My partner came home and said that he heard on the radio that Union Bridge is having a carnival the rest of the week! So, of course, we ate supper and went down to Union Bridge. It was lucky we did, too, as today was the parade.
We got to the firehall and community center about quarter after 6 pm. We walked around the silent auction (I put 3 bids in for things) and I went to work trying to find anyone who could point me in the direction of information about my Great Great Grandfather, Harvey Hicks Bond . Three ladies later- I was in front of a guy who, when I said I was the great-great-granddaughter of Harvey Hicks Bond, he knew who he was!! I was so excited at the spark of recognition in his eyes that I could have hugged him right there. He was a previous Union Bridge President, and he said to give him about 2 weeks (as the carnival is currently going on) and contact him. He will get in touch with the lady who is in charge of the UBFD history. He said that HH Bond was a fire chief (the 2nd fire chief for the Union Bridge Station), and that his name was in the community center on a large wooden plaque. He said he believed that HH Bond lived in the 'house next to the church on S. Benedum St' (next to St. James Lutheran Church). So, after we left the carnival, we drove past the house, and I took a pic of it. The gentleman also said that several years ago a living relative of HH's presented the UBFD with a picture and (something else I can't remember atm). I got excited and asked if there were any living relatives. He wasn't sure, but said that maybe it was a sister or something. So now I wait two weeks to bug this poor guy again. My partner said for me not to worry, that everyone whom I came into contact with today wasn't bothered at all by me. He said I 'have this way' about me- a je nai se qua. That I am charming when I am asking about my family history. Ha. I said I just hope I didn't bug them too much.
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Well, I am not as far as I thought I would be at this stage of the game. I figured I would have at least a thousand book entries in my list for that library by now. Instead I have about 150.
Life gets in the way. I had a funeral for my younger cousin to go to last week. That really hit me hard. He was only 4 months younger than me; and it means I am the only family member left alive born in the centennial. My older cousin, Dawn, died a couple months ago, and now my younger cousin, Greg. They were too young to go. We were closer when we were younger, but I still miss them. Se la vie. I will push myself to get out of this 'funk' and add at least 10 entries to the list today. Tomorrow my partner and I are going to the big city, Baltimore. Maybe I can convince him to let me look around a dusty old bookstore or two. I do not understand libraries who do not want their titles listed on WorldCat. I contacted a librarian who seemed interested in it and then she identified false information (contrary to what I had directly told her) as the reason why. Who am I to argue? You attract more flies with honey, right? So, I simply said I understood, but that the reason identified was untrue. Still, it frustrates me to know that there are libraries out there who aren't, in my view, getting their library's holdings out to more potential patrons.
I have begun to list one research library's holding in WorldCat. It is a gargantuan task, that I am piecing out to myself daily. I acquired a list of over 1,000 books that the research library holds. Using my personal login on WorldCat, I simply started a public list with the library's name. If I can add 100 books a day to my public list, I will have a nice foundation of titles to work with, in a little over a week.
Unfortunately, the list is not complete- titles appear to be wrong (misspelled, information missing, etc) and there are no publication dates at all. At this stage, I am taking the stance that some information is better than none. I am going through the list as best I can, and am noting the publication date that I have chosen in WorldCat in a spreadsheet. I can always go in to the library to reference/note the publication dates in the physical books one day, when I get time. Then I can go back in to WorldCat and change the dates, if necessary. So far, it takes me about 2 hours to find and enter about 40 titles. I need to decrease the time it is taking. But there doesn't appear to be an import spreadsheet function. Even if there was, however, the errors on the list I am working off of are too numerous to try an import. So, I am going to decrease my output, for the sake of getting more information correct. While this saddens me a bit, as it doubles my original timetable, I am confident that the results will be worth it. (Note that I did not say 'end result', as this project is one that will most likely continue and not have a clear ending. I did not get a complete list of their library's books. Also, books are only one part of this library's collection. Ultimately, their newspapers, photographs, leaflets, pamphlets, postcards, card catalog system, obituary collection and more - should be cataloged. I do not believe there are any lists available for those 'too numerous to mention' holdings.) The Union Bridge Pilot was a weekly newspaper that ran on Fridays from 1899 - 1913. The last issue was v. 14, no. 31 (May 30, 1913). The newspaper changed it's name to The Pilot and continued to run on Fridays from 1913 - 1969. My grandfather, Harvey H Grimes, told me that his mother (Italy) used to get the Pilot in Bessemer, PA. It was a way to keep in touch with what was going on in Union Bridge and surrounding areas. Institutions that hold copies of the newspaper include:
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