It is New Year's Eve 1852 and an ancestor sits at his desk by candlelight. He dips his quill pen in ink and begins to write his ten New Year's resolutions: 1. No man is truly well-educated unless he learns to spell his name at least three different ways within the same document. I resolve to give the appearance of being extremely well-educated in the coming year. 2. I resolve to see to it that all of my children will have the same names that my ancestors have used for six generations in a row. 3. My age is no one's business but my own. I hereby resolve to never list the same age or birth year twice on any document. 4. I resolve to have each of my children baptized in a different church -- either in a different faith or in a different parish. Every third child will not be baptized at all or will be baptized by an itinerant minister who keeps no records. 5. I resolve to move to a new town, new county, or new state at least once every 10 years -- just before those pesky enumerators come around asking silly questions. 6. I will make every attempt to reside in counties and towns where no vital records are maintained or where the courthouse burns down every few years. 7. I resolve to join an obscure religious cult that does not believe in record keeping or in participating in military service. 8. When the tax collector comes to my door, I'll loan him my pen, which has been dipped in rapidly fading blue ink. 9. I resolve that if my beloved wife Mary should die, I will marry another Mary. 10. I resolve not to make a will. Who needs to spend money on a lawyer?

This is hysterical! Thanks for posting! --- Bud Engelhardt <[email protected]> wrote: > It is New Year's Eve 1852 and an ancestor sits > at his desk by candlelight. > > He dips his quill pen in ink and begins to > write his ten New Year's resolutions: > > 1. No man is truly well-educated unless he > learns to spell his name at least three different > ways within the same document. I resolve to give > the appearance of being extremely well-educated in > the coming year. > > 2. I resolve to see to it that all of my > children will have the same names that my ancestors > have used for six generations in a row. > > 3. My age is no one's business but my own. I > hereby resolve to never list the same age or birth > year twice on any document. > > 4. I resolve to have each of my children > baptized in a different church -- either in a > different faith or in a different parish. Every > third child will not be baptized at all or will be > baptized by an itinerant minister who keeps no > records. > > 5. I resolve to move to a new town, new > county, or new state at least once every 10 years -- > just before those pesky enumerators come around > asking silly questions. > > 6. I will make every attempt to reside in > counties and towns where no vital records are > maintained or where the courthouse burns down every > few years. > > 7. I resolve to join an obscure religious > cult that does not believe in record keeping or in > participating in military service. > > 8. When the tax collector comes to my door, > I'll loan him my pen, which has been dipped in > rapidly fading blue ink. > > 9. I resolve that if my beloved wife Mary > should die, I will marry another Mary. > > 10. I resolve not to make a will. Who needs > to spend money on a lawyer? > > > > > > ==== WIGRANT Mailing List ==== > If you have any questions or concerns, > please e-mail me > Mari, WIGRANT List Admin at > [email protected] > *--*--*--*--*--*--*Happy > Hunting!!*--*--*--*--*--*--* > > ============================== > Search Family and Local Histories for stories about > your family and the > areas they lived. Over 85 million names added in the > last 12 months. > Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13966/rd.ashx > > __________________________________________ Yahoo! DSL – Something to write home about. Just $16.99/mo. or less. dsl.yahoo.com

This should be posted on every genealogy web site in the world. Some of my ancestors clearly followed it diligently! Ron Klein ---------------------------- Date forwarded: Sun, 8 Jan 2006 15:12:09 -0700 From: "Bud Engelhardt" <[email protected]> Date sent: Sun, 8 Jan 2006 14:11:59 -0800 To: [email protected] Forwarded by: [email protected] Send reply to: [email protected] Subject: [WIGRANT] Genealogy New Years Resolutions > It is New Year's Eve 1852 and an ancestor sits at his desk by > candlelight. > > He dips his quill pen in ink and begins to write his ten New Year's > resolutions: > > 1. No man is truly well-educated unless he learns to spell his name > at least three different ways within the same document. I resolve to > give the appearance of being extremely well-educated in the coming > year. > > 2. I resolve to see to it that all of my children will have the same > names that my ancestors have used for six generations in a row. > > 3. My age is no one's business but my own. I hereby resolve to never > list the same age or birth year twice on any document. > > 4. I resolve to have each of my children baptized in a different > church -- either in a different faith or in a different parish. Every > third child will not be baptized at all or will be baptized by an > itinerant minister who keeps no records. > > 5. I resolve to move to a new town, new county, or new state at least > once every 10 years -- just before those pesky enumerators come > around asking silly questions. > > 6. I will make every attempt to reside in counties and towns where no > vital records are maintained or where the courthouse burns down every > few years. > > 7. I resolve to join an obscure religious cult that does not believe > in record keeping or in participating in military service. > > 8. When the tax collector comes to my door, I'll loan him my pen, > which has been dipped in rapidly fading blue ink. > > 9. I resolve that if my beloved wife Mary should die, I will marry > another Mary. > > 10. I resolve not to make a will. Who needs to spend money on a > lawyer? > > > > > > ==== WIGRANT Mailing List ==== > If you have any questions or concerns, please e-mail me > Mari, WIGRANT List Admin at [email protected] > *--*--*--*--*--*--*Happy Hunting!!*--*--*--*--*--*--* > > ============================== > Search Family and Local Histories for stories about your family and the > areas they lived. Over 85 million names added in the last 12 months. Learn > more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13966/rd.ashx > Ron Klein ------------------- [email protected]