that he was not born into a Seneca clan and for this reason he was not enrolled as Seneca. However, in 1903 he was formally adopted by the Seneca Bear Clan and given the Seneca name G?wasowneh (Big Snow Snake).

From a Seneca perspective, Parker was not Seneca, but from the non-Indian view he was considered to be Indian because: (1) his father was Indian (Americans tend to reckon descent through the patrilineal line), (2) he grew up on a reservation, and (3) he looked like an Indian. However, in American society he was not a citizen because he was Indian. Thus Parker occupied an interesting position between the Seneca world (where he was not an enrolled Seneca because his mother was not Seneca) and the American world (where he was not a citizen because his father was Indian).

There were many dimensions to Parker's life: he was an archaeologist and was active in influencing American archaeology; he was a museum curator who brought about a revolution in the way in which museums organized their displays; he was a Mason and achieved the highest honors of that organization; he was active in pan-Indian organizations and worked towards the assimilation of Indians into American life; he was the author of children's books which were based on Indian lore and Indian characters; he was the author of books on Iroquois history and folklore; he was a magazine editor.

Parker saw museums as integral to American democracy because they encouraged good citizenship. He advocated the idea that museums should be accessible to everyone and viewed them as the university of the common person. He promoted an interactive relationship between exhibits and the museum visitor and insisted that museums cultivate a set of concerns with which the visitors could relate.

Parker wrote:

"People want to be entertained by exhibits, sights and sounds. They want sensory stimulation. They want to be thrilled by what they experience in a museum, not merely bored by long labels and crowded cases. People want to painlessly absorb stimulating knowledge, a knowledge that makes them talk about it."

While working at the New York State Museum from 1906 to 1915 Parker created a series of six dioramas depicting Iroquois life. The dioramas, recognized as the finest exhibits of their kind in the country, attracted over 200,000 visitors per year. To make sure that the dioramas were accurate, Parker had artists and sculptors use models with features and facial figures that conformed with typical Seneca types. He also employed many Indians from New York and Canada to carefully reproduce the clothing and artifacts for each of the scenes. Even the backgrounds in the dioramas were based on artists' impressions of actual archaeological sites.

The dioramas provided illustrations of the various stages of cultural evolution as expressed in the anthropological theories of Lewis Henry Morgan.  According to Morgan, there were various stages of cultural evolution: Savagery (Lower, Middle, Upper), Barbarism (Lower, Middle, Upper), and finally Civilization. In particular, Morgan put forth the idea that Civilization requires the monogamous nuclear family and private property. Under this scheme, Indians were placed in either Upper Savagery or Lower Barbarism, depending on their material and political development.

The exhibits were extremely attractive to the general public, but Parker did not envision them having any specific educational role for Indians. Rather, their function was to educate the wider public on the Indian's role within the American past.

While museums present Indian life as it was in the past, Parker was also concerned with Indians in the present. In 1920 Parker addressed the New York Indian Welfare Society. He told them:

"To the white man an Indian is only an Indian if dressed in feathers and buckskins." Pointing out that American society does not allow Indians to change, he asked: "How would the white man like it if the Indians demanded that all white men who came upon their reservations must dress in Colonial uniforms and appear like the picture of Sir Walter Raleigh or of ancient Britain?"

In 1925 he became director of the Rochester Museum.  Under his leadership, this small museum became an institution of national significance.

During the depression, Parker organized the Seneca Arts and Crafts Project. According to its original proposal:

"The Rochester Municipal Museum proposes a project by which the almost extinct arts and crafts of New York Indians may be preserved and put on a production basis in order that such activity and products may contribute to the relief and self-support of the said Indian population."

The Project was set up in an abandoned school and the artists set about reproducing traditional items. Illustrations and photographs from museum collections and archaeological sites were used as guidelines. As with his museum exhibits, Parker was intent on maintaining consistency with the ethnographic record.

The Project produced over five thousand separate arts and crafts items, all of which were retained as the property of the museum. The Project not only provided employment for Indians, it also raised the museum's profile during a time of economic cutbacks and uncertain visitor numbers.

Parker was also involved with one of the earliest pan-Indian organizations in the United States. In 1911, a group of well-educated Indians-often described as "Indian intellectuals"-formed the Society of American Indians (SAI). Joining Parker to found the SAI were Dr. Charles A. Eastman (Sioux), Sherman Coolidge (Arapaho), Thomas L. Sloan (Omaha), Charles Daganett (Peoria), Carlos Montezuma (Yavapai-Apache), and Zitkala-sa (Sioux). One of the purposes of the SAI was to push for a reform of Indian policy.

At the first SAI national conference in Columbus, Ohio, one of the founders, Thomas L. Sloan, told the group:

"The evil seems to be that the Indian Bureau administers as if the Indian was selected for their benefit, to exploit them, and not they that were created for the benefit of the Indian."

Most of the fifty Indians who came together for this first meeting were graduates of industrial or boarding schools. As a result of this first meeting, the SAI lobbied for a national Indian day and fought against the use of terms like "buck" and "squaw". The group was dedicated to full Indian participation in American society as well as to the preservation of their racial identity. They hoped to forge a new relationship between Indians and non-Indians, incorporating what they saw as the best attributes of both worlds.

The very existence of the SAI as an organized body of Indian doctors, engineers, teachers, and professional people developed considerable respect for Native Americans.

The SAI held its second national conference in 1912 in Columbus, Ohio. One of the important issues which the group discussed was how to speed up the assimilation process on the reservations. At this meeting Parker formed two fraternities: the Loyal Order of Tecumseh and the Descendants of the American Aborigines. The Loyal Order of Tecumseh allowed both active and associate SAI members to socialize and perform ritual.

Parker was also involved in the creation and publishing of the SAI's magazine, the Quarterly Journal. He felt that the magazine held the potential for reaching a wide audience and focusing the SAI on Indian problems. The first issue appeared in 1912. In 1916, he renamed the magazine American Indian Magazine which proclaimed itself "A JOURNAL OF RACE IDEALS Edited by Arthur C. Parker." In the first issue he published a range of conflicting viewpoints.

In the American Indian Magazine, Parker also promoted the idea of American Indian Day on May 13. He wrote:

"Heretofore Indians have considered only tribe and reservation. To them the tribe was mankind and the tribal area the world. Today there is a growing consciousness of race existence. The Sioux is no longer a mere Sioux, or the Ojibway a mere Ojibway, the Iroquois a mere Iroquois."

He goes on to say that the race-conscious Indian will say:

"I am not a red man only, I am an American in the truest sense, and a brother man to all human kind."

While Indian Day school celebrations were held in three states, it was denounced in the rival Indian magazine Wassaja published by Dr. Carlos Montezuma. Montezuma called Indian Day "a farce and the worse kind of fad."  

In addition to writing archaeological monographs and editing a magazine, Arthur Caswell Parker is also remembered as the author of a number of children's books.  In 1926 his book Skunny Wundy and Other Indian Tales was published. This children's book was a collection of Iroquois stories told in the style of the Euro-American fairy tale. In the beginning of the book, he described how he had first heard the stories at his grandfather's fireside, from buckskin and leather-clad visitors who had traveled from the wilder parts of the reservation where the longhouse people lived.

In 1928 Rumbling Wings was published. In this book, Parker describes a secret society for older boys based on Indian lore. He followed this book in 1929 with Gustango Gold, a mystery action adventure for older boys.

His last children's book, Red Jacket: Last of the Senecas, was published in 1952 as a part of the McGraw-Hill biographical series.

Parker also wrote a number of books for adults. One of these was The Indian How Book (1928) which was an attempt to explain to non-Indians how Indians did things. In this book he combined healthy doses of factual information about Indians with some practical advice about surviving outdoors. The book counters some common racial stereotypes and the common notion that all Indians were nomadic hunters. Parker writes about the Iroquois Three Sisters-corn, beans, squash-and points out that the Iroquois had large fields at the time of their first contact with the French.

As modern people, Indians have belonged and participated in many non-Indian organizations. One of the most interesting of these the secret fraternal organization known as the Masons. Many prominent Indian leaders have been Masons: Cherokee leaders John Ross and Elias Boudinot; Choctaw leader Peter Pitchlyn; Creek leader Alexander McGillivray; Seneca leader Ely Parker; and Mohawk leader Joseph Brant. Brant joined the Falcon lodge in England in 1776 and had his apron presented by King George III. Like his uncle Ely Parker, Arthur Casswell Parker was also a Mason and was actively involved with Masonic life. In 1924, he was awarded the highest honor of Masonry: the thirty-third degree, an honor conferred only on a select few senior Masons.

In 1936, the Indian Council Fire of Chicago honored Arthur Caswell Parker as the "most famous person of Indian ancestry in the United States."

Parker served as the New York State Commissioner on Indian Affairs from 1919 to 1922. In 1923 he was appointed by the Secretary of the Interior to chair the "Committee of One Hundred" to recommend changes in the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

With regard to his involvement with professional associations, Parker was the first president of the Society for American Archaeology; he founded and served as president of the New York State Archaeological Society; he served as president of the New York Historical Association; and was vice president of the American Association of Museums.

In 1954 New York, Arthur Caswell Parker organized the Nundawaga Society for History and Folklore in New York. The first pageant staged by the Society was scripted by Parker and told the story of the birth of the Seneca Nation at Nundawao and their struggle with the Massawomek (Great Snakes). The pageant was a pro-Indian history lesson. One of the obvious themes of the pageant was that the Iroquois had influenced the founders of the government of the United States.

Arthur Caswell Parker died on January 1, 1955 at his home in Seneca country at the age of 73. Men from the St. Regis Reservation conducted the traditional Seneca funeral ritual. In addition, the Masons paid their respects to their departed brother at his funeral.

At one point Parker wrote of his life:

"Nothing ever came easy for me. My obstacles have been heavy and high. I had to overcome them or perish. I chose to overcome them."