Blog Number 300

I wrote the first Blog on January 1, 2010 and this is number 300. As of 4:00 a.m. on March 27, 2013, a total of 31,782 visitors have read the various pages. The article Philip D. Amour, Jr. Marries Mary E. Lester (published 2/9/2010) has had the most readers with 444 followed by Scottish Inventors and Inventions (published 2/20/2010) with 438. I don’t have an explanation for the interest in Philip D. Amour. One hundred people have left comments.

Google Analytics tracks the readers of the History Club web site, at least since February 24, 1995. They show a total of 32,900 visitors who have read 56,608 pages. They also show that 70% of our readers come from the United States followed by the United Kingdom and then Canada. The majority (88.40%) are new visitors and the Bounce Rate is almost 80%. However, 3,806 have returned to read more pages.

Here is a breakdown of the top ten countries by readers:

United States               22,659
United Kingdom            2,476
Russia                           1,060
Germany                          901
Canada                            562
France                             483
Australia                          165
Ukraine                           147
Netherlands                     140
Latvia                              102

Most of our readers (72%) use Windows as an operating system followed by Macintosh at 8%. About 8% of the pages have been viewed using iPhones and iPads.

The first Blog was rather short and perhaps poorly written. I hope there has been improvement as the years have passed. Here is what I wrote for Blog #1:

“We often visit cemeteries and find Scottish names of people long ago dead. Does anyone ever look for them? In Forest Home Cemetery, along the Des Plaines river is a lady who died over 100 years ago. When the river overflows her grave is covered with water. Her marker says simply "Born in Scotland." A search of local newspapers did not show an obituary. I stopped at the cemetery office hoping for more information, but there was none. The next step was to obtain a death certificate. The death certificate told me that Mary Scott died May 12, 1899. She was 55 years old, died of a heart condition and was a housewife.  She lived at 259 Harrison, Chicago, IL. No one appears to ever visit her grave. No one leaves flowers. I stop from time to time and visit. Like so many others, she was proud to have been born in Scotland. So, for this first Blog, I will give honor to those many nameless Scots who came to America and made it a great nation.”

We use Constant Contact to email our blog and have 955 active contacts. These contacts come from the Illinois Saint Andrew Society mailing list and has not been updated since we began. Not everyone reads the Blog, of course, and some have never read. The cost is about $30 a month and is paid for by Mrs. June H. Steele and the Halverson Fund. My thanks to June and to our oldest daughter, Elaine Moore who does the rewriting and posting. Elaine also does the History Club website at chicagoscots.net.

The History Club web site contains all the issues of our old Newsletters going back to 1994. These were published quarterly and mailed. We no longer mail the Newsletter. Members of the Scottish American Hall of Fame are also listed on the web site. This was the work of James Casement Thomson.

In addition, you will find the Scottish Name List. This is the work of Elaine Moore and contains literally thousands of names with short historical information. The Name List contains the famous and not so famous, including some 500 individuals buried in the Society grounds at Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago.

The majority of our readers on the website look at the Name List which leads us to believe that in doing a search they have found our site. Most of these people, appear to be looking for family members and several have written to see if we have more information.

My thanks to everyone for their support in helping to tell the story of Scottish People, Places and Things.

Wayne Rethford, President Emeritus
Illinois Saint Andrew Society
630-629-4516

April 6, 2013 - History Club: Our speaker is David T. Macfarlane a Master Chef born in Elderslie, Scotland. He spent 10 years in the U.S. Navy serving two four-star admirals, the crew and officers of the USS Mount Whitney and the President of the United States in the White House and Blair House in Washington, D.C. “Chef Macfarlane has consistently returned to Scotland as an example to all Scots to never forget from whence they come...” 

For Tartan Week activities please go to www.chicagoscots.org

June 14 and 15, 2013 - Highland Games - Hamilton Lakes, Itasca, IL.

June 28, 2013 - Chicago Scots at the White Sox Game

August 22, 2013 - Skerryvore Concert - Martyr’s, Chicago.

September 13, 2013 - Kilted Golf Classic - Bloomingdale Country Club

November 22, 2013 - 168th St. Andrew’s Day Dinner Celebration