{"id":6083,"date":"2014-02-03T17:25:43","date_gmt":"2014-02-03T17:25:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.genealogybank.com\/?p=6083"},"modified":"2023-06-09T09:34:54","modified_gmt":"2023-06-09T13:34:54","slug":"punxsutawney-phil-history-of-groundhog-days-furry-forecaster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/punxsutawney-phil-history-of-groundhog-days-furry-forecaster.html","title":{"rendered":"Punxsutawney Phil: History of Groundhog Day\u2019s Furry Forecaster"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/em><\/strong>: In this article, Scott\u00a0Phillips searches old newspapers to find stories about the history of Groundhog Day, and takes a playful look at the genealogy of Punxsutawney Phil. Scott is a genealogical historian and owner of Onward To Our Past\u00ae genealogy services.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Polar Vortex! Storm of the Century! Weather Advisories, Watches, and Warnings! Wind-chill!<\/p>\n

The weather folks know all the jargon and, as the New York Times<\/em> stated in a headline dated 7 September 2012, \u201cThe Weatherman Is Not a Moron<\/a>\u201d\u2014but when it comes right down to it, we all know that the best weatherman is good old Punxsutawney Phil. He\u2019s the legendary groundhog who comes out of his burrow in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, every February 2nd to tell us when spring will arrive.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Photo: a groundhog. Credit: Wikipedia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

[Yesterday, for the first time in history, Phil\u2019s big entrance coincided with the Super Bowl! To the dismay of chilled Americans throughout the U.S., Phil saw his shadow\u2014meaning we have six more long weeks of winter before spring arrives.]<\/p>\n

As I began writing this article the week before Groundhog Day, it was -10 degrees F just outside my office, we had 8 inches of new snow, and the wind-chill was a howling -25 degrees F. Not having any desire to venture outside into the freezing winter cold, I spent my time searching GenealogyBank\u2019s Historical Newspaper Archives<\/a> to see what I could find out about the genealogy of the famous Punxsutawney Phil. I wasn\u2019t disappointed.<\/p>\n

Candlemas Day Badger<\/strong><\/p>\n

My love of older traditions led me to focus my initial search on the tradition of Candlemas, which I remembered my grandmother telling me was the genesis of our Groundhog Day. First I discovered this 1898 article from a New York newspaper.<\/p>\n

\"How<\/a>
New York Tribune (New York, New York), 2 February 1898, page 5<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Toward the end of this 1800s newspaper article is the following quote:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe badger peeps out of his hole on Candlemas Day, and when he finds snow, walks abroad; but if he sees the sun shining, he draws back into his hole.\u201d<\/p>\n

So it seems that Phil\u2019s genealogy may actually lead us back to a badger in his family tree! Now I am sure this comes as no surprise to any of us who have worked our own genealogy, since we often find ourselves scratching our heads and saying to ourselves \u201cHow did that gal or fellow get into our family tree?\u201d<\/p>\n

Pagan Imbolc a.k.a. Saint Brighid\u2019s Day<\/strong><\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t long before I came upon this 1989 article from an Illinois newspaper.<\/p>\n

\"Imbolc,<\/a>
Register Star (Rockford, Illinois), 24 September 1989, page 26<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While February 2nd is traditionally the date for both Candlemas and Groundhog Day, I was intrigued to see that something called \u201cImbolc<\/a>\u201d is also concerned with \u201clooking for the first sign of spring.\u201d<\/p>\n

I have to admit that I needed to do more research in order to learn about Imbolc. I found help with my next article, from a 1996 Georgia newspaper, titled \u201cPagans Emphasize Love of Nature.\u201d \u201cAha,\u201d I said aloud, \u201cPhil\u2019s genealogy goes all the way back to the Pagans!\u201d Quite a lineage for a fellow from Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania!<\/p>\n

\"Pagans<\/a>
Augusta Chronicle (Augusta, Georgia), 17 August 1996, section B, page 2<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Phil\u2019s Weather Predictions of the Past<\/strong><\/p>\n

Next I came upon an 1875 article in an Ohio newspaper. It seems they, too, suffered through a miserably cold January\u2014and unfortunately for them, Phil predicted another six long weeks of winter.<\/p>\n

\"letter<\/a>
Cincinnati Daily Gazette (Cincinnati, Ohio), 10 February 1875, page 5<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My next newspaper article was from another Ohio newspaper, this one printed in 1872. The steamboatmen, no doubt tired of the thick ice on the Ohio River, were hoping that Groundhog Day would bring them good news of an early spring.<\/p>\n

\"Groundhog<\/a>
Cincinnati Daily Times (Cincinnati, Ohio), 1 February 1872, page 4<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And it seems that it wasn\u2019t only the steamboatmen who were concerned with our furry friend. I found this 1902 article in a Pennsylvania newspaper. It reported: \u201cMany persons, especially farmers, are firm believers in the superstition of \u2018groundhog\u2019 day and plans are laid accordingly.\u201d Some farmers\u2019 crops have been ruined by their belief in the groundhog\u2019s forecasting powers. By this time I realized that Phil\u2019s ancestors were commanding quite a nationwide following throughout the economy.<\/p>\n

\"Groundhog<\/a>
Patriot (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania), 1 February 1902, page 3<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Does Phil Have Native American Roots?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Then a genealogy curveball was tossed into my research by this 1916 article I found in a New Jersey newspaper. This article gives the distinct impression that Phil\u2019s genealogy was not rooted in Pagan or Celtic tradition, but was Native American in origin.<\/p>\n

\"Groundhog<\/a>
Trenton Evening Times (Trenton, New Jersey), 1 February 1916, page 6<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Additionally, this article reports that Phil\u2019s ancestors may well have gone by different names: \u201c\u2026the groundhog\u2014who also travels under the names of woodchuck, marmot and, scientifically, arctomys monax\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

While I have encountered ancestors changing their surnames from time to time in my personal genealogy, I realize now that Phil has quite the colorful and extensive genealogy. Perhaps it was some of Phil\u2019s female ancestors who married into the \u201cWoodchuck,\u201d \u201cMarmot,\u201d and \u201cArctomys Monax\u201d families!<\/p>\n

I think my best option at this point is to do what every good genealogist knows is the best research avenue to follow, so I am packing my bags and buying my ticket to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. I need to see Punxsutawney Phil in person to study his family history and ask if he would introduce me to his parents and grandparents, if they are around, so I can ask them a few genealogy questions.<\/p>\n

I hope you had a great Groundhog Day! Stay warm!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Scott Phillips searches old newspapers to find stories about the history of Groundhog Day, and takes a playful look at Punxsutawney Phil\u2019s genealogy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":28839,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12235],"tags":[6713,47,6294,6295,6292],"class_list":["post-6083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","tag-american-history","tag-groundhog-day","tag-groundhogs","tag-punxsutawney","tag-punxsutawney-phil"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/photo-0203-2014-featured-graphic-groundhog.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6083"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6083\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89061,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6083\/revisions\/89061"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genealogybank.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}