The party will feature a great lineup of genealogy presentations, from 1 pm to 5 pm Eastern time, on April 27th. Trivia games and prizes also! Free.
For more information and to register for the Zoom link, see the announcement here.
My ten minute talk on cousin bait will begin about 1:30ish.
See you on Sunday!
The latest news: On April 11th, the city posted a set of indexes for the very first time, simplifying the process of locating the exact vital record.
New indexes! Part 1 of new search process
The indexes for NYC birth certs, death certs, marriage certs, and marriage licenses can be seen here. These online indexes streamline the entire process, still free.
Pick the index you want and start a search for the NAME of the person. Below, an example of a search for the birth certificate for Charles Lang. I entered his name in the search box. Results are displayed in ascending chronological order. The Charles Lang entry that I want is at the bottom, born in Manhattan, birth cert #22907, birth year 1906.
This is part 1 of the search, so note those cert details or open another tab on your browser.
Now go to the NYC Muni search page for the type of cert you want, birth or marriage or death. This is part 2 of the search: Enter what you just learned from the index, as shown below in my sample search for a birth cert. Click the purple search button below the data entry boxes.
The result
As shown in the image below, this search returns a color image, in a downloadable pdf format (printable as well). Vital records may not be available forever, so do grab a digital copy while you can.
Free! No need to purchase a certified copy unless you have a special purpose in mind that requires certification. So first check the index, then do the cert search. In the old days (before the indexes), there was an extra step to this process to obtain the cert number, borough, and year. Usually those details can be found on Ancestry, FamilySearch, etc.
FYI today, in April of 2025, FamilySearch does have these NYC vital records but the images are not visible from home, only in a FamilySearch library. And I want to eyeball the document image for myself, so I either use the free NYC Muni Archives or use my subscription to MyHeritage.
MyHeritage search - not free but really easy!
If you're a MyHeritage subscriber, like me, you are in great luck--MyHeritage has a unique collection of historic New York City vital records, with its own set of indexes and color scans of the certs. Plus MyHeritage indexes not only bride and groom but also the names of their parents!
Very easy searching. And the benefit of a full color image is that any marks or alterations on the certificate are quite obvious. See the example below from a MyHeritage search for a 1903 birth cert for my great uncle Fred. The magenta shows important corrections inserted years after this man's birth. Among other things, his birth was registered as female instead of male, his surname listed as Forkus instead of Farkas. Neither parent's name was correct either. But Fred straightened out all these details in 1942.
I can download and/or print the image, as well as connecting it to my family tree.
Happy ancestor hunting in the Big Apple!
PS FamilySearch image of Charles Lang birth cert is not in color. Same exact cert, not in color.
Happy Easter!
Samuel (original name: Simon Solomowitz) was born in the city of Botosani, Romania, and came to New York City with his parents and siblings when he was a little boy.
After they married in Manhattan, Sam and Sarah moved to Fort Edward, NY so he could work in the paper mills. By 1920, the Smith family was back in New York City, where Sam began working as a chauffeur. As shown in the 1925 New York Census excerpt at top, Sam became a US citizen in 1924 in New York City.
Sarah's citizenship status, however, was not affected by Sam's naturalization, because of the Cable Act of 1922, which separated the citizenship status of spouses. She was a "marital expatriate" - and decided, during World War II, to take steps to regain her US citizenship.
As shown here, Sarah filed Form NH-415, applying to take the oath of allegiance to the United States. She was once again a citizen after taking the oath on February 11, 1944. Sarah was outlived by all five of her children and her husband. Today I'm thinking of her on the anniversary of her marriage in April of 1912 (not 1911, as mistakenly shown on the oath document above).
My personal total was 75 ancestors added over the course of the weekend, including many from my husband's Larimer family tree (which is quite extensive) and dozens of in-laws from my paternal aunts' side of the family. I 💜 in-laws!
Above, a profile I created for little Dorothy Goodfield, a premature baby who only lived four days. Dorothy was the maternal 1c of my aunt Miriam's husband, David Bourstein. I entered Dorothy's name, parents, siblings, and wrote a brief bio with the one source I have, without a lot of detail because I included the informative original source image.
Red arrows
At bottom right, the arrow is pointing to a sticker flagging Dorothy's profile as someone who "died young." She was one of five or six little ones who I flagged in this way, sadly, but with the hope that this helps keep her name and memory alive for the future. WikiTree provides a number of stickers like this to be added to profiles as appropriate. I insert them occasionally to highlight something significant related to the person's life or death.
At top left, the arrow is pointing to a death cert I downloaded for free from the New York City Municipal Archives. The cert names Dorothy's parents and their birthplaces, shows the baby's place of birth/death, details cause of death, and indicates place of burial as Washington Cemetery in Brooklyn, NY. This is the only proof I have of the baby's life and I wanted to share it, in full, for anyone interested in learning about her.
At top right, the arrow is pointing to "2 categories." This shows that I categorized Dorothy Goodfield in two ways: First, as being buried in Washington Cemetery, and second, as being of Jewish Roots. So if someone wants to see the profiles of people buried in that Brooklyn cemetery, they can click through and see the description and names here. Similarly, I added the Jewish Roots category because Dorothy's family was Jewish.
Thank you to WikiTreers for camaraderie and fun during this intense weekend of adding profiles to grow the collaborative family tree in total beyond 41 million names.
PS: Here's the "how to" page with more info about getting started on WikiTree.
At top is an excerpt from the University of Michigan yearbook from 1869, showing John L. Short and William H. Short from Millersburg, Indiana are both medical students. "B. Larimee" is their preceptor.
Despite the small spelling mistake, this is clearly Bartlett Larimer supervising the medical studies (and maybe the internships) of his two nephews.
Bartlett himself attended LaGrange Collegiate Institute in 1850, a prep school also attended by his brother David the following year (see alumni page at right). By 1853, Bartlett was studying at Wabash College before going on to University of Michigan. After graduating, he became the first physician in practice in Millersburg, Indiana, circa 1858. According to a news report in the Elkhart Truth, he was also a temperance advocate who personally paid lawyers to oppose any applications for saloon licenses in his town--successfully.
Three of Bartlett's nephews (including the two Short brothers listed in the image at top) became doctors and two became dentists. However, none of his own six sons and one daughter became either a doctor or a dentist. Bartlett died in his late 50s after a brief illness, much mourned in the family and the community.
This is my "mistake" post for Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors genealogy challenge of the week.
I 💙 my Connecticut State Library!
Just recently, the state library posted links to three of Connecticut military veterans records digitized by Family Search, as shown above. Instead of having to look through index cards, we can click on each of the hyperlinks to see individual images of documents about veterans in Connecticut.
With my state library card, I can access a number of useful databases from home (in my bunny slippers if I wish), including Fold3 for military records and HeritageQuest for city directories, Census records, historical newspapers, and more. For free!
During National Library Week, please show your 💜 for local, state, and specialized libraries that offer so many genealogical resources!
From finding ancestor photos to finding ancestors in newspapers, DNA details to non-English documents, this party covers lots of topics in short bursts. No talk will be more than 30 minutes long and many will last for just 10 or 15 minutes.
My 10 minute live presentation is "Tune Up Your Cousin Bait" - scheduled for about 1:30 pm Eastern.
See the full list of speakers, register for the Zoom link here, and get ready for a fun Sunday afternoon of genealogy talks and prizes!
To use the discount code for VGA membership, please type the letters in caps, not in lower-case. See you on April 27th.
Above, a brief notice about "the carpenter who dropped dead" while working on a Union Ice Company building being identified as Frank B. Light. This item was picked up by the Sacramento Bee newspaper from the Vacaville newspaper. The headline "Was Frank B. Light" served as a correction because the initial report misidentified the dead man.
The full obit, which appeared on April 11, 1913 in the Vacaville Reporter newspaper, reads:
Dropped Dead. Frank B. Light Succumbs to Attack of Heart Failure. Frank B. Light, a resident of this place for a number of years, dropped dead last Friday morning while engaged in unloading a carload of ice for A.M. Stevenson. The cause of death was heart failure. Deceased was a native of Indiana and was 60 years of age. He came to California with his parents in 1853, and resided in Santa Rosa for many years before coming to Vacaville. He was a carpenter by trade and a conscientious and upright man who had the respect and esteem of all who knew him. He was unmarried and leaves a sister Mattie Light and a brother L.E. Light. The funeral was held Sunday from the Baptist church and the interment was in Vacaville cemetery.
Frank lived with his sister Martha Ann "Mattie" Light (1854-1917) for years after their parents died. She worked as a dressmaker, according to her voter registration, but it's a good guess that Frank kept a roof over their heads with his carpentry and work in lumbering and as a laborer. Vacaville was a small town when they lived there--fewer than 1,200 residents until the 1920s--and probably everybody knew everybody.
After Frank died so unexpectedly, 112 years ago this month, Mattie went to live with their brother Lucien E. Light (1862-1918), also a carpenter. Sadly, Mattie became ill and died in 1917, followed just a year later by Lucien's death. I noticed that Lucien's obit was worded more gently than Frank's obit. The headline read: "L.E. Light Passed Away Last Friday," perhaps because this death (from Bright's disease) was nowhere near as sudden as Frank's death.
"Language" is this week's #52Ancestors genealogical prompt from Amy Johnson Crow.
Here are links to six blogs to browse:
My husband's first cousin once removed, George Ellery Wood (1885-1976) was married for the first time on this date 117 years ago. As shown above, George E. Wood was the groom, Amanda L. Krueger (1890-1947) was the bride. They claimed to live in Detroit, Michigan, where this marriage was recorded, but in reality both lived in Toledo, Ohio.
George was an iron worker, he wrote on this marriage license, and he and his bride both listed their parents and ages correctly. Directly above, the part of the marriage ledger where the officiant is named: a Justice of the Peace.
The family story is that George and Amanda eloped to Detroit on this Saturday in March, returning home the same day. George's mother was not happy. George was her oldest child, and she insisted the couple be married again in Ohio, where they actually lived, and by the clergyman of her choice: Reverend George Candee, an ardent abolitionist.
This "historic event" of two marriages in 10 days was discussed by descendants for decades. My post is for the #52Ancestors challenge by Amy Johnson Crow.
In New York, Minnie worked during the day at a tie factory owned by an in-law and went to school at night to learn English. At the end of every week, Minnie and her siblings handed their unopened pay packets to their mother, who doled out carfare to each adult child and kept the rest for household expenses.
Minnie met her future husband Theodore "Teddy" Schwartz (1887-1965) in a Hungarian deli. Despite resistance from her parents, she married him in October, 1911. From then on, Minnie would not just help Teddy in the store, she would also raise three children AND sew clothing for her siblings, nieces, and nephews AND cook Hungarian specialties for family meals. She worked long and hard for decades.
Only after Minnie and Teddy sold their small dairy store in the 1950s did they have time and money to take a honeymoon! Minnie had happy moments, but as the years passed, she was disillusioned and disappointed because her life did not play out like the rosy future she had dreamed of when she arrived in 1901 as a hopeful immigrant teenager. The more I research her and talk with older relatives who knew her well, the better I understand why she was not "warm and fuzzy" although she was a responsible grandma who pitched in when needed.
Noting Minnie's age changes
On their marriage certificate (shown at top), both Minnie and Teddy are shown as 24 years old. That might be one of the last times Minnie told the truth about her age.
In the 1920 US Census, she was supposedly 30 (actually she was 34). In the 1925 NY Census, she was supposedly 35 (actually 38). In the 1930 US Census, she was supposedly 40 (actually 44). In the 1940 US Census, she was supposedly 52 (actually 53). In the 1950 US Census, she was shown as 63--correct age!
When Grandma Minnie died of heart problems on March 20, 1964, it was the end of an era for the entire Farkas family. Disheartened, and with his health deteriorating, Grandpa sadly passed away 14 months later.
Remembering Grandma Minnie with affection during Women's History Month.
My husband can wear green with great pride today because it looks like he has a number of Irish ancestors!
Shehen or Shehan
Hubby's great-great grandparents were reportedly born in Ireland, according to the 1841 UK Census.
John Shehen or Shehan (1801?-1875) and wife Mary (1801?-1874) left Ireland and moved to Marylebone by 1834, where their three children was born. John was a laborer and Mary was a laundress. Sadly both husband and wife seem to have died in a poorhouse.
Smith
Hubby's 5th great-grandparents were also born in Ireland. William Smith (1724?-1786) and his wife Jean (1724?-1805) may have been from Limerick. Their children were born in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania.
Jean and William's son Brice Smith got "Ohio Fever" and moved to Fairfield County, Ohio before 1820. The name Brice was passed down in the family tree to this man's grandson and great-great grandson.
Larimer and Gallagher
Robert Larimer (1719?-1803) was born in the North of Ireland, according to the genealogy booklet Our Larimer Family. Sailing to North America to seek his fortune, he was shipwrecked and brought to Pennsylvania, where he was forced to work for years to repay his rescuer.
Robert eventually walked away from his master and married Irish-born Mary Gallagher (or O'Gallagher) (1721?-1803). They, too, got Ohio Fever and brought their family to Fairfield County, Ohio. Mary and Robert were hubby's 5th great-grandparents.
McClure
Actually, the McClure line originated in Scotland but relocated to County Donegal at some point before Halbert McClure's time. Halbert (1684?-1754) married Agnes in County Donegal and they sailed to Philadelphia together with other family members sometime in the 1740s.
They all walked to Virginia, where they bought land and kept buying land as their sons married. Their grandson caught Ohio Fever and his descendants moved further west to Indiana. Agnes and Halbert were hubby's 5th great-grandparents.
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
By March 2020, Covid-19 began to spread rapidly and aggressively around the world. In New England, where I live, in-person events evaporated and life ground to a halt in the middle of the month. The next few months were tense and difficult.
An everyday errand like going to the supermarket was suddenly a bit frightening. Not just because being around people might mean exposure to a potentially deadly disease but also because many food and household items were in short supply or completely gone from store shelves. The photo at top shows toilet paper and paper towel shelves partially stocked, months into the pandemic. Eerily empty streets for weeks. No traffic reports on radio or TV because no traffic.
Never had I ever heard about Zoom and yet within weeks of the shutdowns, I was using it to participate in a book club, genealogy meetings, and family conversations. Weeks into the pandemic, the calendar remained empty except for Zoom dates and important medical appointments.
Several times, I threaded my sewing machine and stitched face masks. I learned to cut hair at home. Investigated various streaming services for viewing variety. Hubby and Sis and I walked with friends and neighbors on nice days, observing social distancing guidelines. We also formed pods with folks we knew well, gathering indoors with doors/windows wide open to paint rocks, play games, celebrate holidays and birthdays. For treats, we ordered specialty foods to be delivered from Zabars and other places.
Our community organized outdoor concerts that were well attended and much appreciated. We watched the family commencement ceremonies on YouTube and clapped when our graduates received their diplomas. In short, we found moments of good news and contentment amid all the uncertainty and sadness.
The very instant a vaccine was available, hubby and I and Sis booked appointments and were grateful to do so. We continue to keep our boosters updated. Looking back, I feel saddened that I can never get back the time lost but I also have a very deep appreciation for how fortunate my family and I have been. These days, our pantry is always filled with food and paper products just in case! And thanks to Zoom, family conversations, cultural programs, and genealogy presentations are now only a few clicks away.
How do you remember your pandemic experience in 2020? Please write it down for yourself and for your descendants.
The Whittier Area Genealogical Society is hosting my next live webinar, about how to navigate the Fold3 website.
Come learn about the hundreds of millions of records available on Fold3, see step by step how to search effectively, and find out how to create or enhance free Fold3 memorial pages for ancestors.
Many US public libraries offer free access to Fold3, by the way, so check whether you can access from home with your local library card. I can search Fold3 via the Connecticut State Library, no subscription necessary.
Click here to learn more and to receive the Zoom link. See you on March 15th!
New York State granted women the right to vote on November 6, 1917. Women were soon allowed to show up in person to add their names to the list of voter registrations all around the state.
Ancestry.com has released a new database of digitized voter registration ledgers from Manhattan. TY to the sharp-eyed folks on the New York City Genealogy FB page for pointing this out!
For International Women's Day and Women's History Month, I prioritized looking for my female ancestors who lived in Manhattan during the period covered by this new database (1915-56).
Women registered in 1918
I was happy to see that some of my female ancestors in New York City showed up to register the first time they were legally permitted to do so.
The image at top shows how many people in all were added to the registration ledger for a particular election district over a two-day period in February 1918, counting my female ancestors too. Yet the ledger was officially known as the 1917 voter registration list. Hold that thought.
Let me say that I'm very proud of the women who registered in February, 1918 so they could vote for the first time in a New York special election held during March, 1918.
Check the source carefully
This is also a reminder to check into each source carefully. As I said, this particular voter registration ledger was titled 1917 and correctly transcribed that way by Ancestry.
However, as shown in the excerpt at the top and on individual pages of the scanned ledgers in database, women (including my female ancestors) who registered in 1918 were added to the 1917 listing.
The lower part of the summary of registered voters notes that as of May 1918, 140 women registered to vote in this specific election district.
So I would indicate 1918 as the date of my female ancestors' voter registrations, despite the official name of the ledger being the 1917 voter registration list.
Looking at my husband's Wood family tree: On this day in 1891, Byron Thomas Wood was born, the fourth of five children of Charles Augustus Wood (1862-1895) and Martha Hale Wood (1864-1912). His siblings were Charles Elton Wood, Ethel Carrie Wood, Louisa Lucy Wood (died young), and John F. Wood (died young). The family lived in Toledo, Ohio, where Charles was in a carpentry business with two brothers.
Get out your hanky
Sadly, Charles died of tuberculosis in 1895, only 32 years old. His widow Martha was left with three youngsters under the age of 10.
Also sad: just a year later, Martha entered the Toledo Hospital for the Insane--not necessarily for mental illness, but possibly a chronic illness because she was in that hospital for 14 long years. Martha died there in 1912, only 48 years old, of uterine cancer and loss of blood.
Wood siblings stay with other families
In 1912 he married one of the Bollinger daughters, Nellie. They had no children. It seems Charles joined the US military as soon as he was eligible, because he told the WWI draft registration board that he served as an electrician in the Navy for nearly 9 years. Remembering Charles Elton Wood, 1886-1974.
Younger brother Byron and younger sister Ethel Carrie lived with the Kiehl family on their farm in Weston, Ohio. In the 1900 US Census, they are marked as "boarders" with the Kiehls and also shown as students. Surely they too helped with farm chores. Even after Mr. Kiehl died, Byron remained with Mrs. Kiel in the 1910 Census as a "tenant." In 1914, Byron married Vesta M. Craft, worked as a farmer, and they had 10 children together. Remembering Byron Thomas Wood, 1891-1968.
Ethel Carrie, enumerated as a student on the Kiehl farm in 1900, got married in 1908 at the age of 20. The groom was an auto mechanic named Clay H. Focht who had been widowed five months earlier. They had two children, divorced in November of 1923, remarried on January 1st, 1924, and had another child together before splitting up again a few years later. Remembering Ethel Carrie Wood Focht, 1888-1969.
How different the lives of these Wood siblings would have been if their father had lived longer and their mother had stayed healthy.
"Siblings" is this week's #52Ancestors challenge from Amy Johnson Crow.
What documentation are you missing for key ancestors such as those in your direct line or specific ancestors of particular interest?
I suggest inventorying birth, marriage, and death records in your possession and prioritizing the process of ordering what you're missing. Try to obtain original documents sooner rather than later.
Why? Many municipalities are increasing fees, some are limiting access to vital records, and a few have a backlog of orders that translates into a long wait.
Also order a copy, not an extract, if you have a choice. This way you can see the actual document, not selected data retyped by a clerk who viewed the document and extracted info to send you. You never know what interesting details will be left off the extract!
New York ugh
My immigrant ancestors settled in New York City/State, and my dad-in-law passed away in New York State. Inventorying my documentation last year, I realized I was missing a key ancestor's death cert from a county north of the city.
I was lucky: I waited only nine months for that death cert, despite having been told the wait would be 6-10 weeks. Other genealogy folks have waited years, literally, and some are still waiting long long after the state cashed their checks.
As I write this, New York State is considering tighter restrictions on access to vital records as well as ridiculously higher fees to obtain records. The genealogy community has protested, but the situation is not pretty at this moment.
In some cases, you can either send to the New York county or city where birth/marriage/death took place or actually visit the county/city clerk to obtain the vital record. For more info, here's the Family Search wiki page about New York State vital records.
Ohio yay
My experience with Ohio has been the opposite of my experience with New York. My husband was born in Ohio, as were many of his ancestors, and it has been much easier to obtain vital records.
Some death records are available from Ohio History Connection, at a fee lower than the government charges. I've used this source many times in the past decade. Detailed info about Ohio vital records are on this Family Search wiki page.
When I ordered a birth cert and a death cert from Cleveland recently, I received certified printed copies in less than two weeks! The death cert included the coroner's report, which explained the many health problems that contributed to the man's untimely death before age 50.
Worth the investment
Vital records for selected ancestors are a worthy investment IMHO and can be kept with your family history documentation to be passed along to descendants. They are full of clues and can help fill in the gaps in our knowledge of ancestors and their family relationships.
Please start the process of obtaining any original vital records sooner rather than later. If record access is restricted in the future, or fees skyrocket, or wait times stretch out, you won't be shut out.
If you haven't already registered (free!), sign up here because that gives you access to the handouts as well as the chat with participants from around the globe.
This year, my playlist will include some refresher classes (see excerpt from my schedule above,"Mining the Census Parts 1 and 2) and sessions to help with specific challenges in my genealogy research (such as the pre-1850 US research program shown in my partial class schedule above).
Best of all, recorded sessions will be available for viewing later, so I can return to a class to review or watch something I missed live.
Looking forward to RootsTech 2025!
Unfortunately, Meyer died of cancer in 1910, leaving Tillie widowed with children ranging in age from 14 to 29. The oldest child, my grandma Henrietta, was already married with two children of her own. The second-oldest child, David, was a black sheep with wanderlust, having left New York City a few years earlier.
Morris takes care of Tillie and Dora
Morris, at 21 years old, had to take care of his widowed mother and his younger siblings. All the girls worked in the garment district, I understand from stories passed down in the family, even when they were too young to "officially" work. If an inspector came through the factory, the older girls would hide the younger girls in baskets, covering them with lace, until the inspector went away.
Younger sister Sarah married in 1912, even younger sister Ida married in 1920, and the youngest sister Mary married in 1921. However, Morris's younger sister Dora had a chronic heart condition and never married. So Morris was the main support for Dora and their mother Tillie for many years.
Many Mahler voters in one building
In 1924, Morris Mahler was living at 2347 Morris Avenue, a large apartment building in the Bronx, New York. You can still see a photo of the building from the New York City Muni Archives tax photo collection. (He and his mother Tillie and sister Dora lived together in one apartment, I know from the 1925 New York Census.)
Looking at the 1924 New York City voter list, Morris was registered to vote at this address (see red line under his name, top of this post). Tillie wasn't a registered voter, but Dora was, and she's shown at bottom of the voter list, supposedly living at 2348 Morris Ave, but in reality in 2347 because there was no residence at 2348.
Also living in the same apartment building: Morris's younger sister Ida Mahler Volk and her husband Louis Volk, both registered to vote and on this list.
Also living in the same apartment building: Morris's younger sister Mary Mahler Markell and her husband Joseph A. Markell, both registered to vote and on this list.
I'm delighted to see so many of my ancestors registered to vote--and living so close to each other.
Despite family disapproval, Morris got married
Morris continued to support his mother and one sister for years. He finally got married and moved out in 1932, at the age of 44. The family strongly disapproved of his choice because they were from different religions: Morris was Jewish and his 47-year-old bride, Carrie Etschel (1885-1962), was not. But Morris and Carrie tied the knot anyway--in her Lutheran Church (see marriage cert below). Note that the clergyman listed his residence as 2431 Morris Avenue, not many steps away from Morris's 1924 residence in the Bronx.
Although I'm told the Mahlers didn't always include Morris and Carrie in family gatherings, the couple was invited to the wedding of my parents--I can see their faces in the photos. Morris and Carrie lived happily together until he died at the age of 70.
Morris was buried in Riverside Cemetery in New Jersey, a Jewish cemetery where his parents were buried. When she died at the age of 76, Carrie was buried in All Faiths Cemetery in Queens, New York, where all her siblings as well as her parents were laid to rest.
I'm remembering great uncle Morris Mahler on the anniversary of his birth.
We're balancing on the lap of our maternal grandma Hermina Farkas Schwartz, who was the mother of twins--Mom (Daisy Schwartz Burk) and Auntie (Dorothy Helen Schwartz).
Being squirmy, I doubt Sis and I stayed on Grandma's lap for more than a minute, just barely long enough for someone to snap this photo.
Happy birthday to us!
Megan Smolenyak's latest book is both a fascinating genealogical detective story and a master class in how to dig deep into social history and bring meaningful context to ancestral lives.
The real Annie Moore?
The author spent 22 years trying to determine the true story of Irish teenager Annie Moore, the first immigrant processed through Ellis Island on January 1, 1892. She brings us along on every step of her challenging genealogical journey, including constructing a paper trail and enlisting help to examine tantalizing clues on both sides of the pond. If you like learning about genealogical methodology as much as I do, you will be enthralled.
Early in her search, Megan's research leads her to believe that history has been celebrating the "wrong Annie" for too many years. She sets out to uncover the "right Annie" and fill in the details of this Annie's life before and after arriving in New York Harbor at dinnertime on New Year's Eve of 1891. She has a lot of help along the way and sometimes just being in the right place at the right time works to her advantage.
Beyond the paper trail
Megan breathes life into Annie Moore by painting a vivid picture of the time and place of her birth, upbringing, voyage to New York, and situation in America. Want to see how to apply social history to family history? Watch how the author skillfully weaves weather, housing, health, economy, occupation, names and more into the telling of Annie's true story.
In the course of the book, we see photos emerge that put a real face on the true Annie Moore. In fact, the book has many interesting illustrations of genealogical documents, other photos, sketches, and more. I do wish the family tree on p. 135 could be shown a bit larger and in sharper detail, but that's a minor quibble.
My three immigrant grandparents who came from Eastern Europe to America via
Ellis Island might not have understood all the fuss over the first person to be processed through that institution, but I appreciate Megan Smolenyak setting the record straight on the real Annie Moore with this new book.
Albert's father Albert William Slatter was a military musician from London, married to Eleanor Marion Wilkinson. His father was stationed in Ireland, with family, when their first son was born. After moving around England for a time, the Slatter family resettled in Canada.
Albert in the CEF, 3d Canadian Battalion
Albert worked as a clerk and was serving in a Canadian Militia unit when World War I began. At age 21, he enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force on September 22, 1914, joining the Queens Own Rifles Regiment, 3d Canadian Battalion.
Sent overseas, Albert fought in France and Belgium in the spring of 1915. He was captured by German forces at Ypres, the first major battle involving Canadian troops. Originally, he was reported as missing in action but later was spotted on a German list of prisoners of war imprisoned in Holland. Canadian POWs in Holland faced unusually harsh conditions and unfortunately Sgt. Slatter remained a prisoner for more than three long years.
Repatriated and looking ahead
Finally repatriated and returned to Canada in January of 1919, Albert worked as a draftsman. In the summer of 1920 he crossed the border to Buffalo, New York, where his sister lived. He met and married Dorothy Bayliss (1898-1981) and they began a family in Buffalo, where Albert was now a mechanical engineer. By 1929, he had become a naturalized US citizen.
Albert rose through the ranks of the tire company where he worked and ultimately became general manager of the Armstrong Tire & Rubber plant in Natchez, Mississippi. He died of respiratory failure and lung disease in 1974.
Today I want to salute Albert's military service and his amazing fortitude in surviving his POW experience.
Harold and Daisy's first Valentine's Day as an engaged couple was Thursday, February 14, 1946. Since both were working, I doubt they celebrated until the weekend. But Harold sent Daisy this romantic card. I see he even wrote the year below his signature. Alas, no other Valentine's Day cards survive, but this one stayed safe in her box of memories.
Remembering Mom and Dad, with much love, on this Valentine's Day.
Since the weather wasn't snowy or rainy, I'm guessing the nephew opened his mail on Valentine's Day and found this colorful card.
I find it fun to check what the weather was like in the city where an ancestor was celebrating a birthday, a holiday, and so on. Cleveland weather history for the past 100+ years is available at this site. The first two weeks of February in 1912 were unusually chilly in Cleveland, with low temps in the single digits most days. Aunt Nellie's warm wishes must have been most welcome--this and lots of other greeting cards were kept by the family for many decades.
Happy Valentine's Day!
I am so, so grateful that FamilySearch has a vast array of robust (and free!) research materials available to help with my research. And its collaborative worldwide tree can give me a head start on ancestors, especially when I know very little about them or they are on a distant branch of my tree. I treat the tree as a great source of clues for me to follow up.
And I should point out that I maintain a public family tree on Ancestry as well as putting ancestors on MyHeritage. Sources are attached and nobody can make changes (unless authorized by me).
Challenges indeed
Still, my experience with the collaborative tree echoes Tanner's experience. My immigrant maternal grandparents and their siblings had surnames (Farkas, Schwartz) that were common in Hungary, where both were born. Not surprisingly, people who don't know the family well make mistakes when trying to add to these ancestors' FamilySearch profiles. It's a real challenge to distinguish between two Schwartz men with the same given name or two Farkas women with the same given name, born or died around the same time and in roughly the same place.
Above, part of the FamilySearch profile page for my great uncle Samuel Schwartz (1883-1954). I know a lot about Sam, partly from descendants and partly from careful research. So I know that Sam and his wife, Anna Gelbman Schwartz (1886-1940) had only two children, the ones I circled in purple in the image at top. Neither of these two sons was a twin. My Sam didn't die in 1926; he died in 1954. I have the paperwork to prove it and have visited his grave.
Yes, the photo on "Annie Gelbman Schwartz" is one I uploaded to FamilySearch some time ago. But all those extra children, not my work. Sam's incorrect death date, not my work.
So many ancestors - so little time
In some cases, I have made changes to the FamilySearch family tree and attached sources and/or explanations. But this is time-consuming and still subject to change by others. Not where I want to spend much of my time.
My plan has been to monitor (click "follow" star ★ on line with ancestor's name) selected ancestors and read the weekly email of changes made to each, if any. Then I can decide whether to change or keep my hands off. For the most part, I'm keeping my hands off any changes, unless the ancestor is particularly dear to my heart and I can quickly and easily fix mistakes with an accessible source.
My plan is to keep adding ancestors to the collaborative WikiTree, where sources are also shown as well as biographical details. Here's the profile page of my great uncle Samuel Schwartz, whose original name was Simon, I know from the passenger manifest showing his arrival at Ellis Island.
My WikiTree experience
So far, I haven't experienced any "revolving door" ancestor problems on WikiTree. I have encountered a few "impossible pedigree" ancestor profiles when trying to connect relatives to folks already in the WikiTree database but have successfully ironed those out with the people who originally created the profiles. The community on WikiTree is generally friendly and helpful.
In short, I consider adding ancestors to WikiTree to be a valuable use of my time, to honor ancestors and preserve their names and lives for the sake of future generations.
Thanks to Reclaim the Records, it is now quick and easy to see whether a US military veteran might be in the database of the Veterans Administration. Read the fine print and try the nonprofit group's super-efficient website here.
Joseph goes to sea
With the 1920 US Census in hand, I already knew Joseph served in the Navy. He was enumerated on the U.S.S. Niagara off Tampico, Mexico after World War I, as the Mexican Revolution was underway.
The backstory: Joe's mother died when he was a young teen, which must have been traumatic. His father remarried in Brooklyn, New York, five years later.
His descendants told me Joe didn't get along with his stepmom and began to hang around the Brooklyn Navy Yard, making money by shining the shoes of sailors going on shore leave. Within a short time, he enlisted to get away from home altogether.
Born in 1894 or 1895?
The surprise was that according to the BIRLS record for Joseph (at top), he was 22 years old when he enlisted in the Navy on Oct 31, 1916 and left the Navy at age 26. Accordingly, BIRLS shows Joseph's birth year as 1894.
However, on other documents, including Joseph's World War II draft registration card, his birth year is shown as 1895, born in Boston, Massachusetts.
Which birth year was correct, the one he gave the US Navy in 1916 or the one he gave the draft board in 1942? He was born on August 14, but which year?
Now I'm browsing page by page through Boston birth ledgers and indexes for 1894 and 1895 to try to find Joseph's name and date. Browsing page by page takes time and I'm doing it little by little.
Did great uncle Joe know?
Maybe Joseph wasn't sure of his actual birth year? Maybe he didn't know when his parents were married?
It took me some time to track down, but I finally found their marriage recorded in Providence, Rhode Island as having taken place on October 21, 1895.
Looking ahead, when the Veterans Administration file for my great uncle arrives in a few months, maybe an official birth document will be included.
Surprise is Amy Johnson Crow's #52 Ancestors genealogy prompt for this week.
