Tuesday, April 18, 2023

The Pinkerton Line in America & My Ancestry Intersect

 If you are a student of American History you will recognize the surname of Pinkerton.

Allan J Pinkerton, born in 1819 in Glasgow, Scotland, was a cooper by trade who left Scotland for America in 1842.  The timing of his departure from Scotland may or may not have had anything to do with his participation in the Chartist Movement in the United Kingdom at that time as he was a young man during it's heyday.

Pinkerton was a rather sloppy detective, playing spy among his ring of undercover information gatherers for the North during the War Between the States.  He went on after the war to form what would become known as the Pinkerton Agency and was working on a centralized criminal database at the time of his death that the FBI maintains to this day.  It is said that he died of gangrene having fallen on the pavement/sidewalk and thus nearly biting his tongue off, which became infected, leading to his  demise.  May be true or not(others feel a stroke did him in)but he died nonetheless.

As I've talked about before, I am related to Ellen Lewis "Nell" Herndon.


Post about her HERE.  Ellen was married to Chester Alan Arthur, the 21st POTUS but she died before he was the 20th VP under James Garfield and ascended to the Presidency when Garfield was assassinated.  However Ellen did give birth to three children before passing away-William Lewis Arthur, born 1860 who passed away from convulsions at age 2.5 years, Chester Alan Arthur II who lived 1864-1937(my chihuahua is named after Chester II's son Chester Alan Arthur III)and Ellen "Nelllie" Hansbrough Herndon Arthur who lived 1871-1915.  "Nelllie" Arthur is my 7th cousin 3 x removed........


To bring this back around not quite full circle, "Nellie" married a man in 1907 named Charles Downing Pinkerton(1871-1974).

"Nellie" Arthur Pinkerton died at age 44, leaving no heirs.  Charles remarried to Sarah Hunter Harrison in 1918 in Bel Air, Maryland.  First off  this second wife of Pinkerton is also my cousin as was his first wife, 
"Nellie" Arthur...

This second wife and Charles Pinkerton's were 2nd cousins(haven't found the exact pathway yet there)and his second wife Sarah Harrison was also a cousin to Benjamin Harrison the 23rd POTUS(again, I don't have the exact pathway mapped out for their cousinry).

Here's a much younger portrait of old Ben Harrison.  Currently my line to his is showing up as thus.........
As I have a metric ton of FFV(First Families of Virginia)Harrisons in my maternal lines I am sure there is a more direct pathway from Ben Harrison POTUS to me but this is what I have right now.

But I digress.......
Back to the Pinkertons.  I have done pretty thorough research and the conclusion is that the Pinkerton that married my Arthur and my Harrison cousins is NOT the same line of Pinkertons that Alan Pinkerton is from.
Charles Downing Pinkerton's surname line goes back to Ireland, not Scotland.

But in a twist of fate(irony perhaps?)there is a connection between Alan J Pinkerton and my ancestry.
One of Pinkerton's greatest failures which haunted him through his last years was his inability to track down and kill one of my other ancestral cousins, Jesse Woodson James, after Jesse shot and killed one of the Pinkerton agents.  Pinkerton had what seemed like a personal vendetta against Jesse James since when the company that was paying him to pursue Jesse stopped paying him for his services he continued to chase him at his own financial expense.  Talk about holding a grudge! lol


But Jesse James, my 5th cousin 4 x removed, is another story for another time.

Sluggy
Posted by at 12 comments:
Labels: , , , ,

Monday, April 17, 2023

What's on the Dining Table

The "Creepy Ambulance Chaser" Edition.....



This is a large billboard for that local attorney in those awful tv commercials "Get Gordon, and Get It Done!" etc.
On Hubs and mine weekly lunch out we went to a local seafood/burger  shop that has multiple locations in this area of LA.  This one happens to be next to a roadside casino, a pawn shop, a bbq joint, a ball bearing factory, etc.....you know the city's best kind of area.  Anyway, as I was eating my fish lunch I glanced out the picture window we were sitting next to and noticed this billboard that stood at the far end of this parking lot.
"Looking Out For You" was more like "Staring at You With my Squinty Little Litigious Eyes While You Try to Eat Lunch".  It creeped me out!!!

Onward to the meal planning!

This is what was planned.......
1. Sunday--Ham, Asparagus, rolls in freezer leftover from Xmas, Deviled Eggs, Mac and Cheese
2. Monday--might get Burgers at Trivia
3. Tuesday--Fish and Squash Casserole
4. Wednesday--Spaghetti and Meatballs, Salad
5. Thursday--leftover Easter foods
6.  Friday--Baked Sweet Potato Fries, Chicken Strips
7. Saturday--who knows?   Whatever is leftover

And here's what actually happened........
1. Sunday--Ham, Asparagus, rolls in freezer leftover from Xmas, Deviled Eggs, Mac and Cheese
2. Monday--Burgers at Trivia
3. Tuesday--Fish and Squash Casserole
4. Wednesday--Spaghetti and Meatballs, Salad
5. Thursday--Chicken Marsala, Garlic Mash, Asst. Veggies
6.  Friday--Catfish, Cole Slaw, Green Bean Dinner out
7. Saturday--Leftovers

What got put into the freezer last week....
*  4 boxd Parms
*  1 bag Chicken Teriyaki
*  1 half gallon Ice Cream

What got taken out of the freezer and used...
*  Ham
*  leftovers Rolls
*  Breaded Fish
*  Meatballs
*  a massive Chicken Breast
*  a box of mixed Veggies

Last week we spent $27.30 on 1 shop. 
This brings our food/toiletries/paper goods Total to $294.59 for April so far and not $401.70 as I had put down here when I was working on this.  You see, my April grocery spreadsheet is all cattywampus as I didn't line up my column correctly and I had some stores Value column askew in the OOP column.
So when I reported last week's monthly todate spend at 374.40 it was suppose to be $267.29.  BIG difference, right?  OOP last week was $205.13 and value of  $541.12.(All those loss leaders before Easter.)  I discovered my mess when I went to add in this past week's spending thankfully.
Now we are back on track.....at least in this regard. lol

There are 13 shopping days left in April.

I've earned $67.50 on Ibotta in April.
I've earned $0 on Checkout51 in April.
I've earned $13.00 on Coupons dotcom in April.
I've earned $17.50 on Kroger Cash Back in April.
I've earned 358 points from food shopping on Fetch.
I've earned 8,400 points from food shopping on Shop Kick in April.
I've earned 356 SB from food shopping on Swag Bucks in March.

That's $98.00 in rebates(not counting the Shop Kick/Swag Bucks/Fetch)on $294.54 of grocery spending so in reality it's $196.54 in food spending after the 4 rebate apps I count.

My savings percentage for the last week was 29.15% and the monthly savings total for April comes in at 53.41% so far.  (Last week's percentages should have been 62.09% for the week and 57.04% for the month to-date.

Leftovers going into this week... taco shells and Halushki, Mac and Cheese, Rolls, Squash Casserole, 1 Chicken Marsala piece plus lots of gravy and mushrooms.

Here is this week's "food plan".....
1. Sunday--Leftovers
2. Monday--Burgers at Trivia
3. Tuesday--Chicken Teriyaki w/Veggies Stir-fry
4. Wednesday--Fish, Baked Sweet Potato Fries, a Green Veggie TBD
5. Thursday--Leftovers or FFY
6.  Friday--Leftovers 
7. Saturday--Veal Parmesan, Brussels Sprouts

What do I need to buy to fix everything on this menu?  Not a thing.  I got some deals at Kroger on Sunday so I really don't need to darken a store's door this coming week.

What is getting fixed and served at your house this week?

Was last week's plan successful, did you go off plan or did you not even plan what was going to be eaten last week?

Any deals on food at your stores this week?  It's Easter deals at more store this week so get those loss leaders you need.

And if you actually read all this, does anyone read this shit?  Does anyone care about stuff like this?


Sluggy 

Posted by at 6 comments:
Labels: , , ,

Saturday, April 15, 2023

Dogs Sure Do Make You Laugh!


Our doggie somehow found his way into the massive bathtub in our Master Bath earlier this week.
I heard a thud and then couldn't find him but Dixie Belle sniffed out his whereabouts.

Still scratching my head on how he managed to get into that particular pickle. lol

Sluggy
Posted by at 6 comments:
Labels: , ,

Friday, April 14, 2023

Frugal Friday....the April 14th Edition

Welcome to Frugal Friday!   I thank everyone who gave me info and input on what to do in London earlier this week.  It was all very helpful. 8-)

There are a few Frugal wins this past week......

*  I've found a good physical therapist on YouTube who shows what exercises you can do and which ones to avoid for arthritic knees.  Free PT info which I am hoping will help me get through this trip/cruise without much pain.


*  We went to Trivia on Monday and met our daughter there and missed 1st place by one point. sigh  Not bad as 2nd place is a $50 gift card.  Plus we used our last 2nd place finish gift card to pay for our meal that night so free burgers! woop

*  Various stores have gift card deals right before Easter.  So I picked up at a discount Lowe's, Subway, Applebee's and Wendy's gift cards last Saturday.  Spending the $$ now but I can combine deals/coupons later when I use them.

*  Did some grocery shopping and cherry picked some deals.......

We went to Walmart last week and I got these Olay and Old Spice body washes.  Shop Kick was giving a large amount of points on these items, plus 2 of them had Ibotta rebates worth $2.50 total.  After SK and IB I spent $2.15 OOP on all 5 of these bottles.

I also got a bottle of Colace that cost .48¢ after Q and rebates, a 1 liter bottle of Dr. Pepper for free on SK, a better than free travel size bottle of Febreeze and an Air Wick warmer two pack on IB and a free jar of pepper puree on an app called Sampoll.........

I got the cayenne pepper variety. Here's a link to the offer, it's good at Walmart and Weis(Pound me in the Ass)Markets.  https://www.sampoll.co/offer?cid=632

*  We got no take-out nor did no eating out on our dime.  Daughter did take us out for lunch last Friday for her dad's birthday.  He wanted Mexican so that's where we went.  Not my fav but I found something on the menu that didn't contain cilantro(soap).

*  I found money!  

I found a penny by the pharmacy counter floor and another penny at the self-checkout.

 

I found a penny at the Family Dollar on the floor in front of the register counter.

And I hit the jackpot(lol)at the Dollar General-a penny next to the car when I got out of it in the parking lot, then a penny and a dime near the register counter on the floor. 

This was all on Saturday, my big day out.

Total Found in last Week.... .15¢
Total Found this Year.......$1.17

That's all for this past week.

Any frugal wins in your neck of the woods?  Let's hear all about them!

Sluggy   


Posted by at 1 comment:
Labels: , , , ,

Tuesday, April 11, 2023

Making Plans & Calling for Input

Hubs and I leave for our cruise on May 20th.  We are flying Air Canada with a 5 hour stopover in Montréal then on to London.  We are staying in the Kensington area of London for 2 nights before being bussed down to Southampton to the dock and onto the cruise ship.



Our port itinerary is thus......from Southampton, England to Edinburgh, Scotland, to Inverness, Scotland, to Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands of Scotland, to Belfast Northern Ireland, to Dublin, Ireland, to Holyhead Wales, to Cork, Ireland, to Portland England back to Southampton and then to Heathrow for our flight back to the US, via Montréal again, where we have another lengthy layover(7 hours).

First question.......if you had 2 days in London, what sights would you want to see?  We may book a full day sightseeing tour one of the days there involving a bus ride and a river ride on the Thames, with a stop at Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London(I won't be putting extra $$ into the Crown Jewels room donation box Anne!), a photo op outside of Buckingham Palace and maybe see the changing of the guard or at least the Household Calvary parade(depending on what time we are there).  This tour meets at Victoria Station and leaves you via "the Tube" at Gloucester station which is right near our hotel and we'll toddle back to the hotel for some pints and fish and chips in their pub.
The second day we may go to a museum or two(hotel is near the V and A Museum, Museum of Natural History and something else), have High Tea at Harrod's or elsewhere and end the day with a matineé performance in the West End.  I keep joking that "Hamilton" is playing right now in one of the theatres but being performed in England by English actors it might just end with us losing the Revolutionary war and instead of Hamilton dying in a duel he'll be hanged at intermission and the show ends there. lol
My vote at the moment is to see "Six" which is the musical version of the reign of Henry VIII through the eyes of his 6 wives who make up the cast.  Afterall, except for Anne of Cleves I am related genealogically by cousinry or by marriage to cousinry to 6 of the 7 figures involved in that messy, colorful, misogynistic part of English history. 8-)) 

Of course there are so many tours and sights to see, including tours going off to Salisbury Plain(Stonehenge), Bath(Jane Austen's stomping grounds), etc., but we have at the most two days(unless jet lag takes us down on one of those days, then it's one day).  So what would you do, see in London?

If you know the Kensington area where is the most advantageous place for currency exchange?  I know rates vary from day to day but we'll be needing to have some British pounds on us of should be do that at Heathrow once we land?  And should be also carry Euros as we are going to Ireland, Wales and Scotland?  So many questions I know!

As for the cruise ports, we waited too long to book a couple of excursions we were interested in.  No way I was going to climb to kiss the Blarney Stone but I would have liked to seen the castle as it was built by my McCarthy ancestors(my paternal grandmother was born a McCarthy)outside of Cork.  We did book an On Your Own tour in Edinburgh where they dropped and pick you up on the Royal Mile, a Whisky tasting at Glenmorangie Distillery outside of Inverness(sorry Nessie), a Dublin on your own which will mean lots of pub stops for "real" Guinness, a trip to Caernarfon Castle in Wales since  Edward I and II Plantagenent are my 22nd and 21st GreatGrands respectively, and a coastal bus tour of Kinsale near Cork.  We have no excursions booked for Belfast(Northern Ireland.....they may shoot me as I am a descendant of Free State Irish)nor Portland(nothing looked interesting there really).  In the Orkneys we don't have time to do a tour(only there like 4 hours)so we'll bus to the Kirkwall Transportation Centre and walk to a thing or two(very compact town)or take a cab to see the Ring of Brogdnar and the Stones of Stenness(which are near each other)because Hubs loves that sort of thing(old rocks and mounds of dirt....I can't tell you have many I've visited in the US! lol).  There is also an Orkney pub at the base of the harbor I want to go to.  Maybe I can connect with locals there who also share my Viking heritage over a pint before staggering back to the ship. ;-)

So if you live in or near one of these ports, would you like to meet up or drive us around or something, especially in the on your own towns(Edinburgh, Dublin)or Belfast or Kirkwall in the Orkneys or Portland England?  Or even if you are in London and want to meet, or play tour guide?  Or do you want to meet in Montréal at the airport?
I'd love to meet more blogger friends.
Just email me.

Sluggy

Posted by at 18 comments:
Labels: , , ,
Subscribe to: Comments (Atom)