Category: Misc
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Did you lose a Family Member on the USS Arizona?
I’ve become aware of a project to identify those whose remains were recovered from the USS Arizona that was sunk in the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec 7, 1941. An important effort is being made to exhume those in a mass grave and conduct DNA on the unidentified remains to finally bring closure to…
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Rewriting History at the Library of Congress – Part 2
In the wee hours of the night of Sept 30th as the Government Shutdown loomed, a bold move was made by the staff of the Library of Congress. Knowing that they would be furloughed at midnight, the pushed through a request that I had first submitted in July of last year to correct a mistake…
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23andMe Sold at Auction
In a previous post, we discussed how to remove your genetic data from 23andMe. Today, the company has been sold at auction to a pharma company for $256M. Steps to Delete Your 23andMe Data Despite the financial turmoil, 23andMe still offers ways to delete personal information. Here’s how you can attempt to remove your data.…
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The “Babb” Crest
This morning, while conducting research, I happened across a book by the name of Fairbairn’s Book of Crests of the Families of Great Britain and Ireland. It contained a description of a Babb crest that we see in the popularized Coat of Arms that are attributed to the Babb name, which appears in the Cover…
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Are you sick of Facebook?
I sure am! They aren’t standing up for anyone but themselves. They bury our friends posts behind mountains of advertising and suggested groups intended to set the hook into your jaw and keep you forever transfixed on their platform. Recently they suggested that I follow Neil Degrasse Tyson. I was amazed, until I realized that…
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989 Files
Today, I took a moment to step back and work to regain control of the several hundred files I mentioned in my last post. Once I had everything drug into the right place, I was shocked to find that it has grown to 989 files! That is just too many, so I am going to…
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New Online Tree Structure
Despite a small setback, the uploads have successfully completed, and we are officially back on Ancestry again with up-to-date trees. Note the new links below, which can also be found on the Home Page. I’ve changed the structure slightly to allow for exploration of two areas that are under development. Central & South America US…
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Going Online…Again
Many of you may not realize that I’ve been unable to synchronize my tree updates to Ancestry for the last 9 months. There was a corruption problem that forced me to break the sync between Family Tree Maker and Ancestry. I’ve left the tree up there but changed the name to reflect that it was…
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Nicole Babb Shares How Hot Sauce and Travelling Can Help Build Spice Tolerance
Story by Krizia Ramos If you’ve seen the show Styled, then you know Nicole Babb has a keen eye and passion for design. From turning once drab spaces into stunning fabulous areas in the home, Nicole does it all. In fact, her creativity goes beyond interiors. Nicole loves food and cooking, so she’s created her own food company,…
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Digging Graves with Nathan Babb
The following news story, courtesy of the Philadelphia Inquirer, tells of a recent discovery made by Nathan Babb from the Boyertown Historical Society’s archaeological division, forensic archaeologist Kimberlee Moran of Rutgers University, and independent archaeologist Alex Denning. You can meet Nathan every Saturday through the end of September from 10-2pm for a dig at Bahr’s…
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Salisbury woman to walk 100 miles in her 100th year
Harriet RobinsonBBC News, Wiltshire A woman is celebrating her 100th year by walking 100 miles for a homeless charity. Phyll Babb, 99, from Salisbury in Wiltshire, will walk one mile twice a week over the next year to raise funds for Salisbury Trust for the Homeless (STFH). Fundraiser Link: Fundraising for Salisbury Trust for the…
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Rewriting History at the Library of Congress
The die has been cast and I am attempting to re-write the Babb history at the Library of Congress. They have Babb as a derivative of Babbit. Take a moment to absorb that. This is grossly inaccurate, and I’ll spare you the 95 reasons why. However, I have shipped a full set of the 1st…
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New Item from the Babb Store
Just in time for the Babb Family Association Reunion this June! Functional and fashionable, our 20oz Stainless Steel Thermal Tumbler is made to take anywhere on the go. Crafted with premium-grade stainless steel, it boasts exceptional durability and insulation. With its endless customization options, you can now make a statement that truly reflects your unique…
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A Texas Sized Eclipse
I just want to be clear that I did NOT take this picture. But it came across my Facebook feed and it is so spectacular that I needed to share it with the world. The photos I took do not do justice to what I saw earlier this week. They are grainy and the camera…
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Happy Eclipse Day
To all of the Babb(s) in North America, I want to wish you a most joyous eclipse day! This happens to be the very first time in my life that I will be able to view the Totality of a Full Eclipse, as it is passing directly over Dallas, TX, where I make my home.…
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More About Paul Babb – Fashion Designer for Twiggy
Several of our members are hot on the trail to find Paul Babb, a modern-day artisan who’s brush with Twiggy landed his work in the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. One of them found the cover photo on this webpage. Paul is the tall one: Twiggy went to Japan in 1967 | theloupe.org From…
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Mini-Dress (Twiggy)- by Paul Babb
The late 1960s celebrity boutique phenomenon saw popular teenage idols launching clothing lines and boutiques. These included singer Sandie Shaw, TV presenter Cathy McGowan, and even the footballer George Best. Such ventures tended to be short-lived, lasting a few years or even months, like the Beatles’ “Apple” boutique, which closed in July 1968 after 7…
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That’s right! We Are Back in Business!
Over the holiday weekend a patch was released for Family Tree Maker that allowed me to sync the changes from Family Tree Maker up to Ancestry.com. It’s been 5 months since I was able to do this, and I was quite nervous. I’ve made a large number of changes over this time, but I had…
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The Man They Couldn’t Hang
Talk about sticking your neck out! John “Babbacombe” Lee had his on the line repeatedly! While he doesn’t have the Babb surname, he sure sounds like one of us! Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Babbacombe_Lee John-Babbacombe-Lee-WikipediaDownload Share this: Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook Share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn Email a link to a…
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Mourning the, all too early, passing of Cameron Hale Chaboudy
I met Cam, or as his mother likes to call him Cameron, as a young buck at my very first Babb Family Association Reunion in 2001. We connected on an intellectual plane in a way that I don’t interphase with most people. He was one of my drinking buddies through that reunion. We met at…
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Ebay Auction: Ramon Larry Babb (1950)
1950 Georgia Institute of Technology 67th Commencement Grant Field Atlanta GA | eBay Auction ends today!
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BFA News & Notes now available for full text search.
Thirty years of the Babb Family Association’s News & Notes (N&N) is now available in a single publication as a component of the Babb Family Archives. With a single download you can query every word Jean A. Sargent & Daniel G. Babb ever wrote over the course of 52 editions. Note that there is an…
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Babb Families of America, 2nd Edition now full text searchable
A recent question from a cousin made me realize that I had never converted the digitized copy of Jean A. Sargent’s Babb Families of America into searchable text. So, I’ve updated the file for this feature to exist. You can now press Ctrl + “f” and conduct a full search of every word in the…
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The Key…
The key to realizing a dream is to focus not on success but on significance — and then even the small steps and little victories along your path will take on greater meaning.–Unknown This quote came across my view this week and I find it so significant right now as I’m struggling to get through…
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A Mystery Hidden in a Family Photograph
While this story isn’t about a Babb, it shows the depth of research undertaken to uncover those hidden treasures in our family photographs. It was written by a New York Times writer who is a member of the Visual Investigations Unit. They are a team of digital sleuths. My apologies for not carrying the post…
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Collections now Available on Babb Unabridged Store
I’ve finally shaped out each of the Genetic Lineages into separate collections in the new store. There is a General Merchandise collection followed by each Genetic Lineage in the order they were discovered. This link will take you directly to the Collections Page:Babb Unabridged: collections on Zazzle New Products Babb Lifetime Member Shirt Baby Blanket…
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Babb Unabridged Store is Open for Business
Just in time for Black Friday, we are hanging up a shingle and opening a store on Zazzle. We are kicking off the first assortment with the first in a series of Annual Porcelain Ornaments and a series of Coffee Mugs for each and every Genetic Lineage. There is a smattering of different items from…
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Mark Babb of Memphis on The Drought along the Mississippi River
I found this article about a Mark Babb, who is apparently from Memphis. He has been featured in an article today in the New York Times. As Drought Drops Water Level in the Mississippi, Shipwrecks Surface and Worries Rise – The New York Times (nytimes.com)
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War Correspondent & Press Secretary
I’m in the market for a War Correspondent. Someone who likes to dig through old Military Records on Fold3.com looking for stories & treasures and bringing them back to light. To be clear, I’m not talking about the war in Ukraine. But if there is a Babb there then that is news too. The good…
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Sisters are Doing it For Themselves – A Contest
Now there was a time, when they used to say that behind every great man there had to be a great woman. But in these times of change you know that it’s no longer true. So, we’re comin’ out of the kitchen ‘Cause there’s somethin’ we forgot to say to you, we say. Sisters are…
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‘No redeeming qualities’: Jacksonville man writes brutally honest obituary for estranged father
Sister: ‘I call it honesty’ Beth Reese Cravey | Florida Times-UnionPublished 7:41a.m. ET July 6, 2022 Larry Pfaff does not remember his father fondly. So the obituary the Jacksonville man wrote about Lawrence H. Pfaff Sr., published Saturday on Jacksonville.com and in Monday’s E-Edition of The Florida Times-Union, speaks of an alcoholic, abusive parent who was “incapable of love” for anyone other…
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Major Bill Babb – 101st Airborne “Challenge Coin”
This coin is part of a long held military tradition dating back to the Roman Empire. A challenge coin is a small coin or medallion, bearing an organization’s insignia or emblem and carried by the organization’s members. Traditionally, they might be given to prove membership when challenged and to enhance morale. They are also collected by service members and law enforcement personnel.…
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Paris, France: 1890s Invoice Edouard Babb
This curious item is currently available on eBay. It is a receipt from the French Bakery of Edouard Babb. His 1890’s Patisserie was on one of the Grand Boulevards of Paris, which is named Avenue Victor Hugo. I have no additional information on this Edouard Babb, but he does seem to have run a swanky…
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The Babb Coat of Arms
I’ve been working on re-proofing some of the earlier research in the context of what we now know about the Babbs of Devon. In the year since I received the letter, I’ve worked to capture every record I can get my hands on from Early Devon. There is a little more work still to do…
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Little Miss Nobody has a Name!
Sharon Lee Gallegos was born about 1957 and was kidnapped in 1960. She would have been 65 this year. Five Years Later her mother kept hope alive, but her relief never came in an all too often scenario. We now know that Sharon was driven more than 500 miles from Alamagordo, NM to a desert…
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‘Little Miss Nobody’ finally gets a name on Tuesday
DNA is once again coming to the rescue in solving a cold case that involved the murder of a little girl 3-6 years old in the desert of Yavapai County, Arizona. For 62 years this case has remained unsolved. The identity of the girl has never been known and no family came forward to file…
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Update
Hi! I’ve been quiet these last few months while going through a series of family situations. Things are starting to settle down again in both my personal and work life, so I’ll be able to start up again with a more regular cadence. Some of the Genealogy work I’ve been doing is related to a…
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Thought of the Day
Take chances, make mistakes. That’s how you grow. Pain nourishes your courage. You have to fall in order to practice being brave. ~Mary Tyler Moore
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New Master Tree Link
I began having trouble with the synchronized Master Tree on Ancestry and had to break the link and then re-upload it. There was only one day of work that was lost and I’m working to recover that now. I’ve setup a “Vanity” URL that will redirect you to the tree automatically should this ever happen…
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Welcome the Newest Member of the Babb Family
Kelsey Grace Babb hails from Tulsa, Oklahoma and is a beautiful little girl. Her father Austin is a fan of our site and wanted to shout his excitement to the rooftops. So, here is an around the world shot for them both! Kelsey, Congratulations! You have been born into the best Surname in the world!!…
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Apples to Genealogy
I came across this good news story in the LA Times today. It tells a great story of how forensic genealogy is helping track down apples that were thought to be extinct. https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-04-15/10-pioneer-era-apple-types-thought-extinct-found-in-us-west We can all use some good news and I hope you find it interesting.
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Finding Your Roots…or Bust!
I’ve received word back from the crew at Finding Your Roots and they have confirmed that I should not expect to see our episode in the October Release of the show. They also let me know that they will inform me of an Air Date when they approached it and that I would be listed…
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More of nothing!
OK, I’ve finally resolved the email problem that was keeping people from getting their invitations and have added the first 88 people to the site. You should have an email in your inbox now. I’ll be shipping the remainder of the tomorrow due to email send limitations and all paying members should have an invitation…
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Here goes nothin!
I’m going to attempt to launch the membership portion of http://babbunabridged.com tonight and will be issuing trial memberships to anyone who has previously purchased one. This includes those whose subscriptions have lapsed. I am fighting competing urges. One tells me to upload everything and then make the memberships, but then people will start creating their…
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No More Money Panic: How to Prepare for Baby on a Budget
Prologue: Alex discovered our blog while helping a friend research their family tree. She wanted to share her specialty with us and wrote this article to help prospective parents align their finances to their new lifestyle. It’s a little different than our usual content, but well worth a read for our younger audiences.-Daniel by Alex…
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My new Intern
Today is the first day in the office with my new Intern. This little gentleman isn’t wasting any time helping to get to the bottom of important matters at hand. He is really good at helping me correct typos and at offering alternative spellings I hadn’t thought of. He reminds me to take breaks and…
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Autosomal DNA Test Transfers
It has just come to my attention that Family Tree DNA has added the ability for the first time to compare your Autosomal DNA tests, no matter where you tested initially. You can now transfer your AncestryDNA, 23andMe or MyHeritage autosomal DNA tests into FamilyTreeDNA and discover new matches for FREE! The Babb Family uses…
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Fred Flint’s Stone
I’m on a European holiday, so here is just a fun thought shared by cousin Martha Babb Enjoy!
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My Brave Little Boy
My Brave Little Boy My Brave little boy, Caesar, passed from this earth this morning. It was just on Monday that we learned that his recent weight gain was being fueled by a fast growing baseball sized tumor in his abdomen. It had appeared, as if out of nowhere over the last few…
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20,000 views!
This week, my blog passed 20,000 views (over the last 2.5 years) and my book series passed 250 copies sold. While I’m no Tom Clancy, the figures are staggering for the world of Genealogy. At times I’m stunned that anyone listens to me at all, but this outpouring of love and support has me amazed! Thanks for…
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Safe & Sound in Dallas
Many may realize that Dallas is my hometown and I wanted to make sure everyone knew that me and mine are safe and sound, following the tragic events last night. We were home when the shootings took place and didn’t even hear about them until friends from out of state starting asking about our safety…
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Corollary to a Precious Little Girl
I knew that my precious little girl could never rest in peace until she was home with us. We received Josie’s ashes back a few days ago and I felt relieved to have her at home again. I had made her a promise early on that I’d never leave her at the vet alone and…
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My Precious Little Girl
On Friday April 10th, 2015 at approximately 11:05 am, we lost our precious little girl Josie to Lymphoma. Josie first arrived in our lives on Christmas Eve 2002. She couldn’t exactly be wrapped, though I later came to learn that she would have been happy to wait the entire night under a Christmas Tree. She…
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Joining the Babb Family Association
Someone pointed out to me that I’ve not provided a method for people to join the Babb Family Association. I can’t believe that I somehow missed that when creating this new blog. Historically, we have collected dues via the newsletter and I hadn’t considered that there were people out there who appreciate the work we…
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Game on!
Sargent Ryan Tucker (who I believe is the only Active Duty member of the Babb Family Association) is helping to bring baseball to Latvia. In addition to being the 4th great Grandson of Seth Babb of Greeneville, TN, Ryan is a native of Katy, Texas and is pictured sliding into home plate during a friendly game between…
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Charles Devereux DeVaney: A Biography
When I was growing up and I was trapped inside during a snow storm, I loved working on Jigsaw puzzles. Something about them always intrigued me and I kept several for just that occasion. This weekend, Dallas was covered by a blanket of ice. I don’t have my jigsaw puzzles anymore, but I decided to…
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CAT DNA solves homicide
This is an interesting story about how authorities solved a murder mystery using DNA found on some cat hair on the victim. I know I spend half my life covered in cat hair from my two Orange Tabbies. So, I guess I have to watch my step. 😉 http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-57598553/british-cat-dna-database-helps-convict-killer/ Sadly, it now appears that it…
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Not much to say
I realized I haven’t made a post in a while and wanted to explain why. There really hasn’t been much to say. We are in a holding pattern waiting on the door hardware for the front and back doors. There was a mixup about who was creating the replacement doors, but that has been resolved.…
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Moving
For all those that have wondered where I’ve been over the last few weeks. I’ve been moving to a new place a few miles north of my last one in North Dallas, TX. The search and remodel has taken more time than I expected and I’m just now starting to see the light of day.…
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4 years Cancer Free!!
Please join me Sunday for “Give the terrorists the finger” in which I celebrate the 4th anniversary of the day I was CURED OF CANCER!!! I lost my middle finger that day to the disease, but just like America they can’t take my spirit. So when you see The Towers on TV, give them “The…
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Historic Bridge in Vermont swept away by Irene
THIS IS NOT BABB’S BRIDGE, but at first glance on the TV this morning, it wasn’t possible to tell. I thought others might have seen and wondered and thought it shows the destructive power of mother nature in a way that hits very close to home after our recent trip to Babb’s Bridge. Watch the…
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Time for a new look
It’s time for a fresh look for the News & Notes, so with the first issue of the new cycle we are launching with a fresh banner page and hope you will like it as much as we do. In keeping with the times, the News & Notes will now reflect the posts on my…
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Jim Babb takes on the TSA
Babb Family Association member Jim Babb has founded a group that is in opposition to the TSA’s new scanners & exam procedures. He did an interview recently with MSNBC which is linked below. I’m passing on because he is a member and a Babb and not to make any point for/against the cause. I realize…
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Daniel Babb fired by Dallas Police Department for unnecessary force
FYI, this article is NOT about me. It is kind of a creepy coincidence though that he bears the same name and lives in the same city. The DPD is seeking criminal charges against him, so his name is likely to keep popping up in the news over the next year or so and I…
