Author Archives: CharlieClaywell

About CharlieClaywell

I have been a writer for years, mainly as a reporter, but I have always enjoyed history, especially non-mainstream stories buried inside old documents. My blog mostly centers around those stories. On occasion, though, I deviate and talk about my dog, vintage toys and what it's like to be middle-aged.

Books I’ve Read — Shot All to Hell: Jesse James, the Northfield Raid, and the Wild West’s Greatest Escape

Posted on February 26, 2014 by CharlieClaywell

It is true, we are robbers, but we always rob in the glare of the day and in the teeth of the multitude. — Jesse James

There is just something about Frank and Jesse James that attracts interest. Immortalized into American lore, stories of the pair often are romantized to the point that it is hard to tell fact from fiction. Fortunately, there are writers who dig deep and try to research a story before committing it to paper.

That is definitely the case with Mark Lee Gardner, who has dug out the complete story of a botched Minnesota bank robbery conducted by the James-Younger gang. The book retraces the steps the men took to rob the bank and the fumbling way authorities worked as they tried to captured the six surviving members as the gang made its way through unfamiliar terrain and territory.

As the story of near captures, wrongly captured men, hysteria and admiration unfolds, it is amazing how the Younger part of the gang is eventually captured — because of a teen age boy Oscar Sorbel. For his efforts, Oscar will eventually be awarded $56. When the surviving Younger men are captured and taken to jail a new type of show unfolds as people want a glimpse of the famous outlaws.

Frank and Jesse elude capture for years. Jesse will eventually be shot and killed by Robert Ford. Frank, seeing the writing on the wall, eventually seeks out a clemency deal with the governor of Missouri — becoming the only one who truly escapes, despite the fact he was guilty of murdering a bank employee in the Minnesota robbery.

Book is written at a nice pace, has enough detail to keep it interesting, but not so much to bog it down. I would give it a 4.5 out of 5 rating. Excellent read.

I guess, if I had it all to do over, and had the choice, and had to make the choice as a young man, I’d rather have all the pain and danger and trouble than to be just a plain farmer. If I had an old man’s head, I would choose different. … — Frank James late in life.

Categories: American History, Books I have read | Tags: bank robbery, frank james, jesse james, younger gang

How I cut my grocery bill (almost) in half

Posted on February 23, 2014 by CharlieClaywell

Besides the $82.89 I saved at Kroger (my final bill was $108.72), I will save $2 off fuel (20 gallons with a 10 cent per gallon discount), $1 from ibotta and $1.75 from Checkout 51.

Once I started working from home, I took over the grocery shopping and one of the challenges I imposed on myself is finding ways to reduce what I spend each month. Because of this I have come across several systems that work almost seemlessly with my shopping.

Paper Coupons. These I am using less and less since I have moved to digital coupons. But, whenever I do use them, I pair them up with store sales so I can get the most benefit from them. In my recent trip to grocery, I bought 6 jars of Ragu — normally priced $1.79 — which would total $10.64. But since Kroger had a buy 6 get $3 off deal — they were $7.74. My three coupons were worth 75 cents each bringing my total down to $5.49. I had a 4th coupon — a store coupon for a free Ragu — ($1.29) bringing my final cost for 6 jars down to $4.20 or 70 cents per jar.

Digital Coupons. I tend to get my best deals with digital coupons probably because I add them to my card based on what I know I will buy. Once they are loaded to the card, I don’t have to worry about losing them. I normally double check my list of digital coupons before heading to the store.

Saving Star. I get on this site once a week just to make sure I have grabbed any deals that may save me a few dollars. Although, you won’t see huge savings here, the advantage is you receive cash back for the purchase and once you have $5 in your account you can cash it out.

Apps. I just starting using ibotta and Checkout 51. Similiar in concept to Saving Star, these systems deposit cash into your account and you then cash it out once you reach $5 (ibotta) or $20 (Checkout 51). They are designed for smart phones and you simply photograph your receipt with your phone and select the deals you purchased. With ibotta, you do have to play trivia type games to earn the rebate.

For hoousehold goods, I tend to utilize the extra bucks program at CVS. This seems to keep my cost low especially for TP, paper towels and dishwasher soap.

Categories: Middle age, saving money

Simplify genealogy research with Find A Grave website

Posted on February 20, 2014 by CharlieClaywell

Genealogy research is built around the collection of vital stats because marriage, birth and census and other records help you verify a person’s identity. And death records are some of the more helpful records because death certificates often contain the name of parents and additional clues.

Beyond those records, of course, are the graves and tombstones. If your family has lived in America for any length of time, you will quickly discover that even though there are regions where they settled, it may not always be close to where you live. That’s one of the reasons why Find A Grave is such a valuable resource. It brings the tombstone to you.

When the site was founded by Jim Tipton, genealogists were not the target audience.

Jim created the Find A Grave website in 1995 because he could not find an existing site that catered to his hobby of visiting the graves of famous people. He found that there are many thousands of folks around the world who share his interests. What began as an odd hobby became a livelihood and a passion.

When you visit the site, you will immediately notice its barebones layout — and you will see the home page is divided into two groups. The left side is about famous people and their graves, but the right side is what most family historians will be interested in. At the time of this writing, more than 112 million graves were listed in the database.

The information is created by volunteers and at the bare minimum an entry will have a photograph of the tombstone. Many though offer quite a bit more. It is not uncommon for the entry to include a photo of the graveyard’s entrance and sometimes the entry will include a photo of the deceased and possibly an obituary.

When I look up my great-grandfather Joe Lee Claywell, I find his death certificate information, 1910 and 1930 Census records, and links to some of his children (including my grandfather). Sometimes, the entry will also include links to the person’s parents — like in the case of Ed Claywell (Joe Claywell’s father).

As with any research, always doublecheck and verify the information. If, you use this site more as an investigative tool than as a source of fact, it will help point you in the right direction.

The site’s original purpose is quite intriguing as well. You may be surprised by some of the tombstones of the rich and/or famous.