Surname Saturday: Acquard

In the new year, I am finally going to start doing the Surname Saturday theme.  My plan is to go alphabetically through each of my surnames in order to get them all on the internet and, hopefully, meet some more cousins:-)

The first surname of the year is Acquard.  This is my surname and almost always has me first on any list.

According to the World Names Profiler, Acquard is only in the United States:

Clicking on the US, it is shown to predominately be in  New York, Minnesota and Indiana:

When my immigrant ancestor and his brothers came to America from France, my ancestor stayed in New York state, while his brother moved to Minnesota.  I am unclear as to when Indiana became a popular place for the Acquards.

I do not do much research on the Acquard family, as my great Aunt Dottie has traced back many, many generations in France, as well as many cousins here in America.  She could easily create a one-name study and amazing book with her research.   Her work is incredible and something I hope to emulate with other lines.

My branch of the Acquard family came from the Alsace-Lorraine region of France.  They settled in Western New York, primarily in Erie, Genesee and Wyoming Counties.

If you ever meet an Acquard, odds are they are related to me:-)

End of Year Meme - 2009

Found on Head Tale:

1. What did you do this year that you’d never done before?
   I had a lot of firsts this year.  In January I went to Germany and began my first ever blog, in May I became engaged and in August I began graduate school and went to my first library conference in October.  This was a fantastic year for firsts and I look forward to what they lead to in the new year and new decade.
   
   
2. Did anyone close to you give birth?
   My best friend from college, Lauren, gave birth to her first child, Mikah, who is incredibly adorable.  A few friends of Aaron's also gave birth, Karen and Stephanie (they each had a girl).
   
   
3. Did anyone close to you die?
   For the first time ever I will answer yes to this question, as my grandpa died November 29th.  At some point I will post on this, I just haven't yet figured out what to say.
4. What countries did you visit?
   Germany, Austria and Canada
5. What would you like to have in next year that you lacked this year?
   Free time, as school pretty much took all of that away.  I would also like to find a job at a library to get some experience.
   
   
6. What date from this year will remain etched upon your memory?
   May 8 - When Aaron and I got engaged.
   
   
7. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
   Getting into the MSLIS program at SU
   
   
8. What was your biggest failure?
   I didn't do nearly as much genealogy work as I would have liked, but I wouldn't really consider that a failure, just a last of time.
   
   
9. What was your biggest surprise?
   Being proposed too:-D
   
   
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
    I'm slowly developing a repetitive motion injury from work at Starbucks, but otherwise just a few colds I think.
    
    
11. What was the best thing you bought?
    My Germany vacation with Aaron.
    
    
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
    Aaron is amazing as always and dealt with a very busy and exhausted me.  My new friends in library school are all fantastic.
    
    
13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
    The government in relation to the health care bill.  They need to stop thinking about their parties and lobbiests and start taking care of the people.
    
    
14. Where did most of your money go?
    Rent and car (which I paid off, finally!)
    
    
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
    Planning a wedding (I detect a theme here:-))
    
    
16. What song/album will always remind you of this year?
    "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz, "Waking up in Vegas" by Katy Perry, "My Life Would Suck Without You" by Kelly Clarkson, Lady Antebellum and Darius Rucker's albums.
    
    
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
1. Happier or sadder?  So much happier.
2. Thinner or fatter?  Fatter:-( (Not used to having someone in the house who cooks well)
3. Richer or poorer? Poorer because of student loans.
   
   
18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
    Living in the moment, exercising
    
    
19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
    Worrying and complaining
    
    
20. How will you be spending did you spend Christmas?
    Worked from 7:30 - 3, then at Aaron's parents.  Spent the weekend before Christmas with my family.
21. Who did you spend the most time on the phone with?
    My mom, she's pretty much the only person I call.  Text-wise is Aaron.
    
22. What was your favourite TV program?
    Grey's Anatomy (getting good again:-))
    
    
23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
    No, I hate all the same people.  
    
    
24. What was the best book(s) you read?
    The Book Thief was brilliant and one would never guess it was a young adult novel.  I finally broke down and bough Evidence Explained, which is very helpful for my genealogical work.  Library-wise, The Accidental Library Manager was better than any of the books I read for class.
    
25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
    Lady Antebellum
    
    
26. What did you want and get?
    I have gotten more than I ever dreamed of yesterday.  I wanted to get into school and get the Germany experience, both of which I did.
    
    
27. What did you want and not get?
    I had wanted a graduate assistantship and straight A's.  No assistantship, but A and A-'s, which is close enough considering I was working full-time as well as full-time school.
    
    
28. What were your favourite films of this year?
    (500) days of summer, Paranormal Activity
    
    
29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
    I turned 28 and worked all day, then had the last night of my 511 class, but it was the fun class on gaming in libraries and everyone brought food and hung out
    
    
30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
    Can't think of anything
31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept this year?
    Sweatshirts and jeans, as well as the ever-popular all-black Sbux regalia
    
    
32. What kept you sane?
    Aaron and playing around online instead of doing work
    
    
33. What political issue stirred you the most?
    The health care bill
    
    
34. Who did you miss?
    My grandfather
    
    
35. Who was the best new person you met?
    I can't pick one, I have met about 40 awesome people in school
    
    
36. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned this year.
    "Don't let procrastination be your primary time management skill"
    
    
37. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year?
    "I reckon it's again my turn to win some or learn some"
    
38. What do you hope the next year brings?
    A fun time in Germany and an amazing wedding

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Wordless Wednesday - Jacob Gress

Photograph in possession of my great aunt Lois (It would be her grandfather, my great-great grandfather).  I scanned during my trip to Florida last spring.

Tombstone Tuesday - Katherine Weiss Eichhorn Gorndt

Goals for the New Year

In 2010, I hope to accomplish the following:

• Interview my grandmothers, parents and great aunts, uncles and cousins on video ASAP!
• Goal is to do this by the end of February for my grandmothers
• Update each of my lines sideways and forward.
• I usually do well with my information about my ancestors siblings, but I have not done so well finding cousins in more recent generations.
• Focus my search for my German lines so that I can visit their hometowns while I am in Germany for 4 1/2 months
• I will therefore focus on the Eichhorn, Gresz, Fink, Weiss and Tross lines for the next two months
• Stay in touch with my relatives searching my fathers side of the family.
• I research my mothers side as I have great aunts and uncles who research my fathers.  I will be helping my Aunt Dottie with her search in Poland for the Karpinski's (my great-grandmother's line)
• Complete Dear Myrtle's finally get organization checklist from 2009
• Start researching my fiancé's line (at the very least, get the information he knows into my file)
• Blog: Participate in Surname Saturday each week in order to get my surnames out there and find new cousins!  I plan on going alphabetically though all my surnames.

SNGF - What I received for Christmas

This weeks Saturday Night Genealogy Fun:
1) What gift that you received for Christmas is your favorite for genealogy purposes? Book, magazine, hardware, software, website subscription, research time - what was it, and how will it affect your genealogy research?

2) Tell us about it in a blog post on your own blog, in a comment to this blog post, or in a comment on Facebook in response to this post.


I received a fantastic genealogy present on Christmas - a reply to a blog post from my second cousin, once removed!  I couldn't have asked for anything better.  Thank you Alan, for a fantastic present!

Advent Calender - Opening Day 5

The GeneaBlogger Advent Calender prompt #5: December 5 - Outdoor Decorations
Did people in your neighborhood decorate with lights? Did some people really go “all out” when decorating? Any stories involving your ancestors and decorations?

In recent years, my sister has slowly become one of the more out-of-control light people. Each year after Christmas, she gets another one of those lit, movable, holiday animals to add to the collection. Her and my mom also put up icicle lights around the house for a complete winter wonderland.

My favorite lights are those of an unknown neighbor. Each year, for as long as I can remember, he has put up a huge Christmas tree, made out of green lights. It never feels like Christmas until I go home and see the tree all lit up against the dark night sky.