Great Genealogy Poetry Challenge

It’s time for the Third Annual Great Genealogy Poetry Challenge, hosted by Bill West of West in New England. This is my first year participating. I hope you enjoy this poem written by one of my husband’s ancestor’s. I’ll tell you more after you finish reading the poem.

 

To the Snob

 

You can't go through life

With your head in the air.

Meeting unfortunate friends

With a stare.

Good character shows

From each line of your face.

A warm friendly smile

Adds much to your grace.

So come down from that high seat

You’ve chosen to take.

Grasp the hand of that poor friend.

‘Twill lessen the ache,

Of a life full of sorrow,

Not made by his hand.

With a smile on your face,

Show that you understand.

By Mrs. Roy Bindon

Inspired by a remark of my 13-year-old daughter [NAME WITHHELD FOR PRIVACY] concerning some of her friends saddened and hurt by snobbery.

REPRINTED WITH PERMISSION.

Husband's grandmother, Caroline Ebling Bindon, loved to write poetry. Apparently when the mood struck, she would write her poems down on whatever paper (or scrap of paper) she had on hand at the moment. Several years ago, I transcribed and compiled them into a book for the family, along with some photos, narrative and history. The Snob is one of my favorites and is as pertinent today, in the first half of the 21st century as it was in the first half of the twentieth century.

Now for the challenging part of Bill's challenge: citing something from a scrap of paper!

Source List Entry:

So I decided we are dealing with a manuscript of sorts, after looking in Evidence Explained, (page 143, 3.29 Diaries, Journals & Authored Manuscripts), it looks like there's a couple of ways I can go. You can bet I'm adding this to my Citation Style Sheet. LOL.

Citing the original "manuscript"
Bindon, Caroline (Ebling). "The Snob." MS. Three Oaks, Michigan, circa 1943. Privately held by [NAME AND ADDRESS WITHHELD FOR PRIVACY]. 2011.

Citing the book I compiled:
Goodrum, Michelle, compiler. Poetry of Carrie Marie Bindon. Mesa, AZ: self published, 2001.

© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

This Is the Face of Genealogy

Roy B. Bindon 1918 Khaborovsk, Siberia (sitting).

© 2011, copyright Michelle Goodrum

Veterans Day - WWI Service in Russia

© 2010, copyright Michelle Goodrum Roy Bindon's US military service during WWI was a bit unusual. He was inducted into the Army 30 April 1918 in Chicago, Illinois and shipped out to Siberia, Russia on 2 September of that same year. Roy was trained as a sniper and served with the Machine Gun 31st Infantry and later the 27th Infantry.

Roy Bindon, sitting, in Khaborovsk,
Siberia 1918. Original privately held
by Carol Fuller, [ADDRESS FOR PRIVATE USE].

The American Expeditionary Forces in Siberia were charged with keeping the Trans-Siberian Railroad open and out of the hands of the Bolshevicks. Roy and his comrads arrived in Vladivostok and went to work. As Roy's daughter told me the story:

One day the troops had gone up past Volodevestock (?) and Verteneudinks (?). She thinks it was beyond Verteneudinks. The troops were out guarding the Trans-Siberian Railroad and Roy, being a machine gun sniper, was sent out in the woods by his commandant.

While he was out, the Bolshevicks camped below the tree that he [Roy] was stationed in, where he had set up his machine gun sniper position. They [the Bolsheviks] spent the night below him and he had to stay up in that tree all night long. He hung on for dear life until they got up early the next morning and moved out.

When Roy thought the Bolsheviks were sufficiently gone, he reported back their position to his commandant. The commandant, had a canvas tent or some other temporary structure that was somehow heated. As Roy reported in to the commandant, the warm air hit his cold eardrums, and his eardrums burst. He slowly started going deaf from that point on.

It really is a rather extraordinary story. I was able to confirm it by obtaining Roy's military records (see sources below). According to these records, Roy was treated in December of 1918 at an Army hospital in Khabarovsk, Siberia.


Roy came back from Russia and spent many years in Hines hospital because he was slowly going deaf and the ringing in his ears just about drove him crazy. After reading Roy's military records, I can only imagine the frustration he and the family went through trying to get him the medical help that he needed.

Sources:

Roy's Military Records obtained from the Department of Veteran's Affairs in Chicago, Illinois. More specifically, his Honorable Discharge Certificate, various Requests for Army Information and Applications for Disability Compensation.

Carol Fuller Interview, 24 February 1994.


© 2010, copyright Michelle Goodrum