ORWM Update

The main thing about the Memorial is that it is interactive.

 

What does that really mean?

It's all about QR codes and their power. For those who don't use them, or remember what they are, see the examples below. I have generated these to be etched into the red granite Memorial walls. They will be beside a heading or story that we want you to see more information on. They will link to web sites, photos or videos. While you are standing in front of the ORWM in Beaverton, Oregon you will scan these QR codes with your phone or tablet and be propelled across the nation or world to see more information.

Try it now. I have tried the following method with both an Android phone and an iPhone and they work. Nothing special you have to download. **Note; If you have a problem, you can download free QR Code Reader apps for Android and iPhone.

Open your phone camera, hold it up to the QR codes below and tap on the link that comes up. Viola. Where did you go? What info did you see? How cool is that?

 

             

 

Imagine the possibilities.

You take your family to the memorial and let them wander around and explore the walls. Teachers bring their students to the Memorial and take them on a tour of our country's history from 1765-1793 using the electronic technology they use hundreds of times a day. We can use these codes in presentations to people or organizations to add a bit of magic. Printed materials can have these codes on them and add them to web sites or newsletters to make a direct link to something you are talking about. Or a direct link to YouTube videos.

This is why the Oregon Revolutionary War Memorial is special, it is interactive and can change as often as we wish.
 

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DONATIONS

• Our new ORWM Treasurer is Dave Witter. If you want to make a contribution to the Memorial, you can write a check for cash, to purchase bricks or coins. Make the check out to ORWM and mail it to:
  Dave Witter 4840 SW Fairhaven Dr. Portland, OR 97221
  
  
• If you want to use your credit card, go to our web site www.ORWM.org and click on the DONATE button. Here you can order bricks, coins, Patriot sculpture, Wreaths across America and also make a cash donation.
  
  SCULPTURES
   
• Check out the progress of the three new sculptures. Go to our BLOG which is the journal of the sculptor Michael Tieman.

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Genealogy Aug 19

SAR Compatriot:Eugene Foley
What's in A Name?

 

I’m a numbers guy.  I still know the phone numbers of my home, my best friend’s home and my dad’s office AND my driver’s license number, from 1969.  But, I have a hard time remembering the names of the people I met with the night before, even though I can tell you what we talked about and what we ate for dinner.  I had a really hard time in some of my classes in law school because I couldn’t remember the names of the cases that set the precedence for arguments, even though I could describe the cases in detail!  But, I could remember codified statutes and regulations by number.  I did fine in the tax and bankruptcy codes.  So, with tens of thousands of names in my Ancestry account, I rely heavily on the matching functions provided by the software!

The software, though, does a “perfect” job of matching names.  Knowing how the software works is important to keep us from over-relying on the machine to make the matches, AND missing matches that would provide a lead.  Name matching, even before computerization, has relied on giving greater weight to matching consonants than to matching vowels.  Using SOUNDEX, systems attempt to match the likely sound of the spoken name as a way of finding matches.  Remember, also, that the matching process may assume English as the language.  So, if names match the formula, even though they are obviously wrong to the researcher, they are on the list.  So, “perfect” ain’t so perfect.

Don’t give up!  If the list is long, your answer may be there.  Filter by dates and locations to pare down the list.  If the short list still doesn’t include a match, change the spelling or sequence of the search words.  Spell out words that might be abbreviations.  Check similar names in work already performed to see if there are other spellings, or other names that might be a better match.

Consider that the name you are searching is a nickname, and substitute other options.  Look to other uses of the name in that family or in that community, for instance Matilda, Mathilda, Mattie, and Maud.  Peggy is a nickname for Margaret.  In older European transcripts, the writers often used Latin naming, so consider changing your English word to its Latin counterpart.  Use your knowledge and imagination!  Here’s a test:  What is this name, “Xpfer.”  The answer is, Christopher.  Chi Rho (looks to us like Xp) was an abbreviation for Christ, and “fer” is phonetic for “pher.”  Throw in a vowel and you get “Christ-o-pher.”  If you hit a wall, take a break.  There are literally millions of people entering their trees into the publicly available systems.  Eventually, someone else may enter the answer you’re looking for.  Most of all, have fun!

 

Genealogy

SAR Compatriot:Eugene Foley
Great Grandpa Charlemagne

 

I decided to do a face-to-face transaction at my bank.  I had to walk a distance to get to a branch, since the combination of riots and COVID have resulted in the closure of most of the banks downtown.  It was GREAT to get out of my apartment!  The teller (behind two thick layers of Plexiglas) was new at his job, so the adjacent teller and his supervisor were close by to help.  The bank wasn’t busy, so I asked him how he was doing, and he, in turn asked me what I was doing to keep busy.  I told him I was working on my genealogy, and he didn’t offer any particular response.  So, I continued, “Yep, I found that Charlemagne was my ancestor.”  Everyone laughed.

I recently read an article that explained that if your ancestry came out of Europe, chances are that Charlemagne IS your ancestor.  The study was done by a mathematician who calculated the growth and intermixing of the population, and then inverted the calculation to estimate the likelihood that any given person would have been an ancestor.  It turns out that most of us with a strong western European ancestry ARE descendants of Charlemagne…and I have traced (in theory, since the proofs are only relatively accurate) my royal lines to Charlemagne (748-814), and King Ivar Vidfadma of Denmark and Sweden (7th^th Century), and Gorrett of Finland (2^nd Century)…and others.  By the time y’all hit 37^th Great Grandfather there are two probable truths if you believe the statistics: 1) You probably are related to that person, and 2) the tree details that got you there are probably not accurate.

Still, with the relative ease of the genealogical software that is available today (unlike the early days when we spent hours on end, day after day, looking through microfilm and dusty books), it’s a fun search to hit an old line, and run it back through kings, bishops, and scoundrels.  Make it interesting, have some fun.

ORWM

 

Oregon Revolutionary War Memorial
Committee Meeting

A Zoom meeting was held at 10:02 am on
Saturday August 1, 2020

The Committee: Chairman – Gene Foley, Treasurer – Dave Witter, Archivist – Michael Tieman, DAR Liaison – Patti Waitman-Ingebretsen, Rob Greene, Tom Akers, Eric Salbeda.

Fundraising/Grants - Gene Foley, Patti Waitman-Ingebretsen, Dave Witter.

Two new members were added to the Committee– Joel Simmons and Craig Keller.
Positions for PR and Marketing were not filled.

Major discussions were concerning changing the Treasurer and signators on the bank account, fundraising and restructuring of the Committee.
To read all of the minutes of the meeting click here for  a copy