SNGF: The Night You Were Born

It's time for Saturday Night Genealogy Fun again. Our mission from Randy at GeneaMusings is as follows:

1) What day of the week were you born? Tell us how you found out.

I was born on a Saturday. I found this out when I was a kid because my mom had a poster that she had ordered telling me about the day I was born and all the events that had happened on that day in the past, as well as famous people who shared my birthday.

2) What has happened in recorded history on your birth date (day and month)? Tell us how you found out, and list five events (I'm going to list more).

I was born 25 Apr 1981.

a) On the day I was born, President Reagan's daughter, Maureen, married her third husband, Dennis Revell. He was only 28, but she was 40 years old.

b) Ironically, Boris Yeltsin was elected on my birthday in 1993, and later had his funeral on my birthday in 2007.

c) In 1979, the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt went into effect, and in 1982, Israel completed it's Sinai withdrawal according to Camp David Accords.

d) In 1976, there were elections in Vietnam for a National Assembly to reunite the country. Also in 1976, Portugal adopted its constitution and still celebrates April 25 as Freedom Day.

e) The Guillotine was first used on my birthday in 1792. Yikes!

f) The St. Lawrence Seaway opened linking the Atlantic and the Great Lakes in 1959.

g) In 1898, the Spanish-American War was declared over Cuba.

h) In 1944, the United Negro College Fund was incorporated.

i) In 1933, the U.S. and Canada dropped the Gold Standard.

j) In 1956, Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel" hit #1.

I found all of this out from a combination of brainyhistory.com and Wikipedia.

3) What famous people have been born on your birth date? Tell us how you found out, and list five of them.

a) Renee Zellwegger b. 25 Apr 1969 in Katy, TX

b) Jason Lee (Earl from My Name Is Earl TV series) b. 25 Apr 1970 in Orange, CA

c) Hank Azaria (voice of Moe on The Simpsons) b. 25 Apr 1964 in Forest Hills, NY

d) Ella Fitzgerald b. 25 Apr 1917 in Newport News, VA

e) Al Pacino b. 25 Apr 1940 in East Harlem, NY

I also found out about these from Wikipedia and brainyhistory.com.

Treasure Chest Thursday: Backus-Pemberton Land Contract

This is a document that I obtained while going through old papers at my maternal grandmother's house about a year before she died in 2008. It is a land contract that she and my grandfather entered into to purchase their first home. When I found this paperwork, I was not sure what the difference was between a land contract and a mortgage. Apparently, a land contract is one in which the seller agrees to finance the property, rather than a third party lender. The deed to the property remains in the seller's name until all payments have been made. It's similar to a rent-to-own agreement.

Below is a summary of the info contained in the land contract:

1) Entered into on 22 Sep 1956

2) Sellers: Thomas H. Backus and Bertha E. Backus of Carsonville, Sanilac, Michigan

3) Buyers: John P. Pemberton and Violet M. Pemberton, husband and wife, of 1828 Stone Street, of Porth [sp] Huron, Michigan

4) Selling price: $4,000 [Wow! Can't believe inflation!]

5) Location of land: Port Huron, St. Clair, Michigan - The South Thirty-one (31) and five-tenths (5/10) feet of Lot Two (2), Block 5 Port Huron Northwestern Railway Plat of a part of the City of Port Huron

6) Down payment: None

7) Interest rate: 6%

8) Payment amount: $40/month, beginning 12 Oct 1956 [again, wow!]

I found a 1916 plat map at the University of Michigan's online local county histories and maps website. It does appear that they were purchasing the home at 1828 Stone Street, which is what I suspected. This is where my mom was born and raised until her middle school years. The contract mentions that my grandparents already lived there, so I take this to mean that they were probably renting the house for awhile before they entered into the land contract. The house on Stone Street is only two blocks away from the St. Clair River, which divides Michigan and Canada. I am really amazed at the price my grandparents paid in 1956...only $4,000! My mom said it was a 3-bedroom house. I checked on Zillow to see what homes there were selling for today. There was a 4-bedroom house built in 1917 (about the same age) at 2104 Stone St that has an asking price of $36,000. Of course, if Michigan were not suffering so much from the recession, I would expect this house to be closer to $50K. What I find interesting about this copy of the land contract is that it is signed by the buyers and sellers but not by the witnesses. I don't recognize the names of the witnesses, Mabel McLean and Betty Heberling. I also don't recognize the name of the sellers, Thomas and Bertha Backus.

Stay tuned for next Thursday's post that will showcase the warranty deed that was signed on this house after all the payments were made.

Happy 2nd Blogoversary to Me!

Me at 2 years old

Well, I can't believe it has been two years since I started this blog in 2009. I was inspired by the death of my maternal grandmother in December 2008 to start blogging about my research. If you look at my history of writing, you can see that I started off with zeal and then sort of fell off the wagon around August 2009. The following year, 2010, was definitely a slower year for my blog, but I think the partial year off has done some good. I feel that I have more energy to write now, so be expecting more in 2011.