Look for Kernels of Truth in Family Stories

I love a good family story. "Teddy was late to his own wedding because his horse ran off." "They gave Mom their unopened pay packets every Friday and she doled out a handful of nickels for the next week's subway fare." "Minnie wouldn't accept a suitor chosen for her by her family--she threw his engagement ring out the window."

These three stories were passed down in my mother's family tree. Too bad I can never confirm the story about the horse that ran away. And at first, the other two stories sounded a little outlandish, despite multiple cousins having heard variations of those legends from family history.

New World, new approach to household finances

Then I was introduced to two books that changed my understanding of these family stories. The first was Immigrant Women in the Land of Dollars by Elizabeth Ewen. The author looks at the lives of Jewish and Italian women immigrants on the Lower East Side of Manhattan during the peak years of immigration to America. Mothers and daughters learned to approach household finances in a different way when they moved to America. In the Old World, barter was an everyday experience. In the New World, cash was an absolute necessity.

The chapter on "Our Daily Bread" describes the common experience of the immigrant mother as strict organizer of household finance, demanding unopened pay packets from working children and only giving back the bare minimum of coins for each child to get to their job in between paydays. The rest was kept for rent, food, and other household expenses.

There was the kernel of truth in my family story: According to descendants, my great-grandma Lena Kunstler Farkas (1865-1938) stood at the door of the family apartment on payday with her hand extended, taking pay packets from teenage and adult children as they arrived home from work. 

Sometimes my great uncles Julius and Peter wouldn't have enough money for subway rides to and from work, so they would reportedly walk home from Manhattan to the Bronx on occasion. Speculation was that the boys actually dared to spend a nickel or two on some treat or diversion. Instead of asking for more from Lena, they walked home and said nothing. Lena was a strict disciplinarian and no one wanted to get on her bad side or they'd get a sharp rap on the head. Really.

Marrying the family's choice?

The second book I read was Bread Givers by Anzia Yezierska, a Polish-born Jewish author who immigrated to New York City with her family in the 1890s. This overwrought 1925 novel tells the story of conflict in a poor Jewish family transplanted from Poland to tenement life in lower Manhattan. I find historical fiction such as this sometimes offers windows into attitudes and challenges from past generations (allowing for excessive drama in the narrative).

This book really caught my attention when the father of the family rejected the men that three of his daughters want to marry. Instead, he arranged marriages to bring himself financial gain, even though the daughters would be unhappy. The youngest daughter resolves to only marry for love. And after many trials and tribulations for the family, that's what she does. New world, new approach to marriage. 

In my family, Lena's husband Moritz Farkas (1857-1936) earned little in his work in New York City, so everyone had to pitch in to keep the household afloat. Moritz was very fond of all his daughters, and each thought she was the favorite, by the way. When my grandma Minnie, the oldest daughter, fell in love with Teddy Schwartz, Moritz and Lena objected because they thought their daughter could do much better. That's when they arranged what they believed would be a more suitable match, a marriage they hoped would give Minnie a better life. 

Minnie would not even consider an arranged marriage. Knowing her as I did in later life, I can imagine her throwing the engagement ring out the window to show her final answer to the arranged marriage. Family story is that Peter and Julius scrambled down the stairs of the tenement to the sidewalk to search for the ring, but no one has any idea whether they found it and who kept it. With Minnie as the role model, every one of her siblings who married chose his or her own partner. It was a new world and the family learned to adapt. Kernel of truth!

Did Teddy's horse really run away on the morning of his wedding to Minnie? It doesn't really matter...what matters is that there are kernels of truth to explain the stories passed down through the decades, and to remind descendants that ancestors were more than names and dates on a family tree. Thinking of my great-grandma Lena, who collected paypackets to finance her household, on the 87th anniversary of her passing, in March of 1938.

Married Twice Because His Mama Wanted a Pastor to Preside

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. 

And so on Tuesday, March 31, 1908, George and Amanda stood in front of Rev. Candee and were again married. Above is the proof. Interestingly, the bride and groom claimed on this marriage license application that neither had been previously married, perhaps because George's mom didn't want anyone to know about the elopement ten days earlier? Also note by the star on the image above, the notation "don't publish please." Hmmm? 

In any case, the couple had three children together and remained married for nearly 39 years until Amanda's death from heart problems in 1947. She was buried in Forest Cemetery, Toledo, Ohio. When her husband George died in 1976, he was buried by her side.

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.

Remembering Maternal Grandma Minnie and Her Age Fibs

Born in what is now Berehove, Ukraine, my maternal grandma Hermina "Minnie" Farkas (1886-1964) shouldered a lot of family responsibility from the moment she set foot on the S.S. Amsterdam to sail to America. Her parents were already living in a tenement on the Lower East Side of New York City, and Minnie was sent, with an older brother and two much younger siblings, to join them. She celebrated her 15th birthday on the trans-Atlantic voyage in November, 1901, not knowing what her new home would look like but with high hopes for the future.

Minnie in America

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.

Celebrating Hubby's Irish Ancestors

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!

Looking Back Five Years to the Start of the Pandemic

From my personal family history: My husband and I had wonderful plans for 2020, including a much-anticipated cruise, two family graduations, and a reunion with relatives from all around the country. The calendar was filled with genealogy events, volunteer activities, visits with family and friends, music, and so much more.

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. 

Upcoming Presentation about Fold3 for WAGS

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!

Female Ancestors in NY Get the Vote in 1917

 

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. 

Wood Siblings: Farm "Boarders" and Students

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

When Martha was hospitalized, the three surviving children were sent to live with other families. The oldest child, Charles, lived with the Bollinger family on their farm in Richland, Ohio, where I found him in the 1900 US Census as a "student." No doubt he also helped out on the Bollinger farm. 

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.

Don't Wait! Obtain Original Documents Sooner, Not Later

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. 

Ready for RootsTech Online

Although I'm not going to be at RootsTech in person, I'm going to be watching a number of the sessions, some live and some recorded. 

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!

Remembering Morris Mahler on Morris Avenue in 1924

My great uncle Morris Mahler (1888-1958) was born on this day 137 years ago, the second son of my paternal great-grands Meyer Elias Mahler and Tillie Jacobs Mahler.

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.

Happy Twin Birthday to Us

Today is another twin birthday! Above, one of the few early photos showing who's who. I'm captioned M on the left and my dear Sis is captioned I on the right. One of us is two minutes older than the other. Not telling who's the old lady!

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!

Book Review: The Quest for Annie Moore of Ellis Island

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.

Sgt. Albert James Slatter, WWI POW

My husband's 1c1r, Albert James Slatter (1893-1974), was born on this day 132 years ago: February 16, 1893, in Cork, Ireland.

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. 

Mom's First Valentine from Dad

Military veteran Harold Burk (1909-1978) met legal secretary Daisy Schwartz (1919-1981) on a blind date arranged by his aunt Mary and her aunt Rose. Their first two dates were in October of 1945 and on New Year's Eve, he popped the question. She said yes, and they set a wedding date for Thanksgiving weekend of 1946.

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.

1912 Valentine Sent from Chicago to Cleveland

On Monday, February 12, 1912, "Nellie" Kirby (full name Rachel Ellen Wood Kirby) put this penny postal greeting card into the mailbox in Chicago, Illinois. She and her husband, Samuel Kirby, were sending fond Valentine's Day wishes to their nephew in Cleveland, Ohio. Did the card arrive by Wednesday, February 14? 

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!

Change, Monitor, Hands Off?

James Tanner's excellent blog post earlier this week struck a chord with me. He wrote about the challenges of working with the FamilySearch collaborative family tree, starting with "revolving door ancestors" (one whose info is constantly changing) and "impossible pedigrees" (no sources on an ancestor means questionable parents and descendants).  

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.

Did Joseph Markell Know His Birth Year?

I was a bit surprised to discover a discrepancy about the birth year of great uncle Joseph A. Markell (189?-1975) when I submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for his Veterans Administration file yesterday.

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.

Fixing Peter Pietroniro's Typo

This year, I've returned to researching in-laws in my husband's family tree, Anna Yurko Pietroniro (1910-1989) and her husband, Piacentino "Peter" Pietroniro (1901-1979).

Peter was born in Casacalenda, Italy, and sailed from Naples to New York City's Ellis Island on July 10, 1923, with his brother Paul. Both told authorities they were planning to go to Montreal, Canada, looking for work. It turns out Montreal was a destination of choice for Casacalenda immigrants.

Casacalenda to Cleveland

However, Peter actually settled in Cleveland, Ohio, joining a large community from Casacalenda already living in that city. During 1923, the year Peter arrived, Casacalenda immigrants in Cleveland formed the Kalena Club, an organization still going strong today (and active on Facebook). 

I don't know whether Peter joined the Kalena Club but he certainly would have known many members and felt at home in Cleveland with people from his native town nearby, just as his brother would have found many from Casacalenda friends and neighbors in Montreal.

Ooops! Fix that typo 

Peter started the process of becoming a US citizen in 1939. He filed a Petition for Naturalization in 1943, but there was a brief delay and a flurry of amendment paperwork on the day he was scheduled to become a US citizen.

As shown at top, the amendment was necessary because Peter's surname had a typo in item (1) of his original petition document. His signature was correct, all other references to his surname were correct, but Peter couldn't become a US citizen before the court officially corrected the name with an amendment to the original petition.

After signing that amendment correcting his petition's typo, Peter became a naturalized citizen on May 11, 1944. 

Today, on the 46th anniversary of Peter's death in Cleveland, Ohio, I'm remembering him by documenting his life.

Please Back Up and Remember, LOCKSS

With so many extreme weather events and other terrible disasters, we really need to think carefully about how to preserve and perpetuate family history for the sake of future generations. Please make a plan now, starting with regular backups.

Invest in more than one backup method

Diane May Levenick wrote an excellent article for Family Tree Magazine (updated a few months ago) detailing a five-step plan for backing up genealogy files. She recommends NOT relying on free sites (like social media) as a backup. Instead, she suggests a combination of methods, including remote cloud storage, to keep family history safe.

As Diane recommends, I keep my digitized materials safe by backing up on iCloud, setting my Mac to do a TimeMachine backup every hour (using an external hard drive I can take with me if needed), and putting important files on a separate high-capacity USB drive. Or two USBs! They're inexpensive and portable.

Share now in many ways

My family history photo books are one way I'm sharing family history NOW so what I've learned about our ancestors won't be lost. Printed copies are in multiple hands because LOCKSS (lots of copies keep stuff safe). The more people who have copies, the better the chance that info will survive in our family for future generations. 

All the photos in those books and all old family photos from the early 20th century are digitized. I've shared them via USB and email over the years. I have a 1917 photo album from my late father-in-law that has been scanned but I plan to turn it into a photo book this year to provide full captions and context for future generations. The album itself is in an archival box but the album pages are fragile so making a photo book will make the story accessible to all for the long term.

I continue to post bite-sized ancestor bios on multiple sites. These don't preserve original photos or documents, but they do keep alive the names/dates/lives of ancestors in the family tree. And serve as cousin bait!

For more ideas about preparing to keep family history safe, please see my book, Planning a Future for Your Family's Past, available as a paperback or e-book.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Eighty years ago, on January 27, 1945, Auschwitz was finally liberated. It was a place of unspeakable horror. This is a day to never forget the millions who were killed and be sure their lives are remembered.

Both of my maternal grandparents left their Hungarian homeland as teenagers in the early 1900s, settling in New York City, where they met and married in 1911. Both lost relatives and in-laws to the Holocaust. Both had relatives who survived the Holocaust. 

A photo from Yad Vashem Photo Archives shows Jewish people from Hungary rounded up and transported to Auschwitz in May of 1944. This crowd may include Paula Schwartz, my grandfather's younger sister, who was killed on May 21, 1944, according to the eyewitness testimony of her daughter--a survivor who later sat for an emotional video interview and provided a written statement about relatives murdered at Auschwitz. 

Never again, never forgotten. 

A WAC Bride and a Coastie Groom in the Family Tree

Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery, San Diego, California

During the recent WikiTree Connect-A-Thon, I became acquainted with Walter "Jack" Cromwell Wood (1894-1982) and his wife, Helen Gertrude Westerlake (1908-1995). Jack was my husband's 3d cousin and Helen was his bride.

I was really interested to discover that Jack served in both World War I and World War II--in two different branches of the military. Then I learned about Helen being a WAC officer during World War II. Here are their stories!

Jack: Sailing, College, Military

Jack was a son of Walter Dean Wood and Elizabeth Sawyer Pierce Wood, born in New Bedford, Massachusetts where he early on learned to sail. In 1917, he was attending MIT when he interrupted his college career to enlist in the US Army Air Corps for World War I. He was sent to train as a pilot with other Americans at the University of Toronto, taught by Royal Canadian Air Force pilots. 

After the war, Jack returned to sailing and racing. During the 1930s, he became the first “Sailing Master” of MIT, a post he held through the late 1940s. During World War II, he joined the US Coast Guard to teach navigation in New London, Connecticut at the Coast Guard Academy, with the rank of Lt. Commander.

Helen: Cars, College, Military

Helen was a daughter of Mary Marsh Cleverdon Westerdale and Harry Eastman Westerdale, born in Chicago where a few years later her father became a rising star in the budding automotive industry. Within a few years, he had his own auto distribution firm and later was an executive with Chrysler in Detroit. 

Helen went to a special high school in Memphis known for college prep, then went to the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, where she graduated with a bachelor's degree. She later worked as a secretary, and when she saw the call for women to join the military, she applied and was accepted into the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps in July, 1942. After training, she was awarded the rank of Captain.

Captain and Lt. Commander, Bride and Groom

I don't know how Jack and Helen met, but they became engaged in August of 1944 and married that October. It seems to have been a long-distance marriage at first: Jack continued to teach at the Coast Guard Academy and Helen remained in the WACs, achieving the rank of Major before becoming a civilian again in the fall of 1945. Jack left the Coast Guard in the fall of 1946. 

Helen and Jack then settled in the greater Boston area, where he taught navigation and they raised two children. They retired to San Diego, California, where he died in 1982 just one day after his 88th birthday. She died in 1995 at the age of 86. Both are buried in Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego (image at top from VA National Cemetery here).

Genealogy Bloggers on BlueSky

For the past few months on the BlueSky social media platform, I've been asking genealogy and family history bloggers to share their blog addresses. 

Here is the list of 105+ bloggers who have provided their links as of March 2025. Note that some folks haven't blogged much lately but they are active on BlueSky:

* Hilary Gadsby's blog

* Celia Lewis's blog

* Brenda Leyndyke's blog

* Rahkia Nance's blog

* Mike DeBacker's blog

* Jean "Helen" Wheel's blog

* Rebecca Stanley's blog

* Allison Peacock's blog

* Simon Briercliffe's blog

* Molly Charboneau's blog

* Sheri Bush's blog

* J. L. Lee's blog

* Sophie Kay's blog

* J.R. Randall's blog

* Jenny Hawran's blog

* Claire Bradley's blog

* The Graveyard Snoop's blog

* Yvette Hoitink's blog

* Liz G's blog

* Liz G's One-Place Study blog

* Ian Hadden's blog

* Jane Hough's blog

* Steve Little's blog

* Fred Dew's blog

* Family Wise's blog

* Christine McCloud's blog

* Sharon O. Brown's blog

* Lene Kottal's blog

* Chris Ferraiolo's blog

* Roberta Estes' blog

* Heather Wilkinson Rojo's blog

* Alison Spring's blog

* Carol K. Petranek's blog

* Michael Kirk's blog

* J. Paul Hawthorne's blog

* Kira D. Foltz's blog

* Carmel Galvin's blog

* Aryn Youngless's blog

* Martin Roe's blog

* Trish Stumpf Garcia's blog

* Daniel Loftus' blog

* Lina Goldberg's blog

* Kirsten Max-Douglas's blog

* Chris Wright's blog

* Jen Eggleston's blog

* Sophie Boudarel's blog

* Sue Wyatt's blog

* Stacy Ashmore Cole's blog

* Carolynn ni Lochlainn's blog

* Sean Vanderfluit's blog

* Marlee Logan's blog

* Susan's blog

* Paul Chiddicks' blog

* Paul Chiddicks' Old Palace School Bombing blog

* Natalie Pithers' blog

* Christopher Padgett's blog

* Miriam Robbins' blog

* Cathy Meder-Dempsey's blog

* Aine ni Donnghaile's blog

* Julie Muirhead's blog

* Mellisa F. Donahoe's blog

* Joanne Barnard's blog

* Bryna O'Sullivan's blog

* Emily Randall Paz's blog 

* D.L. MacLaughlan Dumes‬' blog

* Auriette's blog

* Gail Dever's blog

* Barb's blog

* Jane Chapman's blog

* Jill Ball's blog

* Kathleen Sperling's blog

* Ken McKinlay's blog

* Joan Bos's blog

* Karen P. Rhodes' blog

* Colleen Murray's blog

* Deborah Ray's blog

* Marcia C. Philbrick's blog

* Anne Young's blog

* Judy G. Russell's blog

* Fiona Stone's blog

* Kim Brengle's blog

* Xanthe Hall's blog

* Carolyn Shannon's blog

* Stephanie Glotfelty's blog

* Laura L. Hedgecock's blog

* Patty Hankins' blog

* Earl A. Daniels' blog

* Phyllis Zumwalt's blog

* Margaret Riordan's blog

* pwME's blog

* David Annal's blog

* Liz Craig's blog

* Megan Smolenyak's blog

* Blaine Bettinger's archives

* Helen Parker-Drabble's blog 

* Linda Yip's blog

* Barbara Tien's site

* Marie Cooke Beckman's blog

* Simon Young's blog

* Pauleen Cass's blog

* Pauleen Cass's emigration blog

* Andrew Redfern's blog

* Dai Davies' blog

* Melanie McComb's blog

* Noreen's blog

Note: I'm on BlueSky as @climbingfamilytree.bsky.social‬

More blogs to be added as I receive more responses from the genealogy community on BlueSky. 

Be a Good Ancestor and Share Your Own Story

Photo books are one way of sharing your story now.

Are you taking the time to tell your own story? Be a good ancestor and share your own story so future generations will have a sense of what your life has been like.

My choice: photo books

I began to systematically document my life and family experiences in 2007, when I made the first of what became an annual series of photo books. My goal was to capture some of the most significant or fun things that happened during the year, so I could look back and rekindle those memories. But I also realized that photo books look polished and can be passed down for decades to come.

Every year since, I've created at least one photo book of what my husband and I and our family did during the previous 12 months. I call the book something like "Our life in photos" or "2023 in photos." I caption every photo. If there's a large group photo or two, I include full names once in the book. At top, a photo of many of the photo books I've made over the years, displayed on a book shelf for easy access.

When we have a big family gathering of relatives from far and near, I often make a photo book to remember the fun and the food and the activities. This is where my family and I get those photos off our phones and into print or albums to browse again and again.

My system: I set up a digital folder at the start of every year and put photos into it as the weeks go on. By December, I have dozens of photos to arrange into a colorful book of memories. Not everything makes the final cut, but I have a good range of photos to use. This works for me, but do whatever works for you.

Of course I wait for sales and coupons before I press the buy button. My vendors of choice are Shutterfly, MixBook, and Snapfish, thanks to their quality and customization possibilities.

Your life, your way

There are so many ways to document your life so you can enjoy the memories and share with those who come after. Here are just a few ideas to start.

Well-known genealogy blogger Randy Seaver regularly blogs about his weekly activities. He stresses that family historians should make a point of telling their own stories, not just the stories of ancestors from the past. 

If you or your family like to send an annual Christmas or holiday letter, that's a good way to talk about the ups/downs of the year and include a photo or three. 

My husband writes a monthly letter to younger relatives, with highlights of what he's been doing and stories of interest. He sends his letters the old-school way, because he likes to include a photo and because snail mail doesn't get lost in a sea of emails.

Some folks have a private Facebook page or website for sharing family photos and memories. Since I'm unhappy with FB at the moment, I'm not going down that path but I do know people who have multigenerational FB pages to share family news, old and new.

Just do it

Experiment to see what works best for you and your situation and your budget. Don't worry about capturing every moment and every memory. Be a good ancestor and make 2025 the year you share key photos and memories with family today and keep your life stories available for descendants of tomorrow.

Remembering the "Walter Winchells" of the Farkas Family Tree

My maternal Grandma Hermina Farkas Schwartz (1886-1964) was part of the first generation in the Farkas Family Tree, founded in 1933 to keep the Farkas siblings and their descendants in close contact. 

Fortunately, the founders had the foresight to keep written minutes (originally in cursive, but quickly switched to typed) of their 10 meetings per year. And that's how I learned which member was the designated "Walter Winchell" of each year.

Good & Welfare Chair = Walter Winchell

The idea was to have one person in charge of gathering family gossip (good, bad, funny) and reporting during the monthly meeting. Even when someone had the mumps or broke an arm, the info was shared with a bit of spin to make it lighter if possible. The official title of that part of the meeting was "Good and Welfare." 

The star of that portion of the meeting was that year's Walter Winchell, nicknamed for the well-known newspaper columnist and radio personality who specialized in gossip. 

During 1942, when several members were serving in World War II, the yearend summary of the minutes included this cheeky comment: "Brother George F____ distinguished himself as the Walter Winchell of the Farkas Family Tree, ferreting out the military secrets and relating them with gusto at the meetings."

Grandpa as Winchell

My maternal Grandpa Theodore Schwartz (1887-1965) served as the family tree's Winchell in 1946 and 1947. In May of 1946, he reported 11 "items" such as who was home from the U.S. Army, who had new jewelry, who had a new job, who was out of the hospital, and who was planning a summer vacation.

Throughout his tenure, Grandpa's good and welfare items mixed sad news (the death of an older family member, a car accident that put someone in the hospital) with happier news (someone accepted to Yale, someone having a baby). 

Thank you to our Walter Winchells 

Even as the original tree members aged, the minutes were also filled with increasingly hopeful Winchell reports of the youngest generation: school achievements, graduations, first cars, first jobs, engagements, and so on. Having these moments captured on the page, as they took place, was a wonderful gift for the future. 

Thank you to the many Walter Winchells who served in the family tree, 1933-1964. 

"Nickname" is this week's #52Ancestors prompt from Amy Johnson Crow.

1921 Census of England and Wales on Ancestry Hints

 The 1921 Census of England and Wales is now available on Ancestry. Subscribers can search that Census directly from this page.

You will soon be able to see 1921 Census hints show up under the category of "new collections" on the hints page. Above is a photo of my husband's Ancestry family tree hints page. So far, only 4 "new collections" hints have appeared but there's a reason.

Remember, to stimulate the hints system, you need to click on your ancestors and do a little searching. There are several dozen UK ancestors on the tree, but I've only researched four of those folks in the past week since the 1921 Census went live on Ancestry. 

So now I'm researching those UK residents and stimulating the hints system to list additional suggestions. I like that the 1921 Census is highlighted under "new collections" and hope Ancestry will continue doing that with major new databases it adds. 

Suits Meet Flapper at Thanksgiving Dinner, 1956

One of my favorite photos shows my maternal grandfather, uncle, and aunt at a very memorable Thanksgiving gathering of the Farkas Family Tree.

The family tree association, founded in 1933, had been getting together for Thanksgiving dinners for more than two decades. 

In 1956, the setting was the Hotel Gramercy Park in Manhattan, convenient to Farkas relatives and in-laws who lived in and around New York City. For this dinner, attendees were asked to come in costume. Many worked hard on elaborate (sometimes outlandish) outfits.

As shown above, my Auntie Dorothy Schwartz (1919-2001) dressed as a flapper. The two men with her wore suit and tie for the occasion: Her father, Theodore "Teddy" Schwartz (1887-1965) and her brother, Fred Shaw (1912-1991). My aunt all dressed up as a flapper makes me smile!

Here's another fun photo from this same batch of scanned snap shots, both colorized using the fantastic photo tools at MyHeritage.

During the dinner, costumed attendees paraded around the room in competition for the crowd's vote of "best costume." My Dad (Harold Burk, 1909-1978) dressed as a hayseed (he's at far right). Although he didn't win, he had a grand time working the crowd for votes.  

Amy Johnson Crow provides prompts for every week of the year in her ongoing #52Ancestors in 52 Weeks program. This week's prompt is "Favorite Photo."