In this photo, we are tucked into our twin baby carriage and ready for a stroll in the park by our apartment building in the Northeast Bronx.
No caption, so no idea who's who or exactly when. Still, happy birthday to us!
This is not my first adventure in AR-2 ordering. An earlier order (fee $20) gave me a bit of detail about a different immigrant ancestor. This time I got more for my money.
1) Nellie did not come through Ellis Island
One of the key pieces of new information: Nellie said she immigrated through the Port of Boston in May, 1890. I will now research this port and date to try to find her passenger list. Most of my ancestors came through Ellis Island but not Nellie, apparently!
I have long puzzled over the fact that Nellie was the first among her siblings to leave Lithuania (which was part of the Russian Empire at the time) and come to America. By finding her passenger manifest, I may discover that she did not come directly to America but, like two of her brothers, might have stopped in another country en route. Finding her Boston arrival is now on my genealogy to-do list!
2) Nellie gave a different birth date
She was inconsistent about her age on every document I've seen. For the AR-2 she gave a specific birth date of July 10, 1872. That means she was 78 years old at the time of her death in 1950--not 85 as her gravestone shows.
Which birth date is real? Even her younger brothers didn't seem to know her actual birth year. I'm just going to have to go with what Nellie swore to in her AR-2 statement.
3) Nellie's activities and occupation
From 1930 on, Nellie was involved with Beth El Hospital, now Brookdale Hospital Center in Brooklyn, New York. Presumably she was a volunteer, but no additional info is on the AR-2 Form. By 1940 Nellie was almost 68 years old and probably she was not employed regularly so she might have had time to be a volunteer.
Her occupation was listed on the AR form as housework and sewing. I wonder whether she sewed for private clients to make extra cash. Earlier in life, for at least 15 years, she was an "operator" on furs and other materials, according to Census answers about occupation.
4) Nellie never applied for citizenship
Of course I looked diligently for any sign of a naturalization document and now I see Nellie told officials she had not applied for first citizenship papers. She would know.
5) Nellie was mostly truthful (I think)
She told the truth about having no living parents, spouse, or children in America. She told the truth about never being in the military.
However, she definitely didn't tell the truth about her marital status: She was actually widowed, not single, in 1940. Possibly she was not presented with the opportunity to explain how she was widowed not long after her marriage.
Here's a colorful postcard sent to Wallis W. Wood in Cleveland, Ohio more than a century ago.
The card was from his aunt Rachel "Nellie" Wood Lewis Kirby in Chicago, staying in touch for Washington's birthday (traditionally February 22nd).
Happy President's Day!
Above, part of the 1925 New York State Census from the Bronx, showing my maternal great-grandparents, Morris (Moritz) Farkas and his wife Lena, plus 5 of their children: Julius, Peter, Rose, Fred, and Regina.
What I particularly love about this New York Census is the question about citizenship and where/when naturalized. As marked above, Great-grandpa Morris told the enumerator he was a citizen, naturalized in New York in 1907. Great-grandma Lena Kunstler Farkas said she was a citizen under "husband's papers." Two Hungarian-born children, Julius and Peter, simply were shown as citizens with no further details.
Good thing Morris didn't wait to become a citizen because after March 2, 1907, Lena and the minor children would NOT have been able to claim US citizenship by virtue of Morris's naturalization papers. Each would have needed to apply for naturalization individually. More about searching for citizenship documentation online can be found here.
"What the Census Suggests" is this week's genealogy writing prompt from Amy Johnson Crow's #52Ancestors series.
Here are links to my reviews or appreciations of:
Crucially, I painstakingly created a detailed index. Without an index, this is just a doorstop. With an index, it's a super-useful resource for family history that will be passed down because it's easy to locate the mentions of every ancestor named in the book.
At the time, I printed a few spiral-bound copies (1.5 inches thick, as shown above) for cousins who were especially interested. Soon afterward, I scanned the 500 pages in pdf format, then mailed it out on a USB flash drive to each of my second cousins.
Now, 13 years later, one of my second cousins is asking about this volume. And instead of sending out a USB right away, I'm updating the book in two ways.
First, I'm fine-tuning the index to reflect what I've learned since 2014. Above is one of the handwritten notes I made a few years ago when I discovered the exact relationship of Bela Roth. He was actually a brother-in-law of my great-grandma Lena. Changes like this improve accuracy and may even provoke new memories from my cousins who read through.
Second, I'm updating my list of "who's who" showing which ancestors were the founding members, who their spouses were, who their children were, who their children married. Since 2014, a few of these people have passed away and sadly, I needed to insert death dates.
When finished, this gigantic volume will be ready to again be sent electronically or via mailed USB flash drives to cousins. Also, I will tape a USB to the printed book on my bookshelf, just in case.
My ancestors had the inspired idea of keeping minutes of every monthly meeting and then having these minutes bound into books to be saved and passed down. The least I can do is to keep alive the memories of these people and the family tree association they created and loved so much by sharing the book with cousins. Again!
Both had immigrated from Hungary with their parents, settling in New York City in the early 1900s.
Mind the gap
Alex was enumerated as living with his parents on East 19th Street in New York City until the 1920 US Census. Then a gap of 11 years. The next record I found was his name in a Boston city directory from 1931, married to Blanche Schwartz (1892?-1986).
Blanche was enumerated with her parents in Jewish East Harlem, New York City in the 1915 New York State Census. Then a gap of 16 years. The next record I could find showed her as the wife of Alex in that Boston directory of 1931.
Marriage in "the gap"
Clearly, Alex and Blanche married during the gap years where I couldn't seem to find any documentation of their whereabouts.
Knowing that different websites use different indexing and search algorithms, I recently redid my research using MyHeritage--and immediately discovered where and when the couple got married during the gap. I followed the link to obtain a scan of the original license/certificate (shown at top), which is housed on FamilySearch but didn't pop up when I searched that site several times.
Why California?
Why Alex and Blanche married in Los Angeles, 2,800 miles from their parents and siblings, I can't even imagine. The Roth family was heavily into the garment district of New York City, so perhaps Alex was scouting Los Angeles for business opportunities in clothing. That's a guess, only a guess.
Blanche had experience sewing neckties in the Big Apple. In fact, she may have worked for an uncle who owned a necktie factory in the garment district (my grandma Minnie worked for that same Roth gentleman before she got married). Still, how and why Blanche made the trip to Los Angeles and then married Alex in LA is a total mystery.
I note that Blanche and Alex were married by Rabbi Mayer Winkler, who headed up the Conservative synagogue Congregation Sinai in Los Angeles. Did this factor into their thinking? Nobody knows. I'm just glad I was able to locate their marriage record.
Thinking of Blanche, who was born on February 3d, and of Alex, her husband for 26 years until his death in 1949.
UPDATE: There is another way to see AI Stories, see bottom of this post. Easiest way to access AI Stories is through an email announcing the availability of such hints. So be sure to watch your email for any Ancestry hint messages. When I clicked through, the hint itself appears on the right of the screen, with the document on the left.
The written description and audio incorrectly state that Henrietta and her children are going to Montreal, when in fact this is a US immigration document about going from Montreal through Vermont to travel to her mother in New York City. Below is the actual source citation, clearly described as "From Canada to US"
Below this initial audio and written narrative are other written AI Stories designed to help me "explore what shaped their life." Here's one:
I will continue to look at AI Stories but not listen as I think I can glean the key details about a document more quickly by reading than by listening.
With luck, the "Ideas" beta will spread more widely and so will "AI Stories" in beta, so readers can share their experiences!
UPDATE: AI Stories can be accessed from the record page of a document in your hints or attached to an ancestor. They are not yet available for every record. Below, an image of a document record page that has the notation Listen and Explore. That leads to the AI Stories page for this particular record. I like the background for these records more than listening to a "story" about the ancestor in the record. See what you think!
What happened to the plant? Since Grandma passed away 60+ years ago, I simply don't know. Many keepsakes were taken by neighbors, and this may have been one of them. But I'll never forget that snake plant.
Today, my sister and I have house plants with back stories that are meaningful to us.
We each have a pot of oxalis given to us by a long-time friend who has since passed away. No wonder we take good care of these two potted plants, a link to our late friend.
At top, a different kind of plant legacy: A cutting from a plant that a younger relative has nurtured for at least 30 years. I was honored to receive this cutting last year and am keeping it going, hoping that maybe another generation will enjoy it (along with the back story).
Plants are not like the wonderful old photos we inherit or the insightful diaries or colorful maps or other heirlooms we treasure from earlier generations. But they can live on in a different way. If your plants have a family history link, please remember to tell the stories every so often, to let other relatives know the significance of these living heirlooms.
The McClure line has few multiple births, so Jesse and Bessie stand out. Unfortunately, no birth records exist to indicate which twin was born first.
Jesse McClure worked in the paper and printing industry all his life. At the age of 25, he married dressmaker Elnora "Eleanor" Ross, in 1900. Ten years later, they moved to Everett, Washington for his work. Elnora died of a stroke in 1944; Jesse died in 1952.
Bessie McClure married Judson Deveny, a tailor, in 1897. They had a daughter, Ruth, before divorcing. Bessie married real estate agent Guy Cockley in 1903, and he helped raise Ruth. Guy died of heart disease in 1934; Bessie died from pneumonia 25 years later, in 1959. Both Bessie and Guy are buried in Falls Cemetery, Wabash, Indiana, where her headstone reads "Mother" and his reads "Dad."
Thinking of the McClure twins on the 151st anniversary of their birth.
I tried "Ideas" for several ancestors that I've researched extensively.
As shown above, the "ideas" for my husband's great aunt consisted of (1) search for the marriage record, (2) trace the ancestor's residences, and (3) locate her death cert.
Since the marriage cert is attached as a source and in the gallery, nothing new there. Since every US Census available for this ancestor is reflected in her profile, nothing new there. Not shown in the image above but on my tree is this ancestor's death cert as a source. Nothing new there.
Ancestry knows the idea to search online for a marriage index is "beginner-friendly" which I suspect is meant to encourage beginners to go ahead and search.
The next two suggestions (look for a county marriage registration and look for local newspaper marriage announcements) are a bit more advanced and clearly good recommendations.
I note that this AI action plan includes the idea to search in FamilySearch, Ancestry, and MyHeritage! Good suggestion.
My initial reaction is that the AI suggestions don't reflect what is attached to a tree and what is missing. Also these ideas are rather basic for someone with a bit of experience. Maybe this feature will be improved as the beta testing continues?
My next step is to test the AI "ideas" feature with ancestors who are not as well documented. Stay tuned!
Do you have Ancestry "ideas" and if so, what do you think?
UPDATE Jan 31: This beta feature was only on one of my three main Ancestry trees. When I turned on my computer today, it had disappeared from that tree and is not yet available on any other tree.
UPDATE Feb 1: Beta feature "Ideas" reappeared but on a different tree.
On this day in 2026, I want to honor the memory of relatives of my maternal grandfather, Theodore Schwartz (1887-1965) who were, very sadly, killed during the Holocaust.
Their surnames were Schwartz, Simonowitz, Winkler, Stark, Zeller, Bimbi, Rezenbach, Feldman.
International Holocaust Remembrance Day is today. Never forget, never forgotten.
A new, free collection of Holocaust records, from the Arolsen Archives, was just added to Ancestry, along with US Holocaust Museum records and USC Shoah Foundation recordes. Search for free here.
I'm nearly done shredding the unneeded printouts in my genealogy files. You know, from the days when we cranked microfilm by hand and then printed or photographed something useful for family history? Or made notes while researching at a library? Or filed copies for some unknown reason?
Today just about everything is attached to my online family trees (Census records, birth/marriage/death certificates, links to burial places, other sources, and so on). I have family trees posted on multiple genealogy websites, because LOCKSS (lots of copies keep stuff safe).
Not paperless but less paper
My physical files are much skinnier but I am not going paperless. Here's a quick and incomplete list of what I'm saving, filed by surname or intermarried family groups:
When I began my genealogy journey in 1998, the main resources were documents and photos passed down to me. They survived decades in print and with care (archival boxes, for instance) they will survive to be passed down for decades in the future.
I do not want to entrust my entire family history to a paperless existence. I've created printed booklets, professional photo books, and other types of projects to supplement all my online genealogy info. My designated heirs will get files and boxes, stripped down to the essentials so they can keep these artifacts from our family's history alive for the sake of descendants in the future.
My heirs will also get my passwords to access my genealogy sites, plus a bit of money to continue subscriptions for a year or two in case they want to look at or add to the trees or noodle around on these sites without having to worry about the cost. Thank you to those in the future who will carry on where I leave off!
No wonder I was drawn to the recent nonfiction book by James Dodson, The Road That Made America.
Subtitled "A modern pilgrim's journey on the Great Wagon Road," this well-written book is both popular history and memoir--an informative and irresistible combination.
A professional writer with deep ancestral roots along the GWR, Dodson often heard his father and other relatives tell stories about earlier generations who walked this road and settled nearby. Eventually, he decides to explore the areas suspected to be part of the road, driving his vintage station wagon through six states over the course of several years.
Dodson visits historians, reenactors, scholars, and locals who speak of family history, local heroes, colorful characters, and important places entwined with events that shaped America, such as the battle of Paoli.
Dodson also discusses his family's history, including the unproven but persistent legend that his great-grandmother was Native American and adopted into the family. The author never mentions any DNA testing, but I do hope he tests so he can figure out whether there is any basis for this family lore.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Dodson and was pleased to see that he came away with new insights that enriched his life. No index, unfortunately, but an extensive bibliography for readers like me who want to learn more about the Great Wagon Road and its impact on the peoples of America, then and now.
Recommended reading, especially in this year of America 250 celebrations.
When my husband's 2d cousin Alice E. Wood (1918-1990) married William Smyth (1914-1994) in 1936, the marriage license showed her name as Alice Eleanor Wood. See it circled in red at top of this image?
Circled in red at bottom of that image, her name was again shown as Alice Eleanor Wood. This was written by Toledo, Lucas county, Ohio officials after the wedding had taken place on September 1, 1936.
BUT that's not how Alice herself spelled her name. Her signature read: Alice Elinor Wood. I circled Elinor in blue on the image above.
Her name appears as Alice Elinor on other official documents, including her Social Security application. And her headstone shows her name as Elinor A.
One Census document shows "Elinore" and one shows "Alice E" but two others show "Eleanor." Since Census enumerators rarely asked how to spell a name when listing someone on the population schedule, I don't put much weight on any which way they spell anything 😛
Unfortunately, "Eleanor" was officially on this marriage license so that's the way the name is officially indexed. But my tree (and some others) show her as "Elinor."
