Hi Frances
It is December 31, 1852 and Henry Hydenwell sits at his desk. He dips his pen in ink and begins to write his New Year's resolutions.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- I resolve to move to a new town, new county, or new state at least once every ten years, just before those pesky enumerators come around asking silly questions.
- 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.
- I resolve to join an obscure religious cult that does not believe in record keeping or in participating in military service.
- When the tax collector comes to my door, I'll loan him my pen, which has been dipped in rapidly fading blue ink.
- I resolve that if my beloved wife Mary should die, I will marry another Mary.
- I resolve not to make a will. Who needs to spend money on a lawyer?
I believe Henry Hydenwell was my relative but since he worked hard on his resolutions, I'll never be able to prove it. (LOL)
Have a wonderful day!
Donna R. Causey
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