tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89982711545069661052024-02-20T08:49:07.531-08:00The Marcella Armstrong Memorial CollectionPreserving Family History for Generations to ComePaul R. Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04401509483200614806noreply@blogger.comBlogger156125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998271154506966105.post-33664372009673344612010-12-09T05:29:00.000-08:002010-12-09T05:37:28.326-08:00Library of Congress Civil War Photographs<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The Library of Congress posted a series of Civil War photographs on Flickr, many of them of unidentified soldiers. I skimmed through them wondering if I could identify any of them.</div><br />
I came across <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/5229211100/in/set-72157625520211184/">this one</a>:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/TQDaNPQ6fNI/AAAAAAAACAQ/NvwC_DuZuQg/s1600/5229211100_aa4c69830b_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/TQDaNPQ6fNI/AAAAAAAACAQ/NvwC_DuZuQg/s320/5229211100_aa4c69830b_b.jpg" width="270" /></a></div><br />
and wondered if it might be possible that this was my Bagley ancestor; these are the pictures I've got:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/R2TUfSCg6jI/AAAAAAAAAio/qjOu7l1ZRNY/s1600/civil_war_bagley_004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/R2TUfSCg6jI/AAAAAAAAAio/qjOu7l1ZRNY/s320/civil_war_bagley_004.jpg" width="265" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPEFe0Kd43WCw0maVUBr8Y1JI2RUCoRkfRVPyaSFq0uTLuLkIGUuaAs9yRku-H9lBTVusa6vlayuj-AWar0i1SukS4xiruot9yM1eT5N8fvsSWPHR6kUqJF9cmY5wZeNvkS9kz4sQfyK0/s1600/civil_war_bagley_001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPEFe0Kd43WCw0maVUBr8Y1JI2RUCoRkfRVPyaSFq0uTLuLkIGUuaAs9yRku-H9lBTVusa6vlayuj-AWar0i1SukS4xiruot9yM1eT5N8fvsSWPHR6kUqJF9cmY5wZeNvkS9kz4sQfyK0/s320/civil_war_bagley_001.jpg" width="267" /></a></div><br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/5229223780/in/set-72157625520211184/">This one</a>:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/TQDasSFJLWI/AAAAAAAACAU/18IANCAa3S8/s1600/5229223780_5aa6f97dbc_b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/TQDasSFJLWI/AAAAAAAACAU/18IANCAa3S8/s320/5229223780_5aa6f97dbc_b.jpg" width="262" /></a></div><br />
also seemed like a possible match, although maybe less likely.<br />
<br />
Have I identified an unknown soldier in the Library of Congress photo collection?<br />
<br />
There must be people who are well-versed in -- what, forensic photograpy? -- who know what to look for as far as ruling out a possible match. But how would one ever know for sure?Paul R. Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04401509483200614806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998271154506966105.post-56092178298916990572009-09-10T09:37:00.000-07:002009-09-10T09:50:11.378-07:00Journal Facsimiles UpdateSo, I sent a photocopy of the original to Joan and Don Joy in Conway, South Carolina, so Joan could finish reading it, while I work on the rebinding of the original and the production of the facsimiles.<br /><br />Today I picked up a proof copy of the facsimiles on ordinary paper, done for Bessenberg by a service bureau in Saline. The result isn't very good -- the problem is, the original is fine-point blue ball-point pen on somewhat faded paper. Turn that into a straight one-bit-per-pixel image using thresholding, and you've got a gritty-looking image with dropouts; bring the threshold up too high to make it darker, and the background starts to get speckled.<br /><br />Bessenberg sends out their scanning and printing to a service bureau, so the binding is now on hold while I work with the service bureau to come up with something that looks better. They're probably accustomed to scanning dissertations in crisp black print on a white background, which doesn't require a high bit depth. I think what I'll have to do is ask them to scan it again, in color at perhaps 600 dpi, and give me a disc with the images. I'll then have to spend some time playing around with the images in Photoshop, which may mean finding the best per-page settings, then bring it down to a dithered black and white image, and have them print that.<br /><br />So, on the one hand it looks like I will have to put more time into it, where I was hoping to pay other people to do all that. But on the other hand, the results should be closer to what I want -- and if it works out right, I'll also have an archival digital version, which is actually more than I had originally hoped for.Paul R. Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04401509483200614806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998271154506966105.post-89771353877667981642009-08-12T09:21:00.000-07:002009-08-12T09:34:22.083-07:00Bessenberg BinderyWith Grace's help, I've finally gotten my act together enough to take Marcella's journal to Bessenberg bindery, to have it bound in a new cover, along with a box. The original cover is disintegrating, but fortunately the paper in the book is holding up well, and it is sewn, and can thus be put in a new cover without too much difficulty.<br /><br />I'm also having five bound archival-quality facsimile copies made, and an unbound facsimile to be kept in a box. This should make it easier to scan or make further copies in the future. I'm also hunting for someone to finish transcribing the whole thing, after realizing that I'm not going to have time to type it all; and even if I did, my wrists just aren't up to that much typing. I'm on the computer pretty much all day at work as it is, and don't want to give myself an attack of tendonitis or carpal tunnel syndrome.<br /><br />And finally, I have a photocopy (on ordinary photocopy paper, made at a Staples), which I'm sending back to Joan and Don so that they can finish reading it.<br /><br />When the original is done, I'll send that to Joan and Don as well. The facsimiles are for the grandchildren. They estimated they would be done in about three weeks.<br /><br />I'm not making a lot of headway in my scanning and archiving -- it's a lot of work! And when Joshua arrived, our free time was squeezed just that little bit further, and a lot of our planned activities fell apart. But I will keep plugging away as best as I can.Paul R. Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04401509483200614806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998271154506966105.post-42176371978201247072009-05-17T12:53:00.000-07:002009-05-17T13:38:15.468-07:00Starting a New Album: Clarkes, 1902-1935<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/ShBt4JssR1I/AAAAAAAABa0/zhLUGLKNQUo/s1600-h/album+cover.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/ShBt4JssR1I/AAAAAAAABa0/zhLUGLKNQUo/s320/album+cover.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336886369877509970" /></a><br />I am starting to scan and restore images from an old album of my grandmother's, marked "Clarkes 1902-1935." To do this I had to take it apart, but fortunately this one has a tied binding. Some of the other albums are going to be trickier.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwagT8fRyVPOdD1Szk0lM6Wvq4IoafHkcEbz1FYcSLir5fnqnRN8OrXsbSQmur46argbi4OnYb21lGw5cDkDc42EEbE5GneQXGfQOOcSQpSMHDO013ud3oXjFEtD_wUfEJ5N1gsorjS0w/s1600-h/page+1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwagT8fRyVPOdD1Szk0lM6Wvq4IoafHkcEbz1FYcSLir5fnqnRN8OrXsbSQmur46argbi4OnYb21lGw5cDkDc42EEbE5GneQXGfQOOcSQpSMHDO013ud3oXjFEtD_wUfEJ5N1gsorjS0w/s320/page+1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336886368605568834" /></a>It is another black paper album, and is quite worn. The photos tend to have too much or too little contrast, and some silvering. There are a lot of hand-written comments in white ink, but many of them are difficult to read. I'll try to do restorations of some of the more promising images.<br /><br />Here's a detail of one of the clearer photos, a scan prior to any cleanup. It shows Joe and H. Harrison Clarke, Marcella's brothers. It isn't dated, but 1912 seems like a reasonable guess; H. Harrison Clarke was born in 1902.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/ShBvfpALwGI/AAAAAAAABbE/JCb-krsZxqY/s1600-h/page_1_excerpt.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 297px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/ShBvfpALwGI/AAAAAAAABbE/JCb-krsZxqY/s320/page_1_excerpt.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336888147807289442" /></a><br />I'm scanning these at 1200 dpi, to try to capture any fine detail that is lurking in the grain. Here's a first attempt at cleaning up dirt and scratches on the image and adjusting the contrast. Take a look at the blousy shirts, the ties, the pantaloons, and the shoes!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/ShBvfs3MsvI/AAAAAAAABbM/G_QDSu990co/s1600-h/clarke-bros-retouch.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 209px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/ShBvfs3MsvI/AAAAAAAABbM/G_QDSu990co/s320/clarke-bros-retouch.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336888148843344626" /></a><br />Retouching is a compromise; I've used Photoshop's spot healing brush along with my Wacom tablet to blend out a lot of dirt and scratches. That's an endless process, though, so at some point you have to stop and focus just on the faces and most visible damage. If you get too aggressive with the spot healing, then you start to get a plastic-looking surface, and if you clean up one area very thoroughly and leave other areas dirty, it looks strange and uneven. Also, at this point I'm not even going to attempt to clean up the whitish rubbed areas across the middle of the picture; it's beyond my current retouching skills.<br /><br />To bring up the sharpness, I hit the unsharp mask filter pretty hard. The image starts to look a little grainy, but you get some details back that tend to look blurry if you don't sharpen them. It's a compromise and I'm still learning how to get the best results.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/ShBvf_r6VmI/AAAAAAAABbU/HJlxH-BCP98/s1600-h/clarke_bros_restoration_closeup.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 301px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/ShBvf_r6VmI/AAAAAAAABbU/HJlxH-BCP98/s320/clarke_bros_restoration_closeup.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5336888153896277602" /></a><br />Of course, I'm also preserving both the original paper album as best I can -- although in another hundred years the acidic black paper will have probably rendered the images even more illegible -- and the original scans, for someone else to play with in the future. That someone might be me in a few years.Paul R. Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04401509483200614806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998271154506966105.post-40846173889448762962008-11-18T08:11:00.000-08:002008-11-18T08:14:14.042-08:00Marcella Armstrong's JournalI have received my grandmother's journal back from Joan and Don Joy! So, now to get it scanned, and restored in a new cover. I'm going to see if the <a href="http://www.bessenberg.com/">Bessenberg Bindery</a> can do this kind of job for me.Paul R. Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04401509483200614806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998271154506966105.post-26050199055815356742008-10-04T22:06:00.001-07:002008-10-04T22:22:44.497-07:00A Pile of Long-Lost SlidesI found a handful of loose slides and today I'm scanning them. This batch needs a lot of hand-restoration with Photoshop; I'll leave the touchup of dirt and scratches to later, but just getting the colors even remotely correct has been a challenge, since these are old and have not been properly stored.<br /><br />This one seems to be me, on the right, maybe circa 1969, in Seattle, but I'm not certain where. Is this in my yard at the time? I don't know. I think the boy on the left is Michael, the son of my mom's friend whose name escapes me at the moment. I look to be about two. I've never seen this picture before. There's probably a story behind it. The slide is marked July 1970, and I think my parents' relationship was either hopelessly broken or badly damaged at this point. I don't look happy. But maybe I'm reading too much into it. When I look at it I feel as if I'm on the verge of remembering what it was like to be that two-year-old boy (I had not yet turned three), as if those memories are still in there somewhere!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvrG37tc6Qv-h2x4mof1Vhi2E2dq3kEtj_phkt-O2dVOjGDoz2BdKBPjNvPPEjIBYG4mMCh45EQU6rQ1oUSG1xfEoRe7HE6R6cu44u8xcv5kHlzn3OuoWIWu_AVzTMCI7Gm2tb75m_M0s/s1600-h/misc-adobe-rgb009_hand_fixed.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvrG37tc6Qv-h2x4mof1Vhi2E2dq3kEtj_phkt-O2dVOjGDoz2BdKBPjNvPPEjIBYG4mMCh45EQU6rQ1oUSG1xfEoRe7HE6R6cu44u8xcv5kHlzn3OuoWIWu_AVzTMCI7Gm2tb75m_M0s/s320/misc-adobe-rgb009_hand_fixed.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253512290935108642" /></a><br />This next one was over-exposed to begin with and the dyes are very faded, meaning that it lets most light of the light from the scanner through, and comes out almost white. This means it requires a lot of darkening and contrast-enhancement to see much of anything, and there is hardly any color left to correct. I'm sure a pro could get this looking better, but here it is: Richard, Joan, and Susan Armstrong perhaps around 1955. Are they all in the water? The way the shot is framed, it is hard to tell. Hand-written on the slide is "at Sun Lake, Washington."<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyYxoigAuAH7abkbmslV_y3xHvvu0qWJYJ0m2aydU1aod_YGHF-DKVLNTwO8oKjRpUfOcKfOsLSDq7hJxmoG3iGP2AR9ayjijb0LXEl4OxBpmn0rtJo3Q4WQ0jboIU5S_MvJBLJhRRQr4/s1600-h/misc-adobe-rgb008_hand_corrected.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyYxoigAuAH7abkbmslV_y3xHvvu0qWJYJ0m2aydU1aod_YGHF-DKVLNTwO8oKjRpUfOcKfOsLSDq7hJxmoG3iGP2AR9ayjijb0LXEl4OxBpmn0rtJo3Q4WQ0jboIU5S_MvJBLJhRRQr4/s320/misc-adobe-rgb008_hand_corrected.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253515424810813090" /></a><br />Next, a fantastic photo of my mom. This one was remarkably well-preserved. The slide is stamped "61R" which I'm thinking might indicate 1961 -- was this taken at Fircrest School?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/SOg_i-npPVI/AAAAAAAABMo/LP5C11SCWQ8/s1600-h/misc-adobe-rgb007.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/SOg_i-npPVI/AAAAAAAABMo/LP5C11SCWQ8/s320/misc-adobe-rgb007.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253518835485064530" /></a><br />This next one is my father's family in Eatonville, Washington: Thanksgiving, 1975. I'm not certain who everyone is, but Amby, Mary, Elmer, Sally, Aaron, and Ted I recognize.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLzADhvMLW7WqOsB5QHjBy-xQKpMgSDWTxXjx6IcPG-e9e2y0aQRPDNFn_7xcKaXqLurluXIssjY5sw_iEbChXLlKYIeyDMoWZWsCZ9dZaxsAnf9thDnlUEz4UnJrJurmLf7_3NM5RXcA/s1600-h/misc-adobe-rgb006_hand_corrected.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLzADhvMLW7WqOsB5QHjBy-xQKpMgSDWTxXjx6IcPG-e9e2y0aQRPDNFn_7xcKaXqLurluXIssjY5sw_iEbChXLlKYIeyDMoWZWsCZ9dZaxsAnf9thDnlUEz4UnJrJurmLf7_3NM5RXcA/s320/misc-adobe-rgb006_hand_corrected.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253532860420625570" /></a><br />And finally, my mother at Niagara Falls. My father wrote "Fascination" on a label on the slide's cardboard holder! The colors have held up reasonably well but this slide is badly stained and very dirty. I was able to clean some of the gunk off with emulsion cleaning fluid but it will still need a lot of touch-up in Photoshop if I'm ever going to use this one for high-resolution printing.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/SOhLqgvqYUI/AAAAAAAABNI/m_5CwHH2zZg/s1600-h/fascination_susan_niagara.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/SOhLqgvqYUI/AAAAAAAABNI/m_5CwHH2zZg/s320/fascination_susan_niagara.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253532159044116802" /></a>Paul R. Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04401509483200614806noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998271154506966105.post-59675070419401719472008-09-29T23:06:00.000-07:002008-09-29T23:39:22.123-07:00Newly Found Photos of the Armstrong SiblingsThese photos came to my mother Susan Zahner from Lenore Frimoth (Beck) in 1996. Some of them were in rough shape; I put Photoshop through its paces to get as much contrast as possible out of the originals, and used my new tablet to do a lot of touch-up to fix dirt, stains, scratches, and even tears. Time-consuming, but I'm very pleased with the results!<br /><br />Dora Armstrong (Bagley), around 1915.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRN1APeOWp3E0L5_ygUezRGAtK2WB_Ty0N_mZLx6yIocqBb4WgV2t207yBm6HBSDS_bKRfOCm_jBFzyNvTV7ad8od0un9JMY3-W8fkfvTVLebt8-_iWG6ae2vjQnfmSRSHF3_vP3qCcoI/s1600-h/Dora-Armstrong-1915-hand-edited.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRN1APeOWp3E0L5_ygUezRGAtK2WB_Ty0N_mZLx6yIocqBb4WgV2t207yBm6HBSDS_bKRfOCm_jBFzyNvTV7ad8od0un9JMY3-W8fkfvTVLebt8-_iWG6ae2vjQnfmSRSHF3_vP3qCcoI/s320/Dora-Armstrong-1915-hand-edited.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5251695558573238706" /></a><br />Ruth Armstrong, Richard Armstrong, and Ella Grace Armstrong (Ruth and Ella Grace later married and took the names Beck and Findley).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifgnDmjlXyX14X2V_bJ3KNpMuzxMnGZVzyDEhqZm3qpNMrmiYZ_GAfyxbSXdrd81_lpjWZ81eNO_kkSO4LIRQt1he67AWSf_dnyigX5QPTw6syfltz6EHfogt-eu-bIHdmx8Y31EkdFoA/s1600-h/Ruth,-Richard,-Ella-Grace-maybe-1916-hand-edited.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifgnDmjlXyX14X2V_bJ3KNpMuzxMnGZVzyDEhqZm3qpNMrmiYZ_GAfyxbSXdrd81_lpjWZ81eNO_kkSO4LIRQt1he67AWSf_dnyigX5QPTw6syfltz6EHfogt-eu-bIHdmx8Y31EkdFoA/s320/Ruth,-Richard,-Ella-Grace-maybe-1916-hand-edited.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5251695565416323842" /></a><br />Richard and Ruth, exact date unknown. My grandfather looks like he was probably under two years old.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/SOHFSt-vAnI/AAAAAAAABLA/1bkfTm7AogU/s1600-h/Richard-and-Ruth-hand-edited.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/SOHFSt-vAnI/AAAAAAAABLA/1bkfTm7AogU/s320/Richard-and-Ruth-hand-edited.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5251695565861749362" /></a><br />This one indicates 1906 or 1907 on the back of the photo.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/SOHHye-j1bI/AAAAAAAABLo/dSKKu9Qf-fM/s1600-h/Richard,-Ruth-around-1906-7-hand-edited.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/SOHHye-j1bI/AAAAAAAABLo/dSKKu9Qf-fM/s320/Richard,-Ruth-around-1906-7-hand-edited.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5251698310613554610" /></a><br />Richard, age 12, and age unknown (perhaps around 18).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSJaurYnKgJeyT3wpQOb0AKRrEOd28qsFCrndDnv0asMzyNqBbJeaqeQ9Dz9sTM5l9VJFiSe109VYfqRx67ChFKtIPu6d4H0PRWXI9tEGH08hZ7KMZ-k9vsTyE3QpTbE00BhwWSOktpXs/s1600-h/Richard-age-12-closeup-hand-edited.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSJaurYnKgJeyT3wpQOb0AKRrEOd28qsFCrndDnv0asMzyNqBbJeaqeQ9Dz9sTM5l9VJFiSe109VYfqRx67ChFKtIPu6d4H0PRWXI9tEGH08hZ7KMZ-k9vsTyE3QpTbE00BhwWSOktpXs/s320/Richard-age-12-closeup-hand-edited.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5251697534720504610" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie4y5VakHm6fX-eBdZlXYWVyo0ROD02maQeVPw_tOoyZyss6v-k3mJ1Gg8TE1NnZXRDyAeoXl-FDvI3O_99OUran7GyOn1qfaTG7fMUiW_an0iWSiDPs4hqQE5efrjiRpeehF0eR4Mb_Y/s1600-h/Richard-(year-unknown)-hand-edited.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie4y5VakHm6fX-eBdZlXYWVyo0ROD02maQeVPw_tOoyZyss6v-k3mJ1Gg8TE1NnZXRDyAeoXl-FDvI3O_99OUran7GyOn1qfaTG7fMUiW_an0iWSiDPs4hqQE5efrjiRpeehF0eR4Mb_Y/s320/Richard-(year-unknown)-hand-edited.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5251697535578609442" /></a>Paul R. Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04401509483200614806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998271154506966105.post-75544708573760455122008-09-29T22:46:00.000-07:002008-09-29T23:34:51.968-07:00The Cherry PuddingDick Zahner recently found a few more photos and documents that had been my mother's and grandmother's. To introduce these, here is a short story written by Ruth Beck (Armstrong), my paternal grandfather's sister. <a href="http://thepottshouse.org/armstrong-collection/pdf_files/The%20Cherry%20Pudding%20(Ruth%20Beck%201984).pdf">The Cherry Pudding (PDF file of page images, 513K)</a> The story describes an idyllic day in Iowa nearly 100 years ago, in 1912.<br /><br />My great-aunt Ruth dedicated this story to the memory of my grandfather, Richard Armstrong. The characters she mentions include Uncle Harvey (I'm not sure who that is), Aunt Harriet (Hattie), "the baby" Ella Grace Findley (Armstrong), Dora Armstrong (Bagley), and "Grandmother" (Ruth's grandmother, who I'll have to find out more about). I know very little about my grandfather Richard's family and childhood, but this story has just helped remedy that. There's even enough detail given that an enterprising cook could probably make the cherry pudding described, or at least a close approximation.Paul R. Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04401509483200614806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998271154506966105.post-32723833155994231102008-09-02T10:07:00.000-07:002008-09-02T10:09:40.054-07:00Summer's OverThis is not really on topic, but... we're back from a week's vacation in Grand Marais with my father and stepmother, visiting from California.<br />
<br />
I made a video -- my first -- using Apple iMove, and uploaded it to a brand-spanking-new YouTube account. The video is our family vacation, in the form of a music video for Jonathan Coulton's song "Summer's Over" (Thing a Week #51).<br />
<br />
Here is the video link: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSVuCYOYYKM">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSVuCYOYYKM</a><br />
<br />
I find Mr. Coulton's lyrics to be simple but beautiful; the song has been stuck in my head for the last few weeks.<br />
<br />
Summer’s over <br />
You’re going back to school <br />
I’m staying here <br />
Where else would I go? <br />
<br />
Watch the leaves turn <br />
Close up the swimming pool <br />
Winter comes in <br />
Sooner than you know <br />
<br />
Nights get cold <br />
And the flowers let go<br />
Bide their time<br />
Under the snow <br />
As they go down they say <br />
Goodbye <br />
Goodbye <br />
<br />
Summer’s over <br />
Because it has to be <br />
Just like before<br />
Around and around <br />
<br />
It’s a circle <br />
Bringing you back to me <br />
Stay where I am <br />
I’m lost and found <br />
<br />
When you go<br />
You come back again <br />
Close the door<br />
The cold’s getting in <br />
As I go down I say <br />
Goodbye <br />
GoodbyePaul R. Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04401509483200614806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998271154506966105.post-73183260136394973942008-07-22T07:47:00.001-07:002008-07-22T07:47:29.484-07:00Cross-Blog Information and IntroductionsIn order to try to avoid boring people with material they aren't interested in, I have divided my writing up into five separate blogs. The downside to this is that I have a tendency to wander from one area of interest to another over the course of a typical year, so it may look like I've dropped off the face of the earth. In case anyone is interested in following what is going on in one of my other blogs, I thought it might be useful to post this road map once in a while.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://geeklikemetoo.blogspot.com/">Geek Like Me Too</a> is my general-purpose personal blog. The most recent postings are about a recent Jonathan Coulton concert in Pontiac that I attended and recorded. I have provided recordings of the show as a set of MP3 files, of interest to geeks who like music.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://thepottshouse.org/blosxom.cgi/">Geek Like Me</a> is its predecessor, done in Blosxom, now still up only for archival purposes.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://geekversusguitar.blogspot.com/">Geek Versus Guitar</a> is about guitar playing. Recently I've recorded a few Jonathan Coulton songs myself. It will also be about learning to produce songs with my home studio.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://praisecurseandrecurse.blogspot.com/">Praise, Curse, and Recurse</a> is about programming topics, mostly Haskell, Python, and Scheme. My free time has been devoted to other things but I will no doubt be back around to programming before too long.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://armstrong-collection.blogspot.com/">The Marcella Armstrong Memorial Collection</a> is about my family history, and the big task of scanning, restoring, preserving, and archiving family photos and documents. Of interest to any family members, but also of possible interest to people doing their own similar projects.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://hodgecast.blogspot.com/">Tales from the Potts House: William Hope Hodgson</a> contains information about the "Hodgecast" podcast available on iTunes, in which I record classic William Hope Hodgson novels and stories. I have more podcasts planned in both this series and possibly others in the near future.<br />
<br />
Anyway, there it is... please join me on any of these blogs that might catch your interest. I always have far too many projects going at once!Paul R. Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04401509483200614806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998271154506966105.post-46241671971212859662008-02-09T09:45:00.001-08:002008-02-09T09:49:50.734-08:00Brian at Seventeen<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCgcwiW1nLjR5iQqcqbCsdBVHr5RU1ENgU7vtiAAFAoNPdjHxqgZRg3rgO4zo6LodUk0RfwMWLHpncXMhRiAlxi3idEeD_TeWCwI-wP0rRAdsThUlqLYArOAJSpVUJ2WK7xfXzOBMNtUU/s1600-h/brian_age_17.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCgcwiW1nLjR5iQqcqbCsdBVHr5RU1ENgU7vtiAAFAoNPdjHxqgZRg3rgO4zo6LodUk0RfwMWLHpncXMhRiAlxi3idEeD_TeWCwI-wP0rRAdsThUlqLYArOAJSpVUJ2WK7xfXzOBMNtUU/s320/brian_age_17.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5165038869882599810" /></a><br />I think this may have been Brian's high school graduation photo, but I'm not entirely certain, since I have several similar ones.Paul R. Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04401509483200614806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998271154506966105.post-63438681019567306822008-02-09T09:42:00.000-08:002008-02-09T09:44:27.556-08:00Brian at Ten<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/R63mXJJv-XI/AAAAAAAAAm4/b7IgFg9UOqA/s1600-h/brian_age_maybe_10.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/R63mXJJv-XI/AAAAAAAAAm4/b7IgFg9UOqA/s320/brian_age_maybe_10.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5165037632932018546" /></a><br />I think Brian was about ten when this portrait was taken.Paul R. Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04401509483200614806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998271154506966105.post-83773977758300754952008-02-03T14:55:00.000-08:002008-02-03T16:12:16.806-08:00March of 1973The skin tones are kind of ghastly after rough color restoration, but here we are! I was five, he was three.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL_TOUbEch4W5lCvHVpIJW8SQO1Sjc-HtV9c8Tu0Q1TRCiYWTCY1DiWYi6S3R8Fa37jWSUPVWMouzAIV-FDGSIAZyAhKiXD7HH1EJV9iq0pdTeGQ0J9xZFbslvbh6g_pyHcW7tKJoxAyg/s1600-h/brian_with_paul_corr040.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL_TOUbEch4W5lCvHVpIJW8SQO1Sjc-HtV9c8Tu0Q1TRCiYWTCY1DiWYi6S3R8Fa37jWSUPVWMouzAIV-FDGSIAZyAhKiXD7HH1EJV9iq0pdTeGQ0J9xZFbslvbh6g_pyHcW7tKJoxAyg/s320/brian_with_paul_corr040.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5162893864837985330" /></a><br />I am hoping to eventually acquire some of the more specialized Photoshop plugins for doing more accurate and nuanced color correction.Paul R. Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04401509483200614806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998271154506966105.post-37826066294616300602008-02-03T14:47:00.001-08:002008-02-03T14:50:19.392-08:00Brian at One<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH02aMPf0tZEgpdm-UvHng9SJFWo-XFFqH9AYfP4xqedm39mmVrIR21ibDiZ2-zVQZMigIR2JPPmqxkxmuxi_xH5OwvPE0mE24dyqiyhMs5OMH2uAff62bD7aBtYUpbHuyGsaEm4lcA6I/s1600-h/brian_1_yr_black_and_whi033.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH02aMPf0tZEgpdm-UvHng9SJFWo-XFFqH9AYfP4xqedm39mmVrIR21ibDiZ2-zVQZMigIR2JPPmqxkxmuxi_xH5OwvPE0mE24dyqiyhMs5OMH2uAff62bD7aBtYUpbHuyGsaEm4lcA6I/s320/brian_1_yr_black_and_whi033.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5162889552690820130" /></a>Paul R. Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04401509483200614806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998271154506966105.post-43496188483350041622008-02-03T14:22:00.000-08:002008-02-03T14:27:05.648-08:00He had to Beat the Young Girls Off with a Stick<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/R6Y_Hqq2M_I/AAAAAAAAAmQ/lHaSJrDWj8E/s1600-h/brian_school_grade_maybe_3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/R6Y_Hqq2M_I/AAAAAAAAAmQ/lHaSJrDWj8E/s320/brian_school_grade_maybe_3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5162883423772488690" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/R6Y_H6q2NAI/AAAAAAAAAmY/UcloI24q3MA/s1600-h/brian_school_016.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/R6Y_H6q2NAI/AAAAAAAAAmY/UcloI24q3MA/s320/brian_school_016.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5162883428067456002" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvWSYpKe_QO2QxSZfo12anLqjLoJGrpMILVpduK5IT-oG-cCT52EBtv4QLaZcLBqQtxCD_towfJU3Ipok3SZlLdzhkU-HXPLqnby_lX1qSbYYfZdVBzyonFBSR97ONPmJjpPyM9Q8H6Tc/s1600-h/brian_school_017.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvWSYpKe_QO2QxSZfo12anLqjLoJGrpMILVpduK5IT-oG-cCT52EBtv4QLaZcLBqQtxCD_towfJU3Ipok3SZlLdzhkU-HXPLqnby_lX1qSbYYfZdVBzyonFBSR97ONPmJjpPyM9Q8H6Tc/s320/brian_school_017.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5162883432362423314" /></a>Paul R. Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04401509483200614806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998271154506966105.post-48257600811016990222008-02-03T13:46:00.000-08:002008-02-03T14:05:48.015-08:00Color ShiftHere is an excellent example of how the scanner software can correct very faded photographs. Here is a grade-school portrait of Brian; I think this might have been from the first grade:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/R6Y6Oaq2M-I/AAAAAAAAAmI/StEkbLyuHZw/s1600-h/brian_school_corrected015.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/R6Y6Oaq2M-I/AAAAAAAAAmI/StEkbLyuHZw/s320/brian_school_corrected015.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5162878042178466786" /></a><br /><br />The original is terribly faded:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/R6Y2g6q2M9I/AAAAAAAAAmA/q7frR8bBYl4/s1600-h/brian_school_uncorrected014.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/R6Y2g6q2M9I/AAAAAAAAAmA/q7frR8bBYl4/s320/brian_school_uncorrected014.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5162873961959535570" /></a><br />It still could benefit from some work; the colors have faded unevenly. But even so, it is quite a surprise to find that he was wearing green!Paul R. Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04401509483200614806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998271154506966105.post-3111052699402625332008-02-03T13:30:00.000-08:002008-02-03T13:46:19.686-08:00Brian Dennis PottsHis middle name comes from our great-grandfather, Richard Armstrong's father, Dennis Armstrong, whom we never met. And I forgot his birthday!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/R6Y1Yqq2M8I/AAAAAAAAAl4/HwkJdYNKd1U/s1600-h/brian_8x10_baby_black_and_white.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/R6Y1Yqq2M8I/AAAAAAAAAl4/HwkJdYNKd1U/s320/brian_8x10_baby_black_and_white.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5162872720713987010" /></a><br />Sorry, Brian!Paul R. Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04401509483200614806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998271154506966105.post-67321878869647562552008-02-02T16:45:00.001-08:002008-02-02T20:38:45.334-08:00The Best of the Blue Album Web GalleryThese are my favorite pictures from the blue album. Uploading pictures to Blogger seems to be pretty unreliable, so I am hosting them offsite. Here is the link:<br /><br /><a href="http://thepottshouse.org/armstrong-collection/Best_of_the_Blue_Album/index.html">The Best of the Blue Album Web Gallery</a><br /><br />This gallery contains about 51 images at modest sizes for web viewing. The files were created by using Aperture's Web Gallery feature. The original album has about 150 pictures.Paul R. Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04401509483200614806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998271154506966105.post-64378079842220686152008-02-02T14:53:00.000-08:002008-02-02T14:57:28.944-08:00The Blue Album, CoverThis is why I called it the Blue Album.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdMYM9yAM_EuDviHZpZLc8sLk2bG59Yi9UWSGgycfA_cJXkH8qssCooozxb1EvoAsb91H3aidGe2H17uYHFgYyW78pMU3ULBu27b5KaKS1iTpXQ1bxEjoNv-4sH3eCUcQK3p8jH4PZyqM/s1600-h/big_blue_album_cover.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdMYM9yAM_EuDviHZpZLc8sLk2bG59Yi9UWSGgycfA_cJXkH8qssCooozxb1EvoAsb91H3aidGe2H17uYHFgYyW78pMU3ULBu27b5KaKS1iTpXQ1bxEjoNv-4sH3eCUcQK3p8jH4PZyqM/s320/big_blue_album_cover.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5162520533395714978" /></a>Paul R. Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04401509483200614806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998271154506966105.post-85125965936775647832008-02-02T14:45:00.000-08:002008-02-02T14:51:18.320-08:00The Blue Album, Page 10This is one of the digital photos I took of a page in the Blue Album. These were done just for a reference as to how the prints and captions were laid out on the page. These are photos that I also have as slides, although I also found a couple of prints of slides that are missing from the sets of slides.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/R6TzJqq2M5I/AAAAAAAAAlg/_POqVkND9Lw/s1600-h/big_blue_album_page_image_010.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/R6TzJqq2M5I/AAAAAAAAAlg/_POqVkND9Lw/s320/big_blue_album_page_image_010.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5162518420271805330" /></a>Paul R. Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04401509483200614806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998271154506966105.post-43888616720618488922008-02-02T14:42:00.000-08:002008-02-02T14:51:56.494-08:00The Blue Album, the Missing PhotosThese are the photos of Linda that I managed to miss when making my high-resolution scans. I think there is another copy of at least one of them in the collection.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxDigwp90QQFVrp36EOzBzeqMGKwlcx9XEdejBYGeo4wSTtozPAWKgE6137ghnafefSuygiwVg5cTB1uLuqz4dHBsvBCpkE6mXXnmo7XVrcBlBG4mPPnerdUKwA05jGc9NM68MYZf-fmU/s1600-h/big_blue_album_page_image_015.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxDigwp90QQFVrp36EOzBzeqMGKwlcx9XEdejBYGeo4wSTtozPAWKgE6137ghnafefSuygiwVg5cTB1uLuqz4dHBsvBCpkE6mXXnmo7XVrcBlBG4mPPnerdUKwA05jGc9NM68MYZf-fmU/s320/big_blue_album_page_image_015.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5162517453904163714" /></a>Paul R. Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04401509483200614806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998271154506966105.post-89946038381856375202008-02-02T12:33:00.000-08:002008-02-02T13:15:00.391-08:00The Blue AlbumBefore our family vacation, I was able to take apart and scan the pages from a large-format photo album that I'll just call the "Blue Album." This album was easy to disassemble because it was held together with a string. The full pages were too large to fit on the scanner, but I took digital photos of each page to help preserve the layout, and then took a high-resolution scan of each photo, and a lower-resolution scan of each caption.<br /><br />The photographs in the Blue Album are in mixed condition -- some of the black-and-white portraits are absolutely mint, but many of the color snapshots are fading badly. The pages are fibrous, acidic black construction paper, as was commonly used. It sheds little black fibers everywhere, so despite my best efforts at cleaning the scanner glass and dusting the pages between scans there are little black fibers on some of the images. I will need to do some extra cleanup with Photoshop in some cases. Some individual pictures have torn spots where glue has stuck to the prints, but most of them are in decent enough shape. I considered various preservation options up to possibly soaking the prints off the pages, but in the end just reassembled the album and put it in a sturdy drop-front box from Archival Methods. I made several gold DVD+R backups of the images. I will eventually get these sent off to Linda.<br /><br />Anyway, we took the train to Gaithersburg, Maryland, and I took the album in its big black box with me. I presented the reassembled "Blue Album" to the family. Linda and David got a chance to look at it, and Joan and Don took it back to Myrtle Beach, along with Marcella Armstrong's journal. I have not yet finished reading and transcribing the journal yet, so I am hoping to borrow it back at some point, and perhaps to get it bound in a new cover while I'm at it.<br /><br />Meanwhile, I have also done a first round of cleanup and enhancement on the images from the blue album. I am trying to come up with a more efficient workflow -- uploading images individually to Blogger tends to be very slow and unreliable. Aperture can export a web album, so I'm trying that. I've taken my picks for the best photos from the Blue Album and put them into a web album. On this G5 iMac, Aperture takes a very long time to generate the web album -- in fact, it has been at it for a couple of hours, but the time estimate keeps going up, not down. When it is done, I will upload this web gallery separately to my Dreamhost space and provide a link here.<br /><br />While assembling the gallery, I realized that I apparently missed scanning the images from one of the album pages. These are three black-and-white portraits of Linda. The page they are attached to was badly torn, so I probably was having trouble getting the photos onto the scanner without tearing the page apart completely. I must have set it aside to scan later and then reassembled the book without getting to them. Fortunately, I do have the low-resolution digital photo of that particular album page, although it shows some distortion due to the angle. I may also have other copies of one or more of these prints elsewhere in the collection. If not, I'll have to see if I can eventually get these three portraits scanned.<br /><br />One last thing -- while there are numerous pictures of me in this album, including some I don't think exist elsewhere in the collection, there are unfortunately none of my brother Brian. Apparently this album was assembled before pictures of Brian were available. This doesn't mean there aren't lots of pictures of Brian! I have many, many more in the collection, and will get to them as I work my way through the project.Paul R. Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04401509483200614806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998271154506966105.post-19205611886753200952007-12-16T03:03:00.001-08:002007-12-16T03:09:01.164-08:00Civil War BingoI couldn't help trying to match up as many faces as I could between the two different group shots of Civil War soldiers. Here are the matches I came up with. Are they all correct?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgskL6vkAGkatIlyfzqeGYwKsI5S4Fu7yB3mcuO17GXMVDo3v1PV29vzjG6j9IyKSnIn3LlrVCH9F6fGST1b5Wnx5UCEnVWXOV1fRxaEOczH_jWFvlQwNMTemY-_nErt9jlfuXb4RPo5s4/s1600-h/bingo1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgskL6vkAGkatIlyfzqeGYwKsI5S4Fu7yB3mcuO17GXMVDo3v1PV29vzjG6j9IyKSnIn3LlrVCH9F6fGST1b5Wnx5UCEnVWXOV1fRxaEOczH_jWFvlQwNMTemY-_nErt9jlfuXb4RPo5s4/s320/bingo1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5144526009678228066" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/R2UHJyCg6nI/AAAAAAAAAjI/agJzvS7K6l0/s1600-h/bingo2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/R2UHJyCg6nI/AAAAAAAAAjI/agJzvS7K6l0/s320/bingo2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5144526013973195378" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/R2UHJyCg6oI/AAAAAAAAAjQ/SWkGREe_CSo/s1600-h/bingo3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/R2UHJyCg6oI/AAAAAAAAAjQ/SWkGREe_CSo/s320/bingo3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5144526013973195394" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/R2UHKCCg6pI/AAAAAAAAAjY/rvGLob6-G_4/s1600-h/bingo4.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/R2UHKCCg6pI/AAAAAAAAAjY/rvGLob6-G_4/s320/bingo4.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5144526018268162706" /></a>Paul R. Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04401509483200614806noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998271154506966105.post-89724717751801828852007-12-15T23:05:00.001-08:002007-12-18T10:45:23.478-08:00A Civil War Bagley?Among the loose black and white prints I found a set of re-photographed Civil War pictures. They are kind of fuzzy and dark, but a little cleanup can restore the contrast wonderfully. I don't know who took them or where the original photographs were found.<br /><br />First, here is a picture captioned "Group of 21st Iowa Infantry Volunteers." The fine print reads "Photo with Battle Flag at Dubuque, June 4, 1879. The Regiment was organized at Dubuque August, 1862."<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisyw-iS6n90NDRng12oJnXWwdEYMGaZISPZ2KX5djDpsDBhizmeoVxO8zAVT-5md72elwtQfQ386flDtgVOU-PZnEUZoMw2YnvUyu0CuLSk9HGKO-1Bc7wIFXgvMj7e2Kt4zniKOhtiQA/s1600-h/civil_war_bagley_003.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisyw-iS6n90NDRng12oJnXWwdEYMGaZISPZ2KX5djDpsDBhizmeoVxO8zAVT-5md72elwtQfQ386flDtgVOU-PZnEUZoMw2YnvUyu0CuLSk9HGKO-1Bc7wIFXgvMj7e2Kt4zniKOhtiQA/s320/civil_war_bagley_003.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5144468233778162210" /></a><br />The man in the upper right appears to be W. E. Bagley, Company C. I think he must be Dora Bagley's father, or my great great grandfather on Richard Armstrong's side.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/R2TSliCg6gI/AAAAAAAAAiQ/qVQCwRWTl3Y/s1600-h/civil_war_bagley_003+-+Version+2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/R2TSliCg6gI/AAAAAAAAAiQ/qVQCwRWTl3Y/s320/civil_war_bagley_003+-+Version+2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5144468216598292994" /></a><br />My grandmother Marcella could not read the caption on the re-photographed picture that indicated who was who; on another copy of the group shot she wrote on the back that Richard Armstrong's grandfather was "in there somewhere." I can't read it with my naked eye either, but the scanner can magnify it enough to read:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/R2TSmCCg6hI/AAAAAAAAAiY/dEUSuyeO2wc/s1600-h/civil_war_bagley_003+-+Version+3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/R2TSmCCg6hI/AAAAAAAAAiY/dEUSuyeO2wc/s320/civil_war_bagley_003+-+Version+3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5144468225188227602" /></a><br />There were also are some additional photographs of portraits. I presume there was some evidence that they were of the same man, but I don't have any documentation to back that up. Here are the portraits of the man who might be W. E. Bagley. I'd guess these were taken closer to 1862 than to 1879, but I don't have an exact date.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPEFe0Kd43WCw0maVUBr8Y1JI2RUCoRkfRVPyaSFq0uTLuLkIGUuaAs9yRku-H9lBTVusa6vlayuj-AWar0i1SukS4xiruot9yM1eT5N8fvsSWPHR6kUqJF9cmY5wZeNvkS9kz4sQfyK0/s1600-h/civil_war_bagley_001.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPEFe0Kd43WCw0maVUBr8Y1JI2RUCoRkfRVPyaSFq0uTLuLkIGUuaAs9yRku-H9lBTVusa6vlayuj-AWar0i1SukS4xiruot9yM1eT5N8fvsSWPHR6kUqJF9cmY5wZeNvkS9kz4sQfyK0/s320/civil_war_bagley_001.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5144467855821040082" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/R2TUfSCg6jI/AAAAAAAAAio/qjOu7l1ZRNY/s1600-h/civil_war_bagley_004.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/R2TUfSCg6jI/AAAAAAAAAio/qjOu7l1ZRNY/s320/civil_war_bagley_004.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5144470308247366194" /></a><br />Here is a group shot taken in camp, presumably within a few years of 1862. It is unfortunately pretty blurry.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/R2TSRSCg6fI/AAAAAAAAAiI/66NlkwHxKp4/s1600-h/civil_war_bagley_002.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/R2TSRSCg6fI/AAAAAAAAAiI/66NlkwHxKp4/s320/civil_war_bagley_002.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5144467868705942002" /></a><br />I've zoomed in on the blur that I think might be W. E. Bagley:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/R2TSQyCg6eI/AAAAAAAAAiA/KARd_vIzF4U/s1600-h/civil_war_bagley_002+-+Version+2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/R2TSQyCg6eI/AAAAAAAAAiA/KARd_vIzF4U/s320/civil_war_bagley_002+-+Version+2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5144467860116007394" /></a><br />And last, another group shot, undated but perhaps taken a decade or so later than the other group portrait, maybe around 1889. It seems to show most of the soldiers in the first group shot.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmHBQR9aE9YBDVX4HL4hSs3pTL2jdF2_t1At3ieRRLiMybiZuPKrvZZ-KpJ8Ih_xdck_FMr8DXVmL2mTeZxgDNIGHeRSrQE4xl3s-XZTtm8uWoDg3XU4nf7fqNwehB8OePO7__167A-p8/s1600-h/civil_war_bagley_005.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmHBQR9aE9YBDVX4HL4hSs3pTL2jdF2_t1At3ieRRLiMybiZuPKrvZZ-KpJ8Ih_xdck_FMr8DXVmL2mTeZxgDNIGHeRSrQE4xl3s-XZTtm8uWoDg3XU4nf7fqNwehB8OePO7__167A-p8/s320/civil_war_bagley_005.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5144470316837300818" /></a><br />I've again zoomed in on the man I think might be W. E. Bagley.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/R2TUfiCg6kI/AAAAAAAAAiw/CAFUDEvgh1o/s1600-h/civil_war_bagley_005+-+Version+2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/R2TUfiCg6kI/AAAAAAAAAiw/CAFUDEvgh1o/s320/civil_war_bagley_005+-+Version+2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5144470312542333506" /></a><br />I chose this one in part by a process of elimination; I was able to pair up most of the men to a fairly high degree of certainty with their images in the earlier group portrait. But it is hard to be certain when the portraits were taken years apart, and so much of his face was covered by hair! The second man from the right in the bottom row is also a possibility.<br /><br />I will keep a sharp eye out for any further information about W. E. Bagley. It seems unbelievable to have both Revolutionary War and Civil War soldiers in my ancestry!Paul R. Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04401509483200614806noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8998271154506966105.post-84718611145100495202007-12-06T23:00:00.000-08:002008-09-29T23:35:30.018-07:00Richard Armstrong's Side of the FamilyMore pictures from the piles I've been scanning. These are from my grandfather Richard's side of the family. Unfortunately they aren't very clear, but I'll do what I can.<br /><br />First off is a snapshot of Richard Armstrong with his parents in Granger, Iowa. Dennis and Dora Armstrong are on the right, Richard is in the middle, and on his left is his sister Ruth Armstrong. The woman on the far left is unknown. My grandmother's caption read "Ella Grace?" but this was then crossed out. It definitely isn't her, but that means we have another mystery -- who is the woman on the left?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/R1jwdkSyasI/AAAAAAAAAhg/evdx1GFTFfQ/s1600-h/armstrong_family_002.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_I3IWwUe_TZM/R1jwdkSyasI/AAAAAAAAAhg/evdx1GFTFfQ/s320/armstrong_family_002.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5141123365392771778" /></a><br />Next, a couple of close-ups of the picture above. Ruth Armstrong was quite a looker!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpv4Yfr_860AivWuTCRuceO1E8QVF85TwmW1_xOfXQRxyLADuECpZZaYDLrRasJKuUQYosizCHN0J-BEpBxf7bZcvXRFSsDFEBEjtEyp9DfkvmLa4Q9OXGP_b44261EO7mNFzVVTKMegc/s1600-h/armstrong_family_002+-+Version+2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpv4Yfr_860AivWuTCRuceO1E8QVF85TwmW1_xOfXQRxyLADuECpZZaYDLrRasJKuUQYosizCHN0J-BEpBxf7bZcvXRFSsDFEBEjtEyp9DfkvmLa4Q9OXGP_b44261EO7mNFzVVTKMegc/s320/armstrong_family_002+-+Version+2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5141123356802837154" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhMxf7DAKEUxwF3jCZJyhREoopWtWemuYvomchHUl-q22V_fvfDYg51HuEVwHfwXkpFHttOAlexYxtBqoNzQotZHQYPbTzOWbO67TMTHpcgZtV9wVyPQnO5mrN68cYPwlnhECnQYKbVBQ/s1600-h/armstrong_family_002+-+Version+3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhMxf7DAKEUxwF3jCZJyhREoopWtWemuYvomchHUl-q22V_fvfDYg51HuEVwHfwXkpFHttOAlexYxtBqoNzQotZHQYPbTzOWbO67TMTHpcgZtV9wVyPQnO5mrN68cYPwlnhECnQYKbVBQ/s320/armstrong_family_002+-+Version+3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5141123356802837170" /></a><br />Finally, another picture of Dennis Armstrong. I have a couple more but none of them are very good photographs, unfortunately.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2EkjNxT5omEDOmGvSgNKgnEpxE0N7x09ptNBu0eKNxONpFUj8NtkH5ET6bFj66uNIHC5ztYBAT67WHW9Mg3IsY1wE2k3BcoZXSkCI4y-D4aGBkNEDuBA-QCfSie6U-ex8NGb5DD5TeRA/s1600-h/armstrong_family_004.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2EkjNxT5omEDOmGvSgNKgnEpxE0N7x09ptNBu0eKNxONpFUj8NtkH5ET6bFj66uNIHC5ztYBAT67WHW9Mg3IsY1wE2k3BcoZXSkCI4y-D4aGBkNEDuBA-QCfSie6U-ex8NGb5DD5TeRA/s320/armstrong_family_004.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5141123369687739090" /></a>Paul R. Pottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04401509483200614806noreply@blogger.com1