Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Wedding Wednesday: Hello to My Farkas Relatives

From the 1946 wedding album of Daisy Schwartz and Harold Burk, who got married at the Hotel McAlpin in New York City, here are some photos of my Farkas side of the family, showing my grand-aunts and -uncles and lots of cousins.




Saturday, March 23, 2013

Sibling Saturday: Schwartz Sis & Child in Ungvar

This lovely lady is possibly Etel or Paula Schwartz, both of whom were younger sisters of my grandpa Tivador/Theodore/Teddy Schwartz.

When Teddy, his older brother Sam, and their baby sister Mary Schwartz all left for America, sisters Etel and Paula stayed behind in Ungvar, Hungary.

Later called Uzhorod, this small city formed part of Czechoslovakia after WWI. And before Uzhorod became part of Russia, the photo on the left was taken and sent to my grandpa Teddy in New York City.

The reverse side of this lady in profile has the wording shown below left. The date appears to be March 24, 1929--84 years ago tomorrow.

The circular stamp is the name of the photo studio in Uzhorod, Ungvar.

Szeretettel translates from the Hungarian as "with love" or "affectionately." "Blankatol" doesn't match either Paula or Etel, but the lady looks a lot like one of the Schwartz sisters.

At right is the inscription of a baby photo from Ungvar. Again signed, "affectionately," but with a different name, "Yenaketol" perhaps, followed by Uzhorod and the same date as the lady in profile (March 24, 1929).

Also there's a sentence that refers to "Yenake" which I suspect is a nickname for the child who is shown in classic baby pose, below.

(Please, if anyone can read that final sentence in Hungarian, would you let me know?)

So the three Schwartz siblings, who lived in or near New York City after leaving Hungary, probably never saw this sister again and never met this niece or nephew.

Now, 84 years later, the photos are part of our family's genealogy research, memories of the family's Hungarian hometown of Ungvar. (By the way, when asked where he came from, grandpa Teddy would tell me, "Czechoslovakia.")





Thursday, March 21, 2013

Thankful Thursday: Philly Cousin Found Me!

Welcome, cousin! A 2d cousin from my Schwartz side connected with me this week, thanks to my Ancestry tree and this blog.

Grand-aunt Mary and Grand-uncle Edward
She's the granddaughter of Mary Schwartz, the youngest of the Schwartz siblings who left their home town of Ungvar, Hungary to journey to New York City.

Thank you to my Philly cuz for the photo (left) of Mary and her husband Edward, a lovely photo I'd never seen!

Mary was my grandpa Teddy's baby sister. Teddy (original name: Tivador) came to New York in 1902, followed by his older brother Sam (original name: Simon) in 1904. The two brothers pooled their money to bring Mary to America in 1906.

Etel and Paula Schwartz
Alas, the two remaining Schwartz siblings (shown right, Etel and Paula) never joined the rest of the family in New York, nor did Hana Simonowitz Schwartz, the matriarch. None survived WWII, sorry to say.

On the bright side, my Philly cuz and I are having fun getting caught up on decades of family news and doing a little more research together on our ancestors. Philly, here we come!


Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Have You Heard of the Connecticut Military Census (WWI)?

Did you know that Connecticut conducted a "military census" during WWI? One of the people in my extended family tree filled out such a form. I've never seen it before, although Jim Sanders found two for his family just a few months ago. All men over the age of 16 had to answer this single-page questionnaire. I discovered that this ancestor could handle a team and drive an auto and a motorcycle, but he couldn't swim.

So here's what Connecticut asked: Can you do any of the following...
  • Ride a horse?
  • Handle a team?
  • Drive an automobile?
  • Ride a motorcycle?
  • Understand telegraphy?
  • Operate a wireless?
  • Any experience with a steam engine?
  • Any experience with electrical machinery?
  • Handle a boat, power or sail?
  • Any experience in simple coastwise navigation?
  • Any experience with high speed marine gasoline engines?
  • Are you a good swimmer?

Monday, March 18, 2013

Military Monday: "650 WACs Defy the Subs"

My aunt Dorothy Schwartz was one of 650 WACs in WWII who sailed aboard the RMS Aquitania from New York City on July 8, 1943, arriving at dusk a week later in Gourock, Scotland. It was a risky voyage because the ship sailed alone, without a convoy, under absolute secrecy. They never knew when a German submarine might follow or attack.

RMS Aquitania in Southampton, England
Before the trip, the WACs were held incommunicado at Camp Shanks in New Jersey (guarded by MPs) until they were taken by train to the ship. As historian of the WAC Detachment of the 9th Air Force, Auntie wrote that the WACs "enacted an Ellery Queen radio mystery drama concerning the importance of being security-minded."



Doris Fleeson's article is the cover story


Famed war correspondent Doris Fleeson sailed along with Auntie and her fellow WACs, as well as hundreds of British military personnel. Later that year, Fleeson's long article about the voyage was published in Women's Home Companion as "650 WACs Defy the Subs."

In reading Fleeson's article, I was struck by her mention of "gangplankitis," which she says is "the fear of boarding a ship that might be attacked. Men soldiers have succumbed to it. Sometimes they are hospitalized. Sometimes they are carried aboard. The Wacs entirely escaped gangplankitis."

Once the Aquitania docked and the WACs disembarked, they were met by dignitaries including US Army Captain Sherman, who told them: "You are here safely. The safety of the troops to come depends upon your discretion." Quite a solemn welcome to WACs who would help the Air Force coordinate bombing of enemy targets.

The oral history of Mary Williams Elder was another good source of info about what it was like to be aboard the Aquitania as one of the 650 WACs.

NOTE: This is my "Uniqueness" post for the April 2018 "Genealogy Blog Party" by Elizabeth O'Neal.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Genealogy by the States: New York state of mind

There are so many wonderful New York City sources to help with my genealogy research that I scarcely know where to begin. My Schwartz, Farkas, Birk, and Mahler ancestors all sailed past the Statue of Liberty from Eastern Europe, so my genealogy naturally has a New York state of mind.

Here are four of my favorite sites for NYC genealogy:
  • NYC brides, grooms, births, deaths, and naturalizations: My top go-to site is the Italian Genealogical Group. It's free and the volunteers who transcribed the records and developed the databases have done an incredible job. 
  • 1940 NYC directories, old photos, and much, much more: online and in person at the NY Public Library Milstein Division. Browsing the Digital Gallery brings me back to the New York City of my grandparents' time.
  • Ellis Island and Castle Green sites are helpful in finding immigrants who landed in NYC, although I prefer Family Search's Ellis Island passenger lists and Ancestry, not to mention Fold3's naturalization documents.
  • Linkpendium's city and borough-by-borough links that that of the Bronx are quite useful. Actually, Linkpendium is great for any state!
Now for my most recent New York genealogy adventures in following the Markell family. Barnhart (Barney, Bernard) H. Markell (1874-1944) was the father-in-law of my grand-aunt Mary Mahler Markell. As I wrote earlier this year, Barney came to New York from Boston with his son Joseph after the early death of his first wife, Rose Lebowitz. I've followed the paper trail of Barney and his progeny via US and NY census data, but have yet to discover exactly how Julius and Barney Markell are related.


On Friday, hubby and I took a field trip to Riverside Cemetery in NJ, where Barney is buried (above). In the same plot were: Barney's second wife, Esther M. Markell; Esther's daughter Ella Markell and her two husbands, Albert Brown (originally Brownstein) and Jeremiah Match; and Albert's brother-in-law David Zenkel. RIP.

This weekly prompt about New York is part of the "Genealogy by the States" series by Jim Sanders.

Saturday, March 16, 2013

Surname Saturday, St. Patty's Day edition: Smith from Limerick?

Last year on St. Patty's Day, I wrote that I married hubby for his Irish ancestors. This week I found out, via fam trees on Ancestry with documententation, that hubby's 5th great-granddaddy, William Smith, has a link with Ireland.

William's will, dated April 14, 1786, refers to some property he owns in his homeland:
I give and bequeath to my son William Smith the sum of ten pounds with my right and title to my father's estate in Ireland and ye ten pound note to be paid untill [sic] it can be collected from the book debts.
Brice Smith is buried in Fairfield Cty, Ohio
The elder William Smith had another son, Brice, hubby's 4th-great-granddaddy, who inherited land, bedding, a horse, heifer, money, sheep, and other possessions.
 
Now it's going to be quite a trick to trace Smith family connections to and within Limerick, the place where they are probably from. So many ancestors, so little time!