When I began my genealogy journey in 1998, I had access to a photocopied edition of a Larimer family history booklet printed in 1959. My late mom-in-law had marked changes/corrections/additions, giving me a head start on tracing this line. Years later, I inherited the original (a silvery booklet) and now I can see the changes even more clearly. Plus I feel free to mark up my photocopied version 😉
Climbing My Family Tree
Adventures in #Genealogy . . . learning new methodology, finding out about ancestors, documenting #FamilyHistory, and connecting with cousins! Now on BlueSky as @climbingfamilytree.bsky.social
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- MY GENEALOGY PRESENTATIONS
Tuesday, December 17, 2024
Linking to Digitized Genealogy Booklets
When I began my genealogy journey in 1998, I had access to a photocopied edition of a Larimer family history booklet printed in 1959. My late mom-in-law had marked changes/corrections/additions, giving me a head start on tracing this line. Years later, I inherited the original (a silvery booklet) and now I can see the changes even more clearly. Plus I feel free to mark up my photocopied version 😉
Sunday, December 15, 2024
Looking Back at 2024 Family History Progress
- Bite-sized ancestor bios continue as a major priority, and I'm making great progress. Some bios are quite detailed, some are quite brief (2-4 sentences) but all are intended to keep ancestors' memories alive for the future. The chart at right shows the main surnames I've profiled so far on WikiTree during 2024. No one has posted more bio profiles of Larimer surnames than me! Larimer was the name of my husband's immigrant ancestor back in the 1700s.
- I've been redoing genealogy research on key ancestors, because new documents, stories, and photos become available all the time. Lots of progress here too, searching not only vital records databases but also newspaper databases for mentions of ancestors. Plus I've begun the process of learning more about my Dad's WWII military service and postwar health, following the steps recommended by Alec Ferretti in his webinar about US military pension records. I'm awaiting a response from the VA about Dad's file, which should have lots of info.
- Getting rid of unneeded paper in my genealogy files...an ongoing process that has resulted in many trips to the recycle bin. Bonus: I'm following up on details that now have more significance than they did when I first saw a document or photo a decade or more in the past--meaning I'm putting the pieces together and learning more even as I downsize my paper files.
- I'm still telling family history stories, in books as well as orally. This year I created a small (6" x 6") book about my husband's Mayflower ancestors so that descendants will have this important background in writing! One grandchild actually asked a question about it 👍
- Little progress on a project I began two years ago: moving old photos from archival boxes to archival photo albums for the convenience of the younger generation. I want them to be able to browse albums and read captions instead of pawing through archival boxes. Maybe in 2025.
- Cousin connections continue! I've heard from a number of cousins interested in our family tree and with additional info to share. I'm thankful for their assistance.
Wednesday, December 11, 2024
Remembering Abraham Berk and the Hebrew Sick Benefit Assn of Montreal
My grandfather and his older brother, Abraham Berk (1877-1962), left their home country of Lithuania around the turn of the 20th century. They stopped off with their aunt and uncle in Manchester, England, learning a new language and making extra money for their trip across the Atlantic. Both were trained in carpentry and cabinet making, both able to make a living anywhere.
While in Manchester, Abraham fell in love and married Anna Horwich (1880-1948) in 1903. By mid-1904, he was on a ship bound for Canada while she stayed behind, awaiting the birth of their first child. He found a place to live in Montreal and began working, sending for Anna and their daughter Rose in 1905. The couple soon added to their family with three more children: Lily, William, and Irving Isidore.
Incorporating the benevolent association
Redoing my research this week, I discovered a new-to-me legal notice published on Oct 31, 1919 in the Le Canada newspaper, via OldNews.com.
Abraham Berk, contractor, was one of the people involved in incorporating the Hebrew Sick Benefit Association of Montreal. This association had already been active since 1892, and in fact it was the oldest mutual aid group of its type in Montreal. In 1919 it was being incorporated and as part of the process, the association published a legal notice about the change in status. Abraham was 42 years old at the time, and his wife Anna was 39.
Buried in the association plot
In 1948, Anna Berk died, aged 68, and was buried in Baron de Hirsch Cemetery in Montreal, in the Hebrew Sick Benefit Association plot. Abraham was also buried there when he died on Dec 11, 1962, at age 85.
Remembering great uncle Abraham on the anniversary of his death, a man devoted to family.
Friday, December 6, 2024
Why I Love Address Books Handed Down from Ancestors!
I'm a big fan of scrutinizing address books handed down from ancestors in the tree. Especially since my maternal family tree has three men named Joseph Roth, it's been a challenge to determine who's descended from which Joseph and what the relationships are between the Roth branches. My connection is through a sibling of my great-grandmother who married a brother of Joseph Roth.
Above, a snippet from the neatly printed loose-leaf address book of Joseph Roth (1858-1945), who was married to Julia Gutfried (1862-1937, name Americanized by others in the family as Goodfried). The book was handed down to a granddaughter who very kindly allowed me to scan and analyze the contents.
Matching names to the tree
I've worked my way through nearly all of this address book, matching the names and addresses to this Joseph Roth's children and grandchildren. This entry for Howard Weinberg initially puzzled me, especially the notation "private."
But I was also missing a spouse for Joseph Roth's granddaughter Vivian Ruth Rethy (1917-1991). Could Howard be Vivian's husband? Bear in mind, the address book didn't get handed down in Vivian's line, it was from one of the other Joseph Roth men in the tree 😉.
At the back of the address book was a list of names and dates. They were birth dates of Joseph's children, their spouses/children, and some in-laws. I matched "Vivian Weinberg" with her birthdate, and below her name was "Howerd __" meaning same surname as Vivian.
Creatively spelled given name, but now I had a good hypothesis. I researched Howard Weinberg with the birth date in the phone book, and in conjunction with Vivian's name. I quickly found their marriage record and Census documents with street address, etc.
Occupation and address matches
Also I found Howard's WWII draft registration from 1940, showing his occupation as an optician. Continuing my search, I came up with a New York City phone book entry for an optometrist/optician in Manhattan, with both business and residence address/phone numbers.
These street addresses and phone numbers are an exact match for the address book kept by Joseph Roth, grandfather of Howard's wife. A bit more research and I had an obit for Howard Leonard Weinberg (1916-1985) who had retired from the Big Apple to Palm Beach, Florida. I'll do descendancy research to try to trace Howard and Vivian's two children. With luck, more cousin connections are in my future.
Amy Johnson Crow's genealogy prompt for this week in her #52Ancestors series is "Handed Down."
Wednesday, December 4, 2024
Remembering the Birth of Twins 105 Years Ago
Their mother, my Grandma Minnie, dressed them alike when they were young. Although no names are on this late 1920s photo, I believe Mom is on the left and Auntie Dorothy is on the right.
As shown below in the 1919 index of births in Bronx, New York, Dorothy's birth cert is 14223, and Daisy's birth cert is 14224, confirming that Mom was the younger twin.
Remembering Daisy and Dorothy's birth 105 years ago today. Always in our hearts.
Sunday, December 1, 2024
Holiday Gifts with Family History in Mind
At left, a personalized holiday ornament showing a beloved ancestor with name, dates, and the inscription "in memory of" with a dove.
Below, a woolen scarf from the area of Scotland where my husband's McClure ancestors originated. A few years ago, we gifted these to his siblings for winter wear.
Below, a tall mug personalized with the century-old photo of a cute young lady from the family tree. Our relatives treasure mugs and tumblers with reunion photos and other meaningful family photos from today and yesterday.Above, an example of adding family photos old and new to personalize a calendar. Calendars like these have been part of my family's tradition for 16 years. A niece actually asked to take over the creative side because she enjoyed the calendars so much! This is her 4th year making the calendar.
Finally, are you looking for a gift for yourself or a friend/relative who loves genealogy? Please consider my book, Planning A Future for Your Family's Past, a concise guide to organizing, storing, preserving, and sharing family history for today and tomorrow. Thank you!
Thursday, November 28, 2024
Happy Thanksgiving from 1913
I'm not sure about the turkey's unique coloring but I do appreciate how my husband's ancestors stayed in touch for every holiday and in between.
Wishing you and your family a happy and healthy Thanksgiving.
Wednesday, November 27, 2024
Family History: Ration Book Thanksgivings
On Thanksgiving weekend, my husband will be showing these ration coupons to our family and telling the story of how his parents (Marian Jane McClure Wood and Edgar James Wood) needed to bring their ration books to the store when they bought certain foods during World War II. Coffee rationing began in November, 1942, and ended in late July, 1943--spanning a single Thanksgiving. Other foods and items were rationed much longer.
I'm sure the younger relatives will have heard of wartime food rationing but most likely never saw actual ration coupons inside a personalized ration book. These coupons belonged to Marian, whose name and address are on the front of the book.
Thankfully, the Wood family's ration books survived the past 80 years and are now stored in archival boxes in my home office, to be passed to the next generation along with stories.
Do you have family history artifacts you can share on Thanksgiving to stimulate conversation and tell stories about ancestors' lives?
Sunday, November 24, 2024
Remembering Leona Walaszczyk, Former Director of the Macy's Parade
In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Polish-born Lee Wallace (1903-1989) was the head of public relations for Macy's in New York and therefore the boss of the store's hugely famous Thanksgiving Day Parade. In fact, 2024 is the 100th anniversary of this incredible parade!
Walasyk to Wallace
Before I began writing this post, I reviewed my research and looked for anything new. It wasn't so long ago that I found out Lee had Americanized her surname from Walasyk to Wallace.
Now I've uncovered a 1951 newspaper legal notice mentioning Lee and her brothers and their children. New news about Lee's original surname!
Walaszczyk to Walasyk to Wallace
Published in the Record newspaper of Hackensack, New Jersey, the notice announces that the undersigned will apply for a judgement authorizing them to "assume other names."
Interestingly, Lee was using the name "Leona Z Wallace" as long ago as 1936, when she applied for a Social Security number. I have a copy of that application. I wonder why the family, together, took legal steps to change to the Wallace name in 1951? (Update: A BlueSky follower suggested it might be due to one or more of the Wallace family members intending to apply for a US passport. That sounds quite likely!)
Anyway, by discovering their original surname was Walaszczyk, I was able to find her and her parents and siblings in the 1915 New Jersey Census and the 1920/30 US Census records. Her father Anthony was a silk weaver, as was her mother Frances. Lee's parents never simplified their surname to Walasyk, but her brothers did, and after their parents passed away, they all ultimately switched to Wallace in 1951.
Happy birthday to Leona Z. Walaszczyk (pronounced VALASHCHICK), who headed the most well-known Thanksgiving parade in the United States, with my Auntie Dorothy at her side.
Tuesday, November 19, 2024
Did David Light Join the California Silver Rush?
My husband's Bentley ancestors moved from upstate New York to settle in Elkhart county, Indiana in the mid-1830s. William Tyler Bentley (1795-1873) and his wife Olivia Morgan Bentley (1799?-1838) had seven children before she died during a particularly severe winter in Indiana.
William never remarried. About 1850, he went west to begin farming in Tulare County, California as it became a state. Many of his family members also went to California at that time to farm or raise livestock.
William's daughter Elizabeth E. Bentley (1821?-1898?) married widower Emanuel Light (1815-1897) in Elkhart, Indiana in 1847, becoming a stepmother to his sons David and Eugene. The family moved to California and settled in Santa Rosa, north of San Francisco. As adults, David Light and Eugene Light also became farmers in Santa Rosa (see top left of map).
Then why did David die in Silver City, California in 1863? He was reportedly 22 years old, and multiple news reports of his death only provide a date and a place.** Silver City is in the area now known as Sequoia National Park, a mountainous region that today has no year-round residents. Interestingly, Silver City (bottom right of map) is much closer to Tulare (where William Bentley died in 1873) than to Santa Rosa, where the rest of David's family lived.
Silver City was apparently part of the California Silver Rush. Was David seeking his fortune there? Or was he in Silver City for some other reason? As the map shows, it was more than 300 miles from his farm (and his father and brother), quite a long distance to travel in 1863.
Remembering David Light (1839-1863), outlived by his brother Eugene Light (1840-1908) and his father Emanuel Light.
**UPDATE: Two wonderful readers recommended doing further newspaper research. Several newspapers, which I looked at previously, indicated Silver City without any state. This matters because other reports of deaths in those papers indicated a state only when the death took place outside of California.
But! One report, in the Sonoma County Journal, indicated David M. Light died in "Silver City, N.T." which translates to Nevada Territory--the site of lots of Silver Rush action! (Nevada didn't become a state until 1864.)
Since Silver City, Nevada is closer to David Light's farm in Santa Rosa than Silver City, Calif., as shown on map above, it is very possible that David sought his fortune there in early 1863. I'm going to go with Nevada now that I've seen this additional death notice.
Saturday, November 16, 2024
Sharing Ancestor Bite-Sized Bios More Widely Because LOCKSS
Another post about bite-sized ancestor bios! Many of my husband's US, Canadian, and UK ancestors served in the military over the years. Researching them over the past year, I prepared bite-sized bios as part of a family history booklet for the family.
The next step was to share the bios on multiple websites so these ancestors and their military service is not forgotten. Remember, LOCKSS (lots of copies keep stuff safe).
Bite-sized bios on Fold3
You don't have to subscribe to post a bio on an ancestor's memorial page on Fold3, which is owned by Ancestry and focuses on military records. Searching the Honor Wall of service men and women is free, as is adding a bio. Search the wall using this link. Also on that page is a link to create a new memorial (free) if none shows up in your search. Sharing ancestor/veterans' bios on that site has been an ongoing project for me.
As an example: For my husband's great great uncle Benjamin Franklin Steiner (1840-1924), I added a bio by clicking the add button on his memorial page (see yellow arrow in image above). You can either type it in or copy from a document and paste it in. Once you save it, you can edit if you like by clicking the pencil tool (see green circle on above image).
Be sure to bookmark or tag the memorials so you can easily return to them later. The tag tool is at top right (orange circle on above image). You can tag with a phrase like "US Civil War" or use a bookmark tag for a later visit.
Bite-sized bios on Find a Grave
Many (but not all) Fold3 memorials include links to the person's Find A Grave memorial. Since the bite-sized bio is already written, it's easy to copy and paste onto that person's Find A Grave memorial. Above, a slightly edited version of the bio I wrote for Benjamin Franklin Steiner's Fold3 memorial is also posted on his memorial at Find A Grave.
You can post bite-sized bios on even more sites. I added Steiner's bio to WikiTree (above), FamilySearch (below), and MyHeritage (at bottom).
Wednesday, November 13, 2024
Book Review: Storytelling for Genealogists
Tattershall packs a lot of ideas and info into nine chapters plus a humdinger of a worksheet, and an index. The table of contents includes:
- Why Family Story? - "We work hard to discover our family tree," writes the author. "But what we really want to know is our family story." So true. Names and dates don't illuminate ancestors' lives. That's why this book is so helpful.
- How to Tell a Good Story - Engage readers. Then plot a course and find a theme to keep readers interested.
- The Stuff - Put meat on the bones by researching and interpreting history, biography, and "affective history."
- Puzzle Pieces - We have facts, but we may also have fiction. How to put the puzzle pieces together in the right way and in the wider context.
- The Value of Things - Going beyond words to tell the story with images, heirlooms, places, and more.
- Format - Text, audio, and/or video? Considerations as you choose a format to tell your ancestor's story.
- True and Good - "You've done fact-finding. Now it's time to spin a tale," the author says, and he goes on to explain how to make the story interesting without getting bogged down.
- Before You Write - Tattershall recommends outlining first to establish how to organize and present your story, with examples. Yes, outlining really works.
- Conclusion - "Your family history is a story worth telling, and therefore a story worth telling well."
Although I would have preferred a little more elaboration on the key points in this slender book, I appreciate and agree with Tattershall's emphasis on telling an engaging story, well beyond names and dates with sources.
In particular, I recommend his Family Story Worksheet, shown on p. 81. The worksheet serves as a quick-start guide to completing the components needed to spin a tale that will interest the next generation and beyond.
Storytelling for Genealogists is an excellent, practical, readable book for anyone who wants to bring family history alive through storytelling.
Please note: The Genealogical Publishing Company sent me a free review copy of this book, and it has previously provided free review copies of other books. My reviews always reflect my honest opinions, without regard to any outside influence.
Monday, November 11, 2024
Honor Roll: World War II Veterans from Woodbury, Connecticut
In this second of two blog posts, I'm honoring the men and women from Woodbury, Connecticut who served their nation during the two world wars. This post names those who served during World War II. On Veterans Day, I salute their service with respect and appreciation.
Saturday, November 9, 2024
Honor Roll: World War I Veterans from Woodbury, Connecticut
In this first of two blog posts, I'm transcribing the names of men and women who served during World War I, as listed on this memorial.
With sincere appreciation for their service to country.
Wednesday, November 6, 2024
Now on BlueSky Social as Well as Mastodon
I'm transitioning away from Twitter after the US election.
I'm already posting about genealogy and family history on Mastodon at @MarianBWood@genealysis.social.
Or we can meet on the BlueSky platform where I just began posting at: @climbingfamilytree.bsky.social. Very active genealogy community on BlueSky! Below is my profile on that fast-growing social media platform.
Genealogy chats on three platforms
#GenChat continues on Twitter two Friday evenings a month (10 pm Eastern for US genies), plus two Saturday mornings on Mastodon (9 am Eastern). UPDATE: #GenChat will leave Twitter at end of 2024 and relaunch on BlueSky!
#AncestryHour continues informally on Twitter every Tuesday (2 pm Eastern for US genies, 7 pm for UK genies) but has set up an account on BlueSky at: @ancestryhour.bsky.social.
#GenHour has begun on BlueSky at 8 pm GMT every Thursday--that's 3 pm Eastern for US genies. Hashtag is from @oneplacestudies.bsky.social.
Looking forward to staying connected with my genealogy buddies!