Here's the story, starting with the mystery of the 1910 Census. Some members of my Mahler family were living in New York City along with a "boarder," Jennie Birk. Now the reason this caught my eye is that Henrietta Mahler (my paternal grandma) had married Isaac Burk (my paternal grandpa) only a few years earlier. The year before their marriage, the 1905 Census showed Isaac and his brother Meyer living with the Mahler family in their NYC apartment, as "boarders." So the mystery was--did Jennie Birk have a family connection to my grandparents?
In May, Sis found Mom's old address book, and my paternal cousin found letters to/from his Mom, as shown above. I'd never heard of an "Aunt Jennie" in my Dad's family, and yet Dad's sister was writing to her "Aunt Jenny" in 1962. Mom's address book showed the same people (on the same street in Lakeland, Florida) in the early 1960s.
My next step was to research the NYC marriages on Italiangen.org, where I found that Jennie Burk had married Paul Salkofsky. Another few minutes of research revealed that Paul Salkofsky was naturalized as Paul Salkowitz. In other words, the address book and the letters had led me to my grandpa's sister, Jennie Birk Salkowitz.
Remember brother Meyer? He had been a "boarder" with the Mahler family when my grandpa Isaac was also a "boarder," the year before marrying a Mahler daughter. I eventually discovered that Meyer's surname was Berg and, as a result, I was able to trace Meyer's grandchildren.
Sis and I have met one of Meyer Berg's granddaughters and we've been sharing photos and family stories for months. What a great genealogical breakthrough for 2017!
That's an awesome find! Especially when you have family members whose names either changed through immigration/naturalization or just a misspelling. I have a few ancestors who are like that, but I've yet to make the solid connections for them and their families.
ReplyDeleteThat's great detective work. I guess there is something to be said for surnames like Smith, Matthews, Anderson, and Dean.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading and commenting, folks. My cousins would probably never have found me via my grandpa Isaac because their family called him "Izzy"and didn't know how he spelled his surname either. Burk, Berk, Birk, Burke, Berg, Block. All one set of siblings!
ReplyDeleteExcellent detective work, Marian. I've come across "boarders," too, who ended up being relatives. Name changes and misspellings don't help either.
ReplyDeleteHow exciting to have found new cousins with shared family history! I'm going to tuck away the possibility of a "boarder" being a relative for future reference.
ReplyDeleteLinda and Liz, it's been exciting to meet these new cousins and share photos and stories. In my father's family, it seems there was a tradition of sending relatives from the old world to stay with cousins in the new world (as "boarders") while they found jobs and learned the language. Lucky for me that so-called boarders were recorded in the Census records!
ReplyDeleteGreat work Marian. I can’t stress enough to newbies how important it is to review other names on the pages of the census. You may find a neighbor three houses away married into your family, or in your case, a border that joins the family. And yes, the lack of consistency in names is very frustrating. Enjoyed reading about your discovery.
ReplyDeleteAlice Keesey Mecoy
JohnBrownKin.com
Genealogy happy dancing for you! I really enjoyed your post.
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